Vera Beaudin was newly divorced and a recent arrival in Harlem when a stranger knocked on her door one night carrying flowers and coffee cake. She fell in love, married and learned about the plight of his oppressed people.
Despite the international outcry following last week\’s lethal confrontation between Israeli commandos and militant pro-Palestinian activists aboard a Turkish vessel carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza, Israel insists its naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled territory is justified and will continue.
Teenager Adam Nesenoff and his father, Rabbi David Nesenoff, are pretty far down the media food chain.
I am certain that I am not the only person who left Sunday’s Solidarity Rally for Israel with a profound sense of unease. While I was not greeted with boos and jeers, like Peace Now’s David Pine (my speech elicited more confusion (“Wait, she’s a rabbi. Isn’t she on our side? What does she mean, ‘We can do better’?”), I was devastated by what I can only understand to be a tragic narrowing of the American Jewish heart and mind.
Israel’s interception of the flotilla attempting to break the Gaza blockade has been the focus of massive international attention — and condemnation. In the melee of interviews, editorials and images, the basic facts of the incident have often been obscured. Segments of the American Jewish community were rendered confused and bereft of answers. Why, many asked, did Israel have to send commandos to assault a peaceful flotilla? Why were nine passengers killed and many wounded? And why must Israel blockade Gaza, a densely populated area notorious for its poverty and devastation?
Watching the video of the Israeli Navy Commandos rappelling onto the Marmara was for me – as for many people – full of anxiety and sadness. Sadness that Israeli soldiers, in the same uniforms I once proudly wore, were put in such a terrible situation and subject to violent attack. Sadness that Israel’s failed strategy of blockading Gaza had led to this and deep anxiety about the future of the Middle East, of Israel and of the Palestinian people.
A Kiev cultural museum played host to Ukraine\’s international Days of Israel event.
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