Praying for Palestine

This morning I joined a Facebook group called Praying for Palestine... It seemed only appropriate for me to express my support for the people there in Gaza in light of the recent attacks from Israel. (Here are recent updates on what's going on IDF officer killed as Israeli troops hit five squads of Gaza militants and video) All I can say is that there is no clear division of "good guys" and "bad guys" in this issue. Every time I read the news I come once again o this conclusion and to the conclusion that the whole situation is ugly. It's very sad what some Palestinian terrorists have done to Israelis, but aggression is no less horrific when it is done by the hands of a government. We never hear in the news about what the Israeli government does to the Palestinians in Israel, the displacement and the racism that is experienced by them there. We don't hear stories about Israel going back on their agreements and even now we don't hear about the deaths of innocent civilians in Gaza during the Israeli attack. One member of this Facebook group wrote this, "till this moment there are 763 killed in Gaza, more than half are children and women" (CNN gives the same number in this article) Palestinian civilians are being killed by the dozens but what we hear about is the Eight Israeli soldiers and three Israeli civilians who have been killed. It is nothing less than horrific that Israelis are dying but is it not inconsistent if we mourn them but not the Palestinians who are dying and being injured in greater numbers. I will stand in solidarity and in prayer for Palestine and for anyone else being crushed under the oppression of violence.

In this situation and in any situation, peace is within the grasp only of those who are willing to forgive... neither side seems to be ready to do that. Sometimes I wonder if the real "Israel," those chosen people of God, is not actually the poor and the oppressed including the Palestinians. If Jesus became Israel by taking upon himself the symbols of Israel etc. but also entered into solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, and the "least of these"... think about it. We shouldn't blindly support Israel because "God said so" (as a book I recently read seemed to argue) but we should support those who are suffering on both sides of the fence.

In light of that, here is a video which I found very interesting... not sure what I think of it... What do you think?
Rabbi Protesting Zionism

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