I step out of my house and walk down the street. I am unexpectedly attacked. “Why are these people beating me up? I don’t know them, but they’re hitting me, they’re kicking me, they’re fighting me,” says the Jewish man in New York as he’s experiencing this.
Swastikas appear again on synagogues; thousands of anti-Semitic messages slandering the Jewish community proliferate over social media.
It’s 3 in the morning in Palestine. Everything is quiet…until it isn’t. I awaken to bombs, loud, frightening, terrifying bombs. I hear people screaming and running; chaos is everywhere. I can’t believe this is real. I look at the dismantled, gutted buildings and watch my people gather what few belongings they still possess so they can keep living. Everyone shakes their head. I say, “push through the rubble.”
I see the Palestinian flag is draped over a child thousands of miles away. I hear the news reports that about 70 children died from Israeli air strikes. How many more survived but are psychologically and emotionally scarred for life? So many people dying from this senseless fighting. As always, the innocent are considered “collateral damage.” And a Palestinian economy devastated by high unemployment and and rampant hunger must now contend with thousands of displaced and homeless people.
The killing needs to stop now. I’m glad President Biden is addressing these issues.
Here’s a simple solution: Channel the energy put into the bombs and the missiles into developing a more just society — possibly two separate states — between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Think how much safer the world would be. And think how pleasant it would be to turn on the news and find out this actually happened.
