Thousands of American Jews have been protesting for Palestinian lives these last few days. I’m one of them.
I have no sympathy for Hamas, a militant group whose charter calls for Jewish annihilation.
And the attacks of Oct. 7 were grievous. Hamas targeted civilians, killing more than 1,400 people in Israel and kidnapping roughly 200, including the mother and daughter from Evanston who were released by their captors on Friday.
I look at my son riding his bicycle in our Chicago neighborhood and imagine: What if it were him?
It’s wrong. It’s awful. And we can grieve. But we cannot let grief blind us.
Israel’s response — pulverizing Gaza — is not a counterattack on Hamas. It is an escalation that will devastate a people.
Two million Palestinians live in Gaza, which is smaller than Chicago. Half are children.
After Oct. 7, Israel’s defense minister ordered a full siege: “No electricity, no food, no water, no gas — it’s all closed.”
Israel launched an aerial assault, leveling apartment towers, bombing Gaza’s cities.
Already, more Palestinians have died — more than 4,000 — in Israel’s offensive than Israelis were killed in Hamas’ attack.
What would I do if it were my family in the dark as missiles explode, ordered to go but unable to leave?
If you are defending Israel’s reaction, know who you are defending. The current leaders of Israel are not measured, compassionate people. They are right-wing extremists, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is even now on trial for corruption.
And if you are defending Hamas as anti-colonial resisters, know who you are defending. Hamas controls Gaza and has killed its Palestinian political opponents. Hamas fighters maintain tunnels under Gaza from which they organize missile strikes and terror attacks.
But right now it is Israel massing an army at Gaza’s borders, preparing to invade.
Israel’s defense minister says, “We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly.” Netanyahu says, ‘What we will do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
This is vengeance, not strategy.
As American Jews, we need to speak now. We need to say this is wrong.
For some Jews, supporting Israel is personal. When my ancestors fled Europe for America, other branches went to Jerusalem. Their descendants are my cousins.
For some, it is practical. They see Israel as repairing the harm of the Holocaust, or preventive, a safe place in case there is another.
For some, it is tribal. Israel is us and Palestinians are them.
People I love believe these things, but they do not add up. We cannot stand with Israel when what Israel does is not right.
Heartbreaking as Oct. 7 was, we have to ask what the world looked like for Palestinians on Oct. 6.
It is not wrong for Jews to live in Israel. Some population of Jews always has.
But displacing Palestinians is wrong. Fencing in a people is wrong. Putting people under occupation is wrong.
And if you believe Israel must do these things to be safe, notice they did not work.
Safety for everyone means coexistence. There is so much deescalation and restoration standing between us and that possibility, which right now feels very far away. But our voices can help. We cannot let Israel push it farther.
Judaism is dialectical. We argue. We debate. An old joke: Ask two Jews, get three opinions.
But for many Jews, questioning Israel is something we do not do, lest we be seen as Jews against our own people.
I am not a Jew against my own people. But I am a Jew saying Israel is wrong and must change.
And I am not alone.
Seth Lavin is the principal at Brentano Elementary Math & Science Academy in Logan Square.
The Sun-Times welcomes letters to the editor and op-eds. See our guidelines.
The views and opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the Chicago Sun-Times or any of its affiliates.
