What I believe

about Israel and Palestine

Hi All,

Words have circled my head for weeks now. Each time I sit down to write, I decide I need to learn more about the conflict in the Middle East before I share publicly. After weeks of research, I know that I will never fully understand the centuries of history that impact today’s conflict and the words are begging to be put on the page so here goes.

Now more than ever, I believe we must hold multiple truths in our mind at the same time. Social media is an absolute mess right now but, like it or not, social media is where most people are getting their information. So I believe that we must have more conversations both privately and yes, scarily, in the public space.

In 2016, I said quietly, “We don’t need to worry. Trump will never be elected.”

In 2020, I said quietly, “People will trust science and do what is right to protect their communities.”

In 2022, I said quietly “Roe v Wade will never be overturned.”

So now in 2023, I need to say loudly, “NEVER AGAIN”.

I believe that the Israeli government has done and continues to do terrible, awful things to the Palestinian people.

I believe that Hamas has done and continues to do terrible, awful things to the Palestinian people.

The Palestinians in Gaza are suffering at the hand of the Israeli government at the hand of Hamas AND the lives of Jewish people across the world are being threatened.

Yesterday, countless Palestinians civilians were needlessly killed and thousands more were needlessly denied their basic human needs.

AND yesterday, mobs of men stormed an airport in Dagestan when a plane landed carrying Jewish passengers. The men were there to kill the Jews.

We must hold these two truths.

I believe that the Palestinian people are oppressed and they need the help of people who have more power than they do.

And I believe that given the history of the pogroms, the Holocaust and all that came before and since those times, making the Jewish people, instead of the Israeli government and Hamas, the villain will have and is having disastrous consequences.

This morning, I had a chilling thought.

We can all agree that in the case of slavery, the white people were the oppressors. Imagine, if during slavery, in one day, slaves brutally killed 1400 white people and kidnapped over 200 more. And then imagine, if the message spread throughout the world, that the white people, as the oppressors, deserved this and others began to follow the lead.

Before Trump was elected and people refused to get vaccinated and Roe v Wade was overturned, I thought there was no need to say ‘never again’ because…obviously right?

It is not feeling so obvious anymore.

So I will close by saying NEVER AGAIN with the hope that other non-Jews will say those words with me.

xo,

Stacey

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