I Love Israel, But I Still Cry for the Children of Gaza

I am an American Jew who has always been obsessed with the Holocaust and who has always loved Israel. That hasn’t changed. But when I see the death and destruction of Gaza and the starving, dying children I feel anguish for them and for what Israel may be becoming in its quest to feel safe

The attack on October 7 was beyond horrific. And the subsequent and shocking reversal of world sentiment, with growing antisemitism in colleges and in places like New York which was once a haven for Jews has jolted my own world. I couldn’t fathom how anyone could march against Israel then, speak critically and call for its destruction as so many college students have been doing with their heinous cries of “Palestine shall be free from the river to the sea”. which is chilling and emotionally devastating.

In the wake of the Holocaust, a new kind of Jewish identity was born that refused to be victimized. And I loved that. But now that aggression feels inhumane and cruel.

Brutality Begets Brutality.

I don’t pretend to be a foreign policy expert and I don’t have an easy solution. but the Jewish idea of Tikkun Olam — of repairing and healing the World always seemed to me to be the essence of Judaism.

How can we hold onto our values and our sense of ourselves as we watch the horrific destruction of Gaza.

Yes, Hamas has to be punished and destroyed. But what about the children?