Seeing you at Mishkan Shalom always makes Mishkan feel more like home. It was wonderful to be with you again.

As I try to understand your own personal struggle, I hope you know that you are not alone.

During the war in I967 I was a proud chauvinist. Somewhat leery of war but proud to see Jews, and Israel, as heros and not victims.

During the 1984 Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon with the aid of the SLA my thoughts began to change and. The result was that these atrocities began to take the “bloom off the rose”

By the time the 1987 Intifada Israeli solders using weapons of war to control riots. They were obviously equipped with the wrong tools & the wrong training. When you need a plumber you don’t use a carpenter. The right people with the right skills must be applied properly to each situation. Many nations have trained riot police (not soldiers) to deal with civil disturbances. By this time my pride was turning to shame.

There always has been tension and injustice between the Israelis and the Palestinians. It has become a stain on the foundation of the Jewish State. It has become a stain like that of slavery during the birth of our nation. It made us imperfect and less pure. It is no different for the state of Israel. It too, has to deal with its stain of injustice.

I can think of no nation born from revolution that does not cary scares from it’s birthing.

I still hope and pray for the safety of Israel and its prosperity, I also pray for a just and compassionate peace for both Israel And Palestine.

Your quest for Palestinian civil and human rights is mirrored in many histories. You have not abandoned your values. It is the State of Israel that has gone of course. With prophetic voices such as yours there will be a simple moment when a Rosa Parks will say, “This Is Enough” and a long healing will begin.

Keep up the good work. The long moral arc of history is at your back.

Be safe, be well

Best always

Nicholas Boonin

I’m just curious to know how “holding Gilad Shalit incommunicado for years” can compared and/or be justified by “holding 11,000 Palestinians incommunicado for years” — just a wonderin’…

Thank you!

The fact is that Israel’s policy towards Gaza, including the recent War and the partial blockade of the Gaza Strip enjoys basically wall-to-wall support in Israel from all political trends. It was under the Kadima-Labor Center-Left government that this policy was initiated (in the wake of HAMAS taking control of the Palestinian Authority regime and their subsequent violent coup in the Gaza Strip) and the war prosecuted. So it has nothing to do with the political “Right”. Michael’s later comment about the “Right-wing lobby groups” supposedly doing things he doesn’t approve of has nothing to do with reality but is simply introducing terms that serve as a “red flag” for “progressives” which are intended to serve narrow partisan interests by mobilizing “progressive” groups who easily get inflamed when confronting those whom they view as the political “enemy”. Israel’s interests transcend petty manipulations like this. One who opposes the current policy is obligated to provide answers to questions about HAMAS terrorist act against Israel (e.g. holding Gilad Shalit incommunicado for years) in addition to indiscriminate rocket fire directed at Israeli civilian population centers.