Two Peoples Living in this Land - Practical Theology Hub

Born and raised in the US, I have lived in Jerusalem for over 51 years. For many years, I have been involved in inter-religious and inter-cultural dialogue, and in the Jewish religious peace movement.

Israelis – and, I’m told, Jews throughout the world – are still reeling from the brutal atrocities of October 7^th. The horrifying, nihilistic attacks were reminiscent of the worst, most painful periods of Jewish history. I would add to that something that has been of grave concern to me, personally, and that is the resurgence of antisemitism in the West, including and perhaps especially on the campuses of North America. I used to have great faith in higher education in general and in the elite universities in particular. I see that this faith was misplaced. People abroad are conflating Hamas with the Palestinian people, and the Israeli government, especially Netanyahu, with the State and people of Israel. These are serious mistakes. Or perhaps it isn’t so much that my faith was misplaced, as that the more than half-century that separates me from my student days brought about profound changes in attitudes and content-knowledge.

I hope that when the war ends, Israel will be able to go through a period of rethinking and rebuilding. The past year here has shown us that, although we have a disastrous government, the people of Israel have come through with flying colors. The same people who for nine months were out every week en masse protesting the government volunteered to defend their country and to help our “internal refugees” from the South and the North. I have to add that I am personally very concerned both about the welfare of our soldiers and of the innocent people in Gaza.

The trauma of the attack is still written and spoken about on a more or less daily basis, in the media, among friends and even in chance encounters on the street. The trauma has been so great that many otherwise sensitive and moderate Israelis have found it difficult to feel and express compassion for the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza. A critical moment for us in this regard was during the hearing in the International Court of Justice in the Hague. I personally found that hearing excruciatingly painful but ultimately cathartic. The thought that we Israelis could be accused of committing the ultimate crime of genocide, while ignoring what is truly a genocidal organization, Hamas, was heart-wrenching. But in the end, I believe, the verdict was nuanced and provided a helpful warning.

And we must hold the children and other innocents in Gaza in our minds, hearts and prayers, along with our profound concern for the hostages. In Israel, there is a growing sense that our present government has stopped prioritizing the hostages and their release. Many demonstrations are being held to bring them back with greater urgency. The two current debates in the public realm revolve around two major questions: 1) Is the main goal of the war to release the remaining hostages, or is it to destroy Hamas or, at least, its military capabilities? 2) What will happen in Gaza after the current fighting ends? Who will take over?

The Israeli public is very much divided on these questions. Unfortunately, the biggest crisis in Israel’s history is being faced by the weakest government in our history. Whatever can be handled by civilians in non-governmental organizations, is being done, but the answers to the two big questions will have to be done through the top political leadership. This leads to a third question; namely, how soon can we hold new elections in Israel and elect a new government that will assume more responsibility and provide more leadership.

Although the war has been far less intense in the North, with far fewer casualties, we know that things may flare up there in the near future and that Hezbollah is a stronger military force than Hamas. A third, growing front is the West Bank. The settler violence there has been allowed to proceed with impunity. No fewer than 16 Bedouin and Palestinian shepherd communities have moved their homes because of it.

I oppose the Israeli occupation on the West Bank. I have opposed it since 1967. The situation in Gaza was actually more complicated, since after 2005, we withdrew our settlers. We still maintained a blockade. But I blame Hamas more than I blame Israel for the lamentable situation in Gaza. If anything or anyone has been “genocidal,” it’s been Hamas, as can be seen from reading their mission statements. They want to destroy the State of Israel and kill all Jews. I see nothing positive in Hamas. It is not only fanatic, fundamentalist and genocidal—it is also misogynist and homophobic. “Humanitarian aid” to the suffering people of Gaza is being channeled to Hamas, for its own aggressive purposes.

Some of the extremist Jewish settlers on the West Bank are exploiting the present situation for their own purposes. The government is doing nothing to stop them; on the contrary, some of the key ministers are encouraging and abetting them. I hope the damage there is not irreparable. This is not the way to build a two-state solution or any other solution that will ensure human rights and dignity for the two peoples who live in this land.

This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Cover Image: Provided by the author.

Debbie Weissman

+ posts

Dr. Deborah Weissman, born in New York, moved to Jerusalem in 1972. She holds a BA from Barnard College and an MA from New York University, both in sociology, and a Ph.D. in Jewish education from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her main field of academic research is the social history of Jewish women’s education. She is a retired educator who has taught at the Hebrew University and directed a training institute for Israeli teachers. Outside of the professional realm, she has been involved with the religious peace movement in Israel, religious feminism and interreligious dialogue, both locally and internationally, having served for two terms as President of the International Council of Christians and Jews.