On October 7, Hamas attacked Israel and killed over a thousand Israelis and took over a hundred hostages. In response, Israel launched air attacks upon Gaza and, as a result, over ten thousand Palestinians have been killed. Israel also restricted food and water supplies in Gaza, and many additional thousands have died. Hamas is guilty of genocide…and so is Netanyahu’s administration. Both halves of the previous sentence are true and must be affirmed.
In our polarized society, we must apply the same ethical standards to both sides. We must no longer be like sports fans whose favorite team is never guilty of rule violations and whose opponents are never right. International laws that prohibit the targeting of civilians apply to friends and foes alike. If we don’t apply these criteria to all, we are guilty of hypocrisy. The tragic result is that anti-Semitism and anti-Palestinianism have skyrocketed in our country and around the world.
I add my voice to the call for an immediate ceasefire with the following goals:
- Hostages on both sides be exchanged.
- Humanitarian aid flow into Gaza.
- Reasonable Israelis and thoughtful Palestinians sit down together and acknowledge their own guilt.
- Both sides sketch out the first steps to achieve a just peace for all involved.
- Nations around the world overcome their own interests and biases in order to stimulate and accompany this process of seeking a just peace.
Lindy Scott 
Well said, my friend Lindy.
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I could not agree more. I was in downtown Chicago this past Sunday for an open air Christmas market when a group of pro Palestinian protesters starting singing anti Palestine genocide lyrics to the tunes of Christmas carols while passing out literature. The literature said nothing about the genocide attempts against Israel and seemed to act like the attacks on Gaza were unprovoked. I admired their creativity but peace needs more than creativity it requires reasonable and thoughtful participants as you suggested. It requires empathy and a desire to place truth over rhetoric. It requires the ability to critique both sides and to look out for the good for both sides.
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Amén, thank you Lindy.
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