ContinentalOp's blog

Israeli soldier strokes kitten; film at 11.

Thu, 2006-08-03 22:45 — ContinentalOp

I received an email today, obviously part of an orchestrated PR campaign to counter the bad press Israel has been getting of late, with the subject line, "Photos of Israel that will never make the news". Here's a sample:

American Jews call for ceasefire in Lebanon

Fri, 2006-07-21 22:54 — ContinentalOp

Reflecting on the continuing crisis in the Middle East, I've been thinking a great deal about the words of the great Jewish Sage, Hillel. In one of the best-known passages from the Talmud, Hillel asked: "If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" Hillel also famously summed up the entire Torah in a single phrase: "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor." He counseled, "Be among the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving God's creatures, and bringing them close to the Torah." And, upon seeing a skull floating in the water, he observed, "Because you drowned others they drowned you; and those that drowned you will eventually be drowned."

Just Foreign Policy, an organization of which I was previously unaware, but whose board includes some folks I very much respect, is collecting signatures on a letter (see text below) to President Bush from American Jews calling for a ceasefire in Lebanon. As Robert Weissman notes, "hard-line elements [within the American Jewish community] have been far better organized -- far more effective at shaping the political debate and influencing policy. This places an extra obligation on pro-peace and justice American Jews to speak out, and to work to instill a measure of balance in U.S. Middle East policy."

This letter is in the best spirit of Hillel's teachings. We must love and pursue peace. We must treat our neighbors as we would have them treat us. We must stop the cycle of killing. We must do so for our own sake and for the sake of everyone in the world. And we must do it now.