Rabbi Amichai Lau Lavie led the proceedings. I've heard him speak numerous times. His humanity, empathy, and honesty are palpable. In his welcome, he stated, "We stand here today aware that the only path forward is a shared one, where Israelis and Palestinians have the chance to thrive, grow, and dream together." He called on Netanyahu to "end the war and ensure a hostage deal now." He qualified the Prime Minister's ongoing actions as an "anti-democratic vision of extremism and dehumanization." Grounding his comments in Jewish theological thought, he pronounced the need for reflection, teshuva, and "making repentance for past mistakes."
After a moment of silence, the first speakers were Yehuda and Vikki Cohen, parents of Nimrod, a hostage still in captivity. Yehuda said, "Netanyahu is doing everything to prevent a deal. He doesn't want to lose his position and go to jail and is using the hostages to keep his extremist coalition to conquer Gaza. They want war. They want blood." One of his goals is to "try to change the narrative of U.S. Jewish groups."
Cohen's outrage stood in contrast to the hostage remembrance conducted at my synagogue every Friday since October 7. Combined with a prayer for the State of Israel and the return of the captives, it has become somewhat of an abstract exercise. The passion of Nimrod's parents made it visceral.
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib followed the Cohens. He grew up in Gaza City and came to America as an exchange student. Presently, he works at the Atlantic Council's Middle East Programs. He detailed the ongoing horrors in Gaza as the "most destructive chapter in Palestinian history." Alkhatib told of the family members he had lost in Gaza (thirty-one of his extended relatives) and the others who were displaced. He rejected the "zero-sum equation" for solving the Israel/Palestine conflict and the "self-serving leaders of both sides."
Former Deputy Head of Israel's National Security Council, Eran Etzion, was unequivocal in his declaration, "Netanyahu no longer represents Israel." He urged Biden and Harris to use all the leverage at their disposal, with direct advice on how to deal with Bibi: "He's playing you. History is looking you in the eye." In a statement reminiscent of the Eldridge Cleaver quote, Etzion underscored, "If you're not fighting with us against it, you are inadvertently part of it."
Yael Admi, wearing a white shirt and turquoise scarf, the colors of Women Wage Peace, which she co-founded, articulated the "need to find compromises." She described how her group's sister organization, Women of the Sun, and Women Wage Peace work together. "We have a historic opportunity," Admi told the crowd. Later, when we conversed briefly, Admi mentioned her upcoming trip to Washington, D.C., to receive an award from Hilary Clinton in a ceremony at The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace & Security.
Adding to the tumult of U.N. week in Manhattan was the breaking news that Mayor Eric Adams was under indictment. Despite the crisis at City Hall, NYC Comptroller and a co-founder of the New York Jewish Agenda, Brad Lander, was on-site, joking that it was the only commitment of the day that he hadn't canceled. He was there to comment on the "entrenchment of the Occupation" and the need to identify that "Israelis and Palestinians were intertwined."
Zahiro Shahar Mor, who I had the opportunity to dialogue with after the event (See sidebar), expressed his pain from the personal losses, the deaths of his uncle and his cousin, from which he had suffered. He pegged Netanyahu's actions as "all about his political survival." He challenged Netanyahu to "Make your visit to New York something other than a P.R. charade. Stop the war now!" He echoed the sentiment on several shirts and signs that announced, "We are not our government."
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