A different framework for Palestinian futures.
A New Deal for the Land of Peace
ישראל – فلسطين
– one unified state
– law and order instead of militant and criminal violence
– citizenship for all
– healthcare for all
– gan-uni education for all
– infrastructure and building permits for all
– military service for all
– new anthem
We deserve it. We can do it. We will make it.
יחד ננצח
Shabbath Shalom
I wrote a big long post about how aspects of this deal just don’t sit right with me, as I watch it unfold.
Deleted it.
Trying this approach instead: Given that This Is The Deal – what do we do after the exchange? What is the plan? Elections? Investigations? Strategy for finally dealing with Hamas?
Or return to October 6?
In moments like this, fear surges. The imagination runs wild. Defense mechanisms kick in. But we need to keep our collective eye on the prize: Change.
A New Deal for Israel.
Two thoughts for you as the early ground operations are underway in the Gaza strip, after three weeks of continuous airstrikes against military targets embedded in a densely populated civilian area.
Two thoughts. One about the present and one about the future.
Right now I see so many friends and influencers calling for a ceasefire.
Every time I read another call for a ceasefire, my heart leaps – yes, that’s what I want too, an end to all this death, my God yes just stop it now.
Every time.
I don’t want revenge and I don’t want blood – my heart wants peace, now. My heart calls for a ceasefire.
And then my brain kicks in.
A ceasefire? my brain asks, With whom?
The group that broke the last fifteen ceasefires? Most recently with an on-brand genocidal pogrom?
What would they do with another ceasefire? Another genocidal pogrom?
My heart wants a ceasefire but my brain can’t quite make the pieces fit. What is the basis for the ceasefire?
Have the hostages been returned? Have the rockets stopped? Has Hamas renounced genocide?
My brain has questions my heart can’t answer.
Now for tomorrow.
We will win this war.
Hamas will be gone, as a political and militant entity. A new security regime will prevail in the Gaza strip, as the Israeli politburo puts it.
The day will come when we can safely end the siege of Gaza – and we should.
The day will come when we will have the choice to recognize a free and independent Gaza – and we should.
Yes, right now we need to take out Hamas, and yes (due to the political corner into which we’ve painted ourselves) the only effective means to do that right now is with war.
But for over a decade we’ve basically bombed the sh*t out of 2 million Gazans, the majority of whom never supported Hamas.
For decades more we’ve treated Palestinians within our state (let alone the West Bank) as less than citizens deserve.
The day will come when it’s time to give Palestinians a New Deal – and we should.
We need to focus on the present but we can’t lose sight of the future.