Opinion
 We are a Palestinian and an Israeli in Los Angeles. We find comfort and hope in mourning together

Rana Shalhoub and Hila Keren
Tue, October 17, 2023 

A man wearing a yarmulke holds a small Israeli flag over his head as thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters rally in front of the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, on Saturday. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)


We are two American women living in Los Angeles, spending our days working at one of the city’s oldest law schools. One of us, Rana, is Palestinian. The other, Hila, is Israeli. We are both profoundly worried about our beloved family members in the Middle East — Jewish and Arab — who are neighbors and are all currently suffering greatly as rockets keep falling and more violence looms.

Our hearts are broken by the brutal Hamas terror attack last weekend and by the prospect of additional deaths and misery in our respective communities. We want to say loud and clear that we condemn the cruel murder of kids, youths, parents and grandparents by Hamas. At the same time, we support the rights of Palestinians to live in peace and with dignity, just as every human being deserves.

In addition to the tragedy of terrorism and warfare, in the last few days we have also encountered painful misunderstandings and simplistic views of the dreadful conflict in the Middle East. Rana was blamed for spreading antisemitic ideology by classmates who failed to distinguish her genuine concern for Palestinian lives from endorsing atrocities she abhors. When she tried to educate her peers about the plight of innocent civilians on both sides and convince them that antisemitic and anti-Arab rhetoric similarly impede peace, she was unfairly accused of being an antisemite herself.

Hila, on the other hand, faced some progressive academics who seemed to doubt, ignore or downplay the suffering of Israelis and somehow portrayed the atrocities executed by Hamas as a justified form of Palestinian resistance.

Additionally, each of us was exposed to calls for the destruction of Gaza, as if there were no children — Palestinians and kidnapped Israelis — on the other side of the border from Israel. We both refuse to imagine what that apocalypse would mean for the people we love and the entire region.

Right after the bloody Oct. 7 weekend, Hila read in an Israeli news outlet that the warning sirens and Hamas rockets had just reached Jerusalem. Remembering that Rana has relatives in the area, she immediately texted her. It was early morning, but Rana quickly texted back with good news and care: “Thank you for checking in … they are safe and hopefully it stays like that. I’m hoping your family and friends are safe …”

Read more: Opinion: My whole family is in Gaza and they have nowhere to run. Will it be at their graves that we meet again?

A few hours later, we saw each other for the first time since it all started. We hugged. It was a long hug. One of those in which you hold the other, feeling their body and heart against yours. And then came the tears. We cried about the children who came to this world for such a brief time only to be killed by hate. We wept because we were so afraid of what was to come. We are still scared.

We also experienced a brisk sense of relief. Without words, we somehow knew the other understands exactly how it feels to have your roots in this corner of the world. So we just held each other a second longer, mourning the losses.

Our hug, the words that followed it and the comfort we found in each other would not have been possible had we assumed, like many others, that all Palestinians are ready to kill Jewish Israelis or at least cheer when they die. Nor would any of that have happened if we presumed that all Jewish people are eager to harm Palestinians or seek their elimination. Those assumptions are awful and wrong. They lead to innocent people trapped by a ceaseless conflict paying with their lives.

Read more: Opinion: Invading Gaza, but to what end? Netanyahu's incompetent government has no answers

Of course, our close connection does not mean we agree on all aspects of this catastrophic situation. But we feel grateful that our true care for each other has at least allowed us to unite around two things. One relates to the present: the value of mourning together all loss of innocent human life. The other relates to the future: the belief that humanity on both sides is key to breaking the vicious circle created by hate.

Do we know how to bring more peace to the area in which our families live? Not at all. Like most, we are still devastated and terrified and have no clue. But, at this horrific moment, our relationship has taught us we can start by not selectively grieving those with whom we share religion or national origin while having no sorrow when those on the other side are killed.

Fortunate to be away from the war, we found a space for our mutual belief in human lives. We then learned that just before the latest hideous events, our Israeli and Palestinian sisters had the courage and vision to hold a joint gathering in Jerusalem to demonstrate and affirm their commitment to a nonviolent resolution. Had we been there, we would have probably joined, and we want to encourage others to search together for more ways to embrace and protect the fragile wish for better days.

In fact, even as the recent tragedy has pushed some to take extreme positions and make regrettable statements, many organizations remained united and committed to working together to prevent escalation and continue their tireless search for common ground. For example, the Alliance for Middle East Peace, a coalition of over 170 organizations and tens of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis, stated: “ALLMEP stands in solidarity with our members across the region: the brave Israelis and Palestinians who refuse to be enemies, and who are working to shape a reality where events such as those witnessed over the past few days become unimaginable. Our members are speaking loudly and clearly about the values that unite our community: Opposition to this horrific violence, and a commitment to Israeli/Palestinian partnership on the path to ending it, and achieving peace and equality.”

So even at this dark time, we dare to hope that we are not alone and many people still believe in collective humanity and, instead of alienating one another, will work to help bring some light. If we are wrong, those fueled by hate have already won.

Rana Shalhoub is a third-year law student, a teaching assistant and a board member of the International Law Society at Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles. Hila Keren is the associate dean for research and a professor of law at Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.


Opinion

I'm a Palestinian. I condemn Hamas and advocate for Israeli and Palestinian human rights.

Nahed Artoul Zehr

The Tennessean
Tue, October 17, 2023 

I’m a Christian Palestinian who was born in Israel. I emigrated to the United States with my family when I was 6 and I have loved America ever since. My husband, Joel, and I moved to Nashville almost 12 years ago – our three children are “native” Nashvillians. This is home.

As a Palestinian, a Christian, a mother, and a human being, I condemn the atrocities committed by Hamas in Israel. My heart bleeds for every Israeli person affected by these events, and I feel the fear and pain of my Jewish friends as if it were my own.

I vehemently decry any action whose intended outcome is the loss of civilian life. The direct targeting of civilians, whether done by military or insurgency forces, is not only a war crime but a crime against humanity. As a person of faith I would say it is a crime against God.

I wish my condemnation and pain stopped there. I wish I could write a period at the end of those sentences and feel that my sense of justice has been satisfied. Like everyone else, I, too, want to be on the right side of history.

The fact of the matter is, this conflict is not binary. There is no “side” to stand with because the dignity and humanity of 9 million Israelis (20% of whom are ethnically Palestinian) and 5 million Palestinians living in the Palestinian Territories under military occupation is at stake.

There is no “side.” This is, plainly put, a human struggle.
The conflict in the Middle East has reached another tipping point

The history of this struggle is complex and the multiple parties involved often take great liberties with historical facts. I will not provide that history here except to say that this is a modern conflict.


The widely disseminated myth that this struggle goes back to biblical times is uninformed at best and manipulative at worst. The notion that this is a pitting of Islam versus Judaism suffers from the same shaky ground.

This is a struggle for land, for survival, and for self-determination. It’s a struggle for a place to call home – a place to raise one’s children and to give them roots steeped in history and tradition, and to give them opportunities for a life well lived. This is what’s at stake for Israelis and Palestinians.

Readers react to Israel-Hamas war: On Israel war, readers question generalizations of Muslims and congressional bombast

As Israelis begin the process of recovering from Hamas’s attack, it is imperative to remember that the stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. How they choose to respond will have a cataclysmic – no, an existential – effect both for their humanity as well as that of the Palestinians. The conflict has reached another tipping point.

Israeli forces declared the state of Israel in 1948, expelling masses of Palestinians from their homes and forcing them into refugee camps and exile. Since the Six Day War of 1967, Palestinians have been living under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Effectively, both areas have become open air prisons, with the Israeli government controlling the borders, as well as access to water, electricity, and medical supplies. Palestinians in the Occupied Territories are routinely subject to the brutality of Israel’s military, whose indiscriminate use of force and immoral tactics have been documented repeatedly by third party observers and human rights organizations.
There is too much at stake for Palestinians and Israelis alike

And now, the Gaza Strip, home to over 2 million people living in an area that’s approximately one-fourth the size of Davidson County, is being bombed indiscriminately – with many simply unable to leave because they are poor and destitute and do not have anywhere else to go. They are stateless – strangers in their own land. This, too, is a crime against God.

A better Middle East is possible: Palestinian state supporters should all condemn Hamas terrorist attack against Israel

We cannot succumb to the temptation of intellectual apathy – reducing the complexity of this struggle and its accompanying humanitarian crisis to a post on our social media feeds.

How can we choose the humanity of one group of people over another because we want to take a "stand?"

There is too much at stake – for the Palestinians and the Israelis – and for all of us. This is not the time to abandon our moral compass and fall prey to the trap of tribal mentality, where we become quick to prioritize retaliation to satisfy and ease our fear and pain.

This will occur at the expense of doing the immense work of building trust and easing tensions, of addressing the root causes - which is the only type of work that will give both Israelis and Palestinians a real future.



This is an opportunity to halt the cycle of violence – not continue it into perpetuity. If we lose our ability to see the dignity of Israelis and Palestinians as equally worthy of our concern and our support - if we do not take a “stand” for their collective humanity - we will all be lost.

Dr. Nahed Artoul Zehr holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Florida State University, was a professor at Western Kentucky University, executive director at Faith and Culture Center - Nashville, and is the founder of True Contributors, LLC. She lives in Nashville with her husband, Joel, their daughters Nurah and Nadeen, and their son, Saleem.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Israel at war: Protect human rights of Palestinians and Israelis alike

Our Jewish and Palestinian friends are hurting. We need to give them grace. | Opinion

Linda Blackford
Tue, October 17, 2023 

I have a text group with some of my dearest friends; we first met in sixth grade. Last week, a week after the Hamas attacks on Israel, one of them sent this text:

“Hello, my dearest, oldest friends. You know how when someone in your family dies and you’re walking around feeling utterly devastated and everyone else seems to think it’s just a normal day? That is in great part how I’ve felt this week.

“By the way, I am very well aware that it is an extremely complicated situation, and I have requisitely complicated feelings about it, but it can be very lonely being Jewish in the world.”

This gentle rebuke was a good wake-up call to me, full of my own busyness and worries.

The still-unfolding situation in Israel and Gaza may seem far away to many of us, but our Jewish and Palestinian friends are hurting right now, watching tragedy upon tragedy unfold.

We need to give them all compassion and grace.

On Tuesday, hundreds of Palestinians — many of them children — were killed by airstrikes hitting a hospital where many had sought shelter. Israel and Hamas blame each other for the blast. At a rally that night at Lexington’s courthouse, Summer Shalash held her own son, Dean, and blinked away tears.

She is hurting.

She had taken her children to the West Bank city of Ramallah this summer, where she and her husband still have many relatives. Gaza is less than two hours away.



“It’s crazy. You see your kids and then you see all those kids,” she said. “How do you explain it? Why are these kids dying? Why are they getting killed for no reason?”

Sheila Jelen is also hurting.

One of her oldest friends’ sons, Hersh Goldberg Polin, was taken hostage by Hamas after the group attacked an Israeli music festival. He tried to hide in a bomb shelter as Hamas fighters threw grenades and sprayed bullets into it. A witness who survived by playing dead said his arm below the elbow was blown off, but because he is an army medic, he had fashioned a tourniquet for it.

His mother, Rachel Goldberg, wrote about him and the shared pain of mothers in the New York TImes.

“And I would say this, then, as mother to other mothers,” she wrote. “If you see Hersh, please help him. I think about it a lot. I really think I would help your son, if he was in front of me, injured, near me.”

Jelen is director of the University of Kentucky Jewish Studies program, and says, too often, the situation between Israelis and Palestinians is narrowed down to black and white.

“I really believe there’s only one way out of this, to remember we live in a world full of humans,” she said. “It’s a very sensitive hot button issue ... Israelis have lost a lot of people, and Palestinians have lost a lot of people.”

Heba Suleiman is hurting.

She is thinking about friends marooned in Gaza without running water or electricity, and friends in other Palestinian towns that have been shut down.

“We sit and watch and we can’t do anything about it,” she said. “What’s going to happen to the people of Gaza if you don’t give them water?”

Danit Schachman feels relieved that she is back in Lexington, but also a little guilty at all the people she left behind.

She’s a 17-year-old high school student from Lexington who was doing a semester at a school outside Tel Aviv. Her program was on a field trip in Jerusalem when the sirens went off, and she and her classmates spent the day going in and out of the bomb shelter.


She and her parents lived through the terror of sirens, of uncertainty, of fear. She was evacuated to Europe and then home again.

“I feel pretty guilty for leaving Israel because I have family and friends who were not able to leave,” Danit said. “It’s just that it’s hard to wrap my head around that I’m home. It’s really hard to swallow what’s going on in Israel. It’s horrible and I never thought I would experience anything like this.”


Ashraf Shalash is also feeling some guilt because he can no longer watch the news.

“My heart is broken because I’m seeing all these innocent children dying,” he said. “I can’t do anything. I don’t feel like working, I don’t feel like doing anything.”

This hideous scenario is decades in the making, hugely complicated and hard to understand, especially for many of us who are unconnected to these kinds of homelands by religion or ancestry. It would be easy to ignore. But right now, all we need to do is show we care.

Rabbi David Wirtschafter is in pain.

He has been trying to comfort his congregation at Temple Adath Israel in Lexington while checking on friends and family in Israel.

“I think you can call on your friends of any faith who you know or fear to be impacted by this war, and let them know you’re thinking about them and worried about their loved ones, and you’re praying for peace and consolation at this terrible time,” he said.

“It is my hope that when the time is ripe there can be an interfaith gathering expressing sorrow at the terrible loss of life and offering prayers for peace.”

If you want to know more about the situation in Israel and Gaza, here are some introductory books recommended by UK professor Jelen.

▪ “Righteous Victims” by Benny Morris

▪ “The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East” by Sandy Tolan

▪ “The Israeli Palestinian Conflict: What Everyone Needs to Know” by Dov Waxman

▪ Side by Side: Parallel Histories of Israel-Palestine (edited volume)

▪ PBS Special: War in the Holy Land.

Why is it so hard for Palestinians to enter the U.S. as refugees?
Julia Ainsley
Tue, October 17, 2023 

Amid the Gaza conflict, Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail are advocating for a ban on any Palestinian refugees’ coming to the U.S. — but already very few Palestinians are admitted, and the Biden administration has no plans to change the status quo.

Out of more than 60,000 total refugees resettled in the U.S. in fiscal year 2023, 56 Palestinians were admitted. In the past 10 years, fewer than 600 Palestinians in all have come to the U.S. as refugees, according to the State Department.

The numbers are so low in large part because Palestinians cannot follow the same pathway into the U.S. as other nationalities. The 1951 Refugee Convention that established the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and defined the criteria for refugees around the world explicitly left out Palestinians living in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. The U.S. uses the refugee agency to identify potential refugees.


The U.N. has since established the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, but it provides only aid, not resettlement, according to its website.

Palestinians who do find their way to the U.S. as refugees may be coming from other parts of the world while they retain their Palestinian citizenship, or they may have been referred as refugees to the U.N. refugee agency by nongovernmental organizations, according to the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, which provides support to refugees entering the U.S.

A spokesperson for the Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service told NBC News neither it nor other traditional refugee advocacy organizations have called for raising the number of Palestinians admitted to the U.S. because of the international rules complicating their resettlement.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, accused one of his opponents, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, of trying to “import” Palestinians into the U.S.

Speaking Tuesday on SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show,” DeSantis renewed his calls to block Palestinian refugees.

“The average person in Gaza that’s been taught to hate Jews, you know, their view is they don’t necessarily want their own state. What they seek is the destruction of the Jewish state. And that is not limited to Hamas. That is a widespread, deeply embedded belief amongst Palestinian Arabs in the Gaza Strip,” DeSantis said.

In Congress, Republican Reps. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin and Andy Ogles of Tennessee introduced the Guaranteeing Aggressors Zero Admission Act, or the GAZA Act, which would prevent the Biden administration from issuing visas to people with Palestinian Authority passports.

Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency has no plans to change the refugee admission process for people from Gaza or to create special programs to speed processing for Israelis who may want to come to the U.S.

Former President Donald Trump also said this week that he would extend his travel ban to Gaza if he is re-elected.

Trump claimed on Truth Social last week that members of Hamas, the terrorist organization in Gaza responsible for carrying out the attacks on Israel, were “pouring” over the southern U.S. border.

A DHS official said the idea that members of Hamas are “pouring” across the border or that the numbers have increased recently is false. The exact number of recent border crossers who are associated with Hamas remains classified.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com