Brad Lander
I talked with @DanaBashCNN today about what a Jewish and democratic Israel — consistent with its own Declaration of Independence, and something I long to see — would actually look like. A few key points: 1. Israel can't be a genuine democracy while it's occupying the West Bank & Gaza and denying civil & political rights to Palestinians there, fully half the people under its rule. 2. Like B’Tselem, Omer Bartov, and the Lemkin Institute, I think — with deep sadness — that Israel's conduct in Gaza meets the definition of genocide. But even if you don’t, it’s profoundly inconsistent with the Jewish value that every one of those Palestinian kids were created in the image of God, just like ours. 3. The freedom, safety & thriving of both Israelis and Palestinians is deeply intertwined. Israelis will not be safe until Palestinians are free. We need a U.S. foreign policy aimed firmly at making this real. Shabbat Shalom to everyone, and especially to everyone who refuses to compromise on anyone else’s humanity.