news article
Commentary: Peace movement revived in Israel
July 25, 2024 / By Rev. Dr. Gary E. Doupe / .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
The following commentary was written by the Rev. Dr. Gary E. Doupe on behalf of the UNY Task Force for Palestine-Israel. The views expressed in this article are of the task force, not of Bishop Burgos Núñez or any Upper New York staff member.
Hope is the thing with feathers.
That perches in the soul.
And sings the tune without the words.
And never stops at all. (courtesy Emily Dickinson)
Emily Dickinson’s much-quoted lines about hope suggest the still-potent power of a dream denied that stubbornly refuses to go away.
Nelson Mandela, on breaking the power of intractable injustice, said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
I take hope very seriously.
Since Greek antiquity, legendary figures like Icarus dreamed of flying. It never happened—until 1903 at Kitty Hawk.
In the field of technology, almost everyone is an optimist. We have seen the presumably impossible become possible, time after time after time.
Even social transformation is much less rare than we once thought. But hopes may be dashed, and we fear the risk of disappointment.
Recent news stories describe a rally held in Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 1, 2024, in which enthusiasts in the thousands supported revival of a peace movement among Palestinians and Israelis:
The Time Has Come event, held at Menora Mivtachim Arena, brought together all corners of Israel’s beleaguered left ranging from older, established groups like Peace Now to more recently founded movements such as Standing Together. --The Times of Israel, July 2, 2024
A Palestinian journalist from Jerusalem, Yanal Jbareen, described the conference in Tel Aviv as a “firm rejection of Israel’s ultranationalists. …it is the time to unite — Arabs and Jews. Despair is no action plan, peace is the word.” (Ibid.)
Eighteen-year-old Jewish activist Yona Roseman, a volunteer with Mesarvot (a network of Israeli draft refusers) echoed Jbareen, describing the rally as “an attempt to create a united, ideologically vast camp in a very grand and publicized manner.” (Ibid.)
No one was confused about the weakness of Israel’s peace advocates in recent years, and especially during the months since the attacks by Hamas and by the Israeli Defense Force on Gaza.
Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari was blunt. "The bitter truth about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that each side fears the other is trying to annihilate it, and both sides are right." (Ibid.)
Yet Harari was unwilling to surrender the hope of a better future. "It’s true, we have tried to make peace in the past, and we weren’t good at it. So what? We also haven’t been very successful in making war, which doesn’t prevent us from trying again and again. All these wars have led us into an abyss. The time has come to make peace." (Ibid.)
War is always a disaster, even when someone “wins.” Success in war brings death.
Joining with those who seek peace, creating a space for all to live and thrive, supporting them with our prayers, hopes, dreams, and endurance, is what we do as followers of the prince of peace.
Try this: at weekly worship in your congregation, share the story of peace-making in Israel-Palestine, and pray—believing peace will come.