I’m Done Apologizing for Israel – Rabbi Menachem Creditor (Huffington Post)
- (dailyalert.org, July 22, 2014)
- I am a progressive American rabbi who leans left pretty hard. So, when it comes to Israel, many of those with whom I engage in social reform expect me to react to Israel’s military actions in Gaza with scorn and criticism. To those who suggest that Prime Minister Netanyahu is over-reacting to the missiles, I offer this response:
- Israel is risking Israeli lives in surgical strikes to destroy weapons-smuggling tunnels created with building materials Israel allowed into Gaza for infrastructure projects to benefit Palestinian society.
- Israel has agreed to two humanitarian cease-fires. In the first hours of those ceasefires, Hamas rained down over 70 missiles onto Israel civilians. Israel is doing its best, sacrificing its own children to preserve the lives of Palestinians
- I am done trying to apologetically explain Jewish morality. I am done apologizing for my own Jewish existence. Having watched in this last week anti-Semitic “die-ins” in Boston, violent assaults against Jews in Los Angeles and Antwerp, and an almost pogrom at a synagogue in Paris, I’m done mincing my own words.
- We will do what we must to protect our people. We have that right. We are not less deserving of life and quiet than anyone else. No more apologies.