The Peace Dance

For the last two weeks our attention has focused on Israel. Images of explosions, young soldiers, and rockets flying through the air have formed the collage of news coming out of Israel. For those of us with friends and families in Israel these have been tense days of constant phone calls and e-mails as we keep asking the rhetorical question: “are you ok?” Maybe we have also paused to wonder the consequences for ourselves: “what will happen if a wider war starts?” If these are questions that we ask with a voice of fear and uncertainty, I would ask you to try to imagine the mood in Israel. Unable to send young children to school, worrying  if older children will be part of a ground campaign into Gaza, or maybe just waiting anxiously for the next siren blast. Between the siren and the sound of the missile hitting must be an unbearable few seconds that seem like a lifetime.

It goes without saying that the worst fear is giving in to fear. Can any of us imagine the bravery it takes to get up in the morning and try to pursue a “normal day” under such circumstances? How many of us could answer that challenge? I remind you, if it need be said at all, that the only thing that keeps Israelis going is their resolve to live in a Jewish homeland. A determination to a cause that is even more precious than life itself- the future of Medina Yisrael. I am afraid that our own commitments to the Jewish future looks very pale when compared to the bravery of an average Israeli who is just trying to get through another day with the hope that it will be one day closer to a ceasefire if not to a real, lasting peace.

When all is said and done what is it that we ask? Just a place to live in security. Just a small piece of land to which we have, as a people, been connected to for the past four thousand years. In the struggle of these past two weeks we can never forget that.  As I write this column Hillary Clinton is in Israel, there is a “secret” envoy from Israel who has gone to Egypt for talks, there have been “ceasefires” that did not last. There has also been a lot of second guessing about why the battle escalates. In the end all of this talk and the attending effort boil down to one question- who really wants peace and who really wants war. Israel wants peace. The Palestinians want Israel. It really is that simple. There is no room for self doubt or ambiguity. Hamas is a group of terrorists fighting to destroy Israel. There is no chance for peace as long as Arab children are taught to murder Jews. There is no peace unless two parties can agree. The Peace Dance is bound to fail under the present circumstances – it takes two to tango and every day the Palestinians make it clearer that they have no desire to be a partner.