What to Do?

Another Difficult Conversation 

After the Memorial Day barbecue, the conversation got around to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There were eight of us in the conversation, two Jews and six Catholics – all non-religious, and all independent thinkers.

Not surprisingly, the range of opinions on the current conflict was wide. But the strongest supporters of Israel’s response to the Hamas attack came from two of the ex-Catholics.

The Jewish interlocutors were supportive of Israel’s right to exist, but critical of Netanyahu’s policies, and in particular of the encroachment of Israeli compounds in the West Bank.

One told an interesting story of a conversation she had with a small group of Jewish and Muslim women about this conflict. She said that when she articulated her views, the Muslim women were stunned. They said they had never encountered a Jewish person speaking critically of Israel.

Of my Jewish-American friends and colleagues, I can think of only one that supports Israel unequivocally. The rest have more complicated views.

Later that night, I came across this piece in Taki’s Magazine that gave some added detail and dimension to the conundrum of What to Do.