Hopes for the Jewish New Year 5786: “The Possibility of Beginning Again”
Clearly, it will be the people who can hold two narratives simultaneously that will lead the fight for change in the “Holy Land.”
Category: Human Rights
Human Rights stories
American Jews Say “No More” in NYC Rally
A long-time fixture in New York politics and former President of the human rights organization, American Jewish World Service, Ruth Messinger, told me, “I’m here because Torah states we can’t stand idly by. Starvation is not an appropriate weapon of war.”
“Postcards to Hitler:” A Story of Individual Resistance
Reading Postcards to Hitler: A German Jew’s Defiance in a Time of Terror during the first one hundred days of the Trump regime, it was impossible not to see the equivalencies to America and to feel inquietude at the parallels.
The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians Don’t Want to Know About Each Other
Khouri and Wilkinson advocate for a commitment to “deep listening,” stressing that engaging with stories from the other side will allow a shift from prioritizing internalized viewpoints to being open to new perspectives despite the angst it triggers.
Standing Together Leaders Abed and Green Lay Out a New Vision: “We’re In This Together”
With Jewish extremists trying to present Palestinian citizens of Israel as a fifth column, Standing Together is focusing on the de-escalation of those inflammatory messages, reframing the dialogue with their code words: “We’re in this together.”
Kate Nace Day: Fighting Sexual Trafficking as a Professor, Filmmaker, and Author
Explaining the genesis of her book, Day said, “I’m trying to memorialize what the average person should know about sex trafficking.”
On the Ground: Protesting the Israeli Occupation and Bibi
Rabbi Jill Jacobs of T’ruah gave the final speech. An article in Haaretz recently profiled her as one of the new female leaders challenging the entrenched structure of the male Jewish legacy organizations. She told the demonstrators, “It’s important for me to be here. We’re dealing with a settler government. Occupation is destroying Judaism.” She referenced the Biblical metaphor: “A calf doesn’t have to be golden. It can be a state.”
“How To Make a Revolution” – Documentary Play Examines Israeli Military Court System
Perhaps the top takeaway was Amro’s statement, “American Jews can make a difference.” He added, “I depend on your support. We all have a dream.”
New Documentaries Explore Censorship and Suppression of History in Israel
The documentaries by these two filmmakers have the explicit goal of questioning the legacy histories put into play by the Israeli government and hasbara proponents. Following in the footsteps of the Israeli New Historians, directors Karnit Mandel and Assaf Banitt have endeavored to show the Israeli public the realities of “nation-building.”
Canadian Jason Sherman Examines the Legacy of the Jewish National Fund in Documentary “My Tree”
Sherman is left to reflect upon the import of what he has learned. He asks rhetorically, “Now that I knew the truth, what was I going to do about it?”
