I went to Israel and the West Bank and came back with a message: Let’s build together and stop screaming at each other

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I just returned from a profound and painful journey to Israel and the West Bank. As a rabbi, living in the U.S. and leading the congregation at Temple Beth El in Aptos, I felt it was important for me to witness how people are coping with the pain of war, terror and loss with my own eyes and listen with an open, broken heart. 

As a local rabbi, I am interested in dialogue and listening. I have heard some criticize me for not saying enough about this terrible war. I had to go to see for myself before I could speak with authority.  

I wanted to learn how best to support the people who are trying to hold the Israeli government and its leaders accountable for how they are conducting this war in Gaza, the efforts they are making to bring the 100-plus hostages home and how they are helping those in need with food, water and medical care. 

I wanted to know how best to help my congregants and myself in these heartbreaking times. 

I wish I had clear answers. What I do have is a changed perspective and I want to share this with you. The one thing I am certain about is this ongoing war needs to end through a bilateral cease-fire. There should not be an invasion of Rafah, the hostages need to be returned immediately, and aid workers must be protected so that those in need are fed and cared for. 

My connection to Israel is deep. During my junior year in college, I lived on a kibbutz outside Jerusalem. This kibbutz was next to Abu Gosh, an Arab village that has always had a reciprocal, mutually beneficial relationship with the kibbutz. We worked with people from this village, ate with them and celebrated weddings together. I was there when President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Prime Minister Menachim Begin of Israel signed the peace treaty in 1979. Hope seemed so real then.

Fast forward 30 years when I traveled to Israel and Palestine with Rabbis for Human Rights, North America, now called T’ruah. We went to Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and other places where inequality was distressing. I witnessed and began to understand the occupation and was impressed at how rabbis like Arik Asherman were accompanying and trying to protect Palestinians in the West Bank from the violence of the settlers who were uprooting their vineyards and interrupting their olive harvests. This new understanding motivated me to serve on the board of Rabbis for Human Rights for 10 years.  

I have brought groups of Santa Cruz locals to see what I have seen and continue to work with organizations that do the hard work of peacemaking on the ground.

After the terror attack on Oct. 7 and the ensuing war, I decided I had to go to Israel, to see what is happening myself. In the past, I have worked with a tour agency called MEJDI, (Arabic for “to honor”) that believes travel can be a force for peace. Founded in 2009 by two friends – Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian from Jerusalem, and Scott Cooper, an American Jew – the tour group honors diverse points of views and experiences and works to encourage mutual understanding. That is why I chose it. It prides itself on “dual narrative” tours that showcase places of conflict, like Northern Ireland, Chile and, of course, the Holy Land. 

A MEJDI organizer opened my latest trip by sharing how it felt at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 7, when she learned her closest friend had been kidnapped by Hamas. It was moving and terrifying and united us to imagine how it would feel to have a loved one suddenly taken. Her friend got released in a hostage exchange on Nov. 24, but more than 100 people are still being held captive.

We then met with a Palestinian minister who shared the pain of his family in Gaza. He lives and serves a congregation in Bethlehem. He told us that every day, members of his church hear about family members who have been killed or displaced in Gaza. The terror and loss is unimaginable. 

Later, we had a Zoom meeting with a Palestinian graduate student from Gaza who is now living in Wisconsin. He was able to get out of Gaza and, after raising $25,000, through GoFundMe, family and friends, he secured passage to Egypt for his wife and two children, who are now, he says, safe. He is still trying to bring them to the U.S.

We met with Combatants for Peace, whose leaders are both Palestinian and Israeli and together they are working to build compassion and care across Jewish Israeli and Palestinian barriers. They are dedicated to nonviolence and showing the world there is a way to work together for a better future.

Aisha Alziyadna from Idan Hanegev is a Bedouin woman working to support her community. She opened our time together by showing us a YouTube video of a Jewish Israeli woman sharing how four Bedouin men saved her life on Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked. The men told their part of the story as well. It was vivid and harrowing. It was also clear to all of us that the men never questioned rescuing this woman. They did it out of instinct, because they felt compelled. 

They acted from a place of care and responsibility for human life. 

Aisha has family in Gaza who have had to evacuate repeatedly. She also has Bedouin friends who were seized on Oct. 7 and are still held hostage in Gaza. She cried often as she spoke and we were all moved by the daily heartbreak and fear she lives with. She has chosen to push back by working to improve lives and serve needy people in her community as she can.

Maoz Inon is an Israeli social and peace entrepreneur. He has founded several projects in Israel and in the Middle East based on building hope and peace. Both of his parents were murdered on Oct. 7. Maoz has the right to be angry, to seek revenge.  And yet, he is taking the opposite path. He is working with Palestinian shepherds in the West Bank to try to keep them safe. Maoz said that forgiveness for the past and present is essential, but we can’t forgive for the future. He insists we work now to assure a better future of peace for all. 

He sees grief as an opening for change. He calls for an end to the war, for Hamas to return the hostages, for reconciliation, security and safety. He wants to find ways to collectively mourn and build trust and honesty.

If Maoz can do this, so can we. 

Locally, we need to stop throwing our anger at each other. 

I am devastated by the pain I saw and heard from so many people we met. And it is clear to me that all of us who care for human life and safety must stop reacting from our fear and anger. The people we met are not asking for revenge. They are holding deep pain and trauma, and they are asking us to elevate their voices for peace and justice. For recognition of all. 

I firmly believe we need to support the messages from groups like Standing Together, Combatants for Peace and A Land for All. These groups are Palestinians and Israelis working together toward peace, coexistence and education. We need to model ourselves on them, learn from them and listen.

Some, including those in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, have criticized this work as not radical enough. But these groups and leaders face the realities of the war every single moment of every single day. They live it. We should listen. I have brought them to present to our congregation and will continue to bring such activists here to help us find meaningful action toward peace.

There are also innovative proposals for how to move forward. We can learn about and advocate for these ideas. Here is just one example, which calls for the gradual establishment of a demilitarized, peaceful Palestinian state and the foundation of a U.S-led regional alliance of moderates. The process is outlined in stages and requires international support; Israel and Palestine cannot be left up to their own devices. This plan builds upon what has worked in the past and includes improved possibilities that correct what has failed.

Some of the ideas include:

• Convening an international peace conference.
• Establishing an international-regional alliance, led by the United States, with the participation of European and Arab countries.
• Updating economic agreements.
• Promoting paths to Palestinian statehood.
• Preparing the ground for a final settlement.

Let’s find ways to build together instead of screaming. If they can do it there, we must do it here.

Rabbi Paula Marcus has served as senior rabbi of Temple Beth El in Aptos since 2016. She sees activism and social justice as key to Jewish values. She served on the national board of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, and has facilitated numerous justice-oriented workshops in the Bay Area. She is one of the co-founders of Out in Our Faith, an interfaith LGBTQ network, and a leader in the Santa Cruz interfaith Tent of Abraham Project. She has lived in Santa Cruz County for over 40 years.