Alas, here are the prefaces. I am Jewish, have been to Israel three times and know people who were directly impacted by the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. The attacks were brutal, cruelly targeting children and other civilians. Unforgivably, hundreds of Israelis remain hostages nearly six months later.
I'm also a civil rights attorney and advocate. I have studied international human rights and international humanitarian law. Many experts have denounced the excesses, cruelties and recklessness of the way Israel's government has conducted the war in Gaza. I am horrified that tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed, and I want it to stop.
Indeed, there are those of us in the Jewish community who feel torn between these seemingly competing sympathies. We desperately want to be able to hold our own pain as Jews experiencing yet another horrific act of violence and our pain at bearing witness to unthinkable suffering in Gaza.
Many Jews consider themselves Zionists or "pro-Israel" and see the humanity of Palestinians, have called for a ceasefire and yearn for a two-state solution and an end to the decades-old occupation.
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