FOR invites you to join us next Tuesday, November 21st for our monthly Gathering Voices event as I speak to Raja Khouri and Jeffrey Wilkinson, the authors of the groundbreaking new book “The Wall Between: What Jews and Palestinians Don’t Want to Know About Each Other”. The book, released just a few days before October 7, offers concrete ways for Jews and Palestinians to speak (and listen) differently to each other — how needed this is right now cannot be overstated.
“That this book even exists is remarkable,” raved Peter Beinart. It’s extraordinarily difficult for a Palestinian and a Jew to write a book that fairly conveys the dominant mood in both communities about Palestine – Israel. But this book not only exists – it’s wise, engaging and deeply humane. It will prove an essential text in bringing diaspora Jews and Palestinians together in the justice movement that this moment demands,” he stated.
Since the horrific massacres on October 7, people have been choosing sides like it’s a football game. But, it’s not. Lives and the future and safety of all people in Israel/Palestine are the stakes. Right now, one child in Gaza is dying every ten minutes. The unprecedented vitriol that is manifesting on university campuses and social media isn’t moving us any closer to peace. What is needed instead is reconciliation based on justice and the inherent worth of all people. All of us, whether Israeli or Palestinian, Jewish, Muslim, or Christian, are created in the image of G-d.
This inspiring book presents Arabs and Jews with the challenge of seeing the “other” as we want them to see us – fully human, with our hurts, history, and hopes for the future,” said Dr. James Zogby, president and founder of the Arab American Institute. “It is a pure application of Martin Buber on the importance of forming ‘I-Thou relationships’ because when we recognize the humanity of others, it enhances our own humanity, as well.
