Shut down the extremists controlling the Israel-Gaza narrative 

The ongoing war between Israel and Hamas is making our world feel off its axis, as if it has been taken over by extremists.

People don’t think clearly and there are no easy answers or simple solutions. This is a time of anxiety, sadness, and deep pain for many.

Recently, I returned from Israel and walked through the rubble of Kibbutz Beeri with survivors of the genocide. There were bullet holes in the walls, the door to the safe room had been blown out, and the burnt remains of the once vibrant house stood silent. Twisted metal and children’s toys litter the ground, evidence of the dire consequences of unchecked extremist ideology.

In northern Gaza, we witnessed destroyed buildings, the sound of machine gun fire in the distance, and bone-chilling close-in artillery fire. Smoke hung over the desolate landscape.

I returned to the United States deeply humbled by the realization of how little I understood about living under the constant threat of extinction from multiple directions. It is absurd and arrogant for people who have never experienced such realities to pretend to understand these cultures and worlds.

as the person in charge of jewish family service In Seattle, we’re seeing growing hostility toward Jews and the Jewish community.

For many Jews, the feeling of being attacked, misunderstood, and alone is pervasive, as criticism of the Israeli government often devolves into anti-Semitism. History is written in the present tense, and some people try to erase the truth because it doesn’t match their preferred narrative. Victims are erased, atrocities are denied, and fear is minimized. Words are abused and reality comes under attack.

Grief unites us all and manifests itself through the prism of human emotions: anger, sadness, denial, and confusion. Everyone is trying to make sense of the trauma they have experienced and continue to endure. We must overcome suffering without getting caught up in a spiral of fear.

It is all too easy to speak with righteous indignation without humility or a basic understanding that we live on the other side of the world. TikTok is not real, and ignorance is often mistaken for insight or indoctrination for the sake of education. Many of us constantly encounter people who have a complete lack of knowledge about the complex history of this region and the Jewish people.

We have become accustomed to a climate of hostility and threats justified under the guise of free speech and activism. At a time when we should be listening and trying to learn, too many are making vengeful declarations and meaningless resolutions that only serve to divide our communities into “us” and “them.” The proposal has been approved. Children at school are choosing between “Team Israel” and “Team Palestine” as if this were some dystopian spectator sport. We should all mourn that another generation’s innocence was stolen.

The lack of nuance and curiosity is troubling. People cling to simple narratives and fail to hold onto the multiple truths that both innocent Israelis and innocent Palestinians are suffering. It’s natural to feel conflicted, but you can’t be willfully blind.

When the hostage posters are taken down, the humanity of the Israelis disappears. As the region teeters on the brink of famine, ignoring the images coming out of Gaza does not make it any less real. When people try to have a conversation in good faith and are dismissed or demonized, that is nothing short of anti-Semitism.

Poster and graffiti with “” written on itdeath to zionismIt might be the same as saying “Death to the Jews.” Too many leaders hide instead of being appalled, and people shrug their shoulders, or worse, try to justify injustice. We must refuse to live in a simplistic, dualistic world that never existed.

I’m sorry that you can’t see the hate in the eyes of the people chanting in the streets. Those who teach a one-dimensional reality cannot hear the pain and confusion in the voices of their students. And those with blind ideologies are unable to recognize the increasingly hostile environment they are creating for their neighbors in our communities.

Slogans and propaganda are easy, but they are not reality. We would like to believe that we are pure and innocent, but the truth is that we all have blood on our hands. It is an illusion to believe otherwise.

We humans, living in a complex real world, must speak out and start marginalizing the extremes before it’s too late. We must condemn the harmful voices that normalize anti-Semitic rhetoric and allow fringe groups to dominate the conversation, no matter who they claim to represent. must not be allowed. We must speak out to our politicians, civic leaders, neighbors, and colleagues to stand up against those who erase, dehumanize, and reduce people to caricatures. Remaining silent risks dehumanizing us all.

In these difficult times, we need more humanity and curiosity, and less certainty. My hope is to strive to understand the reality of multiple narratives, even if we disagree. This is an incredibly difficult job, but building and maintaining relationships is the only path to a better future for everyone.

Rabbi Will Berkowitz is CEO of the Schocken Family of Jewish Family Services of Seattle.he is ex He is Repair the World’s senior vice president and resident rabbi.