Can Ramadan save Gaza? Can Purim save Israel?

Can Ramadan save Gaza? Might as well also ask, Can Purim save Israel? Both Islam and Judaism have the Golden Rule and plenty of scripture that calls upon its followers to help create a more compassionate, just, and equitable world. Alas, history teaches us that people of faith are just as capable of being cruel, bitter, hateful, and plain mean as atheists.

The simplistic message in the Purim story is that anti-Semitism is evil, but it can also offer a more complex lesson about the evils of hatred and intolerance of all kinds.

As an American follower of Judaism, who grew up in Saudi Arabia, I know that a great many Arabs subscribe to anti-Semitic tropes, just as a great many American Christians and Jews subscribe to biases against Arabs and Muslims.

It is no surprise that many Arab Muslims, not all Arabs are Muslim mind you, and many Jewish people have sought a better life in the United States, with its Constitutional protections for freedom and equality.

If Congress ever gets around to fixing our nation's broken immigration policy, I hope and pray that it does so in a manner that respects our nation's multicultural heritage.

I grew up in a multicultural environment and it is one of the reasons that I do not look upon Arabs or Muslims as anything but people and like all people some are good, some are bad and some are just a tad bit weird. People are flawed, messy, and complicated, but mostly harmless.

“All people are born free and equal”, to quote from the International Bill of Human Rights, and that must apply equally to both the Palestinians and the Israelis, irrespective of their color, class, creed, party membership, disability, sex, sexual or gender identity.

I speak up when the Palestinian government violates human rights principles and I do the same when the Israeli government does the same. Instead of trying to be 'Pro-Palestinian' or 'Pro-Israeli' I strive to be 'Pro-People'.

Hamas is the closest thing to a democratically elected government in Palestine and I liken them to the American Klu Klux Klan.

They are right-wing and, as such, have done little to open up Palestinians to multiparty, liberal democracy and they have cracked down on civil liberties, particularly against Arab women and Arab members of the LGBTQ community and anything else that they deem to be against Islam.

It was no surprise to me that one of the first targets of Hamas on October 7^th was a peace festival patronized by young liberal-minded youth.

It is also no surprise to me that Hamas would commit atrocities against Israeli women, men, and children.

However, it is a surprise to me to see some seemingly intelligent people defend Hamas as being folksy, freedom fighters. Hamas is not, “pro-people” and its notion of “liberation” would violate the human rights of its people, as well as the rights of Israelis.

Yes, the current treatment of the Palestinian people, by a right-wing, Israeli government, does violate human rights principles, including internationally agreed to rules of war.

The Israeli right-wing, much like the Palestinian right-wing, feeds off of its voters' hatred, fear, and bitterness to do horrible things.

“Pro-people” voices do exist in the Middle East. Still, it is just so damn easy and profitable to point to Hamas and say, “See, all Arabs are savages and cannot be trusted”, or point to the corrupt and right-wing Israeli government and say, “See, all Jews are savages and cannot be trusted.”

Foreign governments need to stop funding these right-wing groups, be they Arab Hamas or the Jewish Likud. They need to take that money and start sending to pro-people nonprofits that are working towards a day when Palestine and Israel are two, separate democratic nations that respect the human rights of all.