Friends --
I’ve just returned from a congressional delegation to Israel and the West Bank sponsored by the J Street Education Fund -- and I wanted to share two sets of images with you.
Taken just a week apart, they showcase two starkly different visions for Israel.
The first set is distressing.
Accompanied by IDF soldiers and dogs, far-right settlers break into a newly renovated children’s playground in Susya in the West Bank, intent on intimidating local Palestinian children and families.
The images are repellant. A defilement of every value I personally believe a just, democratic homeland for the Jewish people should embody.
But the second set of photos gives me hope.
Just one week later, they show our congressional delegation at the very same playground.
Members of Congress and J Street staff playing with children, speaking with locals and learning about the nuances, challenges and complexities of life for Palestinians and Israelis first-hand.
These two scenes illustrate two remarkably divergent visions for the future.
One rooted in control, discrimination, intimidation and injustice. The other rooted in equality, respect and peace. A vision of a just, secure and democratic Israel living alongside an independent state of Palestine. A vision of principled, values-driven US leadership to help get us there.
From Washington to Jerusalem to Ramallah, J Street is one of the few organizations dedicated to exploring the complexities of this conflict with unflinching nuance and empathy.
When you see members of Congress with tears in their eyes as they witness the occupation up close, you realize the impact we’re making. “I’ve been to Israel before, but I’ve never seen this,” is a familiar refrain from policymakers, lawmakers and their staff.
Whether it’s speaking with the families of those killed in conflict and terror attacks, seeing the occupation up close in cities like Hebron, or looking at the terrifying impact of Hamas rocket fire on towns in the Israeli south, ours is a trip that doesn’t pull any punches.
Thanks to JSEF’s Len Hill Education Program, our delegations visit Yad Vashem and the Old City of Jerusalem, speak with diplomatic and security experts, sit down with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and meet with inspiring pro-peace activists on both sides of the Green Line. Most importantly, they meet the everyday Israelis and Palestinians whose lives are impacted most by the cycle of injustice, violence and retaliation.
Trip by trip, meeting by meeting, office by office, our movement is transforming American leaders’ understanding of the situation -- and rallying support for the principled, pro-Israel, pro-peace leadership necessary to build a better future.
We may yet have a long road to travel, but we should have no doubt that this sustained, powerful work is making a deep and lasting impact.
Together, we’re working toward a future in which the children in playgrounds from Susya to Jerusalem to Gaza to Tel Aviv can play without worrying about intimidation or rocket sirens, can dream of a future without fear or limitation, and can grow up to achieve their full potential.
Together, we’re challenging our leaders to help secure the promise of Israel as a just, democratic and peaceful homeland for the Jewish people -- and a future in which Palestinians have every equal measure of security, justice, peace, freedom and self-determination.
Thank you, sincerely, for being a part of this fight.
Yours
Jeremy Ben-Ami
President, J Street
