Abdullah Elsharkawy leads a Jummah prayer for peace in Palestine with American Muslims for Palestine, Palestine Advocacy League and Jewish Voice for Peace at the state Capitol in October - RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com
Sacramento Jewish and Muslim Leaders: All Palestinian and All Jewish Lives Matter |
By Darrell Steinberg and Shoab Siddique
Sacramento, CA
Nothing we say or do in Sacramento may change the course of the war for Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. But there are other compelling reasons for our Muslim and Jewish communities to speak out together.
Many things make Sacramento such a special place to live, but none are more important than the way we treat each other. In good times and in bad, through both times of celebration and in light of despicable hate crimes, the region’s diverse communities — including Jewish and Muslim individuals — have stood shoulder to shoulder. We are friends and have always sought to model love, inclusion and support as the world grows darker.
That history is now threatened by obvious community divisions that have arisen since October 7.
ANTI-SEMITISM AND ISLAMOPHOBIA ON THE RISE
Many in the Jewish community see the terrible rise in anti-Semitism, including on college campuses, and the refusal of leaders from diverse groups to condemn anti-Semitism without qualifications as a shocking reminder of historic reality. The Holocaust happened in the modern 20th Century, and the world’s oldest prejudice never goes away. Israel remains the hope that Jews can live safely and freely and never again face threats to our very existence. Many in the Jewish community are rightfully offended by the spoken views of some Muslim American and progressive leaders who have said that while the deaths of innocent Israelis is unfortunate, the plight of Palestinians justifies the October 7th massacre. That implicit and sometimes explicit justification stokes the community’s central fear that Jewish lives are easily expendable. But there is no moral justification for Hamas’ terrorist attack on October 7.
The Muslim American community understandably fears the terrible rise of Islamophobia. Recent heinous acts of Islamophobia — including the murder of a six-year-old Muslim American boy in Illinois in October and the shooting of three Palestinian American college students speaking Arabic in Vermont just last month — shocked our collective conscience.
DIVIDED OPINIONS ON ISRAEL
Americans of diverse backgrounds look at the massive growth of West Bank settlements, Israel’s right-wing government and its clear policy to control and subjugate Palestinians in the West Bank and ask: “Where are the voices from the Jewish community and supporters of Israel to condemn and call out these policies?” There can never be a two-state solution so long as settlers guided by religious zealotry govern Israel.
And of course, many ask: “Why can’t Israel deal with Hamas without the massive loss of innocent lives, including children in Gaza?” It’s a right and fair question. Some advocates in our country, including in Sacramento, have attempted to put forth resolutions which call for a ceasefire and articulate basic human values — that the deaths of all innocents are not only tragic, but wrong. That universal sentiment is laudable, but not enough to reduce divisions as both sides have strong convictions about whose version of history is most correct and who is most responsible for the suffering of so many on both sides. No matter one’s position, a candid sharing of views can be perilous. Reaching out and acknowledging the other side’s history can result in your own family, religious faith and political and community allies harshly criticizing you for not standing strong for your side.
There are multiple perspectives. No matter the cost, we must try harder to both educate and advocate for our own beliefs and acknowledge that there is also genuine truth on the other side.
What is wrong always is wrong. We can’t pick and choose when it is convenient for us to speak up.
SUPPORT A CEASEFIRE AND TWO-STATE SOLUTION
Our community can once again model a different way by intentionally working harder to see the complexity of the situation and saying out loud what many believe but are unwilling to say. The conventional wisdom says the way to bridge the divide in our communities is to avoid complicated politics and, instead, focus only on our common humanity. If only it were that simple. In truth, we cannot avoid politics and questions of leadership when the failure of leadership leads to the very results that divide us.
This conflict will not be resolved militarily. It will be resolved politically when wise, courageous and visionary leaders on both sides replace backwards thinking leaders in charge today. May that happen sooner rather than later for the sake of many innocent civilian lives on both sides. So long as Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remain in power, there is no chance for a real peace, a long-term mutual ceasefire and a two-state solution. Hamas has never represented the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians. Who builds underground tunnels to hide and protect themselves while exposing its people to poverty and a predictable response to the killing of 1,200 innocent people?
Israel and its supporters have rightfully maintained that even if there were a possibility for peace, there has never been a willing partner on the Palestinian side. Israel is a democracy, but Netanyahu and his extreme government have done everything to stand in the way of the possibility of peace. The intentional expansion of settlements in the name of religion, galling attempts to weaken Israel’s judiciary in order to enable more settlements and the usurpation of the rights of Arabs, Palestinians and even reform Jews is antithetical to both peace and religious and ethical values.
The doom cycle only embitters new generations of Palestinians — the very generations Israel needs to make peace with. Israel has no true future as a Jewish state unless it ultimately finds a peaceful resolution with its Palestinian neighbors. All Palestinian and all Jewish lives matter. We have the chance to create a different conversation in our communities and our campuses, and we must promote a new set of principles that turns adversaries into allies. Imagine a unified message in 2024 that asserts something different than the current divisive argument and points.
Let us start with a universal call for new leadership on both sides dedicated to peace, security and justice for Israelis and Palestinians. Let us demand that the world help rebuild Gaza without Hamas and with an Israeli government that recommits to two states and an end to settlements. Let us also insist on a new American compact — especially on college campuses — that both respects free speech and uses the same principles to strongly and consistently condemn anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. Let’s uplift and seek to unify Jewish and Muslim students against threats posed by prejudice and hate.
A MORE UNITED SACRAMENTO
Here in our community, we must embrace one another. In 1999, when two white supremacists firebombed three Jewish synagogues in Sacramento and then murdered a prominent gay couple in their Redding home in a violent and despicable act of homophobia, the community stood together against hate. When our Muslim brothers and sisters were targeted after 9/11, the community stood together as well. Our community has never wavered from our fundamental belief that we far outnumber those who seek to spread hate and divide us. We will always defeat these divisive beliefs when we speak up, stand together and speak out.
“We are not enemies, but friends,” President Abraham Lincoln famously said. “We must not be enemies.” Let’s do our part in California’s capital city to tell the truth, heal our wounds and change our own community conversation toward a lasting peace.
In the end, the only choice for Israelis and Palestinians is to wage peace, not war. That can only be done if both sides reeducate themselves to negotiating a two-state solution, in which Israel and Palestine live side by-side in peace and security.
(Darrell Steinberg is the mayor of Sacramento. Shoab Siddique is a local physician and a current board member of the Sacramento Council of American Islamic Relations. His opinion is his own. This story was originally published December 22, 2023 in The Sacramento Bee. - Courtesy The Sacramento Bee)
