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I'm Done Apologizing for Israel

(Huffington Post) Rabbi Menachem Creditor - I am a progressive American rabbi who leans left pretty hard. So, when it comes to Israel, many of those with whom I engage in social reform expect me to react to Israel's military actions in Gaza with scorn and criticism. To those who suggest that Prime Minister Netanyahu is over-reacting to the missiles, I offer this response: Israel is risking Israeli lives in surgical strikes to destroy weapons-smuggling tunnels created with building materials Israel allowed into Gaza for infrastructure projects to benefit Palestinian society. Israel has agreed to two humanitarian cease-fires. In the first hours of those ceasefires, Hamas rained down over 70 missiles onto Israel civilians. Israel is doing its best, sacrificing its own children to preserve the lives of Palestinians I am done trying to apologetically explain Jewish morality. I am done apologizing for my own Jewish existence. Having watched in this last week anti-Semitic "die-ins" in Boston, violent assaults against Jews in Los Angeles and Antwerp, and an almost pogrom at a synagogue in Paris, I'm done mincing my own words. We will do what we must to protect our people. We have that right. We are not less deserving of life and quiet than anyone else. No more apologies.
2014-07-22 00:00:00
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