The situation in Palestine has become a litmus test for humanity, not just for Judaism. In the last few days we have seen a few signs of hope: the ban imposed by the U.S. on Francesca Albanese, special rapporteur for Palestine, has been lifted; the international court at The Hague has indicted Israeli minister Ben Gvir and other Israelis, in addition to Nethanyau, for crimes against humanity; the European governements as a whole are at last indignant against the Israeli government, even though lamentably only now, when dozens of their citizens belonging to the Sumud Flotilla have been kidnapped by Israel in international waters and subjected to degrading treatments.
Recently, however, we have also witnessed some horrible facts: the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) has approved a death penalty law for terrorists, which would possibly apply to all detained Palestinians, which are all classified as such; the government of Italy has refused to approve economic sanctions against Israel, in the form of a suspension of a EU free trade agreement, thus effectively halting a likely passing of the measure.
So many hands are full of blood! Not just those of Ben Gvir.
Many Jews in the course of the last three years have raised their voices against the horror perpetrated in the name of Judaism (see these DMs). Recently, in Milan, we have seen two Jewish groups coming head-to-head publicly for the first time: Jews for Peace and the Jewish Brigades. The latter, claiming to be the descendants of the Jews who fought the Nazis with the Allies in Italy in 1944-1945, tried to fly an Israeli flag. They willfully forgot that the State of Israel did not exist then. The flag was, of course, a provocation.
In any case, the Jews for Peace encouraged the crowd gathered on April 25, 2026, in Milan not to start the commemorative cortege until the Israeli flag was put away, and they succeeded! This kind of prophetic stance is so badly needed right now, even though some Italian Jews have been afraid of showing “disunity” within their small community.
A fearless Jewish advocate of the Palestinian cause in Italy is artist Salomone (Moni) Ovadia, who was made to resign his position in October 2023 as director of the theater of the city of Ferrara because of his stance. Ovadia has held since the mid-1990s the positions that most compassionate people in the world hold now, after the catastrophe in Gaza: that the Israeli project was a racist and colonial enterprise since its beginning; that Israel is in continuous breach of international law and has been occupying territories that do not belong to them for decades, including East Jerusalem; that Israeli propaganda has been very successful in presenting Israel as the victim, even when it is the aggressor; that Israel is an apartheid state and Palestinians have been rightfully resisting occupation for over 50 years. All of this has caused Ovadia to be ostracized by several Jewish associations in Italy, including the Union of Jewish Communities in Italy, which, unfortunately, by its stance of silence, has been complicit in the current genocidal practices.
These days, I often think about the well-informed and well-thought-out, yet still very personal, position of Israeli historian Ilan Pappé, who has predicted the demise of the state of Israel in the course of a few years, maybe two decades, and the birth in its place of a multicultural and multireligious real democracy. A one-state solution not because of ideological preconceptions — as his opponents accuse him — but because of a kind of realistic hopefulness which he embodies quite remarkably.
The Israeli/Palestine tragedy is defining our time, even though there are other, even bigger and forgotten humanitarian crises, such as that of Sudan. This tragedy, however, embodies the defeat of the West symbolically as a project, and possibly the birth of something entirely new.
We need the staunch resistance of somebody like Ovadia and the visionary realism of somebody like Pappé to be able to witness and hold together, in prayer, the conflicting news coming day after day from Palestine and Israel, including the hundreds of innocent people who keep being killed or dying of malnutrition and lack of medical attention.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers.” (Psalm 122:6-7)
Banner Image: The ‘Samoud’ relief flotilla has traveled to Tunisia from various countries on their way to Palestine in defense of the rights of the Palestinian people. Photo from https://mehrnews.com (or https://tehrantimes.com), which states in their footer, “All Content by Mehr News Agency is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.” Wikimedia Commons
Queries for Contemplation
Before seemingly intractable tragedies, what is your spiritual positioning? How has it been helpful? How could it change?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
A Spirituality Named Compassion: Uniting Mystical Awareness with Social Justice
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Prayer: A Radical Response to Life
Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth
Trump & The MAGA Movement as Anti-Christ
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
1 thought on “Hope for Palestine – Hope for Humanity”
We continue praying for Peace & Justice around the world, especially in Ukraine, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Africa, Afghanista, and India. Putin, Netanyahu, and Trump need to continue to be condemned by international justice organizations, religions, and humanitarian groups as world criminals.