Showing posts with label Jonathan Feldstein. Show all posts

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Why Proclaiming Truth About the Holocaust Is More Important Than Ever - JONATHAN FELDSTEIN CHARISMA NEWS

A Holocaust memorial on the Danube Bank in Budapest, Hungary (Unsplash/Mika R)

It's safe to say that every year since the Holocaust ended, one could safely say Holocaust commemoration and education has never been more important. That's especially in the past generation as survivors, whose firsthand testimony to the unspeakable horrors they suffered, during which 6 million Jews were murdered, age and die.

Yet, as much as it's been incredibly important every year to remember and educate about the Holocaust, this year it is in fact more important than ever. This year, the Polish government passed an outrageous law criminalizing public statements affirming Polish participation and complicity in the murder of some 90 percent of pre-war Polish Jewry, in Poland, where the Nazis "perfected" their murder industry.

I came across a poll of college students surveying basic knowledge about the Holocaust which displays alarming ignorance about basic facts, places, and terms. It's dismaying, but not really so shocking. Albeit that survivors still live among us with their tattooed concentration camp numbers wrinkled and fading, given the proclivity of students attention span limited to Twitter's 280 characters, Facebook's "likes" and Snapchat and Instagram, how can one expect this generation to know, much less process the systematic murder of 6 million people, generations ago, and in a time and place that for many is unimaginable.

Enter Carly, a 10th grade New Jersey student. "Last year I attended a teen Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) program, and everyone who was there was disinterested. The speaker was the daughter of a survivor, but everyone, including me, I'm embarrassed to say, was wondering ... 'when will this be over?' On my way home I thought—there must be a better way to make these tragic events more real and relatable for my generation."

"Survivors, whose firsthand accounts have always been so mesmerizing, are dying each day, leaving it to others to tell their stories. Sadly, something is lost when it's told by the next generation."

What can be done to help make the Holocaust relevant and understandable to her generation?

Carly explained, "My generation are digital natives—kids who see the world in tweets and posts, growing up on Facebook, Instagram, and with a powerful tool—the smart phone—in our hands from the day we are born. We're used to receiving information in a fast-paced visual format, so it's not surprising that sometimes, old ways of learning about history don't capture our attention."

Among this generation, one wonders how it's even possible that Europe's Jews were either ignorant or in denial about events that took place in their own backyard. How did they not know what was going on and flee, like refugees flooding Europe and North America today? How did they not organize escape routes or even aggressive resistance to the Nazi when today any less significant cause can go viral in minutes?

The expectation of everything being communicated instantaneously including news and rumors, underscores a proclivity among Carly's generation that the Holocaust is far too complicated to comprehend. It's literally unimaginable that with endless information at one's fingertips, today's students not only can't imagine the horrors, but also can't imagine how the world didn't know or, worse, knew and didn't respond.

Like the activist history in her family, Carly decided to do something. Accounts of the Holocaust is a clever play in words and a new way to relate meaningful and real stories of the Holocaust using the ubiquitous platform, Facebook. She is creating an on-line graphic narrative; real accounts of the Holocaust in a familiar contemporary format; as if Facebook existed in the 1930s and 1940s. She is integrating actual words of survivors along with historical narratives, and modern likes and shares.

"Imagine if you were friends with Anne Frank and followed her on Facebook, posting while in hiding. Imagine posts from her and others like her between 1936 and 1945. Imagine if survivor's stories unfolded like our stories do, on a Facebook group page." She asks rhetorically, "You'd be hooked, right?" Ultimately, Carly wants "a younger generation connect to the Holocaust and learn about it in a new and exciting way."

Managing her own demanding school work and serving as CEO of Accounts of the Holocaust, Carly engaged the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre to research and assemble hundreds of stories taken from the testimonies of actual survivors. Laid out in a Facebook-style format, the interactive narratives could then be read in printed form, or accessed on-line with links to more information on people, places and events. Carly is dreaming big, "I even envision delivering content day by day to give the sense of events unfolding in real time."

While work is underway, as CEO, Carly is also responsible for raising funds to make it all possible. Initially she needs $50,000 but ultimately needs much more, once the prototype is created and launched, and she and others realize the many other potential directions the project can go. Carly is receiving tax deductible donations here.

Other financial needs will be public relations and marketing, and eventually, the ability to go deeper by clicking on any number of highlighted key words to get more information about a specific event, person or concept.

In short, she's identified and filling a niche that will be invaluable to her peers.

By way of full discloser, I am not just enamored with the project and its importance and urgency. I am enamored with Carly and have been since she was born. That she's my niece gives me a front-row seat as she takes personal stories of our own family, survivors and those murdered, a defining part of our family's history, and weaves them together with stories of others, in a format that her peers and a young generation can understand.

As we commemorate Yom Hashoah in 2018 with Carly's vision at its early stage, I pray that a year from now thousands and more will have begun interacting with this most innovative modern vehicle to teach lessons of the past that we must never forget.

For information or to help, "Friend" Accounts of the Holocaust.

Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes a regular column for Standing With Israel at charismanews.com. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.

Friday, February 16, 2018

Is South Africa's Drought a Spiritual Result of Genesis 12:3? - JONATHAN FELDSTEIN CHARISMA NEWS

We live in a very modern world so much so that the mere ability to read this article is the result of a sophisticated electric grid, an internet that's turned the world into a virtual community and any number of devices on which this can be read. Innovation and technology has abounded more in the past generation than perhaps any before. Nevertheless, there are things we cannot control or innovate, such as the elements. Whether the destruction of a hurricane or tornado or the need for rain to quench a parched land and its people, these acts of nature are not only not in our direct control, but many of us turn to faith and God for answers and protection.

In the Jewish tradition, the calendar of our lives and liturgy fluctuates greatly throughout the course of the year. Jews just celebrated Tu B'Shvat, known as the new year of the trees, during which it's customary to plant new trees and eat the fruit of mature ones. We are in the season now when following the winter rains, trees are in bloom, and shortly we will enter the season during which a special blessing is made on blossoming fruit trees. No small gift from God goes without recognition and gratitude to the Creator.

We may not be able to control the elements, but we surely invoke prayer and thanksgiving for the blessings that we do have, particularly of rain and particularly in the Land of Israel, which is largely desert and dry most of the year.

There are many other instances where the Jewish calendar and the seasons overlay our experiences. However, it's important to note that all of these experiences are based on the calendar in the land of Israel. So a Jew praying in Australia, America, Argentina, or Azerbaijan is praying based on the calendar, not where they are, but in Israel.

One of the things that is most meaningful and even emotional for me about living in Israel is our seasonal prayer for rain. Albeit that today even our desert is cultivated, and magnificent fields, hothouses and orchards abound, exporting some of the finest flowers and produce throughout the world, Israel only has one main fresh water source, the Sea of Galilee. As a result, most newspapers and television weather broadcasts provide statistics on the relative level of the Sea of Galilee, noting how many centimeters it went up following a particularly strong rain, how many meters below the designated redline we are and how many meters above the designated black line we are, after which pumping water from the Sea will become dangerous.

Consequently, we beseech God three times a day to fill the sea, our aquifers and rivers with abundant rain in its (winter) season. And in dry winters as this one has been, special national prayers are offered because we know we are unlikely to receive any rain from the early spring until the late fall.

Rain in Israel in its season is considered a national blessing, and we each have a role to play in prayer and through our actions, so that God will answer our prayers. That's why when I'm praying for rain, I find that to be especially meaningful because my individual prayers have a national consequence.

At the end of Passover in several weeks, we will cease prayers for rain because we know that it is not the rainy season, and we also know that in a society that still exists largely on agriculture, rain in the wrong season can be bad and damaging for crops. Biblically, the tradition not to pray for rain until after the Passover and Sukkot (Tabernacles) festivals, once people had returned home from pilgrimage to Jerusalem, also had an additional practical consequence.

The truth is, in modern Israel, even in years like this when Israel is suffering a drought and there's not enough natural rainfall to fill the sea, rivers and aquifers, God blesses us in another way. Statistically, Israel has been recorded as among largest wastewater recyclers in the world, using treated wastewater even for such high-water crops as cotton, which otherwise a country as arid as Israel should probably never cultivate.

Also, in the last generation, Israel has innovated with an aggressive desalination program, taking dirty salt water from the Mediterranean and making it potable. It's not the same as praying for rain, which is the product of the elements, but God has surely gifted the ingenuity to make all this possible, and make Israel among the world leaders. In so doing, God blesses Israel, and Israel blesses the nations of the world with its innovative water technologies.

I was reminded of all this in an article I read about a very severe water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa. According to reports, Cape Town is down to a precious several weeks of water, and at risk of being the first major city ever to effectively run out of water. It's unthinkable that a city of 4 million would actually completely run out of water. But what is unthinkable there today is possible tomorrow.

In reading about the water crisis there, I noted that the date by which they will run out of water, "Day Zero," corresponds closely with the date that Jews around the world will stop praying for rain. Albeit that this date on which we stop praying for rain is about the welfare of the land of Israel, the coincidence of dates intersecting and the possible scenario is too great not to note.

And then I realized just as much as we pray for rain as a blessing in its season, a lack of rain or a lack of water may be a curse. It didn't take too much imagination to realize that though I'm not God and can't speak on His behalf as to how He blesses and curses a person or an entire people, I do know that He does promise in Genesis 12:3 that He will bless those who bless Israel, and curse those who curse Israel.

Unfortunately, for the past decades South Africa has become one of the leading nations outside the Arab and Muslim world that actively engages in cursing Israel. This is seen in many ways including hosting of representatives of terrorist organizations as statesmen, being among the first countries to allege that Israel is an apartheid country (something South Africans know more about than anyone else, and should know better than anyone else to make such a ridiculous and outrageous claim), the reduction of Israel's diplomatic status there, and hosting a conference that essentially conceived and gave birth to the BDS movement.

I'm not God, and I don't know how He thinks, and I certainly don't know all the ways in which He acts. However there are too many coincidences in this to be just coincidences. I look at other countries that have chosen the path of cursing Israel, and I noticed that it's very hard to find one blessed by the gift of democracy, or not being overrun by unchecked and extremist wave of immigration that makes it dangerous for citizens to be able to walk freely in neighborhoods of their own towns and cities. I see economic crisis and instability in other places where cursing Israel is as common as the sunrise in the morning. And I look at all of this and wonder how is it part of God's promise and design. I wonder what will it take for people of the world who curse Israel to realize that when God makes such a promise it's serious and they need to listen and behave accordingly.

I certainly don't pray for anything bad in South Africa, and do pray for the well-being of all its citizens. But by the same way my prayers for rain in Israel have a national consequence, I do believe that they have a role and responsibility, including reverence for God through their individual prayers and actions that will trickle up to benefit, and bless, the country as a whole. They need to take personal responsibility, and prayer and blessing Israel is a good start.

Living in Israel, the presence or lack of abundant rain is something that I've learned not to take for granted. I've begun to write a book for children on how to save water because I believe that it's through our actions as well as our prayers that God will see our sincerity and answer us with blessing. I pray that as a nation, South Africa will repent from its anti-Israel positions, and pray fervently for God to bestow his blessing upon the country that's about to have one of its major cities dry out.

Wednesday, November 1, 2017

Every Single American is Complicit in Palestinian Terrorism - Israel Today

Every Single American is Complicit in Palestinian Terrorism

Tuesday, October 31, 2017 | Israel Today Staff

Topics:

Terrorism

We've written a number of times on how the Palestinian Authority abuses its vast foreign financial aid to underwrite terrorism against Israel (and anyone else caught in the crossfire).

We've also highlighted how the bulk of this funding comes from Europe and the United States, despite laws in both places forbidding the use of taxpayer money to facilitate terrorism, either directly or indirectly. And yet, the money keeps flowing. This we all know.

But Jonathan Feldstein writing for Breaking Israel News put the situation in context in such a way that should make every American pause and feel ashamed. And then get furious and demand a change of course.

Feldstein writes:

"The US alone provides the PA with $300 million annually. At that rate, every American is actually underwriting a 'terror tax' of almost $1 each. Therefore, at least indirectly, all Americans are paying the families of murderers of US citizens and others, encouraging more terrorism and death."

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Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Archaeologists Uncover Evidence of Fulfilled Jerusalem Prophecies—Including Isaiah 37:33 - JONATHAN FELDSTEIN CHARISMA

Archaeologists have found arrows only from the Babylonian and Roman period, but none from the Assyrian besiegement. (Pixabay/suju)

Archaeologists Uncover Evidence of Fulfilled Jerusalem Prophecies—Including Isaiah 37:33

Recently I got to spend more time over one week in Jerusalem's City of David than I've spent there in the past 30 years. Living a mere 15 minutes from Jerusalem, I try to be mindful of how incredible it is to have the privilege to be in the holy city often, even for things as mundane as business meetings, to see a movie or go shopping. However, there are special places within Jerusalem that are at the very foundation of the city, literally, and being able to spend time there is indescribably awesome.

My visit was in two parts, under the auspices of The Jerusalem Watch, which hosts extensive and compelling daytime tours (The Jerusalem Watch Tour), offering those who are passionate about Jerusalem a "tangible opportunity to connect by taking an active role in uncovering the glory and history of ancient Jerusalem; literally becoming part of the fulfillment of biblical prophecy."

The excitement of any visitor is magnified by that of AnaRina Heymann, director of The Jerusalem Watch. Her passion for being able to share and connect people to the City of David's significance is matched by the abundance of information she transmits; connecting ancient Jerusalem to the Bible and making it come to life with incredible depth.

Because Jerusalem is built with Jerusalem stone, a pale limestone common 3000 years ago and today, I've always been frustrated that pictures don't do the scenery justice. Up close, the majestic beauty is vivid, and made even richer by the dimension and color AnaRina adds.

While the history of the City of David goes back 3000 years to King David, only in the past 150 years was it clear that the original biblical Jerusalem lay just south of and outside what's today known as the Old City. It doesn't make the Old City any less significant, but in finding and excavating the original city makes that all the more important. It's the very foundation of Jerusalem, wrapped up in biblical prophecy that's unfolding today, the foundation of both Judaism and Christianity, and of course biblical history and modern politics.

Simply, visiting the City of David is a must for anyone visiting Israel.

In 1867, British officer and engineer Charles Warren set out to discover Jerusalem. He was the first to begin to unearth 2000 years of civilizations that had been buried as foreign occupiers destroyed and then built new atop the old. For thousands of years, while the world looked inside the relatively modern walls of the Old City, the original Jerusalem lay buried.

Just 50 years later, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, the world power affirming the Jewish right and destiny to return to Zion. In the same year, as he conquered Jerusalem from the Ottomans, and in a moment of great humility, General Allenby depicted how awesome a moment it was and dismounted his horse to enter the Old City by foot. If he had only known what lay buried just several hundred yards south and east, he might have prostrated himself and kissed the ground.

Fifty years after Allenby conquered Jerusalem, Israel, already a thriving albeit newly reborn Jewish state, reunited modern with biblical Jerusalem. And today, 50 years later and 150 years since Charles Warren discovered the ancient City of David, the intersection of the Bible as a roadmap with modern archaeology is revealed one bucket of dirt at a time, with stones restored one by one to the wall of the city King David built.

There are many unique and indeed compelling aspects of a tour of the City of David that are a must. Each will have his own highlights. Mine were varied.

I saw a 3000-year-old olive tree just south of David's palace. Did David plant it or was it planted at his instruction? Either way, the tree has witnessed and survived countless wars and sieges, majestically still bearing fruit today.

I appreciated a deeper understanding of ancient Hebrew and how the biblical names overlay the history and geography, and enrich understanding of the biblical accounts about which we read and pray.

It was awesome seeing actual spots at which biblical kings were anointed, where King David spotted Bathsheba bathing, and where pilgrims prepared to ascend to the temple, providing a vivid depiction and understanding that's unparalleled and transforming.

With an ancient aqueduct at the end of my block miles away that used to provide water to biblical Jerusalem, it's incredible to see Jerusalem's original water sources, and engineering to harness the water before our eyes.

Seeing the prophecy of Isaiah 37:33, "Therefor, thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, no build a siege ramp against it." In fact, archaeologists have found arrows only from the Babylonian and Roman period, but none from the Assyrian besiegement.

The second part of my visit was to the new nighttime multimedia program, "Halleluyah." I enjoyed it thoroughly and found it meaningful on a variety of levels. Children and those who are more visual will especially appreciate this unique multimedia presentation of Jerusalem's history, where the canvas depicting the destruction and restoration of the city is the actual walls of the original City of David over which Jews wept 2500 years ago.

In short, I came away with the awareness that there is no more significant place in Jerusalem. It underscores 3000 years of unbreakable Jewish history as well as the foundation on which Christianity was born, and makes the 1400-year old mosque sitting above it seem all the more out of place.

As I emerged from a hefty hike ascending through an ancient drainage tunnel from the bottom of the City of David until almost the point where it reaches the Temple Mount, I was refreshed by a cool breeze. But I was chilled by the realization that in this same place, the breeze that felt so good to me was the same breeze that David himself felt sitting in the exact same location.

I found another unintended meaningful part of the visit. At the end of the "Halleluyah" multimedia presentation, the prophesy of Jews returning from exile is depicted, beginning with Nehemiah and continuing throughout the millennia, including me and my family. Animated arrows represented the sources and origins of Jewish migration back to the Land. But it is also a metaphor for something archeologically incontrovertible.

The opposite of arrows and siege is strength and reinforcement. Unlike the arrows found from ancient armies that sought to conquer Jerusalem, these arrows depict the prophetic Jewish return to the Land, also representing the strengthening of Jerusalem today, which is how we will continue to be protected from arrows and sieges in the future.

If you want to see and understand the foundation upon which Jerusalem, and all of the past 3000 years of Jewish history, is built, and to see the fulfillment of Isaiah's words, ""Shake yourself from the dust; arise, O captive Jerusalem" (Isa. 52:2a), the City of David needs to be your next stop.

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Friday, January 13, 2017

Why Believers Should Diligently Pray for Israel This Coming Week - JONATHAN FELDSTEIN CHARISMA NEWS

Israel desperately needs your prayers for next week's peace summit in Paris. (Flickr )

Why Believers Should Diligently Pray for Israel This Coming Week

On Jan. 15, leaders from some 70-plus countries will meet in Paris to discuss issues relating to the Arab-Israel conflict, specifically between the Palestinians and Israel.

There's deep and legitimate concern that following the one-sided U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 last month, that this Paris gathering will be the next step to yet another one-sided U.N. Resolution, possibly recognizing "Palestine" as a full state, setting its borders as the 1949 armistice lines and performing other unilateral actions that are not only deeply biased, but make peace harder than easier to reach. (For background, you can look at these articles from bridgesforpeace.com and the Jerusalem Post).

Political and civic leaders in Israel, the U.S. and other countries surely are working actively to prevent pontificating in Paris from becoming anything that forces Israel into a corner. I can only imagine the frenzied diplomatic jockeying at every level.

In addition to these important and necessary actions, it's also a time for prayer. As one friend suggested, he will be fasting. Christians and Jews need to stand together and pray together for God to ensure a positive outcome. I asked others what they would pray for.

These are some of the responses I received:

"We are with you in this war. Our hope is in God, not in man. Only God can show the way."
"God has been leading me to Esther because He is looking for those that will not stay silent in such troubling times for Israel. The Scripture I have been reading over and over is: "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?"
"Each of us is given areas of influence, and it's time for us to rise up and speak on behalf of the land given to the Jewish people to those in our sphere of influence. I pray we will not remain silent, but we will see an Esther generation coming forth in this time and season."
"We too are in a week of prayer and fasting. We will be lifting up Israel in much prayer."
"The heart of our prayer is that the eyes of the world's understanding will be opened in the knowledge of God, to know the importance of Israel in God's plan of salvation, that the blindness that deceives the world concerning Israel will be removed, and all will come to the love of God in support of Israel. We wrestle not with flesh and blood but with powers of darkness. The core problem is spiritual blindness. Only God can open the eyes of the blind."
"We pray for our fellow believers who are deceived by the wiles of Satan. It is difficult for us as follows of Jesus to understand how fellow Christians cannot see God's plan for Israel. That they will come to know God's mystery of joining Jew and Gentile together in the eternal covenant given to Abraham and all of its promises. May we all come to know the truth."
"I am praying Proverbs 2:1-15, "My son, if you will receive my words, and hide my commandments within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for knowledge, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; out of His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He lays up sound wisdom for the righteous; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly. He keeps the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. Then you will understand righteousness and judgment and equity, and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of the evil man, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked; whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths.
"I'm planning a time of prayer with friends on Saturday in preparation for Sunday's conference in Paris. Psalm 2 has been a source of prayer and encouragement to me to pray for the conference. I have prayed that God would confuse and confound all the plans and proceedings of the nations gathered together. I love the picture of God laughing, He will have the last laugh, and I am reminded of the saying 'He who laughs last laughs loudest.'"
"I have thought of Esther and Haman and the plans that Haman had for the Jews and how God, in His wisdom and power, reversed them all, so that what Haman meant for evil, He used for good. So, I pray that God will use for good all that Satan wants to use for evil."
"We are standing with you, dear brother, and all of our beloved Israel. We will not give up and we will not turn our backs."

As Jews worldwide read the Torah portion, Genesis 47:28-50:26, this week, we look to that section of Scripture for a relevant word for today's current events. Before Jacob died, he asked to be buried with his forefathers: "Then he charged them and said to them, 'I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought along with the field from Ephron the Hittite as a burial place. They buried Abraham and Sarah his wife there. They buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife there, and I buried Leah there. The field and the cave that is there were purchased from the children of Heth'" (Gen. 37:29-32).

Let the nations of the world that gather in Paris not have the hubris to call the Land occupied, not when we know that it was deeded by God Himself, parts purchased to avoid any confusion, and because the people to whom God gave the Land cannot be "occupiers" in that Land when they are the owners.

I pray this will be a catalyst for far more prayer than politics, as the latter is important, but the former is essential. I pray you will add your prayers, share this article, and that together, millions like us will beseech God to continue to protect Israel throughout, and as a result of, this Paris gathering. And as the Torah continues in verse 20, let this be the model for Paris among those who mean evil against Israel: "But as for you, you intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many lives" (Gen. 50:20).

What is your prayer?

Jonathan Feldstein was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six. Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christian supporters of Israel and shares experiences of living as an Orthodox Jew in Israel. He writes a regular column for Standing With Israel at charismanews.com. He can be reached at firstpersonisrael@gmail.com.

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Tuesday, January 10, 2017

The Subject of Israel's Future Stirs Poignant Worldwide Debate - JONATHAN FELDSTEIN CHARISMA NEWS

Israel's future is clouded, with the possibility of a Palestinian state dividing the land hanging over its head. (Getty Images )

The Subject of Israel's Future Stirs Poignant Worldwide Debate

1/10/2017 JONATHAN FELDSTEIN CHARISMA NEWS

Following my article taking to task President Obama and John Kerry and their stabbing Israel in the back, I received many replies. The vast majority were supportive and expressed embarrassment at the Obama-Kerry tag-teaming.

Some apologized and made sure I knew their vindictive behavior did not reflect that of the American people.

One email led to a thoughtful discussion I would like to excerpt here. A friend wrote:

I read your article with much interest. However, [I'm] a bit puzzled. While I believe [in] and support the Zionist dream ..., I am deeply concerned about Israel's predicament: maintaining a Democratic Jewish state while divorcing herself from an indigenous Arab population ... divorce is rarely simple, it can be highly contested with many casualties. While I don't ... trivialize Israel's current situation with this comparison ... how (do) you feel about these concerns? ... maintaining the "status quo" is as much of a cause of a new Intifada as your opinion regarding Obama's abstention."

It was late at night in Israel when I replied. I was moved to do so right away, albeit abruptly.

I have two quick answers ... but a lot more can be said. First, it's not the place of Obama, or anyone else, to set parameters that define Israel as they want it. There's no suggestion that a Palestinian state should be democratic, or Iran or Cuba or any of the others that the U.S. has no problem dealing with. There's not even a hint that "Palestine" can't be Judenrein. Kicking all the Jews out is fine, but Israel should remain 20 percent Arab?

That holds Israel to a standard that, because we are Jews, more is to be expected. I reject that because Arabs should have the same expected of them. To do otherwise is double discrimination (against Arabs, and Jews).

As to demographics, few in any mainstream political party here today would [say] ... that we actually have a partner willing to make and uphold peace. That doesn't exist, period. So putting the cart before the horse and laying out parameters of what a resolution should look like is absurd, and biased against Israel. There's not only not a partner with which to negotiate, but the Palestinian Authority (with whom we are expected to negotiate) doesn't even control Gaza. So if Obama and Kerry had their dream, we'd give up territory today for the hope of peace, [creating] a "Palestine" in which the undemocratic government doesn't even control all the territory it's claiming as its state.

And what happens afterward when they have an internal war and Hamas takes over" This is not rhetoric, it's probability. It's very complex. Few would deny there needs to be a resolution, but you can't force peace if you don't have (a partner)... Making concessions for the hope that it will bring (the Palestinians) to the table is faulty.

I don't know if we'll ever have peace. But I'm not prepared to give up land to create a new state that will add to the list of our enemies and not make peace any more likely.

There's a lot that can be done in the interim, and more should be done. But no matter how much Obama and Kerry pontificate about what's legal and what Israel has a legitimate claim to, and saying things that can only be one (their) way, they're just wrong.

I woke up the next morning to the following reply: "Thank you for taking the time to respond. I get it and understand the situation and the dilemma. However, maintaining the status quo and not attempting to change the conditions on the ground only adds to the frustration and then anger which leads to intifada and armed conflict. Where are today's Sadats, Begins, Rabins?"

So before I had my second cup of coffee, I wrote back:

I really mean to answer sincerely, but I'm at my limit, and Obama and Kerry have crossed all boundaries. I'm not holding back. [As for changing the status quo] I would love to see major economic investments in "settlement blocks" which benefit Jews and Arabs here. SodaStream was a good example, but they got slammed by Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) and moved to the Negev. Who got hurt? Palestinian Arabs!

But I'd do more. I'd build economic facts, all kinds of industry. I'd look to investments from Arabs and Jews. Maybe one could connect private schools and day care for the employees attached to the industrial centers where Arabs could bring their kids for top education (that promotes coexistence).

It'll take someone with audacity to stand up to BDS and the deceitful notion that building and doing business here is illegal. But even if such a plan were to be wildly successful and Arabs got good jobs with benefits, taking home a respectable salary, that would not mitigate the reality that incitement, hate and violence are encouraged, nurtured, even celebrated. Unless and until that changes, we won't have peace. And unless the Islamists are defeated, Palestinian Arabs will fear saying or encouraging things that are pro-peace and will be killed by their own.

We have no Begins or Sadats today. Netanyahu is the best of what's available, but he's crippled by many internal and external factors. But even another Begin won't make sacrifices if peace is not a real possibility. Today, and for the foreseeable future, it's not. So we need to make the best of what there is, build infrastructure that makes Israel continue to succeed, that benefits Palestinian Arabs and offers hope.

Overall, my friend's position, while not wrong, is ignorant. I don't say that in a demeaning way or as a put-down. It's just that CNN, The New York Times and other media get it wrong and misrepresent the facts and nuance in Israel as the rule. This is true even if they don't have a proclivity to be against Israel in a way that their bias is reflected in their news reporting. Even conservative and ideologically more pro-Israel media don't get it right all the time, supporting an undertone of anti-Israel bias which they don't intend but about which they don't know any better.

No, the status quo, leaving things as is, is not desirable. There's a lot that can and should be done short of actual peace, if that will ever come. But making concessions as a precondition to bring the Palestinians to the table; or because Obama, Kerry or others demand it, without a true hope for peace and a plan that addresses all this; is less desirable. Maybe the status quo is the best we can hope for, for now.

What do you think? Please post/write respectfully, and I'll try to do the same.