Israel Waging a Heartbreaking, Stupid War

Only 'a Marshall Plan' can bring lasting peace, writes rabbi

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Jan 5, 2009 11:37 AM CST

(Newser) – Israel's push to wipe out Hamas via military action "is understandable, but stupid," writes Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of the Jewish progressive magazine Tikkun. While Israel clearly must defend itself, "the kind of response matters"—and the killing of Gazan civilians is "a crime against humanity" as much as Hamas rocket fire. In an op-ed for the Times of London, Lerner calls for an immediate ceasefire and a new path forward.

After a UN-imposed ceasefire, "backed unequivocally by America," Israel must open its border with the Gaza Strip to allow free travel of food, water, and people. Then Israel can take the first steps to peace: "a massive Marshall Plan" for the territories, an absorption of 30,000 refugees annually, and the recognition of an independent Palestine. "This is the only way Israel will ever achieve security," writes Rabbi Lerner, and "the only way to permanently defeat Hamas."

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Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas talk after a plenary session on the Middle East during in Davos, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Keystone/Alessandro della Valle)

A wounded Palestinian man arrives for treatment at the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, after an Israeli strike early Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/AP Photo/Ashraf Amra)

Wounded Palestinian children arrive for treatment at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, after an Israeli strike early Monday, Jan. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/AP Photo/Ashraf Amra)

An Israeli soldier comforts a woman at the scene where a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza hit the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Avi Roccah)

Palestinian women react during the funeral of Ali Lahobi, who was kiled in an Israeli missile strike, in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Hatem Omar, MaanImages)

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CNN's Octavia Nasr reports on the Arab media's coverage of the Israeli incursion into Gaza. (CNN Video)

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It breaks my heart to see the terrible suffering in Gaza and in Israel. As a religious Jew I find it all the worse, because it confirms how easy it is to pervert the loving message of Judaism into a message of hatred and domination. - Michael Lerner, rabbi and editor of Tikkun

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Israel Waging a Heartbreaking, Stupid War