This is the only question

I read the news about Palestine and Israel a lot. I read books, watch interviews, listen to others' opinions, write about my own, attend lectures on law and history, watch Israeli movies, watch Palestinian movies, read novels and poetry, and have arguments. And throughout all this, my views and stances are reaffirmed to me. I question myself and these views, listen to pro-Zionist arguments, and my opinions have evolved through these exposures, but have always remained firmly rooted in where they started: humanity and human rights. But sometimes, with all these opinions and historical facts and points and nuances, thoughts get jumbled and I am susceptible sometimes to the "complexity of subtleties" of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that prevents some people from firmly coming down on one side or the other. And for this reason, I am so grateful for speakers and thinkers like Dr. Barghouti, who re-orient me, and clarify my thoughts.

It's not complicated, and it's not subtle.

When I say "one side or the other" I think it is generally interpreted as "Pro-Palestinian" or "Pro-Israel". What I mean here, and let me be clear, is that I am not on the "Pro-Palestinian" side-- I am on the side that believes that human rights, equality, and justice are applicable and deserved by every human and are not predicated on anything. This is the side that I am on. The other side predicates these values on other conditions. They are not absolutely, universally applied by this side.

No.

I know it is very, very, very difficult--psychologically and emotionally--for Jews to question Zionist ideals with which they have been brought up. I have seen numerous friends struggle with it. But it is imperative, of the utmost urgency, that these ideals be questioned. And it is so uncomfortable to question something this personal. Especially the Jews I roll with, who are very liberal, and largely see the world through a human rights paradigm and one of humanity. But this paradigm needs to be extended to Israel and Palestine-- not just to some extent, to the full extent. And when you start to feel a little uncomfortable, that's good. We should always feel uncomfortable when questioning assumed truths.

What Israel and Palestine comes down to is a grave injustice, not a myriad of complexities. An occupation--and anyone who has ever been to the West Bank, Gaza, or any refugee camp in any Arab country knows--is not subtle.

Dr. Barghouti spelled it out for us: If you believe that Israelis deserve security, economy, and peace, then (if you believe all people are equal), Palestinians also deserve security, economy, and peace. And it should not be predicated upon that of Israel. It is independently merited by the fact that Palestinians are human beings--no matter how hard the West and Israel try to deny us that label. We deserve peace because we are humans, not as some reward for giving up all our rights. And Israel and Jews absolutely deserve peace because they are humans--but not at the expense of that of Palestinians.

We stand and reaffirm, we are human--this is a human issue.

You either believe in equality for all people, or you don't. This is the only question. And it may be uncomfortable, but it's not complicated.