By way of a disclaimer, I am a Buddhist-Jewish American. I support the origins and continuity of Israel, but do not support the ways Israel has become an oppressor of the non-Jews within and outside its borders.

October 7th – 25 days ago – Hamas. an Islamist militant movement in one of the Palestinian territories, attacked Israel across the border, on the beaches, and through a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza. Something like 1,400 Israeli’s were slaughtered, over 5,132 people wounded and 224 people were kidnapped and now held hostage. Within minutes Israel responded with rockets into Gaza, followed by ground forces against Hamas in Israel and across the border into Gaza.

Since then, there has been a relentless bombing of Gaza. It has been reported by Hamas that over 8,300 people have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli Defense forces. However, it should be noted that these numbers may be inflated. None-the-less, many thousands of people have been killed and injured.

Just a quick reminder – do not accept at face value reports and videos being distributed by pro Hamas or Israeli partisans. There is a lot of misinformation and disinformation being disseminated.

OK, so those are the reported events that took place. several weeks ago. It does not describe the horror, the brutality, the wonton taking of life on both sides of the Israel’s border. It does not paint a picture of the tens of thousands of lives torn asunder, starvation, hospitals levelled to piles of rubbish, the continued feeling of anguish and the trauma that will change lives in all the days forward.

Those on each side of the border bleed the same when bullets and shrapnel tears through their skin. People on both sides of the border will grieve the loss of loved ones as long as they live. The displaced are living through a hell on earth.

There is no doubt that Hamas, founded in 1987, after the outbreak of the First Intifada against Israel is dedicated to the elimination of Israel by any means available and supported by Iran.

There is no doubt that the Netanyahu government formed a coalition with ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies has refused to hold talks with the Palestinians. Israel has consistently encroached more and more into Palestinian enclaves, displacing millions of people while suspending the Judiciary as a means of shutting down dissent, supported unconditionally by the U.S. government.

Placing blame is a useless exercise. Both sides to the struggle have much to answer for.

The origins of this dilemma are incredibly complex and open to interpretations that bring one down a rabbit hole of surrealism.

Do we start with the 1967 war, the origins of Israel in 1948, the Holocaust that changed the nature of Judaism and the plight of the Jews, The Balfour Declaration that imposed a colonial set of borders intended to keep the then residents from consolidating into a cooperating, supportive, entity, on and on? When and how it all started becomes an entangled complex of impositions, lack of sensitivities, lack of foresight and a sometimes well intentioned, sometimes arrogant policy of imperialist nations.

Hamas and Hezbollah are dedicated to the destruction of Israel and in this they have worked against a two-state solution that is backed by the Palestinian authority. To me the government of Netanyahu and his coalition do not reflect the values I absorbed from Judaism as a younger person. I still feel the pain of my family and European Jews who were brutally tortured and nearly annihilated by the Nazi’s and their allies. That’s over 6.6 million people dead, 63% or the Jewish population of Europe. How can I not support Israel as a homeland despite my critique?

This struggle is about 5,700 miles (9190 km) from New York. The repercussions of this catastrophe are found in our local communities. Antisemitism, already on the rise due to U.S. politics has risen 400% from before October 7th. Islamophobia, also on the rise, has seen the murder of innocent women and children in North America.

The suffering spreads like ripples across the pond.

As Buddhist we must be painfully aware of the tragedy and not contribute to the hatred, the anxiety, and the viciousness this war has prompted. We seem powerless to make any real change.

Conversely, real change often arises when a few people with goodwill are committed to making positive change in the world. By holding on to anger and resentment we are diminished as humans. Holding to the principle of interpenetration, we must cut through the hatred and extend our compassion, wisdom and skillful means in ways that establish a base of peace and love. It is only through an honest, courageous, search for an underlying peace that peace will become possible.

Take a stand, not for an ethnic group or political party, but for humanity. Take a stand for loving kindness and a deep abiding awareness that each person we see may have been our mother in a previous lifetime.

Work not so much for a solution to the conflict, though that would be great, but for a broader understanding of the interrelatedness of all sentient beings. Be the peace.

With Love and Gassho . . . Monshin