Philadelphia Rabbi Calls for End to Palestinian Oppression and Safety for Jews

Rabbi Julie Greenberg has long been an advocate for racial and economic justice and among her many roles, she is the Climate Justice Director for the interfaith nonprofit POWER.  

Greenberg has led the congregation at Lryv Ha Ir (Heart of the City) for more than 20 years and has served as a board member of the Alliance for Jewish Renewal where she directed its Jewish Renewal Life Center for 12 years. 

A licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Rabbi Greenberg offers insight into how Americans can help better understand the complex struggle for power between the Israeli government and the Palestinian people. 

Why do you feel there have been mass demonstrations in large cities like NYC and LA - where many have been arrested for supporting Palestine? 

I feel pretty humble in the face of these global events. These moral issues could be stated concisely in that every Palestinian needs to be free, every Jew needs to be safe. And in fact, freedom and safety depend on each other. Palestinians will not be free in the Middle East until every Jew is safe in the Middle East. And Jews will not be saved in the Middle East until every Palestinian is free. 

I think it's important for Jews to speak to Palestinian Liberation and for Palestinians to speak to Jewish safety. We have to be able to hold multiple stories multiple truths, multiple pains, multiple needs, from different peoples in any solution, we have to be able to hold [more] than just a side. 

I feel appalled by Biden saying America stands with Israel, but also equally appalled when I go to an art exhibition that names only dead Palestinian babies. We have to hold more than our side, more than one side or the other side because the sides aren't ever even going to get what they want unless there's a resolution that includes everybody's deepest yearnings as a people.

Can you please give some historical context of this conflict and what you believe the best solution would be - whether a two-state or one-state solution?

There are two peoples who both are rooted in the same land and somehow that land has to be shared. Jewish communities thrived there for 1000 years before Rome expelled everybody, and have not been there basically other than remnants for about 2000 years. Palestinians have been very deeply rooted in that land generation after generation. 

There's also the horrendous power situation of for the last 75 years, the State of Israel has wielded enormous power and has been occupying and dominating and harming Palestinians. But somehow that land has to be shared between two people. The most promising thing was a one-state solution, where every Palestinian is free and every Jew is safe. This has certainly disrupted that because each side has retreated to their own corners, and that seems less viable at this exact moment. 

What is the call to action for Biden and the American govt beyond a ceasefire? 

I think what Hamas did on October 7 was terrible, but you have to admit it put the world's eyes back on a situation that no country was paying any attention to. A lot of other Palestinian nonviolent efforts to move the situation forward, led by West Bank Palestinian leaders or by the BDS proponents, had gotten no traction at all, and no one had paid attention in any significant way. 

It's terribly sad that murder and killing babies and grandmothers and kidnapping people is what got the world's attention. The world should have paid a lot more attention before there were these desperate acts saying you know, we're not just going to lie down and take this being kept in a cage for decade after decade with no hope for our youth in Gaza. 

I think if you get the right people at the table could be…evolved and worked with until you can satisfy the security needs of every Jew and the liberation needs of Palestinians. there has to be leadership that can manage all the fringes and pull people together into something that can work for everybody. 

As a Jewish Rabbi, what would you say to fellow Jews about the historical oppression of Palestinians? 

There has been a failure of leadership in Israel. There's been a failure of leadership in Palestine. The Israeli government has been completely self-defeating and has been very disruptive both to the well-being of Jews in the area and certainly to the well-being of Palestinians in the area. It's been very destructive, I would even say evil government, and there have been huge mistakes on all sides. 

We're seeing a huge polarization within the Jewish community over the Middle East, and we're seeing polarization between supporters of Israel and supporters of Palestinian Liberation at any cost. We're actually seeing all sorts of ways that Jews and pro-Palestinians are working together right now. 

I work really closely with local Imams and multifaith partners of all kinds. And being in a relationship is so much better than not being in a relationship because you actually know about what each other's needs are. 

Listen to the full interview on our podcast, MuslimViewPoint 

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