all we have done and all we have failed to do

This was originally published as a newsletter for the Center for Jewish Nonviolence community with the subject line "Reflecting on October 7th this Yom Kippur".

I’ve been asked more than a few times in recent weeks how I can possibly have hope right now. As I was reflecting on that question, I watched a CBC TV report about a vigil I helped organize last October in Toronto. Together in Jewish community, we mourned the over one thousand Israelis killed on October 7th and the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza by that point. We demanded the safe return of the hostages, that Israel end its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza, and an end to the occupation.

That night, it filled me with hope that so many people showed up to hold all of that together. When I watched the report recently, I was filled with sadness and despair because we are still making the same demands of leaders around the world. Millions have marched and mourned, but the killing continues in Israel/Palestine and is spreading. World leaders, led by the US, call for calm while simultaneously providing the weapons that fuel this mass destruction and killing.

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