“No Palestinian House Is Without Tears”: Disrupting American Jewish Narratives of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Abstract

This article argues that as American Jewish support for Israel wanes American Jews need a new Jewish ethical framework in which to understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It extends the discourse beyond a Jewish narrative and examines the values of empathy and responsibility toward Palestinians, as well as the importance of recognizing historical injustices perpetrated by Israel. This article draws on the work of scholars and discusses their ideas in conjunction with the author's experiences as a congregational rabbi. It evaluates the dual-narrative approach and then focuses on the work of Bashir Bashir and Amos Goldberg to explore how narratives such as me-shoah le-tekumah, from the destruction of the Holocaust to the rebirth of Israel, can lead American Jews to view the Palestinian experience as entirely separate from their own.