One year after the October 7th Hamas invasion, as measured by the Jewish calendar (22 Tishrei), I found myself in a deep heartfelt political conversation with a Palestinian man from Gaza. I was out canvassing for Kamala Harris and as I walked away from the last door on my list, having left a piece of campaign literature, the door opened. I returned down the walk to the door where I was greeted by a man close to my age. We introduced ourselves and he came out of his home and motioned me to join him at some chairs in his front yard. We sat down.
He told me that he was from Gaza, and was dismayed that the US was supplying bombs to Israel that are being used to destroy Gaza. He grew up in Rafah in Gaza. As a young man he traveled to Israel to work, and during those years worked in many places in Israel. Eventually he had sufficient success in business that he was able to build a 5 story home in another location in Gaza. When I met him he owned a home and did business in Philadelphia and was very clear about paying a considerable amount in taxes.
Israel’s bombing Gaza has destroyed his 5 story home and killed members of his extended family. There is no property insurance in Gaza. Lives lost are lost forever.
I heard from him his perspective that voting for the party in power that has sent the bombs to Israel that destroyed his home is not an action he wants to take. I thought he was suggesting he would therefore vote for Trump, but as our conversation continued it was clear that he understood that a Trump government would not make decisions better for the Palestinians’ future. He totally understood this and yet voting for Kamala Harris, part of the Biden government who sent bombs to Israel, may not be something he can do.
In our conversation I shared with him some of my history as a Zionist and living in Israel not far from Gaza, and that I grew up with others as “peaceniks” who truly wanted to live side by side in peace and equality with the Palestinians. He and I then spoke in Hebrew for a while. We agreed with each other that there could be space for both Palestinians and Israelis on the land. We agreed that we would like to see a path followed that would lead to living in peace, our peoples together. We both wanted the war to stop and for Israelis and the Palestinians to live in peace. Neither of us were able to articulate how we get onto a path toward peace.
The US election is only a few days away. The government in the US has power to influence but not to control what happens in Israel. Many voters in the US are dissatisfied with what the US government has done in its support of Israel, and may because of this choose not to vote for the incumbent Democratic party candidate. Voting from their heart. I understand how people may make such a choice. ….. Yet. ….. Might we not end up with a better future by looking at the whole big picture and assessing which result from an election will likely lead to a path in the US and the entire world overall including Israel, that is closer to what we prefer, and voting to advance that path?