The Buzz on James Wall's Latest Writing

Dear Friend,

A lot of buzz in re James Wall's weekly commentary; this week on how Bishop Schori addressed the Isr/Pal issue.

The Bishop urges all to eat together and share one another's stories: pretty tepid advice to those seeking systemic changes to entrenched discrimination against the native population.

Of all the comments, I pass this one on to you, faithful reader in FPI, from Steve Feldman, an American Jew. JRK


Steve Feldman commented on Church Leader Tells Palestinians and Israelis "eat together and listen to each other's stories".

in response to wallwritings:


One of my sources who follows this issue with diligence wrote to say


I agree, communicating is good. There isn't enough of it. But to be clear, as an American Jew who lost family in Europe at the hands of christians, I greatly appreciate how many Christians today feel they have to be careful in how they treat Jewish people and Israel.That said, a problem in the Holocaust was that American Christian people didn't speak out against strongly enough against discrimination and mistreatment in Europe. As an American Jew, I want Christians to speak out strongly against discrimination and mistreatment wherever it occurs, whether it is directed toward or committed by Jewish people.What we Jewish people have been doing to Christian and Muslim families in Palestine has been a terrible thing that violates our own principles. Many of us Jews see that we are only trying to achieve security, but while security is important for Jewish families, it is equally important for the Christians and Muslim families of Palestine to have security. Continuing to expel and kill as many Christians and Muslims as we have to in order to achieve security is neither a path toward justice nor a path toward peace. Security can and will come when we end the discrimination. I hope our Christian brothers and sisters will speak out strongly to their Jewish friends that it is long past time to treat non-Jewish Palestinian families as equals, to knock down the wall, and to begin “deeper engagement, people of different traditions eating together, listening to each other’s stories," and living together in peace. A two-state "separate but (un)equal" solution is NOT the way to achieve that goal.