We Have No Right To Decide Israelis’ Fate

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Dear Editor,
After reading articles on the divisions among Jewish people over Israel, Zionism, settlements and the like, I have one question: Why does it really matter? There has been an elephant in the room since Israel was established. At no time since it’s inception have the Muslim states ever agreed to live with Israel in its midst regardless of which Jewish faction prevails. I’m sure that we all agree that Israel is necessary as a place for Jews to go if necessary. The Holocaust proved that. For the Arabs, it was never a matter of a Jewish state and Palestinian state. It was simply no Jewish state in any form. Unless we’re all intending to move there, let the Israelis make the decision as to what is best for their defense. They’re the ones who have to pay the price.
Eliott Brumer
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
