Image by Getty Images

Dear Jane,

I am a Philadelphian who has admired your journalism and writing for many years.

I read with great interest your piece in the January Forward magazine about your Encounter trip in the West Bank this past November.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

I agree positive recognition is deserved by Palestinians who dissent and protest non-violently.

When you report, however, that Near East Consulting’s latest polling shows roughly two-thirds of Palestinians “favor a peaceful approach to ending the conflict”, what does this mean? Do two-thirds of Palestinians ratify the existence forever of Israel as a Jewish State and give up right of return to land their families lived on before the summer of 1948? If so please ask Encounter to ask American Jews to call for an immediate democratic vote among Palestinians in the West Bank as a step toward ending the occupation.

I don’t know if an eventual answer of a federated United States of Palestine composed of two sovereign states could ever work, but shouldn’t Israelis and Jews everywhere know by referendum whether a peaceful resolution means a Jewish majority in at least one of these component states?

The Occupation must end. But are two-thirds of the Palestinians who are polled ready to vote to ratify a Jewish majority state in Palestine?

If they really are, let’s move beyond Encounter and ask the EU to push for an immediate monitored vote in the West Bank.

Are the Israelis ready for this? Are the West Bank Palestinians?

Thank you for everything you do for the making your readers (and writers) THINK.

Yours,

Ramy Djerassi, East Falls

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount