I hardly know one Israeli, much less Jew, who is even a little familiar with the history of the Palestinian people beyond the mainstream Israeli and western narrative. More than familiarity is the lack of interest in the first place. As I've previously shared, even I only learned of the term "nakba" in the past few years of my life.
There's a taboo to speak to ANYTHING that seems to validate the authenticity of a people's suffering when there is also a widespread fear, trauma, and violence associated with said people. Somehow caring about Palestinian people is considered a disgrace and disregard to the Israeli hostages and hundreds that were murdered on Oct 7, and the many who have been murdered before then. Somehow we have gotten stuck in an insane right vs wrong game in terms of the validity of our human suffering.

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It only takes MEETING, and perhaps even more so, befriending someone from the "other" side to quickly realize that humanity exists "over there" as well and is in fact something to care about.

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​There are historical facts and there are also narratives and biases. At a certain point we find that it's hard to distinguish "fact" from "personal narrative". The telling of a story reveals the perspective of the narrator and is by no means the whole truth. Some of us have read "The People's History of the United States" or (like myself) haven't read it, but understand and totally resonate with the idea of it. It's impossible to arrive at a "true" and "objective" version of history, probably ever, but especially so when one is unwilling to learn and listen to all peoples involved. Again, point and case - I learned a very narrow history growing up which taught me nothing of the nearly million Palestinian people who were displaced from their home in 1948.

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This learning, as per all learning, precedes the formation of an opinion, a political view, a moral stance on right wrong, or a belief about what to do etc. It's just learning.

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I am Jewish, I've lived in Israel, I grew up with a deep love for Israel and the Jewish people. All of this is still in me and to be honest, I generally feel more pain when I hear about a hostage dying than when I hear about a Palestinian dying in Gaza.

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I understand why this is so. It just hits closer to home. To some degree, Palestinian people, and even more so, the people are Gaza are still somewhat of an abstract "other" to me. It's harder to find empathy for a people you are not familiar with, much less do not understand. The death of an Israeli hostage on the other hand just lands in a more intimate way for me. Some of these people may only be a couple degrees of separation away from close friends and family of mine.

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There's no reason for me not to be honest about this. I think it's natural on a very primal biological level. However I refuse to remain there alone. I refuse to not actively make efforts to cultivate more space in my heart for those I am not familiar with.

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The more I get to know someone, the more intimate and real they become in my heart. It takes watching videos of actual suffering in Gaza, it takes listening to actual converastions that include Palestinian people, it takes reading heartful and authentic articles written by Palestinian people, and above all things it takes ACTUALLY GETTING TO KNOW someone living in Gaza or the West Bank to start to feel the same empathy and care I might feel for my own people.​What we don't know we simply cannot care about. We will feel nothing for those whom we do not understand or see as real. Openness to learn and connect will soften our hearts and make us more present to the humanity of the people we have been afraid to get to know.

To my Jewish and Israeli friends who might need to hear this. We have cousins that are living in deeply painful and dangerous circumstances. A Palestinian living in the West Bank right now is under great thread. Children are not safe. Gaza is still not safe, its future very unstable, and so so many have already died. These people are not all terrorists, they are not all dangerous Jew haters that will kill us first chance they get. They are more like us than we realize. We lose nothing in caring. Our pains are not invalidated. We are not made unsafe.

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A couple ​w​eeks ago I had the GREAT honor of meeting a Palestinian woman living in Ramallah. To my utter surprise, she is a part of an Evolutionary Astrology study group that Michelle is the admin for. When I first heard that there is someone from the West Bank in the group I was surprised, but just figured it was a Jew. It wouldn't be unusual for there to be interest in astrology amongst Jews in the West Bank, although Evolutionary Astrology is still somewhat the outlier.

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When I saw her name, I immediately recognized that she was Palestinian! A Palestinian in Ramallah interested in Evolutionary Astrology? An Arab studying the natal chart in order to understand why a soul chooses the human life they came into? That's VERY close to home, that's very familiar and intimate to me.

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She shared with me her blog with some of her writing. I am so glad to read it. It is like chicken soup for me to read the experience of a soul living in Ramallah. To learn what it's like and to sincerely take in her personal reality. My soul is yearning for this, craving this learning, needing this. Her blog is called Feeling Palestine. I love the title. Yes, I want to know what it feels like. I want to feel more.

​https://feelingpalestine.blogspot.com/​