All of us bear some responsibility for the war and bloodshed, first in Israel and now in Gaza. The prewar situation in Gaza and the West Bank should have told all of us that it wasn’t sustainable. But most of us and the world didn’t pay attention to it, including the Biden administration that was anxious to turn its attention to China and Asia. What Hamas did finds no justification – politically or morally – but even now and when the worst of the fighting stops each of us should take some personal inventory and ask ourselves what did we do to address this unsustainable situation.

What Hamas did on October 7 has no justification, including the taking of innocent hostages. In demanding their release though we should bear in mind that 14,500 Palestinians languish in Israeli prisons – some of whom have never been formally charged with any crime.

The poll supporting a ceasefire, it is said, is only a snapshot of public sentiment and doesn’t capture the complexity of public sentiments and thus its results should be taken with a grain of salt. Even if that is true, (and it is likely the case) it doesn’t lessen in any way the political and moral imperative of a ceasefire.

I honor my cousin Johnny today – Veterans Day – who after being sent to a staging base in Alabama in 1969 decided that fighting in Vietnam wasn’t his cup of tea and promptly went AWOL. He eventually landed in Canada where he spent much of his life. If he were alive today, he would be outraged by the slaughter of Israelis by Hamas as well as the quick to follow Israeli aerial bombing and invasion of Gaza.

It’s not surprising the current conflict between Israel and Palestinians – Gaza is ground zero of this conflict for now – is generating antisemitism and Islamophobia across the world, including here in the U.S. Both should be challenged.