An Update on Israel and Palestine

In recent weeks we have witnessed the ongoing tragedies in the Middle East—the October 7 attack on Israel and the killing and displacement of innocent civilians in Gaza—with a mix of fear, anger, and grief. We want to make our stance clear: we are pro-peace. All systems of oppression reinforce one another. Advocating for Palestinian rights and the safety of Jewish communities around the world go hand-in-hand.

The Sun is committed to publishing writing that reflects human complexity, fosters empathy, and illuminates inequity. For fifty years we have offered a platform for work that challenges racist policing, demands dignity in immigration, rejects normative scripts of war, and advocates for the autonomy of oppressed people everywhere.

In 2016 we published an interview by Judith Hertog with two unlikely friends—Bassam Aramin, a Muslim Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, a Jewish Israeli. Hertog, a Dutch-Israeli writer, teacher, and storyteller, searches for hope in a conversation that is heart-wrenching and insightful.

In the November 12 episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver we learned that Oliver, too, finds hope in Aramin’s and Elhanan’s stories of loss and determination—the two men who explored with Hertog how they reconciled their pain, offering a model for sharing narratives between bereaved Israelis and Palestinians in the name of peace. The dignity and grace Aramin and Elhanan bring to each other and to their global communities—amid their own unfathomable heartache—is humbling. Their stories remind us that it is never too late to find our humanity.

With help from our local community and national social-justice organizations we’ve compiled a list of ways you can help uphold the dignity of both Palestinian and Jewish communities in the Middle East and around the world.

Read Amnesty International’s 2022 report on Israel and the Occupied Palestine Territories to learn more about their history.

Attend a local demonstration.

Email your representatives in Congress.

Donate to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, whose mission is “to provide medical and humanitarian relief collectively and individually to Arab children throughout the Levant, regardless of their nationality, politics or religion.”

The Sun has made a donation to Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, and we hope you will join us in supporting those working to bring hope and peace to the region.