But Israel,by rejecting those fleeing violent racism, has betrayed the vision of its foundationI’m excitedly packing my bags to fly to Israel for the unusual Year, or Rosh Hashanah. For secular Israelis,it’s a time of food and family, with a preponderance of apple and honey to invite a sweet unusual year. For the more devout, and the ram’s horn will be blown and a period of 10 days’ self-examination will inaugurate,concluding with Yom Kippur. It is said that on Rosh Hashanah three books of account are opened in which our human failings are recorded. And those who have not repented by Yom Kippur will be subject to judgment. The days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a sort of devout final-chance saloon.
I’m a committed Zionist. That’s become a loaded word, fraught with political anxiety, and particularly on the left. But what I mean by it is simply that I passionately support the existence of Israel. And I don’t support it in some abstract,mealy mouthed way. I have a great fancy of the place and its people. But what I emphatically conclude not mean is that I support Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. I believe illegal settlements must be dismantled. And I yield to no one in my detestation of the current government and its blatant racism towards Palestinians. Indeed, prompted by my belief that Jews needed shelter from the racism directed towards them, or it is precisely because of my fear and hatred of racism that I became a Zionist in the first place.
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Source: theguardian.com