Ed Kass' reflections on Yom HaShoah in 2026.

The response addresses Ms. Ito's criticisms regarding Israel's history, the legitimacy of Palestinian claims, and the occupation narrative, emphasizing the need for mutual understanding and acknowledgment to achieve peace.

Last Sunday, I had a short conversation with a resident from the south Hebron Hills. I asked this resident about the attack in March on the Palestinian village adjacent to the resident’s village.

On Nov. 4th, UCLA's Center for Israel Studies hosts an online discussion with Itamar Rabinovich about Yitzhak Rabin's legacy. A follow-up Zoom discussion is on Nov. 12th.

What have we got to lose? Here's an example.

This past Monday, the JCC sponsored “The Israeli Palestinian Conversation”, an extra-ordinary, emotionally moving and thought-provoking play. I commend Ami Dayan and his cast for their courage in tackling this issue and providing an artfully weaved fabric of history and emotional context about the Israel-Palestine conflict.

We haven’t learned. We haven’t recognized the destructive force of zealotry and arrogance in our history either in biblical or recent times . Today these forces have morphed into a far more lethal and insidious force.

On July 31, Israeli destroyed the propagation units of the Palestinian National Seed Bank in the West Bank city of Hebron. Israel used for its legal justification that the structure was constructed without a building permit. 

Here, in the United States. we need to build a grass-root Jewish movement that is not afraid to use the methods of the civil rights and anti-Vietnam war movements to reclaim our morality as a Jewish people and help save Israel from herself.

For 20 years two Israeli-Palestinian groups have observed this solemn day by sharing their loss and their dreams and hopes for Peace.

For centuries we have taken pride in our devotion to learning and questioning, to look at all positions and issues. When it comes to Israel, however, our communal leadership is selective as to the information it presents to the community. In Boulder, we can talk about Iran but not about the Occupation, the on-going displacement of Palestinians in Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank or about Jewish terrorism against the Palestinians.

When a family member continues to repeat the same behaviors causing irreparable harm to self and others, we need to speak up…we need to intervene. Israel is that family member.

Nissan is a month of remembrance and observance. On this Wednesday evening, we sit together in sadness and grief as we collectively observe Yom HaZikaron laShoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, to recall the genocide of our six million brethren.

In this time of the Covid-19 virus, I see the Modeh Ani prayer as our most important and critical prayer.