As if we needed any further evidence, we received two painful reminders last week of the cycle of violence that keeps Israelis and Palestinians locked in a never-ending conflict for which both sides, of course, are equally responsible.
First, two sisters from Hamas-governed Gaza responded to an invitation to enter Israel and undergo life-saving cancer treatment—a blatant and obvious Israeli provocation—by smuggling explosives in a tube labeled as medicine. Then, a few days later, a young Palestinian man, invited by an Israeli peace group to come and spend a day on the beach in Tel Aviv, in turn entered a hotel on the city’s boardwalk and stabbed four people.
These attacks further validate the perceived notions of the international community and most liberal American Jews, proving that both Israelis and Palestinians are responsible for the violence and the bloodshed that have been plaguing them for a century. If Israel is truly interested in peace with its neighbors, it should consider refraining from clear acts of belligerence like attempting to save the lives of cancer patients or inviting young people to spend the day dipping their toes in the Mediterranean. Such clear assaults on the rights and the dignity of Palestinians only invite further violence. It’s time for the vicious cycle to end.
Liel Leibovitz is editor-at-large for Tablet Magazine and a host of its weekly culture podcast Unorthodox and daily Talmud podcast Take One. He is the editor of Zionism: The Tablet Guide.