10 | MAY 18 • 2023
PURELY COMMENTARY
A
s a constituent who
resides in Southfield
and on behalf of a
synagogue located in your
district, I am
disappointed in
and troubled by
your Tweet from
May 1, 2023,
in which you
declared “… the
apartheid state
of Israel was
born out of violence and ethnic
cleansing of Palestinians.
”
First, your Tweet is rife with
egregious factual errors in A)
labeling Israel an apartheid state,
B) implying the violence came
exclusively from the Jewish
side of the conflict, and C)
insinuating that the Jews alone
engaged in “ethnic cleansing.
”
Second, in a noble but
misguided effort to generate
sympathy for Palestinian people
who are suffering, you engage
in absurd and unnecessary
reductionism of more than a
century’s worth of history and
complexity.
Third, you succeed in
dismissing the genuine and
legitimate concerns and
claims of the Jewish People,
who overcame 2,000 years
of oppression and murder to
withstand the attacks of multiple
Arab armies that invaded the
land with the explicit intention
of ethnic cleansing.
Fourth, Israel exists as a
democracy that offers full rights
and protections to all its citizens
equally, including women,
members of the LGBTQ
community, and Israeli citizens
of Palestinian descent: freedoms
and equality of citizenship
denied to Jews throughout
much of Jewish history in the
Arab lands. The theocracies and
despots who reign throughout
the Middle East continue to
deny their citizens the same
freedoms that Israel offers
and, to my knowledge, the
Palestinian Authority denies full
freedoms to at least the LGBTQ
community, too.
Nevertheless, Palestinians
who hold Israeli citizenship
today can thrive because of
the educational opportunities
as well as the freedoms of
expression, privacy and speech
among other freedoms afforded
to all Israeli citizens alike in
Israel’s vibrant democracy.
You are an elected official
and member of the United
States government, charged
with representing the broad
swath of constituents within
your district. Please elevate
the level of conversation
in our country and avoid
reductionism. Please speak with
knowledge of the complexity of
issues and avoid creating false
binaries of good and evil. Please
seek to deescalate extremism
and avoid exacerbating political
polarization.
The Jews who live in Israel
and the many Jews who live
here in your district — all of
us family to those in Israel —
deserve better than what you
are trying to do. Likewise, the
Palestinians who live in the
West Bank and Gaza and the
Palestinians who live in your
district deserve better than
what you are trying to do. Your
inflammatory Tweet hurts
everyone and slows the progress
toward freedom and self-
determination.
I pray for the day when Jews
and Palestinians alike know the
blessing of self-determination
and security, in which a
democratic and peace-loving
Israel can co-exist next to a
Palestinian state that is likewise
democratic and peace loving.
Until that time, let’s strive
to humanize rather than
dehumanize; let’s work hard
to understand with respect
and compassion all sides of
the various issues; let’s aim for
education and collaboration;
and let’s speak of the region’s
complexities with respect
and compassion. Frankly,
I expect better from my
congresswoman than what this
Tweet offers.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Aaron Starr
Rabbi Aaron Starr is a spiritual leader
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
Southfield.
Rabbi Aaron
Starr
letter
Dear Rep. Tlaib ...
Here is the Tweet by Rashida Tlaib that Rabbi Aaron Starr is
responding to in his letter.
Editor’s Note: Rep. Rashida Tlaib wanted to hold a “Nakba”
event in the Capitol Visitors’ Center last week, but House Speaker
Kevin McCarthy canceled her request. McCarthy said, it’s “wrong
for members of Congress to traffic in antisemitic tropes about
Israel.
” (Tlaib did hold the event on the Senate side, with the help
of Sen. Bernie Sanders.) On the right is Tlaib’s Tweet in reponse to
McCarthy, accusing Israel of being an “aparthied state” born out of
“ethnic cleansing.
” Congregation Shaarey Zedek Rabbi Aaron Starr
felt compelled to respond to Tlaib. He shared his letter with the JN.