Please Do Not Use Flag of State of Israel to Identify Jewish Events

We’re writing in response to your front-page banners for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As Jews, we thank you for recognizing our holidays, but we ask you in the future not to use the flag of the state of Israel to identify Jewish events.

We’re among the many local Jews who are not Zionists – we prioritize the wellbeing of all people over any commitment to the existing state of Israel.

Acknowledging our viewpoint is especially important right now, because Israel’s current unequal war on the residents of Gaza is not in line with our Jewish values. Despite our historical oppression, Jews are taught to love the stranger as ourselves – not to hate and oppress our neighbors or wage war on civilians. We continue to be deeply saddened and angered by this Jewish state that does not give equal citizenship, rights, security and justice to all its residents.

We especially want your Palestinian and other Muslim and Arab readers to know that the hearts of many local Jewish Americans go out to them and their community in this time of great suffering and peril. May the hearts of many more Americans open to the needs of all people in the region and bring us closer to a just peace.

Thank you for respecting our viewpoint.

–Alyssa Eisenberg
Deborah Goldsmith