Find the courage to stand for Palestinian human rights

THE EDITOR, Madam:

I write as a Canadian of Jamaican and Jewish heritage, carrying with me two histories that have profoundly shaped my understanding of injustice.

For most of my life, I believed the story I had been taught about Israel: that it represented refuge, justice and the fulfilment of a noble historical struggle. As a Jew whose family came from Europe and was shaped by the horrors of the Second World War, I believed supporting Israel was part of honouring that history.

Then I began reading more deeply, prompted by articles in your newspaper. I followed their claims, investigated further and discovered a history I had never been taught: the displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during Israel’s creation, violence by Zionist militias, the continuing occupation and settlements, allegations and findings concerning apartheid and breaches of international law, and the devastating suffering of Palestinians today, including the genocide allegations before international courts.

The most painful realisation was this: I had accepted a story without asking what happened to the people who were already living there.

I grew up proud that Jamaica, a small black nation with its own history of colonialism and oppression, stood against apartheid in South Africa. We understood that injustice does not become acceptable because the perpetrator claims security or historical justification.

So, why has that principle become so difficult to apply when Palestinians are the victims?

I remain Jewish, and I will not abandon my heritage. But my Jewish history taught me what persecution means, while my Jamaican heritage taught me that oppressed people deserve solidarity. I cannot reconcile those lessons with silence over Palestinian suffering.

I cannot change what I once believed. But I can refuse to keep believing it now that I know more.

If Jamaica could stand against apartheid in South Africa, surely, we can find the courage to stand for Palestinian human rights today.

Bernad Moshe Levi