A Jewish home that is not a Jewish state

Peter Beinart, an associate professor of journalism and political science at City University of New York, is a 49-year-old American Jew, who regularly writes for the New-York Times, Haaretz, the Atlantic and the New York Review of Books.

Beinart, who keeps the Jewish dietary laws and attends an Orthodox synagogue, considers himself to be a "liberal Zionist". Several days ago, he published an article in the New York Times, in which he wrote: “It’s time to imagine a Jewish home that is not a Jewish state.“

He explains “I knew Israel was wrong to deny Palestinians in the West Bank citizenship, due process, free movement and the right to vote in the country in which they lived. But the dream of a two-state solution that would give Palestinians a country of their own let me hope that I could remain a liberal and a supporter of Jewish statehood at the same time.”

Beinart concludes that “Events have now extinguished that hope.” And, that “It’s time to abandon the traditional two-state solution and embrace the goal of equal rights for Jews and Palestinians.”

This was not an easy trip for Peter Beinart, nor for many others who share his despair. Beinart writes “I believed in Israel as a Jewish state because I grew up in a family that had hopscotched from continent to continent as diaspora Jewish communities crumbled. I saw Israel’s impact on my grandfather and father, who were never as happy or secure as when enveloped in a society of Jews. And I knew that Israel was a source of comfort and pride to millions of other Jews, some of whose families had experienced traumas greater than my own.”

Many Jews outside Israel will take this to the next step, as they reconsider their relationship with the State of Israel.