For many years when I have visited Israel, I have also spent some time in the West Bank which I have visited with organizations like T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Breaking the Silence, and the like. I have been horrified to witness Palestinian villages destroyed by Jewish settlers who wish to push Palestinian shepherds and farmers off their land and take it over. So when I received an invitation from T’ruah to join a three-way mission of solidarity in the West Bank where we would provide protective presence for these vulnerable communities, I knew I had to go.

Family and friends cautioned me not to go, fearing for my safety. And, indeed, there has been increasing violence on the part of settlers as they push to displace the Palestinians. Many Palestinians have been unable to harvest their olive groves, an economic source as well as an important cultural activity. Just before I left, two American women were arrested and deported when they participated in an olive harvest in the West Bank, inadvertently entering a closed military zone. But I was determined to go, feeling that I needed to do something concrete about this awful injustice.

My determination was tested when I arrived at the Los Angeles airport for my flight to Israel on October 30th. Though my passport would not expire before January of 2026, it turns out I needed 90 days before my passport expired in order to get on the plane to Israel from Los Angeles. I only had 60 and had to miss my flight. The agent at the airport told me I........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)