PBS talked to some prominent American Jews (including Rabbi Avi Weiss) about their relationship to Israel.
“Rabbi Avi Weiss, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, New York:
America is my home. I’m grateful to the US forever and ever. Israel is my homeland and that’s where my family lives, literally and figuratively. When I think about existentially who I am I think of Israel. My roots, I’m grounded, my ancestry all there…. I feel for Palestinians. The fault lies with Palestinian leadership. It lies with Hamas. It lies with Hezbollah. This is not a Ghandi-Martin Luther King movement. If the rockets stop lobbing into Sderot, if they are going to stop the terrorism Israel is the first one to want peace. Unfortunately, the more Israel has given, the weaker Israel is perceived from the other side, and the more the other side wants.“
Read more in “Extended Interviews: American Jews and Israel” where you’ll find out why a little strip of land in the Middle East holds so much meaning to those of us who have it “easy” in America.
Memoirs of a Jewminicana 