Ramy's Prayer/Jared Kushner's Gaza Comments/Israel's Version of Identity Politics
Dispatches on culture, politics, and religion from Matthew Schultz, a rabbinical student and writer living in Tel Aviv.
Dispatch One: Ramy’s Prayer for Peace
This last weekend, Muslim comedian Ramy Youssef hosted SNL. During his monologue, he said that all he has are prayers, and that he prays for a free Palestine, and for the release of the hostages.
It was a sincere and moving monologue - a prayer for peace from someone who hates war. As he stated at the Oscars when handing out ceasefire pins, “Let's stop killing kids. Let's not be part of more war. No one has ever looked back at war and thought a bombing campaign was a good idea.”
This is a sweet, albeit insipid, sentiment. Does he not realize that Israel doesn’t have a choice in the matter of war vs no war?