By Nate Feldman
https://www.jta.org/2026/04/29/united-states/a-synagogue-helped-palestinians-raise-money-for-gaza-and-found-common-ground-over-falafel.
The above is the link to an article about a synagogue in North Carolina working with a local Palestinian doctor to raise money for children in Gaza. It shows how much can be done between the two communities when people talk to one another and not fight.
By Nate Feldman
Summary: In this chapter, Maoz and Aziz travel to the area in which Aziz grew up, in the Eastern part of Jerusalem. Maoz gets to meet Aziz's family there.
Aziz retells the story of his brother Tayseer, someone who was his protector during his childhood. He recalls how Tayseer was arrested and sent to an Israeli detention center. He would eventually be released and return home. However, injuries he sustained while detained eventually led to his premature death.
Aziz also discusses his father's life. He sold fruit products throughout the Arab world when Eastern Jerusalem and what is now known as the West Bank were under Jordanian control. After the Israelis took over the West Bank during the 1967 Six Days War, his father's business was ruined.
Maoz discusses how when he was enlisted in the Israeli military how he used to patrol checkpoints, no more than a couple of miles from where Aziz grew up. He talked about how overwhelming and stressful this duty was and mentioned how some Israelis commit suicide after military service because of the trauma they endure.
The chapter movingly concludes by describing the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, and how even after being cut down they regrow. It mentions how they have witnessed many conflicts throughout history. Their longevity and ability to regrow is supposed to be a metaphor about how people in the region can regrow after conflict.
My thoughts: As I felt saddened by what happened to Maoz's parents and friends on October 7, I likewise feel sorrow for what happened to Aziz's brother. There is no doubt that this conflict has taken way too many lives prematurely on both sides, which is why the work that these two men do is so essential and their message of enough is enough resonates.
I also can understand Aziz's feelings about checkpoints throughout Palestinian areas and how disruptive this is for life. When I first met Iman, my former wife, she was living with her family in Tulkarem, a city in the northern West Bank. Traveling between Tulkarem and other Palestinian towns was excruciatingly long because of the endless checkpoints leading out of the city and along the roads. In fact, I remember her wanting to introduce me to family in Jericho, another Palestinian West Bank city, and insisting we don't do it because it would take so long and I didn't want to have to deal with Israeli soldiers commenting on my Jewish surname in front of her relatives. In this chapter, he talked about the long lines and not being treated well at these checkpoints, and I definitely saw experiences like that.
I would be interested to see how other Israelis feel about their military experiences, especially those who must guard checkpoints and whether they felt it was traumatic or not.
By Nate Feldman
Summary:
On day 2, Maoz and Aziz went to Jaffa and Tel Aviv. They met with a Jaffa resident, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, who works in politics.
The chapter talks about Jaffa's history, as it was an important economic hub for the Palestinians once. It mentions how many residents were displaced during the 1948 war, and how only a fragment of the original Arab population remained there.
They also visit Rabin square in Tel Aviv, where the former Prime Minister (Yitzhak Rabin) was assassinated in November 1995 while promoting a peaceful resolution with the Palestinians. From there they discuss how Rabin and Yasser Arafat, the former leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization and President of the Palestinian authority had agreed to work together after having been bitter enemies. The writers say that other Israelis and Palestinians can also make the change to partners after having been adversaries.
My thoughts: Whether you agree with the writers' points of view on the conflict or not, it is important to keep in mind that their ability to work together is the most fundamental thing. The goal of peace is not to get everyone to agree with one another. It is to disagree, but with civility, empathy, and perhaps even love in some cases.
By Nate Feldman
Day 1: Origins and Aftermath
Summary:
In this chapter, Maoz Inon recounts how his parents, who lived near the Gaza border, were murdered during the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas, which killed over 1,000 Israelis and led to many hostages. He spoke with them the morning of the attacks, and he later found out that they were shot and their house was burned with them inside of it.
He recalls how Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian whom he had met previously, texted him condolences. Aziz mentioned how this was a difficult decision for him because he wasn't sure how this would be received, but this led to them connecting over their shared losses. However, this message helped lead to their current relationship where they are advocating for non-violence and dialogue among their people.
Aziz's brother, Tayseer, was arrested during the First Intifada of the 1980s-90s, and after being released died of internal injuries obtained during his imprisonment by Israeli forces. Though he initially sought revenge, in time he believed that violence didn't solve the problems of their country and that dialogue and understanding was needed.
Maoz believes that the Israeli government led by Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's current Prime Minster, bears a lot of responsibility for his parents death because they didn't protect the communities surrounding Gaza and because they were more invested in guarding Jewish settlements in the West Bank territories, which are predominantly Palestinian.
Abu Sarah also talks about interacting with Palestinians who have seen immense suffering in Gaza since the attacks. He met with a doctor who recalled how overwhelmed hospitals were with people coming in with injured and dying family members.
Comments: I believe the fact that these two men have the relationship they have is nothing short of miraculous. They are envisioning a future Israel and Palestine where differences are met with empathy and a willingness to understand the other's perspective. The fact that they haven't let personal tragedies mar their commitment to co-existence is amazing and frankly difficult to fathom as I cannot guarantee I would follow their paths under similar circumstances. Of course, there are things both say I am not sure I entirely agree with. I am not sure my political perspectives entirely match theirs. But, the lesson of their shared journey is that real peace will not come when everyone agrees, but when people who disagree learn to listen to one another, and perhaps love one another, while also maintaining their respective opinions on political/historical issues.
By Nate Feldman
I recently began reading the book, 'The Future is Peace" by Aziz Abu Sarah and Moaz Inon. Both men have lost relatives in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but they have chosen to seek a path of peace and reconciliation rather than looking for revenge.
Recently, both appeared on the Daily Show and were interviewed by Jon Stewart. The interview focused on their personal histories. Abu Sarah's brother died in an Israeli prison and Inon's parents were killed in the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. In their book, they travel throughout Israel and the Palestinian territories, telling the history of the land while meeting with local people affected by the conflict.
In the interview and their book, they stress the need for people to listen to others, even when in disagreement. This is definitely easier said than done and even something I concede I have never been perfect at. But, as they tell people, it is the only true way to resolve conflicts the best way possible.
By Nate Feldman
This book probably would have been better titled as, "John Quincy Adams is Great and Abraham Lincoln is Terrible." The main argument is that Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, has been overly sanctified as a liberator of African Americans. The author, Fred Kaplan, would prefer that John Quincy Adams, the country's 6th President, be recognized as a true champion for abolitionism and civil rights for African Americans, alongside a list of other notable abolitionists.
Let's start with the positives about the book. It's very readable. I moved through the pages quite quickly. The author has a good writing style. It mentioned in the book that he was a Professor of English, and I can see why. I also learned quite a bit from the book. I found out a lot of interesting information about abolitionists, such as Elijah Lovejoy, a journalist that was murdered by an angry mob for advocating an end to slavery in his newspapers. I also learned about the American Colonization Society, a popular group in the 19th century that advocated for blacks to be returned to Africa. I'll even concede that some of his concerns about Lincoln, most notably his membership in the aforementioned society, as well as a meeting that took place in the White House in 1862 where Lincoln encouraged emigration are worth learning about.
My criticism of the book is that the author does exactly what he claims champions of Lincoln do: oversimplify his legacy. He does the same for John Quincy Adams. He makes Adams look much better than he probably was and Lincoln much worse than he was. There isn't a lot of nuance here. A great example is his tendency to highlight every slave owner and racist Lincoln had social relationships with. It is true that Lincoln held company with many racists and slave owners. Yet, he doesn't chastise Adams for serving as Secretary of State to James Monroe, a slave owner. He blasts Lincoln's slow pace of emancipating slaves during the Civil War. On the other hand, he barely touches Adams' Presidency, which did nothing to emancipate slaves. Adams had justifications in his eyes, and Lincoln did not.
Finally, the thing we can't ever forget is that Lincoln actually emancipated slaves and helped ratify the 13th amendment of the constitution, which outlawed it in the United States. That is why he is remembered as the Great Emancipator. Because he is the one President that did that. For all his virtues, John Quincy Adams, nor his father, did. That is why they are not remembered for that.
Furthermore, the book fails completely at understanding Lincoln's evolving views about race and its place in American society during his presidency. There is a reason Frederick Douglass, the great African American abolitionist and Civil Rights pioneer, said of Lincoln in 1880 that he was "one of the noblest wisest and best men I ever knew." Quotes like that do not exist in the book. He gives a very one-sided perspective of Lincoln's relationship with abolitionists.
The unfortunate thing is that I agree that John Quincy Adams is overlooked by historians for his contributions and his advocacy for a more just, multi-racial America. And perhaps a lot of Lincoln's flaws are overlooked. But, I think replacing an overly simplistic narrative with another one is not the way to the truth. It is for that reason I give this book a generous 3 out of 5 stars. It's easy to read and informative, but some of its conclusions, and facts (the battle of Antietam was a Union victory, not defeat) are inaccurate.
