Open the Gates: A Rabbinical Response to the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Tragedy

Dear Friends,

In the wake of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla tragedy, we once again feel the need to raise our voices as rabbis in the Jewish community.

According to press reports, we now know that at least 9 people have been killed and many more have been injured when Israeli Navy Seals boarded a boat that held 600 people in the middle of the night – conducting a military operation against civilian activists in the midst of international waters.

We also know that the essential aim of the Freedom Flotilla was to carry humanitarian aid to those who have been severely suffering under the effects of Israel’s crushing blockade of Gaza. We call upon our community not to turn away in denial or blame those of good will and good purpose who risked their lives to relieve the beleaguered people of the Gaza strip.

We lift up our voices and call upon Israel to conduct an independent, transparent, and credible investigation of this incident. We also call upon the government of Israel to open the gates of compassion and allow these ships to dock so that they may deliver humanitarian aid to the 1.5 million citizens of Gaza. In so doing, we note the overall context of oppression in which this incident has occurred and call upon the government of Israel to turn away from the policies of occupation, siege and indifference to international law.

Our silence now is an act of betrayal to the values we purport to live by and to the words of the prophet we read every Yom Kippur:

Is this the fast I desire? A day for people to starve
their bodies? Or bow their heads like a bulrush
or wear sackcloth and smear oneself with ashes...
No! This is the fast the Lord desires:
Unlock the fetters of oppression
Untie the cords of the yoke
Let the exploited go free, break off every chain.
share your bread with the hungry,
Shelter the poor in your own house
clothe the naked and do not ignore your own kin.

As rabbis, we believe all human beings are our kin. We cannot abide the suffering inflicted upon the people of Gaza.

We lift up our voices and say: Unlock the fetters of oppression. Untie the cords of the yoke. Open the gates.

1. Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb
2. Rabbi Brant Rosen
3. Rabbi Brian Walt
4. Rabbi Alissa Wise
5. Rabbi Rebecca Alpert
6. Rabbi Marjorie Berman
7. Rabbi JB Sacks
8. Rabbi Michael Lerner
9. Rabbi Arthur Waskow
10. Rabbi David Mivasair
11. Rabbi Chava Bahle
12. Rabbi Eyal Levinson
13. Rabbi Nina Mandel
14. Rabbi Margaret Holub
15. Rabbi Rebecca Lillian
16. Rabbi Gershon Steinberg-Caudill
17. Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman
18. Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
19. Rabbi Naomi Steinberg
20. Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak
21. Rabbi Arthur Segal
22. Rabbi Victor H. Reinstein
23. Rabbi Phyllis Berman
24. Rabbi Linda Holtzman
25. Rabbi Andrew Gold
26 Rabbi Michael Feinberg
27. Rabbi Diane Elliot
29. Rabbi Art Donsky
30. Rabbi Aryeh Cohen
31. Rabbi Meryl M. Crean
32. Rabbi Drorah Setel

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