As Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab described in the Journal of Palestinian Studies in February 1988, Palestinian children in each age category were each given a different role to play in stone-throwing. We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. And yet, we must. For today is Yom Kippur .
Today is the day for atonement.
Today is the day for forgiveness. It is not a day when we cope with hatred within our hearts, when we gain empathy with the suffering of others, by ignoring our own hardened heart. It is a day when, despite what others have done to us, despite our feelings of impotence, that we cannot change the reality that causes us pain, despite all that, it is a day when we call on God to help us face the breaks within our own hearts, and we pray for God's help and support to repair our soul. On the one hand, this is an appropriate time for fear and for anger at the present threat to Israel's security. That it's so difficult this year, this Yom Kippur, makes it all the more important, all the more necessary.