Norman Finkelstein: 'Opening the Heart to the Suffering of Others'
The fact that he’s “withdrawing from Gaza” is utterly meaningless. The Palestinians will get nothing out of it. Either the jailers will be on the outside or the inside, but it’s going to be a concentration camp.

Philadelphia Jews and Muslims Walk for Peace
They pleaded for an end to war, and to stop bloodshed and violence. They told us to live in peace and harmony, the way God intended for us all. These proclamations were the ‘common ground’ that indeed, helped develop this interfaith effort. It was what this assembly of Muslims, Jews, and Christians undertook by playing a proactive role in our commitment to peace.

Hug Noam Chomsky
The whole question of recognizing the right of a state to exist was invented solely for Israel. People, on the other hand, have a right to exist. So the people who live on the land—Israelis and Palestinians—have a right to live in security and peace.

Hug Jews for a Free Palestine
We are Bay Area Jews, and we want no more blood and injustice in our name. We are not behind occupation or oppression. I support this cause because I believe in justice. Judaism doesn’t support ethnic cleansing. We want the Palestinians, the people who lived on that land much longer and more recently than us, to have the same right of return that we do.

Hug Wendy Pearlman
At each signing I speak for about a half hour and then open the floor to questions. It can get pretty heated. Once a group of pro-Israel supporters launched a protest to convince Borders to cancel my reading. They said that I was a terrorist-sympathizer and that the talk would be an “affront to the Jewish community.”

Occupied Voices: Excerpts
You should watch Palestinian candid camera. Candid camera is done all over the world, and they did a Palestinian version on Palestinian TV. They want it to be funny, but it is about Palestinians and Israelis. One of the episodes is about a Palestinian guy who is running from the soldiers and he goes from house to house and says, "Can you hide me?" And this is supposed to be funny! The point is that candid camera is supposed to be about day-to-day life, and this is day-to-day life for us.

Play-In for Peace
Laura Weil called me as the bombing of Iraq raged on. She had been touched by our Hug-a-Jew series and wanted to organize a baby picnic. She called it a children’s play-in for peace. People in Iraq were getting blown up into bits, and Laura wanted to participate in something positive where she could bring her baby child. The downtown marches had been fun till the bombing started, but now the crackdown on marchers and mischief -makers was starting to get ugly.

Hug Joan Sekler
During the whole controversy, the media was concentrating on the hanging chads and butterfly ballots. But that was never part of the Republican plan in Florida. The real story is how they systematically suppressed the African American vote.

Hug Joel Beinin
MWU!: What are some of the things that you wish people knew about Zionism?

JB: One. The early Zionists did consider themselves to be promoting a settler colonialism project. They were very clear about it, at a time when it was popular for Europeans to talk of such racism. Two. Before Hitler, Zionism was a very marginal and minority movement. Most Jews had very serious religious or political problems with it. Three. Until 1948, Bi-nationalism (a joint Arab-Jewish state) was considered legitimate, and was supported by a large number of Zionists. Four. Most importantly that Israel was built upon the ruins of Palestinian society. Those are the first four that come to mind.

Hug Jeff Grubler
JG: I wish I was more newsworthy--in that I mean I wish the situation of the Iraqi people was more newsworthy. Since 1991 there's been a blackout in the media. Everyone knows the name of Saddam, but nobody knows the fate of the Iraqi people. So what I try to do is to figure out ways to bring the reality of the Iraqi people to Americans. Iraq is so far away, and we all have our own problems and worries, so Iraqis remain invisible. I have created phony products, organized guerilla theater, and used standup comedy--anything I can to make the Iraqi people less invisible. I try to reach people, and every once in a while, the media gives me attention which I pass on to the cause.

Hug Liat Weingart
MWU!: And who are these progressive Jews? LW: I must tell you that being the child of an Ashkanazi Jewish mother--aka a Yiddish Mama-- makes us behave in certain ways. I have organized workshops on how to use guilt to get what I want. Every other month my colleagues and I gather to evaluate the status of the romantic relationships in our organization, and then we coordinate demonstrations when we don’t approve. I'm only kidding of course.

Why a Hug-a-Jew Column?
In these times of singling out, labeling, and stigmatizing Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians living in the West, there is also much to learn from the Jewish experience in Europe and North America: the countless stories of tragic pain, oppression, resistance, and renewal.