A TIME FOR ATONEMENT: Will this Yom Kippur Bring Justice for the
Palestinians? by Gil Maguire On September 29 American and
Israeli Jews celebrated Rosh Hashanah. The ten days following
Rosh Hashanah are days of reflection and repentance for Jews
culminating October 8 in Yom Kippur the Day of Atonement, the
most important and solemn of Jewish holy days. This year,
American and Israeli Jews alike should reflect on the plight of
over 8 million Palestinians who, some 63 years after Israel’s
formation, remain estranged from their homeland, deprived of
self determination and freedom and imprisoned in a limbo-like
oppressive existence that reflects terribly on Jews. It is an
existence that American and Israeli Jews are jointly responsible
for and for which they have a moral duty to change. This season
of Yom Kippur is the time to reflect and a time to commit to
that change. The scope of the harm American and Israeli Jews
have created is immense. Stephen Robert, a Jewish-American
investment banker, and long-time Isra