‘2 People 2 States’ | The Drawing Board
In an illustrated op-ed, local artist Joe Boruchow crafted a paper cutout to help "center our conversation around peaceful solutions" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, I have been distressed at the unproductive clamor from both the far-left and the far-right.
This was encapsulated perfectly in a clip that circulated among many of my friends on the activist left of Marc Lamont Hill debating Donald Trump’s ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, in which the two frequently shout over one another.
In my mind, these two are opposite sides of the same coin, representing extreme views and trying to provoke emotional responses instead of proposing rational solutions.
My paper cutout, 2 People 2 States, is an attempt to bring the discussion to a place where peace may actually be achieved. It’s loosely based on the 1993 Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat handshake that marked the beginning of the Oslo Accords and an attempt at mediating a two-state peace between Israel and Palestine.
The issue is very personal to me. One of my great uncles was Ber Borochov, a founder of the Labor Zionist movement, who believed Arabs and Jews could live together in working-class solidarity.
The Canadian activist Vivian Silver was among those killed at Be’eri, one of the kibbutzim that were attacked on 10/7. Silver and her fellow residents were the torchbearers of this movement and the victims of cynical extremists who want to extinguish any chance of a lasting peace.
» READ MORE: Middle East report: Is there a solution for Israel and the West Bank? | Trudy Rubin
To be clear, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his radical partners who have dominated Israeli politics for the past 20 years besmirch the diverse history of Zionist philosophy and also move us further away from peace.
So it is in Vivian Silver’s memory that I tried to make a piece that would center our conversation around peaceful solutions to the conflict and raise money for the organization she founded in 2014, Women Wage Peace.
WWP is the largest interfaith grassroots movement in Israel, whose purpose is to promote an honorable, nonviolent, and mutually acceptable political agreement to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Proceeds from the sales of 2 People 2 States T-shirts and hoodies will be donated to Women Wage Peace.
If you have an idea for a drawing, editorial cartoon, multipanel comic strip, or other illustration that might serve as a visual op-ed, please email oped@inquirer.com.