Lois Holzman

It will not be the work of traditional politics, but rather the work of spirituality, consciousness, art, music, storytelling and love - that will sustain us through this impending hour. But politics cannot be left behind; it has too much effect on literally billions of people’s lives to simply be ignored. It must be transformed. As Gandhi said, “politics should be sacred.” Politics is our collective behavior, which we have allowed to be corrupted by money, greed, and our own temptation to turn against one another. The most powerful move we can make right now is to forgive each other, so we can start again on Higher Ground. It is the only liberation from the aspect of self that made the world as we know it now. It will prepare the ground - and incubate the power - to reap what we have sown, learn the lessons and begin again.

Saturday morning I awoke to a text from a friend: “War in Israel.” More texts…TV…checking websites…talking to experts…checking in with friends, as layers of horror unfolded before our eyes. By the end of the day the full extent of the catastrophe was clearer. There will indeed now be a long and difficult and evil war. Innocent civilians who had nothing to do with the actions of the Israeli government are, even as I write this, either being tortured or killed or are dead already. Children have been taken hostage. A nation is terrorized. Israeli Military Intelligence, who everyone thought had such vast operational superiority that no one would ever dare do what Hamas has now done, has spectacularly and tragically failed at its job. And yes, I know. These events did not occur in a vacuum. I could write about - and indeed I have, and at length - the myriad injustices Palestinians have endured at the hands of Israel. Pretty much anything anyone could say about that…I get it, I know. But not today. Today I simply want to grieve. I don’t want to argue. I don’t want to take a position or argue policy. I just want to grieve. I grieve for the Israeli children and Palestinian children and Israeli parents and Palestinian parents. I grieve for the world that we could not do better than this. I grieve the fact that any sliver of hope for peace in that region is probably set back for decades, possibly even longer now. I will have much to say in the coming days about what is happening in Israel and how I feel the United States should respond. For now, I stand with Israel. And I stand with the Palestinian people. I do not stand with Hamas, nor will I ever. For their cause is not justice. Their cause is terror. May the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the God to whom Jews and Muslims and Christians all pray - please help us in this agonizing hour.

This is a formal invitation to @RobertKennedyJr and @POTUS to debate me. Clearly the DNC will not allow Biden to do so. Hopefully @FoxNews, @CNN, @MSNBC or an Independent News outlet will provide either a Town Hall or a debate between Kennedy and myself. I look forward to it.