Who Is This For?: Can art bridge political divides?

The artist holds many narratives via many voices equally, no choosing sides or moral ranking; this is a balanced approach to a tinderbox. Palestine Museum US produced the pre-October 7th version of the play; after October 7th, in response to the seeming celebration of the Hamas attack, Sandy rewrote to reflect her shock, grief, fear, and moral disorientation. Her American, Israeli, and Palestinian characters, including her own cousins, reflect their capacity to and incredulity at how they hurt each other before and after October 7. The audience is invited to hold all the truths, all the realities at once, so that peace may appear, even at a distance, as a possibility. 

The play traces an American Jewish woman's progress as she reconciles her loyalty to Israel and to the Jewish people, upholding Jewish values that sanctify every life, including Israel’s Palestinian and Arab neighbors. "Two peoples, one piece of land, no one's going anywhere."

_______________________________________________________________________________________

The Play's Ethical Stance

While refusing easy answers, the play ultimately argues for several principles:

1. Shared Humanity: Nursing mothers, mother of martyrs, fearful mothers and children caught in an asymmetrical war; four generations of Israeli soldiers portrayed, Jewish Israeli and Palestinian Muslims

2. Accountability: Israel must examine settler violence, prison conditions, and military conduct, regardless of what Hamas does

3. Memory Without Exploitation: Holocaust memory should create empathy for all suffering

4. The Long View: A vision of Israelis and Palestinians helping with harvests, forgetting history, beginning anew

5. Women's Leadership: Repeatedly suggesting women might "figure it out together" where men have failed

6. Tikkun Olam: The Jewish obligation to repair the world; to treat the neighbor you recognize and the stranger you don't with kindness and respect

7. The 'ISMS': Is antisemitism the same as antizionism 30 years after Shulamit Aloni named the 'trick' of calling people who criticized Israel antisemitic? Sandy insists on solidarity with the left, including Black Lives Matter and feminism, even as some feminist-identified activists/organizations have been perceived as hostile to Jewish people. 

The final image—Sisyphus pushing a rock containing a peace sign—captures the play's position: peace work is absurd, endless, and essential. "One must imagine Sisyphus happy."