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Members of a Milwaukee Group Work for Peace in the Middle East

Jewish Voice For Peace
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Tensions continue to run high in Israel, following the murders of several rabbis by Palestinian militants in a Jerusalem synagogue last month, and recent efforts by the conservative government to formally declare Israel as a Jewish state.

The cycle of violence is a long one, and has provoked rifts not just between Jews and Muslims in the Middle East, but among Jews around the world.

The members of the new Milwaukee chapter of the national organizationJewish Voice for Peace are working towards peace in the Middle East, but also in their own communities. 

The decision to openly express a differing view on  what it means to be Jewish and what you support in comparison to your elder's ideals can be difficult, Rachel Ida Buff says. She is co-coordinator for the group's Milwaukee chapter.

"They grew up with the idea that to be pro-Jewish is to be absolutely pro-Israel," she says. "I think my generation, I would call it the 'Stomach Ache Generation.' It took me two years of having a stomach ache to figure out that I wanted to and could be involved in Jewish Voice for Peace, and it’s an agonized and difficult question."

The Milwaukee chapterof Jewish Voice for Peace has an event this Sunday afternoon at 3 pm at Marquette University's Alumni Memorial Union. The "Jews in Solidarity with Palestinians" discussion features Rabbi Brant Rosen, co-founder and co-chairperson of the JVP Rabbinical Council and new Midwest Regional Director of the American Friends Service Committee.

Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.