Catholics are asking, “Who would Jesus torture?”

In the meantime, American Jews have their own struggle with conscience:

PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia Jews continued to honor the High Holidays today by unfurling banners reading “U.S. Jews Say: Stop U.S. Military $ to Israel ” and “U.S. Jews Stand Against Israeli War Crimes.” Similar banners have adorned bridges over interstate highways throughout the city in honor of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the two holiest days of the Jewish calendar.

The “10 Days of Jewish Solidarity with Palestine & Lebanon ” campaign began on Rosh Hashanah, Friday, September 22. It continues through Yom Kippur on Monday, October 2. The campaign is coordinated with Jewish organizations in Boston , Detroit , New York City, San Francisco , Seattle , and Los Angeles .

“In this period of reflection and renewal, it becomes all the more urgent to separate a centuries-old complex and living tradition from a highly militarized and relatively new state,” said a health care professional and participants in this week’s actions.

The Jewish tradition asks all Jews to reflect and atone for the individual and collective injustices each person has committed or allowed to happen. The national campaign calls on Jews of conscience to honor the High Holidays by taking action in solidarity with the people of Palestine and Lebanon . According to its mission statement, the campaign calls on Jewish communities to question the effect of the U.S. government’s unconditional political and financial support of Israeli policy.

These protest actions come one month after Jewish groups in Philadelphia, New York and San Francisco hung banners, held a die-in, and committed civil disobedience in response to Israel ’s war in Lebanon and the unquestioned U.S. government support for it.