Part Two is here.
First, let me state I am Jewish, and I am a Zionist. Before readers start cursing me, let me state that Zionism is simply the belief that Jewish people should have their own homeland, their own refuge. I was raised surrounded by survivors, and I agree. Germans have their Fatherland, Russians have their Motherland, and now the Kurds have a de facto Kurdistan.
What's left out is a subset of Arabs - the Palestinians.
What makes me embarrassed to say I am a Zionist, is what the Settlers, the Israeli right wing, and their evangelical amen chorus are doing in the name of Zionism. What Germans did to us, some of us are doing to Arabs. Arabs in Israel are treated the way black people in the States used to be treated - I've seen it, and I have tried to stop it, and gotten the same treatment civil rights workers in the States got.
Arabs are not 1930s Germans, and it is vile to make that comparison. Among the Arabs I know, I have not met one Jew hater. But among the Anglos I have contact with, I have met plenty of anti-Semites. Jews were far better off in the Ottoman Empire than they were in Europe, where they lived in constant fear. There is not one Muslim nation which built a concentration camp. That was Christian Europe's contribution to history. Among the Arabs I have met, no one has denied Israel's right to exist - they simply want social justice for all Arabs, and I am on their side.
We of all people know better. We, of all people, are engaging in pogroms against Arabs. The Occupation, which has gone on since 1967, is debasing us all. We, of all people, stand for social justice. We should be using Dr. King, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi as our models - not 1933 Germany.
We learned collective punishment from Germany, and we have been good students. Judaism does not believe in collective guilt, nor in collective punishment - and that is what we have been doing. Judaism stands for social justice, and it has been hijacked by a noisy band of fanatics, who assassinated Rabin for daring to shake hands with Arafat. And as far as hands go, Menachem Begin had as much blood on his hands as Arafat, so we can stop the righteous indignation.
Here is what happened in Gaza, which has gotten lost in the noise. After the pullout, Bush insisted on elections in Gaza. He is an evangelical, and has a twisted view of the world. Hamas ran on an anti-corruption platform, and after winning, they marched Fatah members out of Gaza at gunpoint. So much for democracy. Hamas then instituted draconian Shari'a. Next, they grabbed an IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit.
Israel demanded him back; Hamas said only for a prisoner exchange. Israel then decided to starve Gaza into submission. They closed the border crossing, cut off electricity, withheld customs duties, and harassed supply ships.
Hamas then started firing rockets into Israel. Then Israel had its version of Shock And Awe. Two days before Obama's inauguration, Israel declared its goals had been met, and withdrew along with stopping the bombing campaign. Of course - with Obama as president, the US was no longer going to give Israel carte blanche.
During WWII, there wasn't any question of who was right, and who was wrong. This is one time in history when both sides are wrong, and there are plenty of wrongs to go around. There are enough wrongs from all sides to fill an entire library. And I say: enough. Enough of this madness, which has degraded into clinical insanity. Everyone remembers what your grandfather did to my grandfather. It's time to stop licking our wounds. Both sides are living under siege, and both sides are going clinically insane - which is why I am glad I live in the States.
Arab nations, led by Saudi Arabia, have said it best of all: go back to the 1967 borders, and we will together form an economic union like the European EU. And the Israeli right wing, egged on by evangelicals, said hell no.
King Hussein -may he rest in peace- in his wisdom, said he would give up his claim on Jordan's West Bank, so that could become Palestine. And the Israeli settlers, financed by evangelicals, said hell no. Apparently, the West Bank was promised to the settlers in some book, written several thousand years ago. I have a deed to my loft, but it was issued by the Philadelphia government, which carries a lot more weight than what the settlers are basing their claim on.
I've talked to some evangelicals, who told me with a perfectly straight face, that the West Bank was promised to the settlers, in the Bible. So I guess it's a closed case.
I make this warning: the mistreatment of Arabs will haunt all of us. No one is going to put up with the continual trashing of civil rights. By denying Arabs their civil rights, by heaping indignities upon Arabs, we are losing our dignity, we are debasing ourselves. Denying social justice to Arabs, denies social justice to ourselves.
You have been warned.
7 comments:
Excellent post. I think we are pretty different politically, but that's why Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors, right? I'll stop back, it looks like you have a lot of good things here.
It's odd that your article never mentions the thousands of Jewish civilians who were ethnically cleansed from 'east' Jerusalem by Arabs between 1947-1949. This is the very area in dispute amongst the uneducated journalists today. Hundreds more Jews were murdered while Jordan illegally occupied the city & divided it. Then Arab Muslims moved into those Jewish homes, destroyed over 50 synagogues, desecrated a historic Jewish cemetary, and eventually kicked out thousands of Arab Christians.
The strangest part of your post is when you equate Israelis to people discriminating against blacks in the USA. The analogy is pathetic, illogical, and completely lacking intelligent insight. The irony is that Hamas imitates the KKK perfectly. Those Palestinian terrorists wear white robes and hoods while throwing Nazi salutes & professing their hatred for Jews and blacks (remember how they treated Condi Rice).
Never trust men in white robes that hate blacks and Jews (KKK, Saudi princes, hamas, etc.)
Here's some pictures of Palis idolizing the Nazis.
Ihttp://images.google.com/images?q=hamas%20nazi%20salute&hl=en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi
Even more ironic is your mention of 1930's Germans, who many Arab Muslims were allied with throughout WW2. Not to mention the attempted poisoning of Tel Aviv's water supply by Nazi agents and Arabs in the 1930's. In fact a very infamous Palestinian, Haj-amin al Husseini, lived in Berlin until 1945, allied with Hitler and even organized a group of Bosnian Muslims to carry out massacres against Jews. One last fact about that Palestinian Muslim: After fleeing Berlin, he died in exile as a Nazi war criminal.
The linking of a Haaretz article on Arab families evicted for illegally squatting on Jewish owned land in Shiek Jarrah is completely ridiculous.
If you are college educated, you should read a book that discusses the horrific crimes committed by Jordanians during their 19 year occupation and destruction of Jerusalem.
Then ask yourself the following question: if Jews are being asked to relinquish Judea & Samaria, shouldn't Arabs relinquish 'east' Jerusalem?
Sincerely,
Craig (an American for one, united Jerusalem)
I am a Jordanian of Palestinian origin (born in the West Bank) with many relatives there. What dissapoints me about what I am reading is the attempt by many on both sides to portray their adversaries as sub-humans. Jews talk about Palestinains as if they are this homogenous group that only hates and wants to kill Jews and Palestinains talk of Jews in the same way. I am really sorry that the we have reached this state. I have met many greta Jews in my life and liked them very much. I am sure that Jews have met great Palestinians as well. When we see each other as individuals and not strange groups, we may start to solve our problems.
"They marched Fatah members out of Gaza at gunpoint. So much for democracy."
You don't know real the history. Looks like you are reading the zionist version.
Fatah tried to start a civil war with Hamas with US and Israel backing. When that didn't work, the plan was to divide Gaza from the WB.
Fatah was appointed, as a coalition at US request. Not elected. And you are also missing the timeline of the blockade and why it started, and in relation to the attack on Lebanon.
zionism is racism.
http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6064/the_real_threat_aboard_the_freedom_flotilla/
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9366.shtml
And for Craig, your other commentor that wants to equate palestinians with nazis because of the mufti, the mufti was appointed by london. He was their quisling, not a leader of the palestinians. It was the the secular zionists that tried to deal make deals with hitler for jews to be sent to palestine to increase the numbers for political purposes. the decided to get Mizarahim to make aliya from the surrounding countries, and forcefully if they refused.
The saddest part about all this is that there are so many brilliant enlightened progressive jews around the world, but Israel has brainwashed you all so badly. Even worse than we Americans have been. Your religion has been hijacked by a political system, that cares not one wit about you all. Only about amasssing power.
Mischa, thank you so much for your voice. I'm not Jewish; I'm Irish. My own ancestors suffered and died by the millions during An Gorta Mor--The Great Famine; while they died with green lips from eating grass, and desperately emigrated to live, England shipped food out of the country by the ton. Many Irish were shipped as slaves to Barbadoes and other faraway lands by Cromwell. Our land was stolen, children denied education and Gaelic banned. Absorbing the history of the suffering of my own people has made me keenly aware of the suffering of other peoples. My heartfelt sympathies for the Jews of Europe during World War II are as strong as my sympathies for Palestinians caught in the middle between nationalist extremism in Israel and extremism amongst Arab nationalists. Above all things, I value Human Rights--to dignity, to a voice, to representation, to civil and legal recourse to a redress of grievances. Israel must claim the high moral ground, or others will claim it for themselves and for posterity. Israeli policies are destroying Israel in the eyes of the world
Pleased to find your blog. I'm a resident of Suburban Philly, born and raised in the Overbrook section of town. Worked in Chinatown for years. Spent my career as a Shabbos Goy in the Electrical Supply Business. Love the Jews, always have. Can't believe how rabid Zionism has changed some of them. I'm also a former Roman Catholic and a current Presbyterian. Am familiar with Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism. You're on the mark! The Dispensational Hermaneutic system of Biblical interpretation is sucking up to Israel because they believe that the Jews must rebuild the Temple, resume animal sacrifice, and then Jesus will return to "rapture" the Christians and a small remnant (144000) Jews (12000 x 12 tribes)and then all hell is going to break loose with the rest of the Jews going down in an event that will make the Shoah look like a Sunday School picnic. But all AIPAC sees is the political and financial support. This short sighted approach will inevitably spell disaster for just plain "folks" Jew and Goy alike.
Post a Comment