Last Post on Israel For A Bit

The individual whose e-mail prompted me to post “History Lessons” From Idiots sent me a response and encouraged me to post it, so I will. I intend to retire the issue for a time, because it bothers my wife when I talk about it. She grew up Orthodox Jewish and has an expired Israeli passport, and is sick of talking about the issue, and me writing about it inevitable leads to me bringing it up in conversation. It’s not that she disagrees with me, she just married a non-Jew in no small part because she wants nothing to do with her Jewish past. She can clarify if she wants, but it’s my impression she sees the situation in a similar fashion as I do, in that Palestinians are being mistreated by Israelis.

Anyway, I think the only thing you need to know up front to catch up on these e-mails is that the person who wrote to me is an atheist of Jewish heritage and lives in Israel… and took a sort of sick glee in pointing out it was disputed settlement territory. Reading the “History Lessons” From Idiots post might help, but is not necessary.

Dear Ginx,

Thanks for the encouragement though I don’t really care enough about that any more to try and work around blogger’s hidden restrictions on comment length. I’ve been away from my inbox this week so I’m receiving your response a bit late. Yesterday I was amused to read your response (“history lessons from idiots”). I particularly liked the part where you refer to Israel itself as an anti-semitic plot by the west. Ha! I bet that isn’t so far off from the truth, at least as intentions go.

You seem to have taken particular offense to my characterization of you as an anti-semite. It’s a charged word, but one that I suspect may be altogether fair in your case. For sure yours is a more sophisticated brand of anti-semitism. One that feels the need to rationalize the hate. Maybe you don’t buy into crude conspiracy theories such as the Jewish conspiracy to Rule The World, but you cherry pick facts that support your bias while discarding the rest. It’s confirmation bias gone wild, and I suspect the seed of that is good old fashioned Christian anti-semitism. Perhaps something that was planted in your mind before you could build up any defenses against it. Before you completely rejected the other baggage that came with religion. Something that lingers as a subconscious impulse, which your rational mind serves but can not master.

Or maybe not. I can’t truly see into your mind. Maybe I shouldn’t attribute to malice what can equally be attributed to incompetence. Then again, you’re so passionately black and white about a situation that is so full of subtle shades of grey (with blame enough to go around). Any ignorance you exhibit seems to be so suspiciously selective that one requires a more satisfying explanation.

Regarding irrational impulses, I’m not preaching from some lofty pedestal. In fact, I’m not accusing you of anything I haven’t been guilty of myself. The part of my mind I control are rational, atheist and humanistic. But I’m not deluding myself. There are dark corners where the collective subconscious still rules. Knee-jerk racist emotional reactions against “the others”. For example, you are a “goy” and I remember people saying that word in my childhood as if there was something dirty, unwholesome about it. Nobody would ever say as much in polite company but the undercurrent was always there. That sort of impression sinks in. The same goes for “Aravim” (arabs in hebrew). The word and its uses in the Hebrew language is associated with primitivism at best, dehumanized blood thirst at its worst. Most educated adults would never voice such an opinion out loud, but talk to the children who haven’t learned political correctness yet and the truth is laid bare.

Again, I do not claim to truly know your mind. That would be hopelessly arrogant. I’m just making an educated guess and may be completely off the mark.

I also have a somewhat simpler competing theory. Pick your poison if you like. It’s not as interesting as a “new brand” of anti-semite though: maybe you’re just a knee-jerk contrarian leftist. Anything that the neocons are for, you are against. You just don’t want to be in the same camp on any issue with them.

I wouldn’t expect you to admit it either way, but you can tell if this is true if your political opinions on most issues align with one side of the false right/left political dichotomy. If so, that really is just lazy minded of you. But better than being an anti-semite I suppose.

Oh dear, am I rambling again? It must be that funny mood again. Well, at least it’s not 6 pages worth this time.

Anyhow, as I said before you have my leave to publish my rambling correspondence if you like on your blog. Anonymously. I doubt you will though perhaps you would be more eager if my views were easier to dismiss or make fun of, such as those of the uneducated, tribal, short-sighted people that are the majority (on both sides) in my particular part of the world. But It wouldn’t do you much good to call me an idiot if your readers could judge to the contrary for themselves. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly surprised that you published only the first paragraph in which I accuse you of anti-semitism without anything else to balance that out. At least you’re consistent.

My response:

I don’t take offense at being called an anti-Semite, but largely because I don’t get offended. If anything, I’m perturbed at the over-use of the term, and I feel like Jews would be better off not crying wolf. If I hated Jews, I wouldn’t have married one, and if I hated Israelis as a matter of principle, I wouldn’t have married someone who has an Israeli passport. I also assure you that Christian prejudices don’t carry over into my views as an atheist. I think it’s fine that you use the blood of blonde Christian kids in Matzo, which is why we call white people “crackers.” I kid, of course.

If anything, I was taught through Christianity that Jews had to be in the Holy Land in order for daddy Jesus to come back, which is why most Christians in America feel morally obligated to defend Israel: they want the end of times to come. I heard this idea mentioned maybe twice before I became an atheist; Israel just wasn’t a common topic for me growing up.

I personally don’t think what happens in Israel has anything to do with the end of the world, but I do think it is a disaster waiting to happen upon the Jewish people, which is a shame. It’s already been a disaster for the Palestinians, and I don’t want the same hardship visited upon anyone, be they Jewish or any other religion or race.

But if it comforts you to call me an anti-Semite, by all means. I am technically against Judaism, in that I see the religion as an archaic form of institutionalized prejudice, so it’s not as though it cannot be argued that I am an anti-Semite, but I am probably more strongly anti-Christian and anti-Muslim, if only because I prefer picking on the bullies, not the bullied. It just so happens that on this occasion, Israel is the bully, and that Israel is full of Jews.

I urge you to see my view on Israel not as black and white, but as the result of a long, continuous interest in the matter going back to high school, when I dated a girl who was born in Israel (not my current wife... what can I say, I have Jewish-fever). I teetered on neutrality and siding with Israel for years while I dated her, rationalizing the treatment of the Palestinian people based on the actions of a few in their number who violently attacked innocent Israelis. I re-assured myself that the secular Jewish state was superior by virtue of it not being another fundamentalist Islamic stronghold. I have come to see these views as highly biased, and that the reality is much more complex than this.

In short, I don’t have to like Palestinians or agree with what they’re doing in order to see that they are still the victims of Israeli oppression. They may not take it in stride like the Buddhists of Tibet, but I don’t fault a people who refuse to give up.

Regarding the view that I am a contrarian leftist: I certainly might be on some issues, but you should know by now that the left in America is every bit in favor of Israel as the right. Both the left and the right in America have a favorable view of Israel (if they hold any opinion at all), and both the left and the right have those who oppose Israel on various grounds. The Aryan Brotherhood and other white-supremacist groups on the right certainly oppose Israel, and my view all but puts me in the same camp as KKK members and neo-Nazis. If I was trying to avoid being categorized as in the same view as people like Bush or Glenn Beck, I seem to have left the ideological company of the right for an even more hateful, far-right stance.

And yet, my reasons and ideas for solving the problem have nothing in common with brazen anti-Semites.

The fact that you can’t see how stealing the land of hundreds of thousands of people is something I would oppose on principle is strange, and leads me to believe you are trying to write between the lines I wrote. It’s almost as if you have predetermined that I could not have come to my conclusion through any sort of research or careful moral reasoning, but must instead hold my view out of some form of ignorance. That’s a convenient way of ignoring what I have to say, but I think it’s a rather lazy way of just avoiding my evidence.

I have many opinions, and all of those which I have come from years of research and writing, which I have been lucky enough to have been given the time to do without the burden of needing to work for a living. I have had an unusual amount of time and energy to pour into my philosophy, and I see myself as profoundly lucky for having this opportunity given to me by others. There is a lot I don’t know about, from the crisis in Darfur to the world of fashion, and on matters like these, I hold no opinion one way or the other.

I don’t feel compelled to take a stance on every issue, but those which I decide to learn about will inevitably lead me to a strong and pronounced viewpoint once I have a certain level of understanding. To have someone imagine they can negate my efforts to think beyond the popular consensus by hurling hate labels at me or passing me off as some sort of unprincipled malcontent doesn’t so much frustrate me as it does make me sad to count myself as part of the same species.

Regarding Israel, I’ve done the typical things like reading books, keeping up with the news, reading various historical accounts, and even talking to individuals. My wife met a young woman whose grandfather’s land was taken, and it can no longer be given back because Israelis built the Benghazi airport [correction: Ben Gurion Airport] on top of it. I’ve met people whose families fled to the US in the face of Israeli attacks, and these were the lucky ones who could escape.

I’ve also talked to Jews, and some, like my wife, have come to the same conclusions I have after being confronted with the facts which their upbringing shielded them from. But mostly, I meet befuddled opposition from folks (Jews, Christians, and atheists) who are as sure as can be that Israel is the victim of Arab oppression. And most of them just resort to calling me an anti-Semite, without providing any evidence based argument for their view.

I would say, more than those who agree with me, it’s the empty arguments of Israel’s supporters that assure me I am correct in my view, so perhaps in this respect, I am a contrarian, though I hold my view contrary to the majority in nearly every demographic I can imagine (with the obvious exception being the handful of Palestinians I have met).

I thank you for your reply, and I hope you decide to comment on my blog if you get the chance. I would like your views to be made public, because I think anything worth writing is worth being read.

- Bret

[Addendum: when looking up if there was a name for people who prefer dating Jews, I had an interesting suggestion from Google. Pic below.]

Why America Deserved – Nay, Begged For – 9/11

Before I begin, I want to be clear: though I will say this now upfront, I know there will be people in the comments who say something to the effect of, “But those innocent people!” or “My [insert close personal relation] died on 9/11, you heartless piece of shit.” This article is primarily a challenge to myself, a rhetorical exercise, an attempt which I know will most likely be a futile failure, but which I see to be an effort worthy of my time and [limited] talents. I don’t like violence, and there is no excuse for it, ever.

On the other hand, while no violence is excusable, a great deal of it can be explained. No act of violence has been the victim of more misinformation and emotional blindness in America this past decade than the events of September 11th. As we are quickly approaching the 10 year mark, the tin or aluminum anniversary, I could think of no better time than now to bust open a can of truth.

Where to begin… while I could (and maybe should) start earlier, I think the late 70s and early 80s are sufficient, at least initially. While I will allude to events prior to this later when discussing the motivation for attacks on Western targets, the true seeds for 9/11 were planted in the 70s and 80s.

During the 70s, Afghanistan came under the rule of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, a pro-Soviet government, when pro-Communist supporters overthrew the ruling family in Afghanistan. This party attempted to instill state-sponsored atheism, and Islamic opponents cried out to the West for help.

Beginning with Jimmy Carter, with continuing support from Reagan, various “mujahideen” (Arabic for “those who struggle” or “those who commit to jihad”) groups were funded by the West to end such horrible practices as erasing debt for all farmers and poor laborers, outlawing bride prices, raising the age of consent, encouraging literacy, and providing education for women. That shit had to be put to an end… clearly.

But honestly, that has little to do with the issue at hand. I just can’t pass up an opportunity to point out that, yet again, America’s foreign meddling stifled what could have been a progressive improvement in another country, and that America’s sole reason for doing so was based on the fact that it had a slight connection to the great mid-twentieth century boogie man, Communism.

The US and USSR engaged in another of their long, drawn out proxy wars through the 80s, with liberal progressives on the left supported by the Soviet Union and right-wing fundamentalist Islamic jihadists funded by the US. Atrocities occurred on both sides. The Soviets even fought directly, much as the US had done in Vietnam, and like Vietnam, the Soviets found themselves bogged down in an unwinnable war.

When the smoke cleared and the Soviets had retreated in 1989, there was still no victory on either side. The Afghan communists held out for 3 more years in the capital of Kabul until 1992, when the capital was besieged by Islamists. With the communists defeated, civil war continued in the capital as three rival militias fought for supremacy, each backed by various foreign governments in the region hoping to gain favor with the eventual victor.

A fourth group began to emerge in 1994, and after suffering crippling defeats in 1995, regrouped in 1996 with the military support of Pakistan and the financial backing of Saudi Arabia. This group called themselves the Taliban, meaning “students.” They controlled most of the country, including the capital, by September of 1996, while still never being recognized as a true national government by anyone but those Arab nations who backed them (primarily Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, but also the United Arab Emirates).

Mujahideen began looking outside of Afghanistan, seeking other Arab Muslims who may benefit from the successful tactics used to repel the powerful Soviet army. One of these groups, Al Qaeda (meaning “the base”), made the effort to expand outside Afghanistan into other areas of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as Africa.

Hopefully that explains everything you need to know regarding the origins of the powers behind the 9/11 attacks.

As all of this is going on, hostility for Israel grew throughout the Arab world. Whether you support Israel or not, here are the facts pertinent to Israel/Palestine, for the purposes of understanding the motivation behind 9/11:

During World War I, the Ottoman empire allied itself with Germany (1914) and provided safe harbor for German war vessels. This drew the ire of the British, who were at war with Germany, and who began to actively engage this new enemy.

While the Caliphate experienced many early military victories, growing unrest within the empire spilled over, resulting in an Arab revolt which sought to capitalize on WWI as an opportunity for independence in 1916. The revolt succeeded, and the Ottoman Empire shrunk, losing substantial territory in the Arabian Peninsula in 1918.

By 1919, the British had won substantial victories. Britain was given rule over the rest of the Ottoman Empire, with the exception of Anatolia, what is essentially modern-day Turkey (where the capital of Constantinople was located, currently named Istanbul). These lands given to the British were handed over with the aim of being under British control until which time they could govern themselves independently (there are currently 40 countries formed from the former Ottoman Empire).

To understand the next events, one must be familiar with the Jewish diaspora. Without going all the way back to 70 CE, when the Temple of Jerusalem fell to the Romans, I’ll just summarize that Jews have had a rough history, especially when they refuse to assimilate. Though to be fair, often the Jews’ best efforts to fit in have not been enough to avoid violent opposition.

Jews had been living in Europe since well before 70 CE, but they were forced out of the region of Israel in droves after Roman conquest, and they dispersed or were taken as slaves to some of the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire. With the rise of Islam and the subsequent Muslim conquests of Northern Africa, the Iberian Peninsula (Spain/Portugal) and other places in Europe, like Sicily and Greece, Jews followed their Arab neighbors throughout the Western world. After Christian Europeans seized control of these regions again, after numerous Inquisitions, and after other forms of forced conversion and slaughter, Judaism remained a seemingly permanent fixture in Europe.

Many referred to this phenomenon as “The Jewish Problem,” the problem being, “How do we get rid of all these Jews?” Bear in mind that this is through the lens of a starkly Christian worldview, where non-Christians were seen as sub-human barbarians (unless they were jumping at the opportunity to convert), and Jews in particular carried the unflattering designation as being the ones who killed Jesus (never mind that Jesus was Jewish, or that he was killed by Roman order in a traditionally Roman fashion… facts never get in the way of a religious person).

Zionism was arguably the dream of many Jews since the 1st century, though it did not take on that name until the 1800s. The idea was that the removal of Jews from areas where they experienced hostility was in the best interests of all involved, and the ideal solution would be to create a Jewish state where Jews could be Jews without the fear of institutionalized persecution, and live in peace and harmony. If that was the goal, Israel has certainly failed in this regard.

It’s important to point out that I fundamentally disagree with these presuppositions. For one thing, I see a parallel between this view and the American idea that was also common around this time (mid to late 1800s), which was that if black people in America were no longer slaves, they should not be free to become Americans, and should be shipped back to Africa.

This idea is wrong at its core. Both Jews in Europe and black slaves in America have no true ties to their “homeland.” There were certainly vestiges of their former culture still present among those populations, but they had no true “home” to go to. Their home was where they lived then, in Europe or America (though there were some Jews living in the Middle East), and the problem was not that they needed to “return home,” but that their real, true homes in the West had to be rid of the prejudice that made the their existence so difficult.

When Britain initially gained control of Palestine, they issued “The British Mandate for Palestine” under the support of the League of Nations (a sort of pre-cursor to the UN). The mandate states that Britain would maintain control of Ottoman Syria (part of which includes the whole of what is now Israel) until the people of the region could govern themselves. An interesting clause in the mandate reads, “…it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.”

During this time, Jews immigrated to the area by the thousands, and immigration really picked up with the advent of World War II. As Jews faced heavy persecution in Europe, they fled to any country that would take them. Many nations limited Jewish immigration, or blocked it outright, and Israel was one of the few (and closest) countries that took in Jews fleeing Nazi oppression. At this time, Palestine was essentially a British territory, and Jews immigrated and settled like anyone else wishing to live in the region.

Then things get a little tragic.

Militant Jewish groups began pressing for independence from Britain almost immediately after the end of WWII. Haganah, the Irgun, and the terrorist organization of Lehi (which assassinated the British Mandate Resident in the Middle East, Lord Moyne, in 1944) organized to put pressure (often through threats and violence) on Britain to make Israel a sovereign, Jewish-controlled state.

The British, in response, began placing Jewish immigrants (mostly Holocaust survivors and refugees) in detention camps, in order to stem the violence. Arabs in the region refused to accept a solution that involved Jewish-only control of land that was already inhabited by non-Jewish people.

Britain decided they wanted to withdraw completely in 1947, seeing no possible solution between the Jewish and non-Jewish communities. The newly formed UN decided upon a partition plan that sought to appease both Jewish nationalists and Arab nationalists in the region. Jewish representatives agreed to the plan, Arab representatives rejected it, and Britain refused to enforce it, though publicly accepted it so that they could pull out.

Before any plan to transfer power, Britain announced the day they would withdraw from the region: May 14th, 1948. The passing of the partition resolution sparked violence, especially in mixed communities, where people on both sides lived near each other.

During this time period, it’s hard to determine which side has the moral high ground, though I find the Arabs to have a little more going for them. They were largely the victim of disconnected, uninformed bureaucrats from a foreign land drawing arbitrary lines on the map of a land which they knew little about. Despite Arab protest, the resolution was passed, without any counter-negotiation or even really any consideration given to Arab Muslim opinion.

On the other hand, it may be tough for some to fault the Jewish community with accepting an offer that was so generous, and it was generous. Perhaps in the interest of their own safety, it would have been wise to reject the deal and work towards a more balanced agreement in order to ensure a more peaceful existence in the region, but that isn’t what happened, and we’ll probably never know what events would have transpired had a partition agreement been made that was acceptable to both sides, or even if a single-state solution might have been the way to go (I prefer the latter).

On May 14th, 1948, Israel declared itself an independent nation and acquired its current name. Fighting had been happening among both Jews and Muslims in the streets for months, bordering on all-out civil warfare, with Britain occasionally stepping in to do something. With the British Mandate set to expire and the official announcement of the formation of Israel, war was declared against Israel by five Arab nations (Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen, the latter of which sent no troops; Saudi Arabia sent troops that were commanded by Egypt).

The 1948 Arab-Israeli war lasted about a year. This is arguably the defining moment for Israel, and the outcome is the very basis for my hatred of the nation. Israel engaged in war crime after war crime, and is unapologetic.

Israel guilted West Germany into paying the nation of Israel reparations for the Holocaust in order to fund the war. Israel shot down neutral British reconnaissance planes, which were running missions primarily to document the progress of the war and to keep an eye on their interests in the region, namely the Suez Canal. Israeli troops executed hundreds of prisoners of war. Over 700,000 Palestinians were forced from their homes, many of whom provided no resistance and posed no threat. Some, like those from the villages of Iqrit and Brim, surrendered peacefully and were explicitly told they could return to their homes after the conflict, but were denied this when the time came.

It was an ugly war. The Arabs in the region call it Nakba, which in Arabic means “the catastrophe.” The UN passed resolution 194, stating that refugees wishing to return to their homes and live peacefully should be allowed to do so, and that compensation should be paid for the victims of the Palestinian exodus. Israel refused to honor these measures.

Israel has a long history of ignoring UN resolutions and orders, with the sole exception to my knowledge being the resolution that declared them a nation. Very convenient…

At this point, I could stop. People try to pretend this is a complex political issue, when really it is quite simple. I have laid out all the specifics, with many irrelevant tangents which I merely found interesting, and it all fits into five and a half pages. I could write about one hundred times that much on the fall of Rome.

This is a decidedly simple issue, and it is not “complex” in the slightest bit, unless you consider the fact that there has been a concerted effort to keep Americans ignorant and in the dark regarding these events, because history for Americans ends after we beat Hitler. If I can explain it in a document that can be read in 10-15 minutes or less, it’s not that complex.

And really, the conflict in the region had only just begun in 1948 and 1949 (and I scoff at fools who buy the bullshit that the region has been in turmoil for thousands of years… things were fine until Israel showed up). There was also a Six-Day War of aggression that Israel waged in 1967, which began with surprise air-strikes on Arab targets and ended in the expansion of Israel’s borders. There is also the small matter of continued excessive use of deadly force by the Israeli army in response to comparatively small, isolated attacks against Israeli targets.

At no point in the history of “Israel” as a nation has it ever been justified in what it has done. Even if one argues that defense is a basic human right (though defense of something you steal is not), the manner in which Israel has “defended” itself is atrocious and downright criminal.

My opinion on this matter is not swayed in the least by my views on Judaism or Islam, both of which I see as being dangerous forms of contagious ignorance. And frankly, Israel has actually shocked me in that they are able to make me feel sympathy for a people who stone women to death for the most minor of infractions. That takes a lot of effort, but apparently Israel is not above rolling up their sleeves and getting their hands bloody.

As far as I can tell, there is no hope for peace in the region, so long as Israel remains.

At this point, I should remind you of what the title of my post was:
Why America Deserved – Nay, Begged For – 9/11

I’m not big on catering to terrorist demands, as people would like to phrase it. However, when a people are oppressed and they are given no peaceful means for seeking redress, they will not generally sit around and wait to be given justice; they will try to take it.

Terrorists don’t hate America. Most terrorists don’t know much of anything about America, besides the fact that we fund Israel and that we had/have a lot of military bases in the region. America has actually given in to one of those above demands. Many US bases that were operational before 9/11 have been closed across the Middle East, most notably in Saudi Arabia. Sure, we just opened new ones in Iraq and Afghanistan, but those were post-9/11.

The primary demands of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda were the removal of US troops from the region and the destruction of Israel. Bush himself helped make part of the first demand a reality when we began closing bases, but the second one is something we have just gotten worse and worse with.

The US gives billions of dollars a year to Israel in the form of grants, weapons of war, cash, and possibly even nuclear arms (we are pretty much sure Israel has nuclear arms, and America is probably responsible for this, but Israel manages to avoid any sort of nuclear regulatory oversight because… well, they don’t give a damn about the UN ever since the UN gave them their country).

In fact, Israel would arguably not still exist had it not been for American intervention from the start (US soldiers fought on the side of Israel in many of the conflicts listed above). This is the source for Arab hostility against the US.

Arab Muslims don’t care about US women wearing short skirts and getting educations. Arab Muslims don’t care about our media or extravagant lifestyles. Arab Muslims don’t care what religion people in America subscribe to. Arab Muslims don’t “hate us for our freedom.” Those Arab Muslims who do hold a grudge against the US do so not because of what we do here in America, but because of what we do there, in their backyard.

I can’t fault bin Laden for going big with 9/11. They tried attacking a political target in 1998, when they bombed the US embassy in Kenya. They tried attacking a military target in 2000 when they blew a hole in the side of the USS Cole. America just yawned and never paid attention.

But on September 11th, 2001, Osama bin Laden got our attention. I have to hand it to him; it’s not easy to get all 300 million of us to look in your direction. That takes some serious effort, to draw the gaze of the most distracted nation to ever exist. Every one of us dropped our Diabetes Cola and stared in shock as we realized, “Holy shit… we’re not invincible.”

Bush did a rather artful job of deflecting attention back away from the issues at hand. “They hate us for our freedom” became the mantra. Never mind that we could have saved ourselves billions of dollars a year and absolved ourselves from the crimes that got us attacked in the first place by just cutting off Israel. It was more important to first attack Afghanistan (even though the nation itself was not in any way to blame) and then Iraq (because Saddam Hussein tried to kill Bush’s daddy, and you don’t mess with Texas… or I think that’s the logic).

Did the people in the planes, the towers, and the Pentagon deserve to die? Not especially. But they weren’t innocent. None of us were, and none of us are to this day. We are all still guilty of the crimes our nation commits, and the crimes that our nation aids other nations in committing. We invite violence when we dole it out ourselves with reckless abandon.

In short, we were (and still are) begging for our comeuppance, and I understand why many groups and nations lash out violently against US policies. Even within our own nation, there are those who see the criminality of the US, and the question becomes: are they guilty, too? Am I just as guilty as the idiot Fox News viewer who knows nothing of the events I described above, and sees America only as a noble, unerring, infallible beacon of perfect freedom?

I don’t know if I’m guilty (I’d like to think I’m not), but by continuing to reside in this blood-thirsty, thoughtless nation of war hawks and militants, I must come to acknowledge that I, too, may be seen to be a target, just as much as any other American.

This is a fact all Americans must live with, and it is the driving force for my desire to change mindsets and make this a more peace-loving nation. My efforts do not absolve me of the crimes of my country, but I hope that the combined work of all civilized, war-hating Americans may exact a change that alters our course, away from one that teeters on the brink of violence, and instead towards one that embraces diplomatic solutions and non-interventionist policies.

TL;DR: Americans are stupid and deserve to be treated with the same violence we dole out.

“History Lessons” From Idiots

I consider myself a bit of a history buff. While those around me mentally masturbate to pointless fictional dramas, deriving some sick pleasure from watching fake cops catch fake criminals or fake friends going through fake dilemmas, I find far more interest in reading the accounts of events that actually happened.

Does this make me smarter than the average person? I’m going out on a limb here, and I’m going to say, “Yes.” I’m not naturally smarter, but I have made the effort to be informed, and I tend to have a deeper understanding of the underlying causes of events that happen in the past.

To be fair, I don’t know the names of the characters or actors on any “CSI” show. I am truly stupid when it comes to TV trivia, a trade-off I’m comfortable with.

When you have a different outlook on things, one based on nuance and esoteric information most are not privy to, you tend to get a lot of people thinking you’re stupid, ignorant, nuts, or all of the above. For those wondering the difference between stupidity and ignorance: stupid is something you’re born with, ignorance is something you learn (or more often, the result of what you refuse to learn).

When I get e-mails about my stance on Israel/Palestine, a strange thing happens. Generally, people assume I have come to my decision to oppose the formation and existence of Israel through some sort of ignorance, or worse, anti-Semitism. People feel compelled to explain to me, at great length, the “history” of Israel. I use quotes, because usually it’s not a history, so much as a series of unconnected events used to justify a crime against humanity.

I got one such e-mail the other day. The e-mail was 6 pages long when I copied and pasted it to Word, and the sender was confused as to why it didn’t fit in the comments of my blog, insisting I check to see what the error was, because they tried posting it in many different browsers.

Now, before you question the intelligence of this person based on such a silly thing, why don’t I share with you the pre-amble to this “history lesson”:

Usually I wouldn't comment on a blog post by such a small minded, uneducated antisemite masquerading as as [sic] a morally superior anti-zionist, but I'm in a funny mood so what the hell.

Oy vey… this is going to be a hoot, I can tell already.

I contemplated posting the e-mail in full (without the person’s contact info, of course), but frankly… it’s just too long and rambling. I felt like the whole thing never got to the point, even as I was reading the last paragraph. I kept waiting for the history lesson, for something interesting, for anything new, perhaps some novel argument or angle. But no, it’s the same pre-packaged, freeze-dried propaganda I see out of all pro-Israel clowns.

Instead, I’ll try to cull out of the primary arguments, the same stock bullshit I see on a regular basis when discussing this issue, and I’ll explain why these ideas are empty and meaningless to me.

Perhaps one of the strangest points people make when discussing Israel with me is the definition and origin of the very concept of “nation.” I’m quite familiar with the idea of what a nation is or isn’t, how they came about, and all of that. For some reason, it’s a compelling argument for Jews to say that “Palestine was not a nation.”

I’m assuming this is how the logic works: there was no nation of Palestine prior to the formation of the nation of Israel, ergo, there are no Palestinians who have any claim to the land.

Here’s why this makes no sense: it doesn’t matter if a person is living in a tribal system or a national system. Coming to people’s homes at gunpoint and dislocating them against their will from a place their ancestors have lived for generations is criminal.

It also doesn’t matter that Britain controlled the land and was “legally allowed” to do what they did. You can’t hide behind the mask of Colonialism and pretend that just because everything was done “by the books,” that it’s okay. I would have thought that the Jews, of all people, would be sympathetic to the idea that a government order to carry out an immoral act does not justify that act. Apparently the Holocaust was acceptable, since we have all the paperwork and it was clearly done with full bureaucratic approval…

Except, that’s not how morality works…

So anyway, Nazi comparisons aside, another common argument I see constantly brought up is the persecution Jews have experienced in the diaspora or while in the Holy Land prior to the formation of Israel. I’m not 100% sure why everyone mentions this. I guess I’m supposed to shed a tear and feel sorry for the Jews as a people, and then turn a blind eye to what they decide to do now, today.

This is a pretty piss-poor attitude. “Well, horrible things happened to my people, so I can do whatever I want now.” That is what I hear when I listen to people lecture me on the persecution of Jews while defending the existence of Israel.

I also think, “Yeah, what a great idea, let’s encourage anti-Semitism by telling Jews they’ll never be able to be accepted by other cultures. Instead of encouraging tolerance, let’s ship them all back to Israel. Next step: shipping the niggers back to Africa.”

That’s truly a healthy way of looking at things: let’s ship people we don’t like someplace else. And not just anyplace else, we’ll move them someplace where people already lived, and in the process, we’ll create a whole new population of oppressed people from that general region.

Frankly, I find the very notion of Israel to be anti-Semitic. I see the “Jewish Problem” in Europe being “solved” by a bunch of Jew-hating Western nations shipping their Jews off to the world’s largest concentration camp, conveniently surrounded by people who already hate them. Sounds like a good recipe for Jewish extermination.

Another major argument I read regarding why I should have sympathy for Israel is that Israel is constantly being attacked. These people generally leave out the “why,” and when I ask them why Israel is attacked, I generally get no real answer. The reply I most often hear revolves around “anti-Semitism,” which is the catch-all argument for everything having to do with Jews or Israel.

News flash: the people attacking Israel are largely people who have been adversely affected by the very creation of Israel, or are sympathetic to the victims of these violations. Israel routinely uses excessive force and needlessly kills scores of innocent civilians in their campaign to instill fear in the surrounding non-Jewish communities. Entire villages are decimated because of reports of rocket fire perpetrated by just a few individuals in the area.

The Muslim people in the region have grown to hate Israel, and I would argue that they’re justified in their violent rage. I don’t condone specific acts of violence, but I fully understand that when an outside, foreign people invade and occupy your home, there are going to be plenty of people in the affected communities who fight such a thing. Personally, I would get the fuck out of the whole area and try to start over, but the urge to defend your home is generally seen as an acceptable response to invasion… unless, apparently, those invaders are Jewish and they have UN approval.

It’s strange, really, because people who support these Jewish foreign occupiers ask me, “Don’t people have a right to defend their homes?” When they say this, they always mean the Israelis should have a right to defend Israel, not that the people whose homes they took have a right to defend what was theirs.

These are basically the only arguments I ever hear made. There are other distractionary points hurled from time to time, irrelevant tangents which serve only to muddy the waters. Things like, “The US took land from the Indians” or “Israel is a beacon of Western democracy” don’t address the facts at hand, they are merely meant to veer the discussion off course, because if one focuses solely on the events as they occurred, there is no conclusion one can come to besides complete and utter dismissal of the right of Israel to exist as a nation.

This is important, because as an American, my country’s stance on Israel is just another dark-spot on our history. We funnel billions in cash and weapons to Israel to fund ongoing war crimes. Speaking out against Israel can get you fired in the US, especially if you work in the press. No federal politician dares to speak out, for fear of being labeled an “anti-Semite” or losing out on huge amounts of pro-Israeli lobby cash.

At some point, every sane and rational person is going to see Israel for the travesty that it is, even if it’s decades from now, through the retrospective lens of history. I hope there are still plenty of Jews around then to see the error of their ways.

And one final note: if you can’t make an argument in favor of Israel without using the term “anti-Semitism,” you are a lazy and ignorant debater.

Israel/Palestine Update

I spent the last post mostly criticizing Muslims, so I think it’s only fair I share my views on the Israel/Palestine… let’s call it a “situation.”

I’m married to a woman who was raised Jewish and she has many friends and family who live in Israel, so my Facebook feed blew up this past week regarding the death of 5 Israelis. After almost a week of it, I finally commented on the feed of someone who had been particularly obsessive with the calls for violent retaliation, and I commented back and forth with people the entire day.

I don’t think Israel has a right to exist. Period, the end. There isn’t any more about the situation that I need to know. The Jews who forced out hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were in the wrong from the beginning, they were in the wrong when they expanded their borders in 1967, and they’ve been wrong in their violent retaliation for perceived threats or acts against Israeli occupiers. I couldn’t have any less sympathy for the Jews living there, and the only basic right I would afford them is the right to leave with their lives.

This pretty much puts me at odds with every Jew I have ever met, and in their mind it aligns me with terrorists. I was called a “rabid Jew hater” by an asshole who was at my wedding, and I was told by another wedding invitee that I was unable to understand the situation because I didn’t have friends and family in Israel (though I do, if you count in-laws, and my wife is an Israeli citizen).

This is basically the problem faced by anyone in the West who tries to evaluate this “situation” (which is just a euphemism for “on-going war crime”). If you don’t fawn over the poor victimized Jews who kill 10 Palestinians for every dead Israeli, you’re an anti-Semite Nazi terrorist sympathizer. What’s more, they’re say that by virtue of not being Jewish, I can’t really understand what’s going on.

News flash: when you’re too close to a “situation,” you are going to be completely and utterly unable to view it without bias. What’s more, just simply siding with a group because they share your ethnic background is basically the most racist thing you can do, especially considering the loss of life involved here. If Israelis were being slaughtered left and right while being walled in by Muslim communities and cut off from medicine and basic amenities, I would say they’re the victims, but this is the situation of the Palestinians, not the Israelis.

What’s more, the US has sent billions of dollars to Israel, not to mention undeclared nuclear weapons. If you pay taxes in the US, you are an accessory to a brutal massacre at the hands of Israeli “allies.” I don’t see what makes them an ally, by the way, because it’s not as though Israel ever chipped in and helped the US. Israel even accidently sunk a US ship (the USS Liberty) during the Six Day War in 1967, but all was forgiven, despite 34 deaths.

Israel couldn’t be a more racist country. It is a nation founded on racism and one whose entire policy is based on racism. The formation of Israel was largely pushed through by European nations in the UN that were sick of Jews being in Europe and they didn’t want them to return to their homes after WWII. It’s sort of like the white supremacist movement to ship all the black people in America back to Africa.

There’s also a crazy religious component, as it is argued that most of the support for Israel in the US comes from evangelical Christians who believe Jews have to be in control of Jerusalem in order for Big Daddy Jesus to return. US support for Israel is essentially a multi-billion dollar attempt to help a prophecy along.

Meanwhile, millions of Palestinians have been displaced and oppressed at the hands of Israelis, while the US pays the bill. We can’t afford to pay teachers a decent salary, our roads are full of pot-holes, bridges are crumbling, dams are eroding, and we’re sending billions of dollars to a bunch of Jews to oppress and kill Muslims. Brilliant.

Perhaps the most important lesson one can take from this is that no race is any better than another, and that people don’t learn. Who would have ever guessed the Jewish people would go from how they were treated in the Holocaust to being an oppressor using the same tactics just a decade later?

“Never forget” indeed; Jews clearly remember how it’s done.

Israeli Propaganda: So Hilarious It's Scary

This “news article” has got to be one of the most unbelievable things I have ever read. I imagine the cover of this newspaper has a picture of Obama shaking hands with a Nazi who is an alien from outer space, and they have a baby together that weighed 200 pounds at birth.

Highlights include:

"The American President told me in confidence that he is a Muslim," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit on Nile TV.

…

"It is insane, it is sick. Relations between Jerusalem and Washington are simply disastrous; the situation has never been so dangerous. This US President wants to establish a Palestinian state at any price and hand them Jerusalem on a silver platter." [says “one Netanyahu confidant”]

…

"Israel's relations with the US are at a low point, and Obama poses a danger to Israel," wrote Nahum Barnea in the nation's biggest newspaper Yediot Ahronot.

…

"The Americans know very well that Israeli construction has always been happening in East Jerusalem [which is against agreed upon policy] and building in Jewish neighborhoods has never been frozen [also against policy]," said another official. "The Americans use excuses like [the Jewish neighborhood of] Ramat Shlomo and the Shepherd Hotel [another Jewish building project in East Jerusalem] to confront Netanyahu."

…

"Jerusalem was, is and always will be the united capital of Israel," said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat. "Construction in all parts of Jerusalem will continue."

…

if Obama continues to underestimate Israeli resolve on Jerusalem, his peace efforts are doomed to failure.

I find it funny that Israel is worried about something I wish would happen, though I know never will.

The Deafening Sound of Silence

It’s a dark day for journalism. Helen Thomas “retired” today amid the furor over her remarks on Israel. The 89 year old Thomas has been a White House reporter since the end of the Eisenhower administration.

I don’t know which part of it all saddens me most. She apologized for making a perfectly fair proposition, that those who are occupying Palestine should “get the hell out” and go back to where they came from (largely Germany, Poland and the US). While I don’t support the forceful removal of anyone, the best solution for “Israel” would be if everyone there collectively left of their own free will.

Suppose you support a two-state solution, however. Maybe Ms. Thomas’ remarks are a bit crass to one who believes Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish nation (for whatever reason… *cough* holocaust *cough*). Are her comments so harsh that they warrant this response?

Her comment was compared to shipping black people back to Africa. This is kind of ironic, because Israel was founded in this way. Europeans were sick of Jews, so they killed many of them. They couldn’t stand them even after the war, so they shipped them off to Israel. Sure, there were some pesky Muslims living there, but fighter plane squadrons, tank battalions, rockets, and more assault rifles than citizens can be a convincing bargaining chip in land disputes.

Israel is a nation founded thanks to anti-Semitism. Had Jews not faced so much persecution, and had European nations not desperately wanted to get rid of them, Israel wouldn’t exist today. If everyone could just get along and play nice, this would have never happened (which is not to say it was inevitable…).

No. Saying Israelis should leave Palestine is actually like… like telling Americans to go back to Europe. What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is really no different than what we did to the Native Americans.

Yet, by Israeli logic, it would be quite fair for the native tribes to come forward and demand the land and homes of all those living in… say… New York and Florida. Ancestral land is ancestral land, right? I wonder if the Jewish lawyers in those areas would handle their cases.

My question: how much suffering must the Palestinians endure before we can stop blindly siding with Israel? At what point have the Palestinians gone through their own holocaust?

Ignored No Longer

I’ve tried to avoid posting about this, because sometimes I feel like I’m too hard on Israel… but honestly, I can’t help it if they keep shooting themselves in the foot.

As anyone who pays attention to the news is well aware, Israeli commandos killed Turkish aid workers trying to break the Israeli naval blockade by bringing supplies to the estimated 1.5 million Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip. They also detained nearly 700 activists from over 35 countries who were on the six ships stormed by Israeli forces.

There’s two issues to consider in this situation: what did Israel do, and why did they do it?

What Israel did was helicopter heavily armed soldiers onto humanitarian aid vessels bound for Palestinians. I can only assume this was done to maintain the impoverished conditions imposed on the people displaced by the unlawful formation of the Nation of Israel.

Perhaps someone can play Israel’s advocate, but I cannot for the life of me wrap my brain around the logic behind this whole operation. Must the people who were chased from their homes by Israeli tanks continue to suffer in horrible squalor simply because some among their ranks wish to stand up for themselves?

If I were a Palestinian, I would not be surprised if I was one of the people driven to fire rockets over Israel’s border. If I were an Israeli, I would certainly not be supporting the systematic genocide of the Palestinian people. I really cannot relate in any way to Israel’s decision to impose wretched ghetto conditions upon a people simply because they do not belong to some chosen race.

I can only assume Israel is a land with no mirrors.

Pick Your Friends Carefully

Who is America’s best friend? Most would argue it is Britain, but I think its Israel. We give more aid to Israel than any other nation. Israel’s political lobby (AIPAC) in the US is the most heavily funded foreign interest group, and some believe it has more influence than most (if not all) domestic lobbyists.

So what are our friends up to? Well, they may have carried out political assassinations on foreign soil. This is pretty bad, and something I would consider worthy of cutting our massive aid to our violent ally, but apparently that isn’t really the worst part.

No, apparently Western powers don’t give a shit about assassinations. Let’s see, what’s the one thing Western nations care about more than anything else… oh right, themselves. Israel not only carried out the assassination, they probably did so using forged British and Irish passports.

So that’s the line? British officials need to talk to Israel… because they falsified British passports? No one cares about the fact that Israel is conducting deadly covert ops, executing people without any due process of law?

Here’s a thought: maybe the UN ought to be charging Israel and its leadership with war crimes for not only this action, but several in the past. A British magistrate has already issued a warrant for the arrest of Tzipi Livni, former foreign minister of Israel. The accusation? War crimes during the 2008-2009 Gaza attacks.

“But a nation has the right to defend itself! Palestinians were firing rockets into Israel…”

Stop right there. Yes, a few dozen rockets were fired over the border into Israel. But let’s analyze the post-war tally, and you tell me if Israel over-reacted:

Israelis killed during rocket attacks: 13
Palestinians killed during the attacks on Gaza: 1387

Israel must believe Palestinians are only 1/100th of a person…

At some point, we need to end this experiment known as Israel. We’ve learned a lot from it, so it wasn’t a total waste. For one thing, we learned you can’t just draw lines on a map in England and expect millions of people in Palestine to be happy with being dislocated from their homes. We have learned that the West has endless patience and tolerance for the violence of allies. Finally, we’ve learned that if you take someone’s home, they get violent.

Who am I kidding, no one learned anything…

Obama and Israel

If you want to see Obama really squirm after a tough question, check this out...

I had happened to see this when I sat down to eat lunch the day after the State of the Union. I turned on the TV and began eating. I almost changed the channel, but Obama’s speech was wrapping up and he said he would take questions. He took off his jacket and called on a young woman who apparently had a huge crowd all making noise and pointing to her. This is where the video picks up.



At some point in the middle of asking her question, I literally put my fork down, stood up, and put my hands on my head in disbelief and excitement. I screamed, “Yes!” even though I was home by myself. If my brain had been in that woman’s head, I would have asked a nearly identical question. I am eternally grateful to her for confronting him on this.

Obama stutters and stalls for 25 seconds before seemingly remembering what he’s supposed to say. He launches into a stock answer…

- the region has been in turmoil for “centuries” (false)
- Israel is a strong ally (friends don’t call friends murderers?)
- Israel is a democracy (true, but irrelevant)
- Obama vows to help keep them “secure”

I am glad Obama does finally get around to pointing out that Palestinians are “hopeless,” though I think he reveals how mentally distant he is from the question when he mentions Palestinians should, in fact, be given the opportunity to “find jobs.” Well, we know what Obama prepped himself to talk about…

I’d like to fantasize a moment and write what I want to hear a US president say:

“We condemn Israeli terrorism in all its forms, both wanton acts of violence at the hands of the sanctioned military and by civilian invaders (a.k.a. “settlers”) occupying and expanding upon land that has already been designated as Palestinian (even after Israeli wars of expansion increased the original allotment).

“We will cease all aid to Israel, and impose sanctions that are appropriate for a rogue nation with nuclear and chemical weapons. We will use the billions saved to improve schools, so that tomorrow’s children are not woefully ignorant of the past.

“We will provide asylum to all Israelis, as they will soon find they are not welcome anywhere.”

America has given over $2 billion per year to Israel since the 80’s. AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) is one of the most powerful and wealthiest lobby groups in Washington. Taking them all in as citizens will not have any effect on our government; Jewish interests could not possibly be any more over-represented.

This is no coincidence, and any moron who is presented the facts can connect these dots. The Muslim world has figured it out, and it’s one of the main recruiting issues for Muslims who rally against the US. Muslims don’t hate us for our freedoms, they just hate having their freedoms encroached.

The single most important foreign policy decision this country could ever make would be to cease the funding of Israel and all governments that are hostile towards their neighbors, both now and in the future.

Aiding in the atrocities of others (when we aren’t busy committing our own, of course) is a recurring theme throughout this nation’s history. I hope I am not alive to experience what happens when we get a taste of our own medicine [My money is on China or India, but Brazil wouldn't surprise me.]

Israel, Then and Now

When it comes to the Western world, there is no more influential issue of international concern than Israel. To understand the issue, one needs to understand where Israel came from.

The greatest fallacy concerning Israel is the belief that fighting in the region is perennial. Often one hears that they’ve “been going at it for 2000 years, they’re not going to quit now.”

This is a lie perpetuated by Israeli sympathizers. Palestinians would point out they were peaceful for centuries before the British gained control after the fall of the Ottoman Empire.

Those of the Judeo-Christian tradition are the only people who view the region as having been in turmoil for millennia. Palestine was a stable place under Muslim rule, which allowed Jews and Christians to live and visit on pilgrimage as early as the end of the last Crusades in the 13th century.

However, as with most places, the “outsiders” were viewed, and sometimes treated, with hostility. Jews were allowed to visit the Wailing Wall, but various ordinances at times forbade loud prayer or displaying holy books. Christians were allowed to visit various sites attributed to Jesus, but they faced similar restrictions.

By the 19th century, a movement calling itself Zionism arose in Europe. Its primary goal was to re-establish a Jewish nation, ostensibly in Israel (though other locations were discussed, including Madagascar).

The reason for Zionism was that there was rising hostility towards Jews not in Palestine, but in Europe. Jews were persecuted in all sorts of ways in every corner of Europe, from England to Austria. Hitler’s rise to power was not some fluke; it was the culmination of centuries worth of scapegoating.

The area of what is today Israel is about 10,000 square miles, about 12% larger than New Jersey. Control of Palestine (as it was then known) was given to Britain in a deal approved by the League of Nations. To my knowledge, no one consulted the people there, though to be fair it was thought of as a spoil of war from WWI.

After WWII, Zionism was no longer just an issue of Jewish interest. Europe quickly rallied around the cause. It’s not hard to see why: those who sympathize with the Jews saw no problem in forming a Jewish nation in their ancestral home… because they had no idea other people were already living there and there was no plan for them. People who hated Jews thought the idea was even better, because this might mean a Jew-free Europe.

Israel was a win-win for everyone… except Palestinians. Even after the bulk of the population was moved by force to designated areas outside the new borders, Israel fought wars of expansion. Most notably in 1967, Israel annexed the Sinai Pennisula, East Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, and the much disputed West Bank and Gaza Strip.

I wish I could say it would be best to get rid of Israel. I wish I could say that the people living there should have to find a new place, like their ancestors made the Palestinians do. But the truth is, Israel is sort of like a child of rape, and you can’t have the abortion in the 183rd trimester when the person is 61 years old.

Entire generations of blameless Israelis have been born in Israel, so it’s hard to justify their removal. However, continued policies of aggression make it easier. Israel repeatedly denies any wrong-doing during their disastrous wars. Israel is cutting off water to Palestinians and “settlers” are demolishing the homes of Palestinians in order to expand Israel’s borders.

The worst part is, if you’re an American, you’re paying for this. Israel gets billions per year in aid from the US, mostly to bolster the Israeli military and nuclear arsenal (shh, don’t tell anyone they have nukes, it’s a secret!).

Personally, I’m kind of rooting for the Palestinians. Why? I have no ulterior motive in all of this. The Palestinians have every right to bombard Israel with all the rockets they please; there’s no international laws against attacking your own land. The Israelis just keep getting in the way! Besides, I think what America did to the native tribes was atrocious, and this is no different. This is a chance for us to do the right thing... or not.

In all seriousness, one of the more pathetic reasons for the formation (and upkeep) of Israel is the strange phenomenon of Christian Zionism. To understand why Christians want Jews in control of Israel, you have to know your Bible.

Christians believe Jesus will not come until the Great Temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt. While this was not a major influence during the formation of Israel, it is a major factor in America’s continued involvement.

Likewise, Jews would like nothing more than to rebuild their most sacred temple. The problem is, the site for the temple is currently occupied by al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, both very holy sites to Muslims.

America’s unwavering support of Israel is the prime reason for hostility towards America in the Middle East. America’s support for Israel is the cause which rallies terrorists against us. We were targeted on 9/11, not because terrorists “hate our freedoms,” but because America funds Israel’s continued aggression.

There’s no easy solution. Israel could be dissolved, but it would mean a tragedy on a scale even greater than their initial intrusion. Where would they go? Will a nation, where every citizen is required to perform military service, simply walk out without a fight?

Then there are the two nation or joint nation propositions. The problem with the first option is that Israel encroached the sovereignty of other nations before, they continue to, and there’s no evidence they will stop. Forming the “Nation of Palestine” will just mean that tomorrow, Israel and Palestine will be formally at war as Israel continues expanding.

The joint nation option is the most intriguing to me. I think Palestinians and Israelis could live side by side peacefully, under one stipulation: they all become atheists. Yep, that would just about solve everything. Who knew it was so simple?

Who Are the Palestinians?

Since American tax dollars are being used to fund their annihilation, I find it important to understand who the Palestinian people are. They are largely Muslim (specifically Sunni), though some are Christian and Druze. The primary factor linking Palestinians together is that they and their ancestors have lived peacefully in the region for 500 years under the Ottoman Empire, contested before this only by invading Christian Crusaders.

This region had been Muslim since its 7th century Arab conquest, with only fleeting periods of Christian control during the Middle Ages. It is the Arabian side of the land bridge to Egypt, linking the continents of Africa and Asia. The land has been surprisingly peaceful, considering it is one of the most strategic locations in the world. The bottom line: Palestinians are a people in diaspora who are being segregated from Israeli society and forced into ghettos where they can be easily targeted for abuse.

Now a short history of Israel is in order. After World War II, with the Ottoman Empire completely dissolved and the region in geopolitical disarray, England and the UN arbitrarily drew lines in the sand and called them nations. While many decisions during this time were disputed, the most controversial was the formation of a Jewish state in the region of Palestine.

Zionism (or the belief in a Jewish State) has its origins in systemic European anti-Semitism. Beyond bigotry, Europe had gone so far as to legislate maliciously against Jewish interests and practices during and after the so-called “Enlightenment” period of the 18th century. Jews, non-Jews, and even the bigots themselves sought a solution to the growing problem, all under different auspices. The agreed upon solution harkens back to similar American ignorance: send them back where they came from.

It is this general attitude, this underlying anti-Semitism, that drives my dislike for the Nation of Israel. It is a solution born out of ignorance and intolerance. It is also a situation that fosters a new problem: if a disliked group is moved to one location, is it really safer for the group? The equation appears to be one that only equals the wholesale slaughter of Jews at the hands of their enraged Muslim neighbors, an atrocity that is set up by seemingly blameless Christian Europe and America.

Israel/Palestine

What is happening between Israel and Palestine is another event in an American-funded catastrophe. If you don’t care about what’s going on, I can’t say I blame you; it’s a mess. What irritates me, however, are those who seem to be paying attention but are blind supporters of monstrous acts. There is a popular myth that the Middle East has been in conflict for 2000 years. Actually, things had settled down for centuries until 60 years ago, when Israel was formed.

A nation born out of post-WWII pity, without any consideration for the people already living there, Israel has been supplied state-of-the-art armaments from the West since its inception. It has used the generous foreign aid it receives (and we’re talking billions of dollars per year from the US alone) to wage a war of expansion and suppression on Palestine.

The treatment of the Palestinians at the hands of the Israelis has been nothing short of brutal. It is a dark day when the culture that penned “an eye for an eye” has resorted to such exchanges as bullets for rocks, tanks for bullets, and laser-guided bombs for rockets. The death toll says it all; for every Israeli who died, over a hundred Palestinians were killed. All of this is happening because a few Palestinians (organized or not) have been firing rockets at Israelis, killing four. Meanwhile, Israel has shelled UN schools.

It is this heavy-handed mentality which fuels terrorism; consider that many terrorists have lost an immediate family member in conflict with the West. Israel’s actions are a catalyst for the frustration that drives many Muslim terrorist organizations, just as the invasion of Iraq by the US has only encouraged unrest. War will only solve the problem if Israel is planning to annihilate the Palestinians. Jews will one day have to live in peace with the Palestinians (even the rowdy ones), or leave.