The Right To Resist

(part of A Bridge Too Far series)

(Jewish Partisans in Croatia During WW2)

This message is not to Palestinians or Muslims. This message is to those who claim to practice Judaism. This message is to those who claim to support the cause of a homeland for the Jewish people. This is a message to my brothers and sisters as well as those who support Israel. It is not a polite suggestion. It is not a message of condemnation. This is a reminder of where we came from. This is a reminder of why we, the Jewish people, should have more empathy than anyone else for the plight of the citizens of Gaza. For their present situation greatly mirrors the tragedies through which our ancestors lived. This is a reminder of our faith, our heritage, and our history.

 

 

When my ancestors watched their country be devoured by the barbarism the world called fascism there was little time to react. Yugoslavia was breaking apart. Croatia had made a pact with Hitler to help his armies take the Balkans. Everywhere my ancestors looked all they could see was a world gone mad. For them... the hope of a better life for their children was rapidly disappearing. The belief that the next generation would live in a better world than they did was all but shattered. Yet the will to fight for that hope, the will to sacrifice for that dream, had not been taken from them. 

The fascist began their assault with mass executions and gathering survivors into camps and ghettos. Among those who had fled the massacres were people like my great grandmother. These were people who either were prepared to fight for their homes, their families, or just mere survival. Ahead of them was a long war that looked hopeless. They were ready to fight with no ability to resupply their ammunition, no ability to find food, and no chance for reinforcements. Yet the will to fight was still there. Like a fire deep inside their bones, that will to resist could not be extinguished. 

What the Nazis and Ustase did to my ancestors was beyond barbaric. They took them into the mountains and found ledges upon which to execute them. Others were sent strung up publicly so as to tell their countrymen what awaited all of Yugoslavia's Jews. While others were sent to camps to work for their captors till the release of death overcame them. And yet for those who survived there was a deep seeded desire to resist. The desire to live free, to have their lives back, could not be beaten out of them. Despite all the fascists bestowed upon us in their savage desire to destroy us, we resisted. We fought back. 

During the war against the fascists my ancestors were not granted the rights given to soldiers if they were captured. All those rules made in Geneva were useless to them. If the Ustase or Germans captured them they knew that only torture and death awaited them. They also realized that in defending their families through combat meant that they were endangering entire villages. Anyone that dared to help them (or simply not give up information on them) was fair game to the tyrannical Ustase thugs and Nazi soldiers. To the ruling factions, my ancestors were terrorist. And much like today, their resistance to the oppressive rule of fascism was punishable with actions well beyond the rule of law. 

Today we are proud of our ancestors and what they did to make sure we could be here today, alive and free. We look back on their struggle with pride that can not be taken from us. It is a legacy that has endured even the worst intentions of our enemies. The price they paid in blood has not and will not be forgotten. 

Yet today there are double standards that come with remembering the price our ancestors paid for our freedoms. We tend not to think of their struggle when we look at the plight of the oppressed today. This is especially true when it comes to how many Jews look at the struggle that the Palestinians face. And it is distinctly evident when it comes to the pain inflicted upon the citizens of Gaza.

We as a people have had to fight to survive countless tragedies in our past. As Tisha B'av approaches we will find ourselves reflecting upon the countless times our ancestors were persecuted. During this time we will fast and offer up prayers as we mourn those tragedies. We will also have the opportunity to recall how our G-d delivered us to this day. We will recall how even in our darkest hours He allowed us to reach a time when our people are safe and secure. And yet there is another aspect of our heritage that we should focus upon as Israel carries out Operation Protective Edge... the long history of resistance that has enabled us to reach this day. 

To our oppressors we were once the terrorists. In their eyes we were supposed to accept our fate and go silently into history, never to be remembered. We were painted as sheep to the slaughter by even our friends. Those who had watched us suffer offered us little more than tears as they whispered "oh the poor Jews". To some we had been cast as the meek and suffering oppressed. But for those who wanted us dead, to those we resisted by fighting tooth and nail, we were dangerous terrorists who needed to be slaughtered. 

History has shown how we fought back. History has remembered the millions who perished as the survivors resisted. History has not labeled us as either sheep to slaughter or savage terrorists. It has recorded our suffering and our desire to live. As it will do so for the oppressed that suffer today. 

It is the nature of all mankind to want to live free and full lives. When that is taken from us, we as a species do not lay down and await death silently. While some may accept that life as they knew it is over, most of us will bare our teeth and bristle our manes just like any other animal that has been cornered. We are not timid when we are oppressed. We are not silent when we are tormented. And we are not easily trained to accept our suffering. 

So why have so many of us accepted the suffering of Gaza?

Gaza today rest upon a thin strip of the land allotted to it by the mandate which created Palestine and Israel. The Palestinians living there were once allowed the opportunity to leave the strip and travel elsewhere. They were oppressed in other ways then, but at very least they weren't behind a wall. Since the construction of the "separation barrier" the citizens of Gaza have been virtually stuck in a ghetto. Like our ancestors in Warsaw, they were stuck behind a wall and kept out of sight of the rest of society.

Conditions in Gaza have only deteriorated as Israel has further restricted movement of the citizens of Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza have considerably less rights than those of Israeli citizens right on the other side of the wall. They are not permitted the right to move freely but are rather kept confined like animals in a cage. Like our ancestors in the ghettos of Europe who had to seek Nazi permission, the citizens of Gaza have to seek permission from Israel to leave Gaza (or Egypt when the crossing there is open). Checkpoints are meant to "protect" Israeli citizens from danger while at the same time stripping Palestinians of their basic human rights.

Health conditions also have drastically deteriorated after Israel has repeatedly bombed hospitals and health care centers. Doctors and nursing staff are far less prevalent in Gaza than in Israel. And the numbers of refugees puts a strain on any health care that remains. This does not account for the psychological trauma that goes untreated as Palestinians continue to live under constant siege (well documented at causing severe emotional and psychological trauma). In the ghettos of Europe all of these factors caused an increase in death and even depression and suicide amongst our ancestors.

Sanitation is crippled as Israel has launched aerial assaults and missile attacks on infrastructure across Gaza. Water is at times untrustworthy as treatment of it is not viable at all times. The source of life, the one thing all mankind needs, is denied to the Palestinians of Gaza by the siege Israel has placed them under. The diseases that come with such conditions were well known killers of our ancestors in the ghettos of Europe.

So at what point is it a right of the oppressed population in Gaza to resist the oppression they have been placed under? When does it become acceptable to us to see Palestinians firing rockets back at the nation who is bombing them daily? When do we stop labeling them as terrorists and start realizing that they are resisting in much the same manner as our ancestors did?

In every culture across the globe the death of a child, especially our own, is something that will provoke unmeasurable anger and retaliation. Israel has predicated this latest attack upon the death of three Israeli children. Yet when do we realize that Gaza has sacrificed countless numbers of it's own children to the siege Israel is and has placed upon it in the past? If it was your child that had taken a soldier's bullet or shrapnel from another country's missile would you remain silent?

For me personally the living conditions would have definitely made me defiant. I would obviously take every non-violent step toward dismantling my oppressor and shedding such wretched living conditions as those. But the death of my child, the death of any child, is enough to make me become the most wretched savage my enemy could ever meet. There is no form of punishment fitting for those who would slaughter the innocent for their own personal goals and desires. And for the most part, this reaction is as human as any other emotion. It is ingrained in all mankind to defend their offspring with every ounce of blood that flows through their veins.

Hamas may be far from decent in their politics and the way they fight their wars. But if it were your children being targeted by a ruthless enemy... would you not side with the devil himself if it meant your children could live?

The right to resist tyranny is as natural to man as any of the rest of our "human rights". The right to resist oppression is what led to our people out of Egypt, saved us from the pogroms, and kept us alive through the Holocaust. It is what has created the heritage of which we are so stubbornly proud. And it is the very essence of why Gaza remains defiant in the face of Israel's brutal war.

As we go through The Three Weeks and Tisha B'av let us remember the tragedies through which our people have overcome tyrants. Let us reflect upon the path our ancestors took to get us here today. And let us offer our thanks to G-d for His mercy upon us and our ancestors. But let us also take a critical look at Israel and it's actions in Gaza. Let us offer up our prayers for the suffering people of Gaza.

Most importantly, during this time of mourning...

Let us cry out for the citizens of Gaza. Let us stand with our suffering brothers and sisters. Let us defend them with our voices as we tell the world that what Israel is doing is wrong. And let us make that cry heard by our leaders and our people in Israel. Scream so loud that your voice reverberates across the distance between us and stirs up the hearts and souls of Israel.

We are here today because great men and women resisted those who would have wiped our heritage from the face of the earth. They stood up against tyranny during the darkest hours of our peoples' history. When nobody else would listen, when it seemed that nobody else even cared, they stood up and fought back. It is through their blood, their suffering, and their resilience that we were even given the chance to do the same.

Pray for Gaza.

Then scream for Gaza. 

Last Bullet In The Chamber

(A Bridge Too Far series)
(PLUCK series)

(Every Word Has The Power To Wound)

No matter how well I articulate my position on Palestine and Israel I will always be seen as a "Zionist". Of this much I'm certain.

Religion is a vile and despicable construct that has served no other purpose but to divide those G-d created so much alike. Poison from the lips of imams and scholars has taken it's toll upon the moderates' minds. Venom that drips like honey, so as to hide it's bitter ends, flows from those who claim to preach peace in the name of a G-d that has apparently turned His gaze away. Their decorated temples and houses of thieves bring in the sheep to the slaughter. Yet a devout mass makes no attempt to question their masters as they raise the axe above their bowed heads.

Yes, I will always be considered a vile and ill-mannered "Zionist". But not because I hold organized religion in such contempt. No, I am "the enemy" because of my lack of apologies for supposed sins I have never once committed.

For it is not Islam that I hate. It is not Judaism which I hold such abhorrent views of. It is the perverse twisting, the manipulating, of faith in the name of politicized religion. This placement of an imagined devotion to a religion rather than the G-d it allegedly is supposed to serve. This is the source of my discontent.

On the battlefield for the survival of Israel or the "reconquista" of Palestine the main line of battle forms along religion. It is across this barrier that the two sides use the propaganda they have been fed as they release volley after volley of hate filled rhetoric. Yet both claim to be after peace? Both sides claim to be hanging their hats beneath the banners of religions that preach love and yet this is where they decide to mount their attacks from?

All my life my faith has been at war with the religion to which it is supposed to belong. Under the mislead guidance of "men of G-d" I have had to bow my head. Years of internal combat finally broke the shell and released my repulsion with every pit of snakes we so elegantly call houses of G-d. No longer could I tolerate the manipulation of holy words to serve the desires of a few. No more could I tolerate the lies that come with crosses, crescents, or stars.

For years now I my faith has been signified by the kippa atop my head. My only temple to which I retreat is that of the shadows beneath the cover of my tallit. For my faith does not need a scholar, a rabbi, an imam, or a preacher. My G-d does not need a church, a temple, or a mosque in which to confine me. My brother, my akhi... my sister, my ahoti... these are not confined by those who pray to G-d by the same name as I. The world is my alter and the persistent service of my fellow man my religion.

This is faith.

Faith cannot be used to strike at another with hollow attempts at advancing ourselves. It leaves us defenseless before the world. It places us in a state of servitude to those who most need it. In faith we step out onto a battle field where everyone carries loaded guns. Yet faith offers us nothing with which to fire back.

When we use religion to attack one another we are void of the faith to which we supposedly cling. Religion provides us a series of ritualistic defenses to hide our vulnerability. It shelters us amongst a multitude so that we become faceless... nameless. We become Muslims... Jews... we however do not become unique.

Unique talents of the individual are only highlighted in organized religion if they serve the desires of those pulling the strings. These talents that would otherwise be valuable contributions to mankind as a whole are hoarded for the selfish advancement of a few. Thus creating in situations like that in Israel an arm race of sorts that utilizes man as ammunition rather than valuing us for who we are.

The most damning part of religion playing a role in Palestine and Israel's conflict is just how effective it really is.

Through the application of "the Jews" as a blanket statement a political statement implicates not just Israel but an entire religion as a whole. The interchangeable use of Zionist with that of Jew or Jewish makes this connection between politics and faith that much more difficult to break. By utilizing these words, this ammunition, the words of a few place an entire people within the cross hairs.

No matter how moderate or rebellious the individual might be these few words can trigger a reaction based on religious devotion rather than one that might arise out of faith alone. For my faith would guide me to look beyond the words alone and toward the pain from which they originate. And yet the sting of being implicated with the masses instead of being taken as an individual brings forward only hostility. And this is from where a person will draw their reaction to such blanket statements.

For every time that I take up the position to defend Palestinians' most basic of human rights there will always be this familiar sting. As long as there are those who would defend their religion in spite of those who might otherwise align with them... I'm nothing more than a supposed "Zionist". It is this familiar sting that drives many back to the trenches their religion has dug for them and off the position their faith has guided them to hold.

This is the miserable reality of religious perversion on both sides of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Entire masses so eager to die for a flag designed for them not by G-d but by the hands of perverse leaders. This is what breaks the heart of a G-d who lives not in Jerusalem but rather in the soul of every man.

Another Brick In The Wall

Breaking Through The Noise... Violently
(A Bridge Too Far Series)

In the 1930's the German people were sucked into a political ideology that knew no boundaries. Religion that they thought they knew was abolished and replaced with a rabid form of Christianity that the world was far from prepared for. It was so vile, so perverted, that even those who first thought they knew what they were buying weren't ready for what came next. They were sold a bill of lies that was prepared for them by a man, by his cronies, with no discernible faith of his own. In affect, it was the abolition of faith. It was the creation of a new world to which my family did not belong.

From the mid 20's Hitler had begun leaking his hate filled propaganda into the mainstream of German society. Rejected at first, Hitler didn't back down. With a relentless perseverance the architect of the Holocaust began to lay the foundation for his master plan. With every drop of his poison the well from which the German people drank became even more bitter. Yet the taste of taste of the antisemitic taint wasn't stopping the Germans from lapping it up.

The end result was a German society that was not just complacent in the Holocaust but a society which fought tooth and nail to defend the destruction of European Jews. When faced with the opportunity to abandon the Nazi's ranks the German people routinely decided to take up their rifle and fight to maintain the status quo. It took decades of dealing with their sins before the majority of German citizens would even admit that what they helped Hitler accomplish was wrong.

 

"If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed."

~ Adolf Hitler

This path to power is a well traveled one. A dictator doesn't take control through force that often. It is most often accomplished through coercion and feeding the poison with some honey. In the case of the Germans the honey was a long standing strain of antisemitism that had predated Hitler. The long history of Europeans scapegoating Jews was a strong cornerstone for Hitler's propaganda. It wasn't a far leap from England's 13th century expulsion of the Jews to Spain's Inquisition. All Hitler had to do was follow the cobblestones upon which his predecessors had built. 

Today the long history of European antisemitism is clearly visible in the Middle East. Where Hitler had made progress with a German audience the dictators of Arab societies find inspiration. When Goebbels depicted Jews as rats the world ignored it. When Arab cartoonist depict Jews as rats the world once again ignores it. When the Nazis spread the image above depicting Jews as a giant spider drinking the blood of "non-Jews" the world looked the other way. When Arab artist depict Jews as spiders in the scarfs of Hamas guerrillas and make cartoons depicting blood libel... well the world once again looks the other way. 

The cartoons are often childish and make no distinct argument when standing on their own. But that is the reason Hitler liked this form of propaganda. It allowed the viewer to cast their own bias upon an image that was characteristic of party policy. It allowed a bond to be formed through playing to the emotions of the audience rather than encouraging intellectual debate. This was the method of Nazi propaganda because it doesn't permit the viewer to think for them self. Instead it desires to replace the thoughts of the individual with the suggestions of the masses. 

Over time the hatred for a targeted group (either ethnic, religious, or political... ext) can be built up by allowing the viewer to assume that they have control. Yet over time the control of the audience's thoughts and emotions is handed over to the regime. Through the power of suggestion the party is able to replace the citizen. Through the power of playing to the least common denominator the group commits it's first murder... the death of the individual. 

Goebbels was a master at murdering the senses of the individual. Portraying small crowds as giants in the minds of the onlookers he was able to make the individual believe that their life would be made meaningful if only they succumbed to the influences of the masses. When Goebbels finally did have enormous audiences to film he turned the tables and began to depict the minority. Switching the bait, Goebbels knew that the individual was already dead to their own senses. All Goebbels had to do was mold the bricks so that they would fit into Hitler's plans. 

Once the bill of lies was sold there was no turning back. Hitler could build up his empire with a nation of useful idiots. What had once been a nation of individuals was now a country of numb (scared) masses. They would act as one. They would kill as a group. This was Hitler's pack of wolves now. Those who would not fall in line were subjected to cannibalism. Like dogs, the weak were made to roll over so that their throats could be gashed. Nazism is a brutal ideology in this light. 

Both Israel and Palestine have toyed with the art of recreating the sins committed by Goebbels. Neither can hide where they have played the role of propagandist. While Israel attempts to erase the individualism of the Palestinian the Palestinian Authority attempts to dehumanize the Israeli all together. Settlers, occupiers, invaders... Terrorist, jihadist... the hate between the two states is more than just a war of words. It is a vile contempt for the existence of the other.

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin

In Israel the state is more open about it's propagandizing. Painting the settlements as vital to the security of the state the creators of this propaganda play to the fear of losing security... the lack of control. While here in America we are often prompt to remember the words of Benjamin Franklin we too get sold that same lie time and time again. For Israel however the fear of insecurity is rather real and palpable. It is highlighted every time a rocket comes over the border. And it is for this reason the propaganda that is created to capitalize on this fear is so effective. 

As long as Israel is capable of being manipulated into selling it's morality and liberties for the belief that tyranny will somehow bring security they will have to live with insecurity. There is not a population of people on the planet that would tolerate the police state like presence that has been imposed upon the people of the West Bank, Eastern Jerusalem, or Gaza. Barbed wire, concrete walls, landmines, and trenches don't make good neighbors. In the case of Gaza, fences don't make good ones either. 

If Israel is to find safety in the face of a foe that has threatened it for so long they will ironically have to soften their appearance. A human being is not designed to trust another when they have to look at them through barbed wire. It is just that simple. 

Yet at the same time Palestine has to break with it's long history of propaganda against the "Jew". If it is to exist in any form it will have to distance itself from groups that would paint the descendants of Holocaust victims as modern day Nazis. This slur, above all others, is the quickest way to bring back up the bricks and build back up the walls. There is simply no rationalizing with a people that would pick at old wounds till they can draw fresh blood. 

However cantankerous these past few paragraphs may have come across they are just the tip of the iceberg. The decades of propaganda must be deconstructed. The lies that have been woven into the fabric of Israel and Palestine must be pulled apart thread by thread. If they are not there will never be a lasting peace. We are not designed to forget what has not been banished from the present. As long as one of the two is ready to rehash past offenses there will be no moving forward. The grudge can't be our building block for a common future. 

In future post these lies will be picked apart without relent. For these are issues that have created some of the most heinous crimes of our time. These are the lies that have pitted brother against brother. These are the lies that have led us to kill Abel over and over again. For this reason we will painfully rip them apart and uncover that which they were designed to hide. We will explore why the history of two peoples has been slandered to the point that most can't recognize their own past. We will discuss why the state and the stateless are at war with one another. And we will take a brutally honest look at the resulting atrocities of this conflict. 

We ask that you stick with us. We ask that you leave your bias behind and join us as we attempt to walk through this field of landmines. We ask you to do what our predecessors have failed at... leaving the partisan ranks and walking out under a white flag. 

Jews, Muslims, Palestinians, Israelis... those titles don't matter to us here. We will not be just more bricks in the wall that divides us. Are you ready to stop being lied to?