Occupation Has Consequences

In the wake of the Hamas led offensive in the occupied regions of southern Palestine the world has once again decided that “Israel has a right to defend itself”. We pretend that Israeli civilians being attacked is an “unprecedented terror attack” because we want to have some excuse to ignore decades of Israeli aggression and violent oppression of Palestinians in both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. The insistence that nothing prior to this attack can be considered when talking about Israel is a calculated attempt to hide the full context of what led to this escalation, how Hamas even came to be, and why Israel is now seeing the consequences of its actions on a scale Netanyahu always wanted.

Christians who support Israel are the same sorts of people who love to quote verses about “you reap what you sow” when people they hate are suffering any given anguish. Many are using those verse right now as Palestinian families are exterminated by Israeli airstrikes. Yet for decades the Israeli state has understood that it would eventually have to deal with “blowback”, consequences, for its crimes against the Palestinians. That is why Tel Aviv has kept an eye on Iran and Lebanon. Because the Jewish ethno-state knows that its violent oppression of Palestinians would make it enemies among its neighbors. Leaders like Netanyahu however didn’t just know that consequences were coming, they have engineered among Palestinians the harvest they wanted all along. For Netanyahu the existence of groups like Hamas has always been politically profitable. Having a boogeyman to scapegoat whenever necessary is what all authoritarians want. And now that we know that Egypt warned Tel Aviv well in advance of this weekend, it is clear that Netanyahu saw the consequences coming. It was an excuse for the total war he wanted to launch. War being historically how Netanyahu has solidified his hold on the government in Israel. How Netanyahu has gained support among Israelis who believed their government all along when they were told they would never suffer the consequences for the occupation and apartheid policies. While Netanyahu appears to have allowed the consequences to come home to the Israelis, it cannot be ignored that the Israelis themselves went along with their government for decades under the promise that they would be shielded from accountability. What Israel saw when the ghetto walls of Gaza were breached was an uprising of people who have been denied their rights, their humanity and their homeland. As violent as this has been, this is the harvest that Israel made possible. The harvest sprouted from the seeds Israel alone spread across Palestine.

As a Jew, I am reminded of the conversations I was able to have with survivors of the Holocaust in Croatia. Partisans who used extreme violence to fight back against the Nazis and Ustaša alike. People who had participated in the reprisals that took place before Tito ended the resulting communal violence in Yugoslavia. Of the three of them, none seemed truly remorseful for taking revenge. At no point did I blame them for that hardness either. Having listened to what the Ustaša did to them, I was in no place to judge what they wanted to do in return. The Croatian fascists had planted a harvest that they believed they would never have to reap. That eventually the Jews, the Serbs, the Roma would be gone. That under the guidance of their Nazi counterparts, Croatia was going to be Catholic only. But each family member they murdered in the forests and mountains, each family member they sent to camps was a seed their fascist sins planted in the hearts of those who remained. Once sprouted, somebody had to pay. An exchange was to be made. And this part of the Holocaust, the part that came after the fascists were defeated, isn’t isolated to the stories I listened to. In Germany the survivors also put forth revenge actions. Be it poisoning SS inmates under American guard or planning to poison German water supplies, the price of the crimes committed against them carried over even after the war had ended. Many would illegally immigrate to Palestine. And many of those would use the crimes European states committed against them as reason enough to force Palestinians to pay the price.

Only in the comfort of privileged distance do we find it convenient to say that killing citizens of an occupying force, which Israel is, is morally unjustified. It has not been our families murdered by Israeli occupation. It has not been our brothers abducted by the Israeli occupation forces, and it has not been our sisters who have endured sexual assault and victimization by Israeli soldiers and settlers. We get to watch Gaza burn while pretending that each new death in this Israeli carpet-bombing campaign isn’t a new seed being planted for a future harvest of bloody revenge. By ignoring the over 80 years of violence perpetrated against the Palestinians we get to “stand with Israel” in feigned outrage over mislabeled “terrorism”. Only when we have decided to ignore Netanyahu’s fascism, Israel’s original sins and the longstanding blockade of Gaza can we get atop our soapbox and shout about how violence is never the answer.

Until Palestinian suffering is recognized, until Israel faces true consequences for its crimes, the Western world will have to get comfortable playing the role of hypocrites. That is unless we somehow decide to start telling our governments to withdraw support for Israel and end financial backing of its murderous campaign against Palestinians. Let Israel face the horror of what occupation looks like. Force Netanyahu to come outright with his desired crimes against humanity so he and the rest of Israel’s leadership can be tried like the Nazis at Nuremberg. But given the Democrats’ current response, appeasement of the genocidal government in Israel, the status quo, seems more likely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mercenary Heart

Why We Care For Some,
And Yet Neglect All Others...
(PLUCK series)

(Athens woman repeatedly kicks Romani child...)

The image of the 'humanitarian' is one that far too many try to hide behind. As for me, and most the team here, being called a 'humanitarian' is one of the greatest insults we could ever strive for. For me the term is one I have come to regard with a tremendous amount of disdain. It is nearly as much a disgraceful title to me as labeling oneself a Democrat, Republican, or by any other political or religious affiliation. For it is a title that the bleeding hearts hypocritically hide behind, an image of caring for all of humanity while tragically wrapping one's self in a given flag of their choosing. It is a term that carries no real weight or meaning. It is hollow and only serves to mask the one wearing it in much the same way cowards hide behind Guy Fawkes while reading from scripts. It's inherently heartless.

It may very well be part of human nature, and if it is then I've lost something inside, to first focus on one's own particular group before branching out to help others. We even came up with a term for it and yet rarely apply said term to it... ethnocentrism. 

Rally Around The Family

We have all heard of Gaza, the West Bank, and the rest of Palestine's many oppressed regions. We have all seen pictures and heard the stories of Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation and oppression. Of course this is not how large portions of 'humanitarians' see it. And by me pointing out the fact that we have (those of us they spend all day preaching to) I will undoubtedly be called a Zionist or some deviation of that talking point. Yet that isn't really my intent.

Endless hashtags and real life efforts are constantly made to help bring justice to the Palestinians. This is an admirable goal and far worthwhile effort on behalf of those who do dedicate so much of their time to it. But it's often not a 'humanitarian' cause. It is more often than not a religious and/or political goal by those who so strongly defend it. While there are those who dedicate their time to this cause with the end goal bringing the recognition of Palestinians' basic human rights, there are also those who (the majority) want far more than that. 

"From river to sea, all of Palestine will be free"

This is not the slogan of a purely 'humanitarian' cause. Do I agree with the premise of it? Yes. But can I agree with the proposed belief that those who promote it are somehow humanitarians? Hell no. 

This is most evident when somebody like me, arguably the natural born enemy in the eyes of so-called humanitarians, steps out and defends the rights of Palestinians. One would expect that the people pushing the slogan mentioned above would find it relieving to see a Jewish voice speaking out for Palestinians. And one would be wrong. Because, as time has proven rather repeatedly, there isn't a place for Jewish voices that don't agree 100% with the rest of the message. The only Jewish voices allowed are those that can be groomed, maintained, and propagandized for the cause. All others that dare go against the grain are more or less the enemy.

Now, like I have stated before, the humanitarian is supposed to be a person who cares about all of humanity. Yet in "humanitarian" causes such as Palestine/Israel the root of the cause becomes rather clear when just barely scratching the surface. The less than humane responses show a more political and racial undertone to what should had remained a cause centered around the actual people it affects.

The first of these is the response that immediately questions the "Jewishness" of the Jewish voice Palestinian supporters don't agree with. This is best shown when Palestinian supporters (largely not Palestinians themselves) immediately start in with myths taken right out of Nazism. Some will go as far as to start questioning the bloodlines of Jewish people to outright proposing that no "real Jews" even exist today. Of course this is hard to combat when one is the source of their frustration. And even harder to segregate from the true supporters of Palestinian rights when they themselves will not cull the racists among them.

The political undertones are brought to the surface when Palestinian supporters routinely and intentionally use the words "Zionists" and "Jews" interchangeably. While more honest supporters of Palestine can and often do recognize that Jews lived in Palestine long before Israel was created, these problematic supporters do not. Their agenda focuses around the goal of isolating Jews on one end of the spectrum while disproportionately amplifying the voices of Muslims they agree with. To do this many will downplay the damage groups like Hamas and Hezbollah do to the already fragile peace process. And much like the Israeli leadership, they will always downplay the atrocities their side commits while exaggerating the actions of the others side. And this is where the mixing of the words Zionism and Judaism come into play. By accusing "Jews" of every atrocious act they belittle the actions of Zionists and create an atmosphere in which all Jews are the "enemy".

Of course I could use just about any conflict or genocide currently happening in the world to illustrate how people who call themselves "humanitarians" are far less than concerned with humanity. And in every scenario I could show just how their priorities center around group specific interests rather than that of all the people involved. So lets jump to another part of the globe and try this again.

In Southeast Asia the "humanitarians" we deal with on a daily basis have come to the conclusion that the Rohingya people are the "world's most persecuted people". This is of course highly inaccurate as it makes a claim that is both unfounded and incapable of being proven. Yet the focus on humanitarian issues in Southeast Asia is routinely monopolized by humanitarians dead set on centering it all on one particular group.

In neighboring Bangladesh the Jumma tribes of the Chittagong Hills have suffered colonization, ethnic cleansing, and military occupation for literally centuries. Their oppressors have included the British, Indians, Pakistanis, and Bengalis. Yet the story of their persecution has largely been overshadowed by that of the Rohingya on the flood plains to their east. They are a people who's story directly mirrors that of the Rohingya and yet even Rohingya activists seem oblivious to their plight.

Venturing down the peninsula to Vietnam there are the Montagnards (Degar tribes) who suffer routine harassment for their religious and cultural beliefs. They have been through massacres since the 9th century and have seen their homeland occupied for nearly just as long. The military and politicians in Vietnam all work tirelessly to make their ghetto like villages miserable while creating discriminatory laws against the Montagnards. And over the last several years there has been an exodus taking place in the forests between Vietnam and Cambodia. Yet once again the focus on humanitarian issues is not permitted to venture away from the Arakan. And once again the humanitarians who say they care for all of humanity remain deaf to the sounds of suffering in Vietnam's hills.

Examples like these are numerous in Southeast Asia. One only has to look to the Karen, Kachin, Shan, Chin, and Kokang in Myanmar itself. This doesn't even include the tribes in the Philippines or the Hmong in Vietnam and Laos. Even with this broader picture you would have to widen it even more to focus on the tribal peoples of Nepal and how their cultures are facing extinction if nothing changes. Yet none of these are put into focus as so-called humanitarians demand the world only center it's attention on one particular group in Southeast Asia.

Now I myself have and often do focus my attention on the Rohingya in Myanmar. My team here at Alder's Ledge do a lot well beyond this blog (which has countless posts covering the Rohingya) to help. Yet we also make certain that the focus we give Southeast Asia also covers all other peoples and all other causes that arise. We center our attention on the tribal groups and persecuted minorities while also focusing on Southeast Asia's rampant sex trade and human trafficking.

The main reason for highlighting this is to bring everyone who reads this back down to reality. The world is much larger than any stretch of dirt and far more vast than any given individual group of people. The pain and suffering of people across the globe can obviously not be covered by one give person or any particular group. Yet the reasons why we tend to block out other people's stories and ignore their pain is something worth thinking about.

In Europe the popular social cause of the day is oddly focused on America's police and black communities. Yet Europeans have an entire minority that they have treated far worse for far longer a period of time... the Romani people.

In America the focus when it comes to humanitarian causes is almost always focused outward. And when it does center in on Americans it almost always gets focused on America's black population. Yet America has indigenous communities that are disappearing under a system of coerced assimilation. Many of America's indigenous youth can't speak the native languages of their ancestors. And even shift the focus to Native Americans for a minute would overlook the plight of countless immigrant groups that also suffer exclusion in American society due to a host of reasons.

So what is the answer to all of this?

Is there even a such thing as a true humanitarian?

"Fatal To Prejudice"

In all honesty there probably isn't such a thing. When it comes down to it we all have less than pure intentions when it comes to helping others. While I do believe that there are plenty of people who deeply care for others... I don't believe there are as many people out there who actually deeply care for all of mankind. But that's not to say that people can't learn to do so.

Taking time away from a given cause to focus your attention on a different one isn't the end of the world. The Palestinians will, as sad as it is, probably be just as oppressed tomorrow as they are today. And the Rohingya will most likely need just as much help even if you aren't the one there for them today. Yet you (and this is the less than "pure" intentions behind most of this work) do have a need to grow. It is the reason why people decide to reach out beyond themselves and help others. A thirst to grow and leave a mark on the world around them. And chances are that you started with groups to which you can relate and have something in common with.

One of the best ways to grow as a person is to reach well beyond the boundaries of what is comfortable and familiar. It creates in us a greater understanding of the world around us while ironically also generating endless questions about the world we encounter along the way. By helping people who we have no real connection to we come to better understand cultures and places we previously only had preconceived notions about. As Mark Twain put it, "travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness". Which is exactly why more of us need to reach out to causes beyond our own.

It would be interesting to see just how differently the approach to our own personal causes might be if more of us spent some time focused on other causes first. Yet in writing this I am more aware that it will most likely be met with hostility and resentment rather than seen as the challenge it was meant to present to you the reader. So with that said, I would hope that most of you will understand this wasn't written out of spite or frustration but rather was a blunt analysis of everyone who calls themselves humanitarians. If you consider yourself one then this is meant to show you how I personally believe we can do better.

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?

The Reality of Marriage Inequality in Israel

Ethnic and Religious Based Restrictions On Marriage
(A Bridge Too Far series)

In 1935 the Nazis Introduced the Nuremberg Laws

Creating Marriage Restrictions On European Jews.

I have been told that to start this post I should clarify that I myself am Jewish and do have ancestors who died in Croatia during the Holocaust. I never felt compelled to make such a distinction before yet while writing a much longer post from which this article is taken it was pointed out to me such a distinction should be made. This is in part due to the fact that many of our readers seem to be under the impression that I am either Christian or Muslim. Though I have no problem with either religion, I don't belong to them. So with that said I do not take it lightly when I talk about Israel or the Holocaust. Both are dear to me and it is due to that love that I can't tolerate what I see as wrong in my beloved Israel. 

With that said, here is the portion of this new series dealing with marriage in Israel and the segregation the current system enforces. 

Marriage in America is depicted as a right that all citizens should be granted to enter into freely. Though we should not take it lightly and the current system in America may not reflect that view we are forcibly pushing for change in our homeland. It has been during this battle over equality in marriage that I could not help but look across the sea at my beloved Israel with weary eyes. For despite America's failures in removing the church from a state regulated legal contract we have at very least removed race and religion as disqualifications for marriage. This is something that I could not say about Israel. 

On August 1st of 2003 those in charge of Israel found it fitting to expand upon the ethnic bylaws for marriage in Israel. After rushing a new law through the government in Israel offered a it's Arab citizens a new set of laws that would ban the marriage of Israeli citizens to Palestinians. Arabic citizens who chose to marry Arabs from the West Bank or Gaza would therefore be forced to move out of Israel or live apart from their new spouse. The law had dictated that even when married to Israeli citizens Palestinians could not gain citizenship or residence within Israel. 

Marriage in Israel has always been something of a contentious subject. Jews in Israel are not permitted to marry non-Jews if they want their marriage recognized by the government. Jews who are not considered Orthodox are also banned from marriage to Orthodox Jews in the fact that the state of Israel will not recognize the marriage. This was highlighted in story of Rita Margulis when she, having served in the Israeli armed forces and lived in Israel since the age of four, was denied a legal marriage by the state.

For me it has been these two main parts of the laws governing marriage in Israel that has taken my mind back to the days where we Jews were faced with similar restrictions on our decisions to marry. We all know the laws to which my mind wanders. Yet far to often it seems Jews around the world try to avoid the reality of how Israel treats marriage and how we as a people were once treated in the same light.

In 1935 the fascists in Germany introduced a series of laws that would live in infamy for the rest of time. Under Nazism the Jews of occupied Europe were officially from that point on banned from marriages with non-Jews. Any marriages that existed from that point on were considered void. The offspring of all these marriages were considered "tainted" and thus Jewish. It didn't matter in reality what amount of blood was Jewish or not, children from these marriages were targeted just the same.

"Marriages between Jews and Staatsangehörige (Germanic citizens) or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad."

~Nuremberg Laws, Section 1: Article 1

The laws regarding marriages between Jews and Germans (or non-Jews) was so important to the order of Hitler's Europe that it was the first part of the new race laws. The need to discriminate against the Jews in the aspect of marriage was so important that it couldn't wait for economic policies or property ownership to be addressed first. This was in part due to the genocidal efforts of the Nazis and the desire to limit the ability of Jews to reproduce. It was also due to the idea of "blood purity" that perverted the Nazi view of marriage.

These laws had direct effects upon the Jewish population of Germany from the very moment they were implemented.

"They also, at the same time a law took effect that did not allow a Jewish person, male or female, to go with a gentile person, male or female. At that time, I was going with a nice young lady that I had gone with for some time, and we were out camping, I remember very well. I had a kayak, and we went out camping near Hamburg, and there was a fellow and, next to us, near us, in another little camp with a tent, we slept in tents. He wanted to make a date with this young lady that I was going with, and she didn't want any part of it. He reported me to, to the Gestapo, and I was arrested for going with a gentile girl. I got six months in prison, solitary confinement in 1935."

~ Edward Adler, Born 1910 in Hamburg Germany

In Israel the laws regarding the marriages of Jews to non-Jews may not word for word reflect the harshness of the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, yet the spirit of the law does. Despite the notion of being the one true democracy in the Middle East the reality remains in question when such laws are permitted. If the letter of the law is allowed to be interpreted in such a manner that it denies citizens basic human rights then the spirit of the law is dead. And without spirit the nature of democracy crumbles.

When we add in the laws that deny citizenship, revoke citizenship, or restrict the rights of certain citizens due to the religious or ethnic heritage of that citizen the spirit of democracy is faded even more. A democracy cannot tolerate the denial of human rights to any member of it's society if it desires to be a vibrant and healthy democracy. Yet in Israel, a purported beacon of democratic values, the spirit of Nuremberg taints the letter of the law when the state approaches marriage from this angle.

The most basic answer to this problem is the lack of "civil marriage" instead of Orthodoxy governed marriage is the disbanding of the Orthodoxy's monopoly upon the state sponsored establishment of marriage. For us in the United States this was supposed to be solved through the separation of Church and State. For Israel however the state is nearly governed by the Orthodoxy in the fact that despite being a democracy Israel is a Jewish state. It is an aspect of the relationship between Orthodox Judaism and the state that has long hindered any such separation.

For people like Rita Margulis this means that even being a Reform Jew in Israel means having fewer rights than those who subscribe to Orthodox Judaism. As for the Arabic Israelis, such laws add further pressures upon a portion of the population who was polled in 2007 as being 47% "less than patriotic". Such laws undoubtedly do not help create more patriotic Arabic citizens or even promote pride in "Jew-ish" citizens. And yet these laws continue to be enforced and thus help to segregate Israeli society.

Now, while I do understand that the comparison to Nazi laws may be considered offensive, this undeniable haunting reminder of such laws is meant to make you think. In a modern society should we accept the notion that religion or race should have anything to do with whether two people are permitted to marry one-another? Or should Israel be forced to rethink it's position upon marriage and the approach the state has taken to the issue thus far?

As for Alder's Ledge it is a sad reality that such laws still persist in a country where the values of liberty and freedom are espoused by both citizens and politicians alike. We would wish to see Israel take this step as one of many initial steps toward reconciliation with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. For we cannot see a future ahead where lasting peace is established and sustained when such laws are permitted to exist. Legalized discrimination, in this form and all others, will forever be a thorn in our side as long as we continue to willingly suffer it so.

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Source Documents
(Note: not all sources listed)

Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/12/israel-civil-marriage-ban_n_3429764.html
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rabbi-uri-regev/why-is-it-so-difficult-for-jews-to-marry-in-israel_b_3196200.html

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
http://www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/media_oi.php?ModuleId=10007695&MediaId=2711

Romani Of The Holy Land

The Fight For Citizenship In Israel

(Amoun Sleem, Romani woman in her home in Jerusalem)

Europe has long had an issue with the citizenship of the Roma within their countries. For France it has been an issue of where the Roma can be deported to. For Germany it is a historical soft spot in the nation's relationship with this minority. The further we venture east the worse the situation for the Roma gets. In Romania the Roma are culturally banned from calling themselves Roma and are forced to be called Gypsies. And in the Balkans the Roma are forced to live on the fringe of society while the rest of the population ostracizes the Roma amongst them. It is almost impossible to overlook the genocidal intentions of countries like Hungary and the Ukraine.

That is why I found it odd that the state of one of the world's most neglected people in my beloved Israel isn't much better than it is in France. An estimated 2,000 Roma live in Jerusalem alone. There they live in areas around The Lion's Gate area of the Old City. And for some time now the Roma in Israel has long been the most impoverished population in Israel. Even the Palestinians in Gaza have opportunities made possible to them that Israel's Roma do not.

In Israel the Romani people are predominately Muslim. However the Roma of Israel do not identify with the Arabs or the Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank. This is in part due to the fact that Arabs throughout the Middle East do not treat the Roma as citizens or even human at times. The fact that the Roma in this region have taken on Islam as their religious identity does not separate them from the overt racism that plagues many of the surrounding nations. And that is why it is disheartening to see Israel still denying the Roma their citizenship rights.

(Barkat visiting the Roma in East Jerusalem)

In October the Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, became the first Mayor of Jerusalem to step out in the public eye and visit the Romani community in East Jerusalem. Barkat has begun the process to integrate the Roma into Israeli society. These are the first steps to helping the Roma become a meaningful part of the Israeli community. It will help Jews and Arabs alike if they are able to see the Roma as more than just "Gypsies".

With the same rights as other Israeli citizens the Roma can get better jobs. The Roma could begin to move up in society and may even become vital members of the Israeli Defense Force. Their rich heritage, their language, their art, and their culture can all become enriching parts of Israeli society. But the Roma can't do any of these things without first being full citizens of Israel itself.

So while Israel may not be attempting to deport the Roma it is failing to do the right thing. After all, the Romani people suffered just the same as the Jews in Nazi Europe. Roma were targeted by the Iraqi's during the Nazi years just the same as the Jews of Iraq. The Roma were oppressed by the Communist even worse than our Refuseniks. Now Israel has to do what is needed... give the Roma equal rights and equal opportunities.




Source Documents
(Note Not All Sources Cited)

Jerusalem Post
http://www.jpost.com/Features/InThespotlight/Article.aspx?id=289581

Al Monitor
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/culture/2012/11/the-gypsies-of-jerusalem-are-see.html