A little while back I mentioned having mixed feelings on Israel and then didn't really go anywhere with that thought, promising to blog it later. Well, it's later now, so blog I shall!
First, let's get some things straight. I understand that a Jewish homeland is a crucial thing. Just look at the history of the Jewish people. We're a group that is repeatedly slaughtered, driven from our homes, and generally treated like sub-human beings. Of course we're not the only group that's experienced this sort of persecution but we've experienced it enough that it is pretty easy to understand why we'd want to have a place to live where everyone would be like us or at least wouldn't want to kill us. Every country has issues with hate towards various groups: Jews aren't exempt from hate, even this supposedly increasingly enlightened age. Antisemitism is all over the place, yes, even here in America.
And before we go any further, let me clear up one small point. I say we because despite the fact that I am not a religious type, I am a Jew and I am one of the Jewish people. It's one of the big reasons why Judaism is so different from other religious groups. We're also an ethnic group and ethnic Jews are just as Jewish as religious Jews. That's why this meme I hear about non-religious Jews not being "real Jews" pisses me off so much. No, I didn't go to temple as kid but I've got my crazy Jewish family with our crazy Jewish traditions. Jewish holidays, cultural traditions, even a number of the prayers and such things are things I know and recognize as familiar and safe for me. And just because I am not a religious type, this does not mean my family or I are free from antisemitism. This is really a topic for another post so I'll cut myself off here but this will serve as my warning that if you're coming with comments about how Jews are totally welcome in the world or how I'm not really Jewish so my opinion is void, I'm going to tell you to kindly shut the old trap and get out now. If that's your reaction, than clearly you don't really understand what it means to be Jewish and you don't seem to be too interested either. Consider yourselves warned.
So here's the deal: Jews need a homeland. I get this, I understand this. And, to discuss the tiny bit of history I know about that area, let's admit the Middle East is fucked up for reasons not actually related to the people who live there. I mean, yes, it is related to them but what I'm saying is that part of the fucked-up-ed-ness of that area has to do with the people who just sort of drew in some borders willy nilly. Seriously, people not from that area decided after the Ottoman Empire collapsed to just make some countries there with no real knowledge of how stuff worked there. So that's a large part of the really complex mess of issues over there. But where this relates to Israel has to do with how other people not at all related to the Jewish people or to the Palestinian folk just sort of stepped in and started trying their hands at fixing shit, which I feel is probably a HUGE part of what is going on. Seriously, you can't just go into a nation and start drawing lines. It doesn't work like that. To be fair, a pretty large number of Jews were already living there, having fled Russia and the pogroms and also Germany and the Holocaust. So Jews were there, Palestinians were there, they should have been the ones to sort that shit out. But they weren't. I'd reccomend checking out the wikipedia on Israel, particularly the history section. It at least has some good links to some other sources that are reliable and a cursory look over the general article leads me to believe they've done a good job of keeping it accurate. So go here and get yourself a better understanding of the background.
Next thing I think is important to comprehend is that I don't think either side here is entirely right. The Israelis have a tendency to overreact (really, often a lot) when it comes to defense, which is what causes a lot of their problems. On the other hand, the Palestinians don't always seem too open to negotiation of any kind and it certainly doesn't help that the group in charge of the Palestinians, Hamas, is HUGELY antisemetic. Seriously, they are Holocaust deniers and a lot of their rhetoric is strongly antisemetic. Makes it hard for me to believe that Hamas is actually interested in peace with the Israelis. Of course, Hamas is not the Palestinians and I can't believe that they actually represent the views of the Palestinians as a whole. But anyway, there's my general feel for some of those big obstacles.
And in the end, I think there's got to be a solution here. The Israelis won't leave. The Palestinians won't leave. I think it's going to take some better leaders, leaders who decide maybe having the whole country at the cost of all the lives of people on both sides just isn't worth it. The Palestians aren't right and they're not wrong either. The Israelis aren't right and they're not wrong either. No one wants to admit to wrong-ness at any degree, which is another big fucking problem.
But seeing as this is all very simplistic and inelegant, let me cut to the reason why I wrote this post.
I've got friends on both sides of this debate. And you know what? It's hard because saying both sides are wrong and right means everyone's got issues with you. But this debate isn't improved by screamed insults or awful comments about how evil the other side is. I've heard some truely awful accusations being tossed around and that's hard to hear from people I otherwise respect. The generalizations about both sides are never kind. All I'm asking is that when you discuss and consider the conflict there, that you understand that the people in Palestine and Israel are just that: People. The Israelis are terrified, they're surrounded by countries who hate them and would want to see them dead and gone. So yes, they're terrified and I'd have to guess the Palestinians are too. So be aware that these are real people with real fears.
And to end my ramblings, a quote from Golda Meir. We could really use another leader like her again.
"A leader who doesn't hesitate before he sends his nation into battle is not fit to be a leader. "
0 people have thoughts on this topic:
Post a Comment