Well, this looks like a good place to start:
This article was just published by the Boston Independent Media Center Young Jews Support Palestinian Rights, they held a Seder outside of the offices of the AIPAC and JCRC.
Man, that picture just about says it all...
Is it just me or does there seem to be a building movement of Jews who see being 'Jewish' and 'supporting Israel' as being two different things?
Now, I'm not only talking about the Neturei Karta Orthodox Jews, who are so often marginalized by other Jews and in the media as being 'crazy'. Below is a picture of such a demonstration right here in Montreal.
The majority of my friends are Jewish, yeah, a 'Palestinian' friendly with Jews... who would have thought that was possible?? (*sarcasm*) And I've had conversations with them about the situation and they seem to feel that if they don't support Israel they are turning their back on their religion. The problem is that they can't spiritually support what Israel is doing in the name of Judaism! It's a tough position to be in especially as the media here in North America is starting to actually report what Israelis are doing!
Even before the creation of the state of Israel in Palestine there were questions from well known Jews...like Albert Einstein:
"I should much rather see reasonable agreement with the Arabs on the basis of living together in peace than the creation of a Jewish State. Apart from practical considerations, my awareness of the essential nature of Judaism resists the idea of a Jewish State,with borders, an army, and a measure of temporal power, no matter how modest. I am afraid of the inner damage Judaism will sustain"’...
And not just scientists but Jewish spiritual leaders:
"A Jewish Home in Palestine built up on bayonets and oppression [is] not worth having, even though it succeed, whereas the very attempt to build it up peacefully, cooperatively, with understanding, education, and good will, [is] worth a great deal even though the attempt should fail."” Rabbi Judah L. Magnes, first president of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, quoted in "Like All The Nations?"
And Jewish actors:
"“For me, this business called the state of Israel is finished...I canÂ’t bear to see it anymore, the injustice that is done to the Arabs, to the Beduins. All kinds of scum coming from America and as soon as they get off the plane taking over lands in the territories and claiming it for their own...I canÂ’t do anything to change it. I can only go away and let the whole lot go to hell without me."” Israeli actress Rivka Mitchell, quoted in Israeli peace movement periodical, "“The Other Israel"”, August 1998.
I feel that if enough opposition within the worldwide Jewish population is created Palestine can eventually be re-united and peace restored to the Middle East and subsequently to the world.
After all, peace is what we all really want, isn't it.
5 comments:
Hi Tomer,
Your contribution is appreciated! :0)
I don't think anybody knows for sure how many Palestinian refugees there are...there is no accurate way to count families like mine which live outside of the refugee camps and have been "scattered to the wind" as the Zionists described it, but I think it is a good guess-timation.
I also recognize the poetic implication of saying "6-million".
Abu-Issa
I thought around 800 thousand Arabs left their homes in 1948. A similar, but slightly smaller number of jews were forced to leave Muslim countries for Israel around the same time.
The number is anything but poetic and the girl is disgusting.
Hi Shlemazl,
You are right, in 1948 about 800 thousand Muslims and Christians were displaced by the newly created Jewish nation and moved to 'temporary' housing (tents) in other Arab speaking nations, the West Bank and Gaza...but that was 58 years ago. Add to that the 1967 war where among many others, my family fled...
And don't forget what has happened to Earth's population of humans over the last 58 years, it went from about 2.5 billion to over 6 billion today!
The sad truth is that the Palestinian refugee population has kept pace with world population growth.
In reference to the picture: sometimes 'truth' is disgusting.
Abu-Issa
Alright, then every single Jew is a refugee many times over. After all our ancestors had to flee more than once.
The reason the picture is disgusting is because it compares a genocide of millions of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, mentally ill and others to something that was nothing like a genocide. Had the girl been born ~70 years earlier in Europe, she would have known the difference.
Please post and respond, as I am curious as to what someone that comes from your background thinks. I think I am objective, although this response may not appear to be so, I just think you are presenting one side of the story and I'd like to add some facts. First, how long can someone be a refugee? what about his or her children, do they receive their parents' and grandparents' status of being a refugee? If I am correct, there are almost 50 Muslim (either the entire population or a majority of it) countries in the world, on the other hand, there is 1 Jewish state which is a DEMOCRACY and which of the 6 million living there, 1 million are Muslim. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but there were 900,000 Jews that have lived in Middle Eastern coutries longer than Islam existed that were kicked out of the place they called home once Israel was re-established. What about "dhimmi" (Christians and Jews being referred to as "dhimmi" which means second class citizens which pay higher taxes to live "securely" in the Muslim countries.
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