Correspondence on Israeli - Palestinian Conflict

Dear Rich,

We spoke earlier about providing Israeli perspective
for your DVD's. When we spoke, I thought it a nice
idea to provide different perspectives for the public.

But after reading a bit about you, I must admit that
I'm skeptical, to say the least.

You're mission, according to info on your own web
site, is to "do penance for having promulgated [your]
old beliefs," after having been convinced to see the
Palestinian point of view.

I find it hard to believe that someone out to promote
the Palestinian point of view could or would provide a
truely balanced forum for the public.

This skepticism, I'm afraid, was confirmed when I read
of your "Split screen footage of the Israeli
occupation and Nazi Germany." This point of view
doesn't fall into the realm of legitimate discourse.
It is, IMHO, a form of Holocaust denial, and a
disgusting comparison.

I would explain why the comparison is ridiculous and
insulting, but I'm not sure you're interested, and at
the same time I feel that you must know the
unbelievable difference between the two scenarios.

In addition, you mentioned in your email request that
you want "a short film ... that most perfectly
represents the Israeli mindset. In particular, I would
like footage from Israeli settlers (in the W.B. and
Gaza) that shows where they are coming from
intellectually and spiritually."

You surely understand that the settler point of view
is far from what "most perfectly represents the
Israeli mindset." If you are looking to find juicy
footage of an Israeli talking about "we were promised
the land by God, and nobody else belongs here," you
would be capturing an obsurdly minute percentage of
the "Israeli mindset." Settlers reprent about 4% of
Israelis, and many of this 4% don't subscribe to that
point of view. To peddle that as the Israeli mindset
would be unethical, and would oversimplify the
conflict in a way that would do great damage to their
understanding.

That you would screen "Jenin, Jenin" without showing
"Road to Jenin" (see
http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=2&x_outlet=58&x_article=637) is
further cause for my skepticism. In fact, I would
say that airing the two side by side still unfairly
portrays Israel, since, as Jenin Jenin's director
admitted, it includes fabrications. And when you find
middle ground between lies and truth, you naturally
end up with lies.

I personally believe in a (peaceful) Palestinian
state, and I believe the Palestinian narrative
deserves to be heard -- they did lose homes and land,
and that is unfortunate. However, I don't believe that
blatant propaganda which whitewashes the Palestinians
and demonizes Israel deserves to be heard. And I don't
believe that a Palestinian State dedicated to
destroying the Jewish national home should be
permitted.

It is fitting on this anniversary of the liberation of
Auschwitz to remember the paragraph from the Israeli
declaration of independence: "The Nazi holocaust,
which engulfed millions of Jews in Europe, proved anew
the urgency of the re-establishment of the Jewish
state, which would solve the problem of Jewish
homelessness by opening the gates to all Jews and
lifting the Jewish people to equality in in the family
of nations."

When that passage was written in 1948, if only the
Palestinian and greater Arab leadership would have
agreed to compromise, to share the land that both
sides held dear. Then their would have been no
"nakba," no decades of war, but two states living side
by side.

Gilead


Hello Gilead,

Regardless of my personal opinions on the conflict, I am still always inviting Israelis and Zionists to have featured short films from their perspective on my dvds. If you feel that based on my personal opinions I won't feature your films, ask Sagit Kaufmann from the Israeli Consulate. You can email her at: paffairs@chicago.mfa.gov.il

Secondly, I set up the same contrast with regards to the abortion issue. I personally despise abortion, but on my October issue I showed both a film from the Pro Life Action League, and a film portraying abortion as useful for women and society.

Now, if you automatically choose to not help me find films for my future free dvds, not only will never know of my capacity for fairness, but you will have no right to complain unfairness once it comes out. This would be pretty ironic since fairness is what CAMERA is all about. Also, I would have no choice but direct complaints to you, that you had the chance to represent an Israeli pov but turned it down based on a prejudiced preconception. I guess that's all I have to say about asking for films.

Now in regards to my music video that juxtaposes footage of Nazis mistreating Jews with footage of Jews mistreating Palestinians, it is absolutely a fair comparison because these acts of aggression (whether its Nazis on Jews or Jews on Palestinians) origniate from the same type of disordered heart.

Tell me, do you know any Palestininas? Have you ever gained their confidence, sat down to eat with them, and let them explain their side of the story - let them retell experiences of displacemnt, humiliation, mass murder, inquisition, and theft. You would weep - at least - I do, and it is because I meditate and reflect on the atrocities of the Holocaust that I am filled with passion for securing social justice for the Palestinians. Schindler's List taught me to do this - and I am sure you know the feeling too - how it rises up from within - when you want justice for what the Nazis did to the Jews. Whether it's retrieving stolen artwork or bank accounts from the Swiss, you want justice, all humans want it.

But, in your fervor, and in the collective fervor of Israelis and Jews everywhere, most of you fail to see how dangerously close you all have come to falling into the age-old trap (or irony, I should say) of becomming like the people you hate. Yes, I really wish I wasn't observing this, but Israelis it seems project all of their hatred for blond-haired blue-eyed German Nazis onto the Palestinians and Arabs.

As for the founding of Israel in 1948, if you peel back the high-sounding language from your quote below about Israel being the solution to Jewish homelessness, you'll see an ugly drive to replace Jewish homelessness with Palestinian homelessness. Now tell me, where is the comfort and morality in that solution? Israel was founded because after WWII western powers felt guilty and horrified for what the Holocaust was, and quite simply, in their frame of mind (and excuse me for being blunt) the only thing lower on the totem pole than the Jew was the black person and the Arab. So in other words, imposing the founding of Israel on the Palestinians was the racist solution to the racism of Europe.

Another idea: You mention below that only 4% of the Jews in Israel are settlers. I disput that on many different levels, but for now, I'll simply say that the status of "settler" as a percentage of the population is very easily manipulated as more and more land is annexed into Israel-proper. For instance, would you say that only 4% of the Israeli population is east of the '67 Green Line? Of course not. That would be ridiculous. The 4% you are referring to are the vanguard. They are the tip of the spear that the world calls Zionism. They are the ones who push and push and push, and behind them they leave nice tracks of land for less radical, moderate, non-religious, rational-sounding Jews to occupy - Jews who are never forced to wrestle with the morality and conflict of occupying someone's land.

You see, the Zionist vanguard believes they are reliving the battles from the Book of Exodus. They feel that occupying the land is a fulfillment of God's will. I hear on NPR that many Zionists feel the rest of Israel is ungrateful for the necessary and hard work they perform. But more interestingly, they interpret any prospect for a peace settlement as a form of compromising on God's promise that the land belongs to the Jews. In other words, if the Jews compromise one square inch of "land for peace", they will lose it all. They will have forsaken God's promise that he would be their deliverer, and as punishment, they will lose all the land and be scattered again for another thousand years.

You see, that's what I don't get. The trip from Egypt to the Promised Land is the story of each of our lives. It is the journey we all are called to make - to step out from the jungle, leaving sin and vice behind, and stepping into the realm of human excellence, enlightenment, love of GOD and the cultivation of virtue. Jews today who justify prejudice and the subjugation of Palestinians thinking they are coming from God's will are smissing the point of the Scriptures. And what is sad is while these Jews are blind, the rest of you are silent. Have you ever heard the saying that all it takes for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing?

That is exactly what happened in Nazi Germany. Hitler was a nobody when he started, and as he gained momentum, people didn't stand up to him. They didn't nip him in the bud, instead, their morality became lazy. And once Hitler was able to intimidate people, it became so much easier for Germans to not rock the boat and go along with the nationalism and scapegoating of Jews. But some did stand up to the Nazis - they were killed or sent to camps. If you saw my bio, you read that my roommate was one of the few who did stand up to the Nazis. He was sent to a concentration camp for having passed fake Catholic baptismal certificates to Jews in Lithuania that they might escape to Palestine. In fact, he was even re-united with one of his friends, a baker - Isaac Gutmann. I might have the spelling of the last name wrong. John, my roommate pronounced it GOOTMAN. The Isreali Knesset offered him a medal as a "Righteous Gentile." But he turned it down saying he "did not save the lives of Jews that they might become Nazis to the Palestinians."

Nevertheless, Jews in my opinion are provoking the righteous anger of the Palestinians, Arabs, and frightening leading us into World War. I wish I could say that Jews were provoking indignation out of taking the moral high ground on something, that would be honorable, but you are getting heat out of trying to relive a romantic, hyper-religious ideal of taking land and saying it was yours all along. It really comes off as a veiled act of greed.

If you sense anti-semitism in the world, take a step back to see what caused it, and then take a step forward, and I mean a magnanimous, human, humble and loving step forward that you might communicate and relate with those who express anger towards you. Be the bigger people here. Jews have been around longer than any other culture. You should know better.

As for a two state solution, that's the wrong idea and it will never work. It needs to be an integrated single state, otherwise, you will always be having to defend with violence what you took with violence because the Palestinian heart wiil have fits of anger in its yearning for justice. The idea of keeping Israel a pure Jewsish state sounds too much like Hitler asking for a pure Teutonic Germany. That thinking is backwards. I mean, it sounds like you think of yourselves as the true master race - the only ones living God's will on earth. Maybe you do see yourself like this, or some of you, I don't know. That's in your heart to figure out, and whether you feel your faith can persist in the midst of secularism and other faiths. But the way I see it, Isreali needs to apologize to the Palestinians.

If you were to go to them and say, "Look, we were scared after WWII. We came in too strong, full of fear for our lives from what happened to us in the Holocaust. And, we didn't expect hospitality from you. We didn't expect you to understand - so we came in with the Irgun, Stern and Haganah. We didn't expect you to open your homes and land to us, so we took it." If you were to admit this with humility, tear down your walls, lay down your weapons and invite the Palestinians to banquet, you would be flooded with tears.

You need to weep at the feet of the Palestinians for having (in a subconsciuos way) blamed them for the Holocaust and for having provoked them to hatred of you - how in that you diminished their humanity. You need to give Palestinians the right to return and pay them four times the amount for which they were wronged (this is what the Torah dictates for theft). If you were to do these things you would be overwhelmed in love and forgiveness, peace and security. And in return, they would weep at your feet too, and kiss your wounds, and their mother would cry with your mothers. If you were to expect this sort of excellence from them, and from yourselves, it would happen. And truly then you would all be living the Book of Exodus here on earth.

Thanks, Rich

> Rich,
>
> Also, I would
>> have no choice but direct complaints to you, that
>> you had the chance to
>> represent an Israeli pov but turned it down based on
>> a prejudiced
>> preconception.
>
> I assume you wrote that sentence in a moment of anger,
> and that in reality you wouldn't intend to threaten
> and blackmail me.
>
> Nonetheless, here is a list of documentaries that
> someone just forwarded to me. In the future, I'm sure
> you have some excellent libraries in Chicago, where
> you can do some quick research to find films that
> provide an Israeli perspective.
>
> * The Impact of Terror directed by Tim Wolochatiuk
> * Barrier Against Terror, directed by Michel Hait
> * Road to Jenin directed by Pierre Rehov
> * No. 17 directed by David Ofek & Ron Rotem
> * Confrontation at Concordia directed by Martin Himel
> * Decryptage, directed by Jacques Tarnero
>
>> Now in regards to my music video that juxtaposes
>> footage of Nazis
>> mistreating Jews with footage of Jews mistreating
>> Palestinians, it is
>> absolutely a fair comparison because these acts of
>> aggression (whether its
>> Nazis on Jews or Jews on Palestinians) origniate
>> from the same type of
>> disordered heart.
>
> Rich, I'm not sure if you don't understand the
> Holocaust, or if you don't understand the Arab-Israeli
> conflict. There is neither the time nor the space to
> here to elaborate on the details of both. I only hope
> that one day you will realize that **you can't undo
> one misguided dogma by replacing it with another**
>
>> Tell me, do you know any Palestininas? Have you ever
>> gained their
>> confidence, sat down to eat with them, and let them
>> explain their side of
>> the story - let them retell experiences of
>> displacemnt, humiliation, mass
>> murder, inquisition, and theft.
>
> As a mater of fact, yes. I've shared many discussions
> and cups of turkish coffee with Israeli-Palestinians,
> and worked construction hand-in-hand with Palestinians
> (with a Palestinian as my boss.) And these
> Palestinians, while fully self-aware of their plight
> and cause, were also clear-headed and sympathetic
> about the other side of the coin.
>
>> But, in your fervor, and in the collective fervor of
>> Israelis and Jews
>> everywhere, most of you fail to see how dangerously
>> close you all have
>> come to falling into the age-old trap (or irony, I
>> should say) of
>> becomming like the people you hate. Yes, I really
>> wish I wasn't observing
>> this, but Israelis it seems project all of their
>> hatred for blond-haired
>> blue-eyed German Nazis onto the Palestinians and
>> Arabs.
>
> You are not only wrong in your assessment here, but
> you come dangerously close to racism (more precisely
> termed anti-semitism). Any time you refer in broad
> strokes about an ethnic group, followed by a negative
> stereotype, you run that risk. It should't be done.
>
>> As for the founding of Israel in 1948, if you peel
>> back the high-sounding
>> language from your quote below about Israel being
>> the solution to Jewish
>> homelessness, you'll see an ugly drive to replace
>> Jewish homelessness with
>> Palestinian homelessness.
>
> Once again, there was no drive to cause Palestinian
> homelessness. It was Palestinians and neighboring
> Arabs who refused to share the land with "the other."
> Any and all displacement of people resulted in a war
> started by these Arabs.
>
> and quite simply, in
>> their frame of mind (and excuse me for being blunt)
>> the only thing lower
>> on the totem pole than the Jew was the black person
>> and the Arab. So in
>> other words, imposing the founding of Israel on the
>> Palestinians was the
>> racist solution to the racism of Europe.
>
> What is racist is to say the Jews are the only Peoples
> who should be condemned to minority status forever,
> and prevented from self-determination. It is for that
> reason that Martin Luther King Jr. onces told a
> Harvard audience, "When people criticize Zionists,
> they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism."
>
>> For instance, would you say that only 4% of the
>> Israeli population is east
>> of the '67 Green Line? Of course not. That would be
>> ridiculous.
>
> It is not ridiculous--it is a fact. At the end of
> 2003, there were 5.2 million Israeli Jews in Israel.
> There are 187,000 Israeli settlers in the West Bank.
> That gives you four percent (actually 3.59%). Maybe
> the fact that found this ridiculous will give you
> cause to question some of your assumption. BTW, the
> total settler population, including those about to be
> uprooted from Gaza and those in the Golan Heights, is
> under 5% of the Israeli population.
>
> In addition, Israeli has not "annexed" any of the West
> Bank. The only land claimed by Palestinians that
> Israel annexed is the eastern half of Jerusalem.
>
>> You see, the Zionist vanguard believes they are
>> reliving the battles from
>> the Book of Exodus. They feel that occupying the
>> land is a fulfillment of
>> God's will... they interpret any prospect for a
>> peace settlement as a
>> form of compromising on God's promise that the land
>> belongs to the Jews.
>> In other words, if the Jews compromise one square
>> inch of "land for
>> peace", they will lose it all. They will have
>> forsaken God's promise that
>> he would be their deliverer, and as punishment, they
>> will lose all the
>> land and be scattered again for another thousand
>> years.
>
> Again, your assumption falls well short of the truth.
> The Zionist vanguard are those religious and secular
> Israelis who believe that Israel has the right to
> exist. That is what Zionist means. Most of them are in
> favor of turning over land to Palestinans, assuming
> that this land won't be used as a base for attacking
> Israeli civilians. The Jewish population of Israel is
> roughly 80 percent secular and only 20 percent
> religious. And of that 20%, a minority feel that God
> wills them to stay in the territories.
>
>> Nevertheless, Jews in my opinion are provoking the
>> righteous anger of the
>> Palestinians, Arabs, and frightening leading us into
>> World War. I wish I
>> could say that Jews were provoking indignation out
>> of taking the moral
>> high ground on something, that would be honorable,
>> but you are getting
>>
> Ironically, just a few sentences before you wrote of
> Hitler’s scapegoating of the Jews. Then you write,
> “Jews…are provoking the…anger .” This is reminiscent
> of a rapist saying that the girl was “asking for it.”
> It is called blaming the victim. Innocent Jewish men,
> women, and children do not deserve to be killed,
> maimed, orphaned or widowed, no matter how you may try
> to justify the violence against them.
>
>>As for a two state solution, that's the wrong idea
> and it will never
>>work.
>>It needs to be an integrated single state, otherwise,
> you will always
>>be
>>having to defend with violence what you took with
> violence because the
>>Palestinian heart wiil have fits of anger in its
> yearning for justice.
>
> Try to avoid the tendency to see Arabs as animals that
> can’t control their “fits of anger.” There are many
> rational-minded Palestinians who are waiting, along
> with me, for the two state solution to work. And just
> like you and I, they can control their “fits of
> anger.” And Just like me, they understand the Jewish
> desire for self-determination.
>
>>The
>>idea of keeping Israel a pure Jewsish state sounds
> too much like Hitler
>>asking for a pure Teutonic Germany.
>
> Again, either you don’t really understand what Hitler
> was asking for, or you don’t understand what Zionism
> is about. Likely both. Zionists don’t strive for a
> pure Jewish state. We are very comfortable with our
> 20% Arab minority, and most of them are comfortable as
> Israeli citizens, despite any racism that they, like
> other minorities, might face. They certainly are proud
> of their right to vote, their right to the protection
> of the courts, etc., and they take full advantage of
> these rights, as they should.
>
> That thinking is backwards. I mean,
>>it
>>sounds like you think of yourselves as the true
> master race - the only
>>ones living God's will on earth. Maybe you do see
> yourself like this,
>>or
>>some of you, I don't know.
>
> Forgive me for being blunt, but you’re out of touch
> with reality on this one. Challenge your assumptions.
> Let go of your dogmas. Understand that, although it
> complicates things, there is no cause to beatify one
> side and demonize the other. It would be naïve to
> think so.
>
>>If you were to go to them and say, "Look, we were
> scared after WWII. We
>>came in too strong, full of fear for our lives from
> what happened to us
>>in
>>the Holocaust. And, we didn't expect hospitality from
> you. We didn't
>>expect you to understand … tear down your
>>walls,
>>lay down your weapons and invite the Palestinians to
> banquet, you would
>>be
>>flooded with tears.
>
> October 1929, Arab riots instigated by Palestinian
> Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini – who later became a close
> ally to the Nazi leadership -- killed over 100 Jews,
> most of whom have lived on their land longer than any
> of their neighbors. No banquet, no tears – except for
> the tears of the survivors.
>
> Regards,
>
> Gilead


Hello Gilead,

Thank you for forwarding me the list of doc films. I appreciate it. Also, I did not have the right of implying that the responsibility of finding me Israeli-oriented short films was yours alone. The responsibility is ultimately mine. The reason I was aggressive with you is twofold: one, honestly, I am dealing with resentment towards Israel over my opinion that they are being hypocritical with the Holocaust/Israel-Palestine conflict. In that, I transferred resentment in my tone towards you. Second, in my productions there is the always the possibility that someone might accuse me of unfairness or bias. So, to maintain deniablity, if someone complains I want to be able to say that I made a sincere effort to find films and to be able to show the trail. For these, I am sorry.

In regards to your comments (and my comments below), I really think you are a talented writer. I value all of your insights, facts and opinions, and, I believe there is more for me to learn. However, I am still seeing nearly the totality of the Israeli population being either aggressive towards the Palestinians or silent and complacent to the injustices, which, I feel, start with the very founding of Israel.

Israel imposed itself not only upon the Palestinian people, but upon the entire Arab mindset. And while it is today a foregone conclusion that Israel exists and will continue to exist, I agree with Palestinian frustrations and bewilderment that the Jews were allowed to flood the land and disrupt the social harmony. And indeed, there was harmony between Arabs and Jews before the war. There were a few acts of violence before WWII, sure, but Jews in Palestine were completely woven into the social fabric. Money, coinage and all municipal paperwork incorporated English, Arabic and Hebrew. It was a society that recognized that Jews, Arabs and Christians all have a rightful stake in the Holy Land.

Now in regards to what happened in 1929, that was wrong, as were the fascist leanings of Musfi Haj Amin Al-Husseini. But he was in the minority, just as perhaps you would argue that the settlers of today are in the monority. I mean, you must understand, I have heard so many stories of Palestinians during WWII opening their homes and renting apartments to Israelis, and of even Palestinian wet-nurses caring for Jewish babies, and vice-a-versa. Truly, there was mutual respect and sympathy on the plight for European Jews.

The thing is, it was post WWII where things got crazy. I mean, I don't think you will deny how the Irgun, Stern and Haganah used terrorism to force the British out and intimidate the Palestinians. You know of the King David Hotel bombing, and others, and the abductions/murders that took place of British soldiers, right? And you know that how to an already weak and distracted post-war rubble-strewn England this was especially calculating, right? Here, zealout Jews used terrorism to affect political change in their favor. And furthermore, these groups became the "Israeli Defense Force" the moment Israel was founded - founded of course to ward off the pan-Arab attack, or, as I would argue, the pan-Arab counterattack.

You see, the re-telling of history in the West has an uncanny way of spinning the story in favor of Israel as a meek and noble group fighting off anti-semitic Arabs. But in the Arab mind, their attacking Israel was simply their way of protesting the partitioning of their land. To them it wasn't fair. Not only were they seeing Jews being rewarded for their terrorist acts, they weren't invited with equal voice to the negotiations at the UN. They were being manipulated and treated as a second-rate people. But of course, they had no idea what sort of determination they were facing in attacking the Jews. The Jews had finally said "enough, never again!" You see, these were European Jews whose emotional wounds were formed in Europe at the hands of blond-haired blue-eyed nazis (and the like), and not the Arabs of the Holy land, but that's how the transference took place - and that was wrong - and Israel needs to account for that, in my opinion.

In ideal circumstances the Arabs would have opened their arms to the Jews not just during WWII, but also after WWII when the major flood of Jews from Europe poured in. If the Palestinians had been that magnanimous things today would probably be great, but that is a hard thing to expect from a new neighbor. I don't know what started the clashes and I think it would be oversimplication to just say that Arabs alawys hated Jews, but prior acts directed at Jews in 1928 must have emboldened them, and then through the 1940's, subsequent acts of terrorism by the Irgun and Stern must have emboldened the Arabs. This was the atmosphere in 1946, so when the Jews started pouring in, they knew to bring guns, and they did, boatloads.

This mutual distrust was further complicated by the convenience of Hebrew scriptures. While not every Jew was a believer, they were all observent when it came to Zionism. Zionism meant getting a piece of land and starting a new life - a very attractive prospect. And when Judiasm is telling you that God wants you to have it - and that it is yours for the taking, but that you'll sometimes have to fight for it, well, that's a fair tradeoff.

And in this, I believe, there is mass psychological denial going on here. Eighty percent of Jews are secular, you say, but from what I gather all of them believe Israel has a right to exist as it is - including the occupation of homes, even literally, of Palestinians who today live in refugee camps. This is ironic and so unjust (at least the zealout settlers are consistent). But this 80% - these are educted people - doctors, lawyers and all sorts of professionals. They must be blinded by the brightness of their minds. When I confront them on this, they all simply point to the Holocaust for emotional currency, or, they point to the injustice of America's Manifest Destiny (where we used Hebrew scriptures and terminology to justify the decimation of the American Indians). I really hate this argument. This is a sin America will pay for for a long time to come. We broke a beautiful people.

And likewise, Israel will too will pay. This is sad, and in time the surrounding Arab nations are going to strike again and it will be a world war. I mean, you know about Iran, and you know how Israel just purchased I think 500 bunker busting bombs from the U.S. We know where this is heading, and the more Amercia and Israel goes high-tech and pre-emptive, the more they will go underground (literally) and low-tech. And the more Israel and the US bombs Palestinians and Iraqis and whoever back into the stone age, the more we are creating an atmosphere ripe for fanaticism. Just look at Palestine. You have kids there who tend donkeys for a living, but whose grandfather were classically-trained musicians, doctors and lawyers. Israel is cutting off Palestinians from their intellectual and cultural heritage - and so many villages were literally bulldozed and wiped off the map and turned into weed patches. It is so sick - especially from Jews, people who value art, culture and education more than anyone. And again, it is the secular, moderate Jews who are silent, much like the average German during WWII who allowed Hitler's band to grow unchecked.

There a few more things too you said that kinda threw me. It sounds like you are saying that I am the one who is prejudiced and racist towards Palestinians. You think I am calling them animals because they have "fits of anger"? I am saying that they have fits of anger becasue they are human beings - and human beings are complex, full of every conceivable human passion.

Furthermore, the right to self-determination is not in and of itself "the good." Hitler had self-determination, but it was of the ill kind. Likewise, Zionism is disordered - and not only is it driving the conflict, it goes unchecked by the rest of secular Israeli society. Is it because these secular Jews know they are the beneficiaries and that it's best not to disturb the cook? An example of disordered Zionist self-determination is their provocation of the Palestinians. They move onto the edges of a enclave, provoke the locals, they retaliate, with say perhaps a sniper, which is wrong, but then the IDF, on the pretext of security, rolls in with tanks and bulldozers to uproot every olive tree orchard or destroy every home within a very large radius. This scenario is so commonplace - and again, it just cuts the people off from their land, which then Israel classifies as unused, and therefore available for more settlements. It is so evil. Is this your idea of Jewish self-determination?

This is whack, in hip hop terminology. Also whack is this mentality I'm picking up on the Holocaust. Is it to teach the world a lesson on man's inhumanity to man, or just man's inhumity to Jews? If the memorials are just about man's inhumnity to Jews, which is what I think they are, and if you need that, that's okay, but the thing is then you are not moved to ever see yourself as a sinner. You have nothing to take to God in prayer when everyone else is always the sinner and you are the innocent lamb. By adopting the victim-only mentaility (which is atype of paranoia) you then feel wholly entitled to reparation and "self-determination" and security at all costs, like you have a blank check to do whatever you want. And again, or course, my criticism here is that Israel, the victim, has now become the victimizer.

Finally, you also mentioned Martin Luther King as saying that saying "Zionist" is a veiled, anti-semitic way of saying "Jew". That is not true - "Zionist" also describes Evangelicals like John Hagee. Do you know what evangelical Christians believe? They are more Zionist that Zionists. But they are different. They believe Israel's founding in 1948 as a sign of Christ's return, and they believe that Jews are "stiff-necked" and blinded much in the same way that God blinded Pharoh and hardened his heart. These Christians are patient too. They are waiting for you to come around to belief - and in the meantime see the current conflict as a murmering of the Spirit. In fact, they love the conflict. For as much as they "pray for peace in the middle east" they don't want peace, at least not a true peace, one built on social justice and that satisfies restlessness and righteous anger.

Have you ever read from the Hebrew Scrptures, from Zechariah 12:10? Christians point to this all the time: "I will pour out on the House of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and petition; and they shall look on him whom they have thrust through, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they shall grieve over him as one grieves over a firstborn." You see, Christ's second coming will be for you, as a Jew, Revelation that Jesus is GOD. These are your allies in the White House and US Congress who push America into Iraq and allow all sorts of pro-Israeli influence to flourish in foreign policy. And this brings me to a whole other idea - why don't you believe in Jesus as the Son of God, as the Messiah? He is prefigured in the Hebrew Scriptures on almost turn.

It is a fact that Jesus existed and that Romans administered executions by hanging people on a wooden cross. Now if you have ever read Isaiah 53, or read how Mosos put a snake on a stick to heal the sinners, or how Abraham substitutes sacrificing his son for the animal, or how the Ark of the Covenenant/Tabernacle held the Ten Commandments, and the leftover manna from heaven. I mean, for example, this is the Virgin Mary holding the "Word of God made flesh." It is so obvious. But, you know, a lot of Jews are automatically instructed to stay away from the New Testament and never read it, for various reasons. I don't know if that is the case with you, and honestly, I'd be very interested and fascinated to know what you know about Jesus because the claim he presents to the Jewish mind is so bold. If Jesus is the Messiah and you deny him you are %&$@#*!!!! Or maybe not, I don't know the wisdom of God in hardening someone's heart, like with a pharoh or a hitler. I would suppose it is meant to bring out virtue in the victim so that he or she may participate in the suffering of the righteous, like Chirst on the Cross.

But enough of that. I want to be your friend. And where I might still be generalizing in a way you feel is anti-semitic, let me know that I might improve.

Truly, Rich