ramblings about Israel and things
Well. Turkey has recalled its ambassador from Israel over Israel's raiding of a humanitarian aid flotilla, which has so far resulted in the deaths of nine (or ten, depending on which report I'm reading) people and the injuring of at least seven more. The diplomatic repercussions are quickly rippling outward. It's looking bad. Really bad.
I always feel like I should say something about Israel when it behaves poorly, because I am Jewish, however irreligious I may be. At the same time, I always want to tune out the news from Israel, because it makes me feel angry and helpless, and nothing I do or any is likely to have any effect. But if I don't say anything, I run the risk of being thought to support Israel no matter what, simply because I am Jewish. It makes me the same as Christians who don't speak out against Christian extremism, or Muslims who don't speak out against Muslim extremism. On the gripping hand, speaking my mind may well alienate many of my fellow Jews. This is regrettable, but it doesn't change how I feel.
So. This is me saying something. I'm not opening it up for comments. I don't wish to debate the subject. I merely wish to make my feelings known, to let those who know me know where I stand.
I cannot support the state of Israel. This makes me sad and angry. I know that there are many Israelis who don't agree with the actions of their government and are working for peace with the Palestinians and with their neighboring nations; alas, they don't seem to have control of the situation.
I cannot claim the right to return to Israel as my birthright when it was and is built upon the revocation of the birthrights of people who continue to live as second-class human beings, much less second-class citizens, nor when the government continues to kowtow to a group of ultra-Orthodox extremists who don't even agree that I count as a Jew -- or, while we're at it, don't even agree that I, a woman, count as a real person with rights. I don't want to go there. I don't want to spend my money there.
I cannot understand how a nation built by people who have suffered so much can then turn around and justify inflicting suffering on other people. How is this being a light unto the nations? Weren't we supposed to be better than that, given the opportunity to determine our own destiny? Why, instead of trying to end the cycle of violence with compassion and diplomacy, does the government of Israel continue to insist that everything they do is defensible in the name of defense? I used to wonder how they could not see how bogus that argument is, until the Dubya years showed me how quickly people can demonstrate that they are perfectly willing to abandon long-held principles when they seem inconvenient, or when the political tide has turned to favor their own bad behavior. Think of all those people who abhorred torture or spying on fellow citizens until September 11, 2001. It's the same dynamic. It's still wrong.
I really cannot fathom how Israeli armed forces can claim that they were ambushed when they lowered their troops onto boats in a humanitarian aid flotilla at 4:00 a.m. in international waters. Honestly, at this point it seems like it hardly even matters if the Israeli soldiers were attacked first once aboard the ships, because they boarded humanitarian vessels in international waters. Maybe they didn't expect armed resistance, but did they think they were going to be welcomed with open arms or something?
Every time Israel pulls a stunt like this, being Jewish becomes harder for all Jews. Not just the ones in Israel...all of us, regardless of political affiliation or level of observance. We are all of us judged by Israel's example, and I'm sick of it, because the government of Israel does not speak for me. The irony is that while the rest of the world would happily lump me into the same group with the war hawks, I personally feel like I am being inexorably pushed away, like there is, increasingly, no room for someone like me in the Jewish community.
It really hurts me to have to say these things. I feel like there could be negative effects upon some of my personal relationships. Then again, I won't pretend like any of my personal hurt or troubles are anywhere near as dire as those of anyone -- regardless of religion or nationality -- who are actually suffering the real-world consequences of the madness that surrounds Israel.
A little while ago I found myself thinking about my family's 1992 visit to Turkey, specifically about a day we spent wandering around the old Jewish quarter of Istanbul. We visited the Neve Shalom Synagogue, the largest Jewish congregation in Istanbul. The building has been under strict security ever since the 1986 attack by Abu Nidal's terrorist group in which 23 Jews died in a hail of bullets and grenades. I remember my dad telling me that Turkey's response was commendable -- "You can't do that to OUR Jews, OUR citizens." Neve Shalom has also suffered terrorist attacks in 1992 (a car bombing, just months before we visited) and in 2003 (another car bombing, one of four attacks within 5 days of each other). Even now, Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is being quoted in the NY Times as saying that Jews in Turkey "are our citizens." At the same time, demonstrators have already tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. How long before Neve Shalom -- or any other synagogue -- is attacked again?
How much longer will Turkey remain Israel's only real ally in the region? Not for long, I suspect, if the Israeli government continues to try to justify what happened this weekend. I hope I'm wrong about that, I really do. Still, Israel seems bound and determined to inflame world opinion against it in the name of security. That didn't work so well for us, and I don't think it's going to work so well for them, either. I didn't support it then, and I don't support it now.
I always feel like I should say something about Israel when it behaves poorly, because I am Jewish, however irreligious I may be. At the same time, I always want to tune out the news from Israel, because it makes me feel angry and helpless, and nothing I do or any is likely to have any effect. But if I don't say anything, I run the risk of being thought to support Israel no matter what, simply because I am Jewish. It makes me the same as Christians who don't speak out against Christian extremism, or Muslims who don't speak out against Muslim extremism. On the gripping hand, speaking my mind may well alienate many of my fellow Jews. This is regrettable, but it doesn't change how I feel.
So. This is me saying something. I'm not opening it up for comments. I don't wish to debate the subject. I merely wish to make my feelings known, to let those who know me know where I stand.
I cannot support the state of Israel. This makes me sad and angry. I know that there are many Israelis who don't agree with the actions of their government and are working for peace with the Palestinians and with their neighboring nations; alas, they don't seem to have control of the situation.
I cannot claim the right to return to Israel as my birthright when it was and is built upon the revocation of the birthrights of people who continue to live as second-class human beings, much less second-class citizens, nor when the government continues to kowtow to a group of ultra-Orthodox extremists who don't even agree that I count as a Jew -- or, while we're at it, don't even agree that I, a woman, count as a real person with rights. I don't want to go there. I don't want to spend my money there.
I cannot understand how a nation built by people who have suffered so much can then turn around and justify inflicting suffering on other people. How is this being a light unto the nations? Weren't we supposed to be better than that, given the opportunity to determine our own destiny? Why, instead of trying to end the cycle of violence with compassion and diplomacy, does the government of Israel continue to insist that everything they do is defensible in the name of defense? I used to wonder how they could not see how bogus that argument is, until the Dubya years showed me how quickly people can demonstrate that they are perfectly willing to abandon long-held principles when they seem inconvenient, or when the political tide has turned to favor their own bad behavior. Think of all those people who abhorred torture or spying on fellow citizens until September 11, 2001. It's the same dynamic. It's still wrong.
I really cannot fathom how Israeli armed forces can claim that they were ambushed when they lowered their troops onto boats in a humanitarian aid flotilla at 4:00 a.m. in international waters. Honestly, at this point it seems like it hardly even matters if the Israeli soldiers were attacked first once aboard the ships, because they boarded humanitarian vessels in international waters. Maybe they didn't expect armed resistance, but did they think they were going to be welcomed with open arms or something?
Every time Israel pulls a stunt like this, being Jewish becomes harder for all Jews. Not just the ones in Israel...all of us, regardless of political affiliation or level of observance. We are all of us judged by Israel's example, and I'm sick of it, because the government of Israel does not speak for me. The irony is that while the rest of the world would happily lump me into the same group with the war hawks, I personally feel like I am being inexorably pushed away, like there is, increasingly, no room for someone like me in the Jewish community.
It really hurts me to have to say these things. I feel like there could be negative effects upon some of my personal relationships. Then again, I won't pretend like any of my personal hurt or troubles are anywhere near as dire as those of anyone -- regardless of religion or nationality -- who are actually suffering the real-world consequences of the madness that surrounds Israel.
A little while ago I found myself thinking about my family's 1992 visit to Turkey, specifically about a day we spent wandering around the old Jewish quarter of Istanbul. We visited the Neve Shalom Synagogue, the largest Jewish congregation in Istanbul. The building has been under strict security ever since the 1986 attack by Abu Nidal's terrorist group in which 23 Jews died in a hail of bullets and grenades. I remember my dad telling me that Turkey's response was commendable -- "You can't do that to OUR Jews, OUR citizens." Neve Shalom has also suffered terrorist attacks in 1992 (a car bombing, just months before we visited) and in 2003 (another car bombing, one of four attacks within 5 days of each other). Even now, Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is being quoted in the NY Times as saying that Jews in Turkey "are our citizens." At the same time, demonstrators have already tried to storm the Israeli consulate in Istanbul. How long before Neve Shalom -- or any other synagogue -- is attacked again?
How much longer will Turkey remain Israel's only real ally in the region? Not for long, I suspect, if the Israeli government continues to try to justify what happened this weekend. I hope I'm wrong about that, I really do. Still, Israel seems bound and determined to inflame world opinion against it in the name of security. That didn't work so well for us, and I don't think it's going to work so well for them, either. I didn't support it then, and I don't support it now.