3 choices - choose the most appealing
For almost two years I’ve been using LiveJournal as an outlet for my rants, feelings and trivial matters. Additionally I’ve used this to follow along your matters.
I feel that most here know me pretty well. Or at least they have gotten the opportunity to do so. Yet there is an issue which I’ve tried to keep away from as much as possible in my journal, yet it occupies a lot of my time and thoughts in “Real Life” as they say.
The matter in question is (of course) Israel.
I know that this is a matter of controversy, and is viewed on with many different opinions.
Therefore I guess that when posting this, I will have to remember to “agree to disagree”. Not that it is a thing I usually do. But if I do have you on my friendslist then it is because I want you to stay there. So basically I am adhering to the above stance at this occasion, to keep you there.
Also, I have for once made my post public. The link will be crossposted, as not only is this my opportunity to show my stand, but I have discussed this in several foras, and often been questioned. While I have tried to answer as best to my ability, then I guess that this will also clarify why I think as I do.
Posting this here, instead of crossposting, is to highlight that it is my personal opinion. And strictly subjective. Keep that in mind please.
What provoked me to do this post was a sticker I noticed after having dropped my mom and brother off at the airport (which means two weeks alone with my dad… While I am his princess, this can result in murder, being that we have too similar traits. Such as stubbornness and a hottt hottt hottt temper. Either we will get along great, or we will end up killing each other due to disagreements with no one to stand in the middle).
Back to the sticker; It basically it looked somewhat like this (photoshopped to the best of my ability):
I dropped my jaw, and showed my dad.
While I have of course heard the accusations before, it hit me harder this time. Maybe because it was the first time I saw it visually, and the fact that it was made in such a disgusting and offending fashion.
In my head I started thinking about the fact that I’d just “sent” my mom and brother off to Israel, and that God forbid should anything happen to them? Or the irony in those same people producing the sticker would get caught in such a situation (yes, I know. I am only human, and at least I can say that these are merely thoughts and that I don’t go around showing support for such actions or commit them myself. So there)…
But it also led me thinking, how can people still make themselves use such comparisons?
While I do not always agree with Israel’s actions, and will certainly admit that it is not always in our (yes, I will use words as “our” being that I think I am entitled to do so, when I am written in the registry of the ministry of domestic affairs in Israel) own interest that certain stuff happens, I don’t think that it’s fair or correct to compare Zionism with Nazism.
I don’t think that I could as the situation currently lies, come to the conclusion that we’re in the wrong.
Might be that it takes two to tango, but some did invite someone to the dance in the first place, is how I see it.
Plainly, Zionism is the belief that Jews should have their own homeland. Modern Zionism would then be support of the state Israel, in the term of it having the right to uphold a Jewish state.
That is as simple as one could define it.
Then you have Nazism which is the ideology behind one the cruellest regimes to have touched this earth, and who did all in their power to get rid of every single person of the religion which outdoes the majority of Zionists.
So there, where is the logic in making such a moronic comparison between Zionism and Nazism?
This is where most would say “Ironically enough the Jews who were treated in such a despicable and inhumane way by the Nazis, are today doing the same towards the Palestinians”, which is most probably the thought behind the sticker.
My counter argument would be “Where is the sense, in a people who have been prosecuted everywhere they have been, to start fights in the place where they are supposed to be free and liberated without the extra hassle, on top of the problems occurring in everyday life?”
To give an account of the situation Jews have been living under, even in different continents and under different cultures, I will use personal examples.
My Polish grandparents fled twice due to their religion, which they didn’t even follow. Both experienced to return to Poland after WW2 and find their respective families slaughtered by the Nazis. Later on, in spite of my granddad being a bitten communist (to this day I don’t know how he could be. He contained a lot of wisdom, but followed the wrong ideology), my dad and his family were forced to leave Poland when realising that there was simply no future there, as a Jew. They knew that regardless of my dad’s potential, he’d never be accepted to university. He was a Jew and there was simply nothing to nothing to stay for.
They never went to Israel, but instead came to Denmark. But it is worth noting that Israel was and is there for people like them, who need(ed) a haven.
Then there are my Yemenite grandparents. They didn’t have to undergo the atrocities of WW2, but their lives weren’t easy either.
My grandmother has told me how her grandfather was the only Jew in Sana’a (the capital of Yemen) who was allowed a horse due to his profession as both a Rabbi and doctor. Usually Jews were only allowed donkeys, and would they pass a walking Muslims man while riding it, they were by law forced to get off the donkey to show the walking Muslim respect. They had absolutely no right to be uprised compared to the Muslim man in Yemen. Their crafts were equally used and exploited by the Yemenite public.
Israel was the country which they fled to, in order to have the right to be, what they were. In order to work for a living and not needing to follow laws which would make them inferior to anybody else?
In simplicity, Israel has been the refuge for Jews like my grandparents, and many many others. Look at all the different kind of cultures which can be experiences in such a little country, and my point will be proved.
So some will ask, “What about the Palestinians?”, and I will answer “What about them?”.
See, it is my honest belief that they are not real about their intentions of just getting a state of their own and living happily ever after.
Why would I think so?
For starters, instead of creating a country for the Arab population of the then Palestine, the neighbouring Arab countries initiated war with Israel, when being less than a day old in 1948. The war, which created the Palestinian refugees in the first place.
I have to say that “fair-play” was not exactly the case with Israel, but the Arabs themselves encouraged the non-Jewish citizens in the newly-founded Israel to leave their homes and come back with a mighty army, and claimed that the ones, who wouldn’t do so, would be seen as traitors.
Today the situation of the refugees is a state. But if you look at it, you’ll see that many Arabs from the surrounding areas have found themselves moving to the refugee camps and not away, seeing a chance to raise their living standard.
Since the initial partition plans there have been several peace talks, and the latest concrete of these were the Camp David talks between Barak and Arafat, under guidance from Clinton (there have been talks after, but my personal opinion is that this is the nearest we’ve come to a solution). And while some might call Baraks proposal insincere I’d say that if the quest was really to gain a Palestinian statehood then Arafat would have accepted and worked on the issue to expand.
If Israel saw that there was really a want of peace then I do not doubt that they would give up some major parts in order to live a normal life.
You can’t even blame religion on the current Israeli stance, as Judaism states that human life goes above anything else. This means that any rule can be broken, if it goes towards saving human lives.
If peace was really wanted, then the suicide actions would stop, and in that way Israel would have saved lives. That was told to me by a Chabad Rabbi, nothing less.
The terror and it’s support is the biggest stop-brick in the peace talks. And I do understand why. Would anyone seriously consider to start friendly terms with a people, who have groups with mass support that announce that their terror won’t stop until “every Zionist” is wiped into the sea?
With a people who’s leader is a terrorist (though Israel has wisely decided to make him insignificant in these matters anymore), I really can’t see the yearning for a state.
If anything Israel has democratically changed leaders since the beginning. So far the Palestinians have held on to one single leader (the prime ministers are worth shit when thinking how often they’re exchanged), so maybe it’s time the Palestinians did a real change. So far Israel has had both leaders from the left and right. The Palestinians have had a terrorist.
I will repeat; The Israelis don’t always play nice, but the admirable thing is that they’re still standing. Even with major opposition from all neighbouring states. All while trying to keep morally sound. It is no secret that Israel could wipe out the Palestinian territories without the loss of soldiers, yet they haven't resorted to such tactics.
It is my honest belief that if Israel really was as wrong as made out to be, then it would have been wiped of the map long ago.
With the reasonings states above I am deeply offended when Zionism is compared to Nazism. There's no truth in it whatsoever, and I find it if not extremely digusting, then ignorant.
I am well aware that the entry was rambly, and that the fluency and language is appalling. Normally, when writing about such a serious matter, I’d have done it all a bit nicer, and with documentation. But I chose just to write it, with no major inclusions, as this is not for school, any other authority or professional material. These are my thoughts at this given time.
Apart from that I did my compilation last night on a double cd for the Birthright trip, and it looks like this:
1. Fools Garden - Lemon Tree (3:11)
2. Suede - Trash (4:06)
3. Franz Ferdinand - Jacqueline (3:49)
4. Feeder - Oxygen (4:20)
5. New Order - Crystal (6:49)
6. Rolling Stones - Anybody Seen My Baby (4:31)
7. The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon (3:30)
8. Anouk - R U Kiddin' Me (3:18)
9. Sting - Desert Rose (with Cheb Mami) (4:45)
10. Sahara Hotnights - Alright, Alright (2:07)
11. Prodigy - Breathe (5:34)
12. The Libertines - Don't Look Back Into the Sun (3:00)
13. Jimmy Eat World - Sweetness (3:37)
14. Outkast - The Whole World(Radio Edit) (4:55)
15. Bjork - Hyperballad (5:21)
16. David Bowie - Space Oddity (3:34)
17. Catatonia - Road Rage (4:02)
18. Muse - Muscle Museum (4:23)
19. The Cardigans - Paralyzed (4:52)
20. Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (4:45)
21. Dinah Washinton - Mad About A Boy (2:48)
22. Pulp - Disco 2000 (4:33)
23. The Verve - Lucky Man (4:52)
24. Oasis - Stop Crying Your Heart Out (4:59)
25. Feeder - Oxygen (4:20)
26. Yo La Tengo - Autumn Sweater (5:17)
27. The Dandy Warhols - Bohemian Like you (3:30)
28. The Shins - Girl Inform Me (2:20)
29. Knack - My Sharona (4:56)
30. Res - Golden Boys (4:39)
31. Agnetha Faltskog - If I thought you'd ever change your mind (3:11)
32. Radiohead - Paranoid Android (6:23)
33. The Streets - Blinded By The Lights (4:43)
34. Goo Goo Dolls - Slide
35. The Smiths - Bigmouth Strikes Again (3:13)
36. Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue - Where The Wild Roses Grow (3:57)
37. Pink Floyd - The Wall (3:51)
38. Aqualung - Strange And Beautiful (I'll Put A Spell On You) (3:29)3:29)
Pretty great, if I shall say so myself.
And I also engaged in talks with Navid last night. Navid being the ugly guy’s amusing friend. Just that he’s also pretty annoying. Nice to talk to, but hate the guilt-trips he tried to impose on me. Saying that what I told his friend was invalid, because I was drunk. And that I should tell him face to face that I am not interested.
Seriously, how stupid is he? I did that last time. And do I really need to reject him twice? Is he a masochist?
Navid also asked why I wasn’t interested. And when I spoke to his friend (it’s pretty annoying, as I don’t know how to spell his name, so even though he was the one interested in me, he’s just referred to as “friend”) I managed to get around that pretty nicely, even though he nagged me to know why. I swear the guy is out to make a fool of himself. I am so close to telling him the truth in the simplest terms ever which is “you’re ugly and stupid”.
Well, as long as he stopped harassing me, it’s all good. His friend can continue speaking to me, just to stop bringing up his damn friend.
Typically Tal: from one subject, to something completely different, to proceeding to a third matter.