Enough!

I am not a Jew. I am not a Palestinian. I have Jewish friends whom I love dearly. I have taught children who immigrated to the United States from Palestine. Most were Christians, a couple have been Muslims. I am an Agnostic.

So Israel addresses it's collective paranoia against the citizens of the Gaza Strip by punishing their aggressions against Israel in a ten-fold manner in the belief that such a response will kill the will of the Palestinians who live there to fight for their freedom. Am I missing something here when I remember watching movies of the Nazi aggression against the sympathetic citizens of Holland. Did you ever see these films in school back in the 70's? They showed gruesome black and white footage of Dutch men, women, and children who were hung in response to every German soldier killed. The ratio then was 100 to 1, and if I am not mistaken the Dutch prevailed in the end.

How is this history any different than the present day Israeli attitude toward the citizens of the Gaza Strip?

It makes this cartoon all the more real and chilling.

Go back to the satellite image of the region. What is there on that sorry little strip of land that can't be known? Israel has access to see every license plate on every car. There people are kept like animals in a cage. They are denied both basic human rights and international rights of redress. They have no options! I hate that they choose violence, but when the only other option is slavery to a recalcitrant, uncaring, pugnacious regional super-power, WHAT IS THE CHOICE? Freedom? Dignity? Vengeance? No where on this table is the cup containing the elixir of Forgiveness.

All of the actions of the Israeli government are understandable in the light of the Animal Kingdom. From the time of the dinosaurs forward the rules have been fairly clear: might makes right, and the dead are no threat to the established order. The problem is that we are not dinosaurs. In fact, we don't like to imagine that we are mere animals. Humans are special, unique, the divine top of the food chain. So why does Israel persist in acting like a pre-historic creature bent on survival by destroying it's challengers?

This question goes to the heart of matter. What is the identity of Israel? Is it only a patch a desert that must be fundamentally swept clean of others as to be a temple, a shrine to one ethnic/religious class? Or is it a nation in the modern sense. A territory to be governed in a manner that benefits all of its citizens and supports it neighbors? In my humble observation, the latter is still a dream, and the former far closer to the truth.

I look at Israel tonight with a terrible mixture of love and contempt.