As I read the local newspapers and their on-line cousins I watch my emotions having a picnic with the inflammatory speculations by columnists about the future of Israel. This endless debate presses such political hot buttons that I wonder why there is such a need to take on the Jews in this way. Then again not being paranoid by nature, this kind of focus on Jews since the re-establishment of Israel in the international arena has resurfaced as anti-Semitism gone wild. I am not referring to the legitimate criticism of any of Israeli policies. I am referring to the open and so-called legitimate debate about our right to exist. In fact, some left-wing Jews enjoy a front row sit in this debate that has become more prevalent recently.
First I want to address the Jewish factor in this debate. It appears to me that some Jewish born radical social activists have felt the outside pressure of the hard-left wing to counter anything Israel stands for because of their inherent hatred of the United States. In recent years the US has been in fact our strongest supporter for a true peace between the Palestinians and Israel. Not one built on constant Israeli concessions with little or nothing in return but Kassam rockets and the constant attempt to infiltrate into Israel to do harm to its citizens. These Jewish participants and sometime leaders in the debate suggest that it is better to eliminate the Jewish State for the sake of all mankind. Hummm. What a enticing thought. If only this rogue state would give back this land to the original owners then all the violence in the Middle East would cease to be legitimate and would quickly end. I am not going to get into who is the original owner of this land. Israel is a nation-state that is recognized by most of the international community and most importantly we recognize its existence.
Second, there are recent voices suggesting that many of the Palestinians currently living here have been genetically proven to be tied to the Jews from this region and were forcibly converted to Islam centuries ago. The research conducted on the male Y chromosome found that there is a great genetic kinship between the Palestinians and the Jews, similar to that which exists between the various Jewish communities. Additionally, it was found that Palestinians are genetically much closer to Askenazi Jews (jews who came to Israel from European countries) than they are to the Arabs. Tsvi Misinai goes on to say that the Palestinians are considerably closer genetically to Jews of Eastern communities and to the Islamic Kurds than they are to the Arabs. Hmmm what an irony here folks. It is also suggested that many of the names of Arab communities are not part of Arabic linguistic influence but align closely to the Hebrew/Aramaic language usage. Google Tsvi Misinai for more information on the subject. He does say in his book, The Engagement by Liad Publishing, that In the historic upheavals that occurred in the midst of the fleeing refugees, most of the foreign migrants left. As a result, the present conflict is a tragic civil war whose only justification is based on the widespread ignorance about the origins of the Palestinians. At the same time, the majority of Palestinian refugees was settlers, foreign to the western land of Israel, and possesses no authentic claim to a right of return. Back to the Jews here and abroad that would like to eliminate Israel as a unique Jewish State. My understanding of this cadre of discontents is that they are embarrassed, fearful, and ignorant of Jewish ownership of their unique State. Being passionately secular or extremely religious they have formed an unholy alliance in order to wipe off from the face of the earth anything that may remind them of Jewish liberation. How dare we be free and have the right to inhabit this land with all the power afforded us as an independent State of the Jews. This fits perfectly into the hands of the likes of Holocaust deniers, and other nefarious characters that have some kind of dislike for Jews/Israel and have used the accepted lingua franca of the times to discredit Israel’s right to exist and to put emphasis on the Jewish lobby and their influence in all the corridors of power. The Jimmy Carters of this world and his intellectual cadre promote this effort through very sophisticated means and often using half-truths and misinformation that few if any will question. I just want to remind my readers that the Carter foundation received and continues to receive millions in donations from Arab sources. I refer anyone interested to a wonderfully written article on this subject by Shmuel Rosner in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.8/23/07. It can be found in the English. As I watch the efforts in Israel to absorb millions of immigrants from around the globe that bring to this tiny country a myriad of unique cultural habits it is a miracle that we can walk the same streets and not kill each other over our differences. Instead we work toward creating a blending of cultures that we Jews have acquired while living in foreign lands and merge them into a re-vitalized Jewish nation that at its core is the Spiritual/religious force of Torah. By this I mean that no matter how one is committed to our Jewish source we live in its reality through our holidays and the essence of Shabbat our day of rest. Living in this kind of atmosphere instills in me a perfect storm. This is a place where all the forces of good and evil play out for the rest of the world while we live as Jews freely in our own state that precipitates a sense of wonderment and wholeness that defies any explanation.
