on the pain of judaism
i was explaining to a friend today that jews carry so much pain with them, as a tradition and culture.
like on passover, for example... they have all these different types of food that are symbolic (the ritual lasts forever)... like saltwater is supposed to represent the tears when they were slaves in egypt, horseradish represents the bitterness of slavery, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder_Plate
so there's this deeply ingrained sense of victimization going back millenia... and now they're this heavily militarized society that needs to protect their "homeland" at all costs. of course politics and business is heavily involved, but i think the religious fanatics genuinely feel like they are entitled to the land and to defend it by whatever means necessary. and the population that isn't quite as religiously zealous might go along with it just out of solidarity...
For Israelis like me, Gaza was a moment of national madness
Amongst the Jewish Israeli public, polls showed support of the war at well over 90 per cent (Israel has a substantial minority of Arab citizens). Even in ultra-liberal Tel Aviv, I was afraid to express opposition to the war – afraid of being physically attacked. The army called up the reserves.
Gay friends donned their wrinkled army uniforms in response to emergency call-up orders; feminist friends packed lunches for their husbands to take with them as they drove to their army bases. Many told me they weren’t sure the army’s bombardment of Gaza was the right tactic, but surely one had to take some action to stop the south from being bombarded by Hamas rockets. Now was not the time to criticize. We were at war.
its like, people who beat their kids were probably beat on as a kid too... maybe they genuinely don't know any better :( the collective jewish psyche is in desperate need of some kind of deep therapy, imo. after being brainwashed by this mentality as a child, i can still feel it... i can hear the voices of jews saying things like "we deserve a homeland too, we deserve to live our life in peace, finally." and so they think that they are justified in fighting for it. this is their war, because this is their chance to get the peace they never had.
really sad, when u think about it.
of course, none of this justifies the occupation of palestine, the violence and the murders. but it might help explain it...
they (those who perpetrate or try to justify the wars) for some reason dont get that when you suppress a population of people, they're going to resist. they dont get that when they try to clamp down control over the palestinian territory, they're only creating a more combustible situation for themselves. they also don't understand that it has nothing to do with a hatred of jews... another thing they're paranoid about. i really do think that a lot of them just dont get it.
meanwhile, the savvy jewish businessmen are able to pay lobbyists to coerce US politicians to support them in their noble cause. and the US gains a stronghold in the middle east. win-win for the Zionists and capitalists alike...
Since 1985, it has provided nearly $3 billion in grants annually to Israel, with Israel being the largest annual recipient of American aid from 1976 to 2004 and the largest cumulative recipient of aid since World War II. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_%E2%80%93_United_States_relations
so they're also puffed up by their big bad ally, the current world superpower. got to their head, u think?
so how long til their illusion is deflated?
like on passover, for example... they have all these different types of food that are symbolic (the ritual lasts forever)... like saltwater is supposed to represent the tears when they were slaves in egypt, horseradish represents the bitterness of slavery, etc. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passover_Seder_Plate
so there's this deeply ingrained sense of victimization going back millenia... and now they're this heavily militarized society that needs to protect their "homeland" at all costs. of course politics and business is heavily involved, but i think the religious fanatics genuinely feel like they are entitled to the land and to defend it by whatever means necessary. and the population that isn't quite as religiously zealous might go along with it just out of solidarity...
For Israelis like me, Gaza was a moment of national madness
This article sheds light on what it's like to live in Israel when you're opposed to their policies on Palestine... Lisa Goldman describes her experience during Operation Cast Lead:
Amongst the Jewish Israeli public, polls showed support of the war at well over 90 per cent (Israel has a substantial minority of Arab citizens). Even in ultra-liberal Tel Aviv, I was afraid to express opposition to the war – afraid of being physically attacked. The army called up the reserves.
Gay friends donned their wrinkled army uniforms in response to emergency call-up orders; feminist friends packed lunches for their husbands to take with them as they drove to their army bases. Many told me they weren’t sure the army’s bombardment of Gaza was the right tactic, but surely one had to take some action to stop the south from being bombarded by Hamas rockets. Now was not the time to criticize. We were at war.
its like, people who beat their kids were probably beat on as a kid too... maybe they genuinely don't know any better :( the collective jewish psyche is in desperate need of some kind of deep therapy, imo. after being brainwashed by this mentality as a child, i can still feel it... i can hear the voices of jews saying things like "we deserve a homeland too, we deserve to live our life in peace, finally." and so they think that they are justified in fighting for it. this is their war, because this is their chance to get the peace they never had.
really sad, when u think about it.
of course, none of this justifies the occupation of palestine, the violence and the murders. but it might help explain it...
they (those who perpetrate or try to justify the wars) for some reason dont get that when you suppress a population of people, they're going to resist. they dont get that when they try to clamp down control over the palestinian territory, they're only creating a more combustible situation for themselves. they also don't understand that it has nothing to do with a hatred of jews... another thing they're paranoid about. i really do think that a lot of them just dont get it.
meanwhile, the savvy jewish businessmen are able to pay lobbyists to coerce US politicians to support them in their noble cause. and the US gains a stronghold in the middle east. win-win for the Zionists and capitalists alike...
Since 1985, it has provided nearly $3 billion in grants annually to Israel, with Israel being the largest annual recipient of American aid from 1976 to 2004 and the largest cumulative recipient of aid since World War II. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_%E2%80%93_United_States_relations
so they're also puffed up by their big bad ally, the current world superpower. got to their head, u think?
so how long til their illusion is deflated?