What in the world is Israel doing?!?!

If you read my blog from February 2009, you'll see that my perceptions about Israel were altered by my visit there. Rather than a biblical land full of biblical people, I began to see Israel as a bastion of white and/or European faces claiming a right of return to lands that have always been populated by brown people.

Sorry, folks. As I write this, I am certainly aware of all my peeps, both Christian and Jewish, who unquestionbly support Israel. I can no longer be one of those people. If I am to stand for civil rights, and if I am to stand for humane treatment of people, then how can I stand for Israel? This country has racism built into its very foundation, in the guise of self-protection. But does not self protection extend to something greater than the physical self?

As a person of African American descent, I certainly empathize with how it feels to be at the effect of genocide, racism, ethnic cleansing, and all their nasty detritus. I feel that. But doesn't that then call us to a higher standard? Does not the fact that we have been the victims of systematic racial oppression demand that we be that much more careful lest we fall victim to engaging in the same sort of racial oppression? As an American, my answer is an unqualified yes. As Americans, IMHO, justice and fairness are at the core of what we believe.

So I don't understand how the US government can support Israel as it engages in systematic oppression of Palestinian people. The world community establishes borders in the Middle East in the interest of peace (much as the world community carved out the modern nation of Israel from other lands in the interest of justice), and Israel consistently chooses to ignore those borders. Without US military backing, Israel would not be able to continue such arrogance, and as an American, I am disturbed to think that my government supports the Israeli government.

There was a Turkish flotilla ostensibly bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza. Israel has no legal right to Gaza, but it's there preventing the ships from coming in. But why did the Israeli army feel the need to rappel down onto the Turkish ships? With all their military might, could they not have formed a physical barricade? Was there no strategic military alternative to rapelling down onto these ships? The Israeli soldiers fired on the passengers on the Turkish ships, saying they feared for their lives. The Israelis have some of the best military in the world, and they feared for their lives from some civilians with medicine and wheelchairs ?!?!? Why was deadly force necessary? Would it have been necessary if the Israelis hadn't boarded the ship? The Israelis are illegally in Gaza, and forced themselves onto these Turkish ships bringing humanitarian aid. Israel always claims the need to defend itself -- so what were the people on the Turkish ship supposed to do -- NOT defend themselves? As with many things I've observed regarding Israel, there appears to be a double standard: One set of rules for Israelis and one set of rules for the rest of the world.

Except that the rest of the world isn't Israel, and the rest of the world no longer shares those values that put Israel into a class different from the rest of the world community. The world community is looking to Israel, seeing its behavior, and demanding an explanation. You don't make up for past injustices against Jewish people by perpetuating injustices upon non-Jewish people. You make up for past injustices by creating a fair and just environment, one that honors everyone's humanity. If you believe you must protect yourself, then keep your guard up, but that doesn't mean you become an active aggressor. For far too long, Israel has used the cover of self protection to hide aggressive tendencies. The whole world has been and is still watching.

The US, everybody's big brother, has remained silent, but it's time for us to take a stance. We Americans need to stand up for justice. We who claim to be Christian need to stand up for justice. All of us who desire to live in love and harmony with our neighbors need to stand up for justice. Israel's behavior has been condemned by the UN; it should also be quickly and soundly condemned by the US government. What's the point in having an ally who behaves so badly? If Americans had been on that ship, would Israel have reconsidered its actions (if the answer is yes, then there is the question of why they didn't reconsider them anyway. If the answer is no, then this points to a problem)? Or would Israel have simply killed unarmed Americans also?

Israel is wrong. Its concern with self preservation is understandable, especially since it has used the guise of "right of return" to populate the Middle East with people of Eastern European descent. While I think that's ethically wrong, I understand the creation of the Jewish homeland. I just don't think it should be at the expense of the Palestinian and other Arab people who lived there. How is that different from the past atrocities that were visited upon the Jewish people? The Israelis are categorizing and killing people based simply on their ethnicity, veiling it behind the spectre of national security. That's repugnant. I don't understand why no one sees it. Of course, we didn't see through the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" nonsense, either. People who are looking for a fight will use any excuse to go in and start brawling -- or start executing.

This isn't an anti-Semitic rant. It _IS_ an anti-Israel rant. Israel has shown increasingly aggressive and obnoxious behavior. It's like a chihuahua, a little bully in the Middle East that could apparently be overwhelmed by the sheer size of its neighbors. This bullying has nothing to do with a need for security, it has to do with Israel's affiliation with (and ability to hide under the wings of) the US. Pull US support of Israel and see how quickly it becomes reasonable. The US needs to cultivate responsible allies in the Middle East -- perhaps Egypt, Jordan, and/or Syria, and work more with them and less with Israel.

I'll admit that my thoughts and perceptions are colored by the Israeli nutcase I met who used the Bible to justify Israeli occupation of most of the Middle East, who also justified Israeli killings of unarmed children, and who thinks it's ok for non-Jewish people to live as second class citizens in Israel. The Palestinian concentration camps and the Wall are images I will never forget. Israeli apartheid cannot be allowed to continue. The increasing numbers of people who flock to Israel to escape persecution in their homelands, then engage in persecution in Israel is disturbing to me, even without addition of the racial aspect. I don't get how Israel can justify its behavior, and I don't get how the US can continue to support Israel when it engages in systematic oppression of a racial or ethnic group. They've created a racist, apartheid state all over again. What in the world is Israel doing?!?!