My days of being a religious Jew were brief and I have identified as agnostic ever since I was 18. Over the years, I’ve had struggles with my identity, often refusing to even identify as Jewish. Truth be told, I never saw myself writing an article like this.
A few years ago my son was in a Christian high school. I overheard the Jewish students express concerns about which college to apply to. One prestigious university had supposedly suspended Hillel. Another local university had a long history of anti-Semitic rhetoric espoused by students. I spoke to a teacher about my concerns for these students. She thought I was crazy. These were her top students of course doors would be open for them. I wasn't crazy. I was seeing where the current was flowing. It is why I despise the White Privilege Rhetoric. It is the same formula used to create hate while completely ignoring true history.
What is sad - and frankly inexplicable - is that the facts you state are not obscure or hard to find. They're common knowledge, or should be if our schools taught actual history and minimized bias when presenting it. This low-self-esteem-need to jump on any bandwagon for acceptance leads people to focus on some outlier item (like "what about the time that Israeli did such and such to that Palestinian"), which is not indicative of the policies or beliefs of Israel at large.
This permeates so many things in our society. "Look what happened to George Floyd" excuses activism against all police. "Look what happened in the deep south during Jim Crow" excuses activism against all whites. "Look at the higher Black violent crime rates" excuses mistreatment of all African Americans. Facts, and individuality, are lost on these bandwagon riders.
Your agnosticism does not exempt you from humanitarian empathy, which you have rightly and clearly explained. It seems a no-brainer to empathize with the victims of this horror, and it's mind-boggling how many have been exposed as incapable of this.
Having contrary opinions is one thing, but embracing ignorance to fit your views is quite another. Hamas apologists have taken this to another level, and without shame, conveniently forgetting - or simply omitting - the history of the Jews' peril as you have described.
Our world's accountability has been pushed aside for ideology. It will only get worse.
Thank you ZL! It’s truly astonishing and mind-boggling like you said. Especially to see this line of thinking spreading like a virus amongst my millennial peers and younger.
"Jews are anything but colonizers in the land of Israel, existing before any single Muslim or Christian walked the earth. " -- To be truthful, that land was not empty when the Hebrews entered it in ancient times. Still, genocide is wrong no matter who is committing it.
The Bible itself says people were there. Deut. 7.1-2; 20.16-18: the text states that the Jews were commanded by their god to kill the Canaanites. “However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them – the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite ….” (Deut. 20:16-18) Also “Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (1 Sam 15:3)
Yes as a former Orthodox Jew, now agnostic that’s read the Old Testament many times this is true. And it’s why I don’t follow any sort of religion. Most world religions have violent text to them. However, in terms of acting out that murder, we only see that in large numbers (not large %) from radical Islamic terrorism. The holy war is over for most people. And land has always been conquered and changed hands many times. I think that is irrelevant to the points in my article that Islam did not exist before Judaism and so there is no logical claim to the land. And second, what we’re seeing is simply antithetical to western values (as is the murder in the Old Testament) and dealing with folks that take the word literally (kill lgbtq, subjugate women) etc.
I was simply pointing out that the original Jewish population of that land did colonize it, as it was inhabited before they arrived. But as I said, I am against genocide no matter who's committing it.
Just as a counterpoint, how about expanding research past the current narrative and explore how each continent was inhabited and by which people group? Go beyond the European "colonization" of the world at large. Start with Egypt, China, the Pacific Islanders for instance, and spend adequate time doing your due diligence.
Don't just follow the current progressive, post modern theories, develop your own with real hard extensive research.
Step away from the crowd and seek the facts, don't just go with someone else's feelings on anything without some hard work.
Great article
A few years ago my son was in a Christian high school. I overheard the Jewish students express concerns about which college to apply to. One prestigious university had supposedly suspended Hillel. Another local university had a long history of anti-Semitic rhetoric espoused by students. I spoke to a teacher about my concerns for these students. She thought I was crazy. These were her top students of course doors would be open for them. I wasn't crazy. I was seeing where the current was flowing. It is why I despise the White Privilege Rhetoric. It is the same formula used to create hate while completely ignoring true history.
Another Wrong Speak contributor wrote a poignant essay on what minority religions face in the Middle East, particularly girls, equating it with genocide. https://www.wrongspeakpublishing.com/p/after-isis-yazidis-still-face-threat?r=56y1f&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Kudos on some exceptional clarity.
What is sad - and frankly inexplicable - is that the facts you state are not obscure or hard to find. They're common knowledge, or should be if our schools taught actual history and minimized bias when presenting it. This low-self-esteem-need to jump on any bandwagon for acceptance leads people to focus on some outlier item (like "what about the time that Israeli did such and such to that Palestinian"), which is not indicative of the policies or beliefs of Israel at large.
This permeates so many things in our society. "Look what happened to George Floyd" excuses activism against all police. "Look what happened in the deep south during Jim Crow" excuses activism against all whites. "Look at the higher Black violent crime rates" excuses mistreatment of all African Americans. Facts, and individuality, are lost on these bandwagon riders.
Your agnosticism does not exempt you from humanitarian empathy, which you have rightly and clearly explained. It seems a no-brainer to empathize with the victims of this horror, and it's mind-boggling how many have been exposed as incapable of this.
Having contrary opinions is one thing, but embracing ignorance to fit your views is quite another. Hamas apologists have taken this to another level, and without shame, conveniently forgetting - or simply omitting - the history of the Jews' peril as you have described.
Our world's accountability has been pushed aside for ideology. It will only get worse.
Excellent article. ZL
Thank you ZL! It’s truly astonishing and mind-boggling like you said. Especially to see this line of thinking spreading like a virus amongst my millennial peers and younger.
"Jews are anything but colonizers in the land of Israel, existing before any single Muslim or Christian walked the earth. " -- To be truthful, that land was not empty when the Hebrews entered it in ancient times. Still, genocide is wrong no matter who is committing it.
The Bible itself says people were there. Deut. 7.1-2; 20.16-18: the text states that the Jews were commanded by their god to kill the Canaanites. “However, you must not let any living thing survive among the cities of these people the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance. You must completely destroy them – the Hethite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite ….” (Deut. 20:16-18) Also “Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (1 Sam 15:3)
Yes as a former Orthodox Jew, now agnostic that’s read the Old Testament many times this is true. And it’s why I don’t follow any sort of religion. Most world religions have violent text to them. However, in terms of acting out that murder, we only see that in large numbers (not large %) from radical Islamic terrorism. The holy war is over for most people. And land has always been conquered and changed hands many times. I think that is irrelevant to the points in my article that Islam did not exist before Judaism and so there is no logical claim to the land. And second, what we’re seeing is simply antithetical to western values (as is the murder in the Old Testament) and dealing with folks that take the word literally (kill lgbtq, subjugate women) etc.
I was simply pointing out that the original Jewish population of that land did colonize it, as it was inhabited before they arrived. But as I said, I am against genocide no matter who's committing it.
Just as a counterpoint, how about expanding research past the current narrative and explore how each continent was inhabited and by which people group? Go beyond the European "colonization" of the world at large. Start with Egypt, China, the Pacific Islanders for instance, and spend adequate time doing your due diligence.
Don't just follow the current progressive, post modern theories, develop your own with real hard extensive research.
Step away from the crowd and seek the facts, don't just go with someone else's feelings on anything without some hard work.
I'm not going along with the crowd, I'm quoting the Bible.