Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Generational Journeys

Anyone stumbling on a page view here cannot be confused about my perspective on Israel. Despite the yin and yang of their internal politics (which should be terribly familiar here), I am an unapologetic supporter and defender of the sole democracy in the Middle East. Think about that: the sole democracy in a region filled with governments controlled by religious zealots, militaristic sects that destroy historical arifacts, countries that sanction female subservience including corporal mutilation, regimes that bless the expulsion and execution of those not like them.

While I confess to some embarrassment at not having visited Israel, I have some undeniable ties to the region. In the early 1900's, as pogroms swept Eastern Europe and the Czar's monarchy teetered on the brink, Jews were forced either by tbe threat of being driven from regions or out of concern for the survival of their families to flee their countries of origin and seek safe haven.

Much of my father's family fled to the US, although they had arrived early enough for my paternal grandfather to be our first native born son. My mother's family didn't anticipate the inevitable as early or perhaps hoped things wouldn't turn out as badly in Russia and the Ukraine. Perhaps the pivotal role played by Jews in the formulation of the Communist Party played a role. Perhaps they believed that proletarian equality would actually be practiced by a different ruling class.

Until his regime was in jeopardy, the Czar determined that Jews were ineligible from conscription. When his family's reign was threatened, he agreed to accept Jews as draftees into the White Army as long as they served for a 25 year term. It wasn't an optional draft notice. The eventual success of the Russian Revolution meant that laws declaring Jews an outlawed people were repealed. But by 1919 the pervasive atheism of the Communists required that synagogues be seized, Jewish education terminated and "rootless cosmopolitans" targeted.

My mother's family split: a portion to America and a portion to be among the original secular settlers of Israel. Those families in both countries have set roots, assimilated, become a part of their nations' essence. One of my cousins, a direct descendant of that group of brothers and sisters, left the US not long ago to emigrate, married an Israeli and will begin her own story. It is a wondrous circle.

We are all witnessing a very dangerous turn of events there, and those who disagree with my world view will take some exception to my assumptions and conclusions.

Never before has Israel been enveloped by such powerful, hateful interests.

Not in 50 years have the Russians been on the ground in the region, nor have they been in such a clear position of support of a regime in a state of war since 1948.

Never before have Iranian generals been on the ground assisting enemy proxies in Syria and Lebanon.

Not since the butchering of Israeli athletes in Munich has the PLO (I'm sorry, the Palestinian Authority) been so emboldened by the local presence of powerful allies, the lack of visible support to the Israelis from the US and the absence of even-handedness by the UN.

Never before has the Iranian nuclear program seen international blessing and crippling financial sanctions waved away.

Not since 1948 has the US presence been so absent.

Finally, the PLO is using an Islamic flashpoint - the al Aqsa mosque - atop the Temple Mount as a trigger for this latest wave of irrational, bigoted, indiscriminate violence. Mahmoud Abbas, who was to serve as "President of the State of Palestine" until 2009, but who has retained his office illegally because of "internal conflicts", has fanned the flames of bigotry by saying the Temple Mount should not be defiled by the "filthy feet" of the Jews. Tonight he accused Israelis of murdering a child (who's actually alive and in a Jewish hospital), although video demonstrates that the child and an accomplice attacked and stabbed two Jews, including a boy leaving a candy store on a bicycle.

Abbas is an anti-Semitic, lying bastard who cloaks himself in the self righteousness of the Palestinian cause while protecting his precious political throne and enriching himself to the tune of at least $100 million, according to a Gatestone Institute report in 2012. Of course, that's a pittance compared to his predecessor's fortune of over $1 billion.

Like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who could take lessons from these PLO extorters, the PLO squeezes tribute from Sunni and Shia alike, from the guilt-plagued EU and, of course, the American taxpayer.

They are without scruple, have demonstrated on numerous occasions their genetic aversion to peace and adhere to a fundamentalist view of Islam which will never permit a peace with the Jews. The leadership has squandered every opportunity to improve the lives of their citizens, and they stoke and exploit the misery of the population to keep themselves in power and keep the tribute coming.

Tbe Obama administration is getting ready to save the day in the form of the ace negotiator, John Kerry. He'll pay homage to Ramallah, just like Carter, just like Clinton, just like Ban Ki Moon. There can be no change. Not without acceptance of the Jewish state, not without renunciation of unending Islamic indoctrination. It is a tragedy that my family and every family living there - in Israel and those subjugated by the PLO - will never see peace until that corrupt leadership cesspool is
eliminated or its financial lifeblood cut. There isn't enough courage in this Obama-dominated world to confront this evil by its name.

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