Requests were made that I respond to Omid Safi's Gaza post on Progressive Revival. Frankly, I hesitate to do so. I have no doubt about either his integrity or the pain that moves him to write. But, engaging people filled with so much sacred rage and moral certainty is pretty pointless - unless one enjoys the sound of their own rhetorical flourishes, which clearly Mr. Safi does.
Ultimately and most ironically, Omid's approach strikes me as the opposite of progressive - demanding that all wisdom and decency are on one side and that no alternative view is worthy of consideration.
What if Obama were to speak out as Safi desires, but did so in favor of the Israeli's? Would that mean that Obama was wrong? Or, could it mean that Mr. Safi's conclusions should be revisited in light of the unanticipated views held by someone both he and I respect? That would be progressive.
I wrote earlier posts about my own moral and strategic questions about this war, opening up the possibility that even for those of us who think it was initially justified, it may no longer so and may never have been wise. I have written about the importance of those who care most about events in Gaza engaging each other based not only on their answers but also based on the questions they have for those they most support.
Where is that spirit to be found in Safi's work? Without that, it's just one more round of verbal violence that makes us feel we are "doing our share" to support those doing the actual fighting on either side of this tragic war. It the opposite of whatever we might mean by either spiritual or progressive.
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
I read Omid Safi's article, and this time, I agree with the rabbi. If we were in a court of law, virtually nothing Safi's writes would be admissible and that which could be admitted would be seriously impeached.
In journalism, however, people like Safi recognize no need to have a factual basis for their writings. For them journalism is propaganda. For the propagandist, more lies are better because then the charges against Jews have no bounds, and thus, Safi’s writing deteriorates into vilification.
Is there any people more bereft of rationality than the Palestinians?
The UN partitioned the land in 1947, and the Arabs immediately rejected it and instead the opted for one goal: Murder all the Jews.
In 1948 Israel prevailed in the War of Independence and the areas set aside for Arabs in 1947 were then occupied by Egypt, Jordan and Israel. Had the Arabs accepted the UN Partition, then could have build a prosperous nation along side Israel. (There is a problem with this theory in that the Palestinian Arabs have been grossly backward and incompetent for several centuries and really there is no fact to support the idea that they could have constructed anything positive.)
In 1967, the Arabs again tried to murder all the Jews, and they again failed. After the Six Day War, the 1947 Partition lands which Egypt and Jordan had occupied (Gaza and West Bank) came under Israeli control. For the 20 years that these UN Partition lands had been under solely Arab control, no attempt whatsoever was made to establish a Palestinian state. Instead, the Arab world keep their fellow Arabs in refugee camp facilities. The only use other Arabs had for "Palestinians" was as a political tool to divert their own populations' attention away from the dreadful conditions at home -- these wretched conditions gave rise to two types of Arab states: Thugeries (Arafat, Saddam Hussein) and religious fanatics (Afghanistan and Iran (Muslim but not Arab).
Since 1967, the Arabs complained that the sole cause of all problems was Israel's Occupation. This claim was a lie, but one which the world wanted to accept because the West, especially the United States State Department, found it useful to divert the "Arab street" from their hideously corrupt and incompetents regimes. Yes, low and stable oil prices were purchased by fueling Arab hatred and scape-goating of Jews. The USA watched as the Muslim religious fanatics grew more and more powerful and more and more anti-US. Even after the first bombing of the World Trade enter, the bombing of the US Embassies, the attack on the US Cole, the US still perpetuated the Big Lie that Israel was oppressing the poor Palestinians. The GOP found Monica-Gate more important than protecting the US from he world-wide terrorism. Whenever President Clinton made any attempt to deal with the terrorism, the GOP yelled, “Wag The Tail, Wag The Tail,” which was the movie where a president invents an international crisis to divert attention from his domestic troubles.
Can we blame the Arabs for the GOP’s thwarting Clinton’s modest efforts? No. Can we blame the Israelis? No.
In 2005 former Israeli PM, Ariel Sharon, decided that Israel would withdraw from Gaza and a few West Bank towns as a political move. Despite wide opposition, Israel forced the Jewish settlers in Gaza to leave their homes and Israel turned the entire Gaza over to Palestinian control without any Israeli control. (Some thought that Sharon’s longer rang plan was to withdraw, show the world that Israeli “occupation” play no role in the Arab desire to murder all the Jews and then take action after Gaza disintegrated. Due to his stroke, no one knows whether Sharon’s withdrawal was step one is a larger plan or Sharon had turned into Neville Chamberlain.)
What did the Gazans do? Did they try to run a decent society? No. They elected a recognized terrorist organization, Hamas, with full knowledge that foreign relief and investment would immediately stop. Then, they continued to attack Israel. In an illustrative analogy, Gazans’ response to having complete control over their own lives was similar to a postal employee receiving a nice promotion, but he quits his new job, reverts to his home, starts shooting his neighbors from his upstairs windows and then complains when the police show up and barricade his home. He then negotiates for his children to attend school, but they carry bombs and blow up the school cafeteria. The postal worker than complains when the authorities do not let his other children attend school. The authorities let him send out another child to buy groceries, but she turns herself into a suicide bomber and blows up the store. The postal worker complains that the police are starving his family.
His neighbors demand that the police do something, especially with the postal worker’s shooting at their kids while playing in their backyards. The international news media show up and say that the postal worker has no choice but to try to murder as many of his neighbors as possible to draw attention to the fact that he has no job and the police have barricaded his home. The news media does not mention that the postal worker quit his job and the barricade would stop if he would cease trying to murder his neighbors.
No one knows what Ariel Sharon would have done if he had not suffered his stoke. We do know that as a result of Sharon’s stroke, Israel got the corrupt and effete Olmert as PM. Olmert's grand incompetence resulted in Israel's loss in the 2006 War with Hezbollah. Weakness always invites more attacks and so Hamas continued to attack Israel on a daily basis.
The Israelis’ failure to remove the corrupt and incompetent Ehud Olmert cannot be blamed on the Arabs any more than the Palestinians' electing Hamas can be blamed on Israelis. Despite the fact that Israel has allowed a dithering incompetent to stay in power for two and one-half years, Israel has done nothing to interfere with the Gazans' having a decent life.
The Gazans' poverty and ignorance is a reflection of their own free will decision that murdering Jews is more important than caring for their own children. The Gazans conduct their perpetual war on Israel by sending children as suicide bombers into Israel and when Israel does attack, the Gazans place their woman, children and elderly in schools and hospitals and their weapons in mosque and then fire rockets at Israelis from these sites. The Gazan plan is simple -- Suicide by Israeli. Hamas leaders tend to stay safely under ground. They wisely know that the world wants to see women, children, and elderly dead so that the world can descend into another orgy of anti-Semitic rants and ravings – and let's not forget, higher news ratings.
One wonders whether Olmert isn't a double agent for Hamas. Olmert makes grandiose boasts, launches incompetent and ill-conceived attacks, and while the Israeli troops are most vulnerable, he reverts to his Surrender Mode. Because Olmert is once again in Surrender Mode, no nation dares support Israel; there's no telling when Olmert will pull the rug out from under them by surrendering. This was Olmert’s modus operandi in Lebanon and he is replicating it again in Gaza.
The consequences for the US in Olmert’s slow-motion surrender will be devastating. After Rumsfeld’s, Bush’s and Cheney’s colossal disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan, Israel may have been the world’s last hope in the War on Terror.
Hi,
I just heard you on NPR and finally, the voice of reason speaks out. I am not a Jew, Christian or Muslim, but I agree that as long as people have an absolute black and white viewpoints on ANYTHING, the human race cannot progress beyond where it has been stuck for three thousand years.
I think the problem of extremism is inherent in the three above (so-called) separate faiths, who kill each other frequently over minor differences in their doctrine, but who obviously share the same God who is defined exactly the same in all three. When children are instructed in these faiths, they are always taught from the start as if there actually is a simple black and white reality. Most of course as they grow and observe the obvious contradictions in this viewpoint, develop a more realistic world outlook, but those who take their teachings literally, become the extremists of the world.
The last three millenia that has been clearly dominated by these faiths, has been one long stream of cultural vacuums created by one group of extremists and then filled by another.
I feel that as long as children are indoctrinated in the first four years to believe impossible black and white supernatural ideas, extremism will continue to pollute the human landscape.
Respectfully yours,
Ross
The Israeli-Arab conflict can be solved only with humor: introduce Soma on their drinking water for 40 days.
Ruvain...thank you so much for writing what you wrote . I am from the US and I have always said I was a Christian but that is so changing through the years. For many many reason. But believe me when I say this ... theres so many here in the USA that are also Christians and non Christians that feels the way you do and looks at this the way you do. So so many. But what angers me is that no one can hear us over all the crap. Sorry the language. Its like no matter how loud we get some others here just close off their ears..because they are scared to think for themselves or even want to..they are drones it seems like and believe what is told them by our leaders. I do love my country but it doesnt mean that I agree with our leaders...and whats goin on. When I say country I mean the PEOPLE . People make a country. Its just sad that our leaders seen fit in my opinion not to listen to the people anymore and put their own agendas ahead of what the majority of our people wants. I am just praying and praying that Obama will make a difference. But I wanted to know if its ok to add a link to your reply here for others to read as well in my other sites..and to put the link on a my blog. If not that is ok hun..no probs. You makes perfect since and it needs to be out there more in my opinion. THank you for taken the time to reply to this.
Ross...what you said here....
I think the problem of extremism is inherent in the three above (so-called) separate faiths, who kill each other frequently over minor differences in their doctrine, but who obviously share the same God who is defined exactly the same in all three.
I so agree with you..I have really never understood this myself. We all worship the same almighty G-D. And to step another step forward..both Islam and Christianity both are branches off of Jewish faith. Jewish faith is the mother of both faiths. So I never understood why it is that so many dislikes the Jewish people or faith.Its like disliking and disrespecting your birth mother. Just in my opinion not right.
G-D Bless you all.
loving
It is a shame that Dresden was fire bombed in WWII.
Do you think it may have had anything to do with the fact that Nazi leaders were directing V-2 rocket attacks against British civilians?
The only difference between the V-2s and Hamas' Qassam rockets is that the former had greater range and explosive payload.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.