Exactly who is a Jew?

As we are constantly bombarded daily with heart-rending images in Gaza where the Netanyahu government seems determined to commit the most vicious acts of genocide in the history of the world, it becomes more and more confusing for some to determine exactly who (or what) is a Jew?

At least to me, it does, for no one set of people can be so cruel! (I feel the same way about those in Somalia who are carrying out even greater atrocities which the world seems happy to ignore. But in Africa, we know that enmity usually goes along the tribal lines that were sown by decades of oppression and apartheid, and watered and fertilized by European conquerors.)

Anyway, as far as Judaism is concerned, I am a bit less certain, so have been searching sources to try and get a concrete answer. The more I searched, the more complicated it seemed to become, so I latched on to the definition in Webster.

 It states in part:

"In the modern world, a definition of Jew that would be satisfactory to all is virtually impossible to construct, for it involves ethnic and religious issues that are both complex and controversial. In daily life, for example, those who consider themselves Jews are generally accepted as such by Jews and non-Jews alike, even though such persons may not observe religious practices."

Interesting, for although I am black, I could describe myself as a Jew if I wished, although I am not Falasha from Ethiopia.

The Jewish line apparently comes down through the female and my maternal grandmother was a Jewess who converted to Christianity when she married my grandfather. If I wished to apply for Israeli citizenship, it would be easily acquired. (A fellow Jamaican friend of mine who had the exact same ancestry as I did, became an Israeli citizen, moved there, and lived in a Kibbutz for more than five years, before escaping to England. That is another whole story!)

 This whole genocidal campaign in Gaza has certainly moved the issue of Jewishness to the front burner!

In my book though, it all comes back to religion.

I concluded decades ago, that RELIGION IS THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL, and not only does history bear this out, but everyday occurrences today do.

But let’s get one matter straight, it’s not moderate, straight-thinking people in the religions who are the evil ones, but the ultra-conservatives, be they Christian, Muslim, MAGA, Jewish, Buddhist, whatever.

The joke is on me, for there was a time when I swore that the adherents to Buddhism were the only peaceful religious people in the world. Then violence broke out in Myanmar against the Rohingya people and videos surfaced of Buddhist monks burning their villages and attacking the people. These were shown worldwide.

That certainly burst my bubble.

If you are wondering why I am now waxing philosophical, it’s because I was listening to a radio interview on PBS today with an Israeli woman who lived in a Kibbutz next door to Gaza. Their compound was raided by Hamas on October 7^th, 2023, members of her family and friends were kidnapped and many were killed.

That’s when I learned that those who resided in the Kibbutz, accepted that Israel and Palestine could share borders and live in peace, for they were not the ultra-orthodox, rabid, religious Jews like their fellow Israelis living in places like the West Bank.

 Those are the ones who perpetuate the crap that they are the chosen people and that the Middle East was given to them by god and anyone who says nay is anti-Semnite!

 They are also the ones who have been included in the Netanyahu government for decades, operating an apartheid system that made Gaza into the largest prison in the world, thus leaving no alternative for the oppressed but terrorism.

The problem with terrorists however is that they tend to be cowards, be they IRA, Hamas whatever. For, instead of fighting those who oppress them, they inevitably attack innocent people and at times, even those who are sympathetic to their cause, as happened on October 7th! For they killed some fellow Arabs and kidnapped a Bedoin then!

Until the world gets rid of religious intolerance as practiced by right-wing adherents like Netanyahu and his cronies, cruel genocidal actions will continue all over the world.

And innocents will continue to be massacred.