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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biased US media

As long as the strong continue to oppress and tyrannize the weak and vulnerable there is a role for militants/guerillas.

For how else can the victimized win/regain their freedom from those with superior arms?

Remember, it was militants, also dubbed terrorists by the well-armed oppressors and their powerful supporters, who brought the fight and eventually justice in the United Kingdom (the IRA), South Africa (the ANC) etc.

Freedom fighters should never lose their humanity in their struggle though, and that is what HAMAS, under the leadership of Mohammed Deif, did on October 7^th, when they invaded sections of Israel, killed, maimed, and kidnapped innocent women and children, instead of those who had their heels on their necks.

I had no idea the so-called free press in the USA which influences so much of the world, was so biased until they started to report on this bloody tragedy. For if you had just come from Mars, you could be excused if you thought this latest flare-up in that region happened in a vacuum. For, the main media houses seemed to be in competition among themselves to determine who could sound more like the official spokespeople of the Israeli government! As to News Nation, which was only launched in 2020 as a cable news station, they in my book, have the most unhinged reportage on the Gaza affair.

In the USA, where press freedom is supposedly held up as being sacred, suddenly all criticism of the Israeli government’s actions which led to the inexcusable actions by HAMAS, are condemned by the traditional media organizations as either anti-Semitic, taken out of context or simply censored.

This despite the fact that the Israeli government comprised of Likud and other far-right malevolent parties and led by Netanyahu since 2022, is extremely unpopular and has been facing massive resistance at home.

For it is not all Israelis inside and outside of the Zionist state who support the oppression and the campaign by settlers operating under the protection of the Israeli Defense Force, to murder and terrorize Palestinians to steal their land, as is the regular practice in the West Bank.

So, while HAMAS has to be condemned for the brutal attack on civilians on October 7^th which left some 1200 civilians dead and more than 240 taken hostages, the vicious retaliation on all civilians in Gaza by the Israeli army which killed almost 7000 children in 40 days is beyond the pale.

Interestingly, in the US, most of the voices that condemn Putin for his brutal attacks on civilians in Ukraine saw little wrong with what could only be described as the start of a genocidal campaign against innocent Palestinians in Gaza.

In this latest campaign, the Israeli government has not only relentlessly bombed over a million civilians, destroyed their homes, all possessions, even bombing hospitals carelessly but also, later deprived those who managed to survive, of food, water, and electricity.

 This is simply beyond evil.

 “When war is declared, truth is the first casualty' declared by Samuel Johnson and what we were told by most of the mainstream media in the USA,  is the most blatant evidence of this I have ever seen.

You know, the US and Israel had long boasted about Israel being the only democracy in the Middle East but what the world is now getting full evidence of is that what really exists there, is a vicious apartheid system.

As I write, there is a temporary respite from the bombing as some Israeli hostages are being released as well as Palestinian ‘prisoners.’

This exposes is the truth behind the popular perception that Gaza is the largest prison in the world. For we now understand the trivial grounds they had been using to create prisoners there. For prominent among these ‘prisoners’ are women and children who were detained and locked up indefinitely without due process, for ‘crimes’ as trivial as tweeting or throwing stones at Israeli soldiers guarding settlers who stole their lands after killing and maiming their parents and relatives!

According to well-respected Dr. Gabor Mate in an interview with Piers Morgan,  ‘a poll in 2005, found that the most traumatized children in the world were to be found in Gaza.’ 

That was long before the unconscionable bombing in Gaza since October 2023, he emphasized.

Dr. Mate is a child of Holocaust victims and is one of the many Israelis worldwide, who are vocal and passionately opposed to the continuing vicious treatment of Palestinians by the Israelis.

The US media tells us how traumatized Israelis are, and the Israeli government insists that this pause in the bombing is only temporary and they will resume the campaign shortly.

The world cannot sit by and allow that country with the backing of the powerful USA, to continue this vicious and unconscionable campaign against women and children in Gaza. (Thank goodness they fired Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahuy who flippantly suggested using nuclear weapons on the Palestinians!)

For murder, destruction, land grab, and brutality can only lead to the creation of more HAMAS.’

Dare I remind them that it was Einstein who declared that ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”!

Link; https://youtu.be/CMtMFg4LTho. 

 

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