Dear Mr. President Obama,
Like millions of others, I have a blog. Not very popular. Rarely seen. No comments so far. But I have to write this. I won’t be able to sleep if I don’t.
You don’t know me. I am a middle aged single mom here in Florida. My children are almost all grown. I have glaucoma. I have returned to college and am nearly finished with a Bachelors of Science in Public Health degree. I have recently created an organic tree and plant nursery, Leaf Mulch Lady (http://www.leafmulchlady.com/ ). After many years of being underemployed as a secretary and assistant teacher in a pre–school, I have taken to selling my organically grown plants and trees in local Farmers Markets. I love this work. It is easy on the eyes, although it brings in hardly any money. And, might I add, I am an American Jew, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, transplanted to Florida in 1994.
Every struggling people should have a state. It is global human courtesy to see to it that every struggling and oppressed people create their own peoplehood – safe from exploitative regimes and financial defeat. A nation that can determine its own fate, care for its own people, and defend itself against enemies is the goal of all people worldwide. It was the goal and accomplishment of America. It was the goal and accomplishment of countries such as Israel, Rwanda, and now the Palestinian People.
In your heart of hearts, you know you would be doing the right human rights thing to push for and grant the Palestinians their own land, their own national recognition and status on the global stage. Not only you, but countless others who believe in human rights and the benefits of self government. It is what all civilized nations, worldwide, want to share with fledgling cohesive groups of people: the ability to call themselves a nation: to have their own place in the world, their own land.
The Palestinian people are an ancient and intelligent people. They have shown the world that they are fearless. They believe in the doctrine of the Jihad, and hence are little moved by their own destruction for the greater good. They believe in suicide missions. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for what they want most.
This unyielding desire is the destruction, actually the annihilation, of the Jewish state, Israel. Their determination in this is well publicized in current agendas and has been the goal of the PLO during Yasser Arafat’s rein. Multiple times they vowed to ‘run the Israeli’s into the sea’ and that was the most mild of their threats. They are determined, particularly under Hamas and Hezbollah, to finish the work that Arafat had vowed. It has always been just a matter of time.
That matter of time has now come in the form of two friends, Iran and Syria. Iran is not as fearless as Hamas. Syria is more reserved and self-protective than Hezbollah. These two ancient civilizations would like to hold on to their lives. They are a cautious people, regardless of the ranting of their dictators. Jews know that they are not about to risk everything to disable and destroy Israel. But they know that their Palestinian friends will, and are.
Possibly the biggest fear for Jews in giving Hamas and Hezbollah national recognition is that they will have the autonomy to begin their long dreamed of work, that being the end of Israel. As the President, you have heard their hate rhetoric and their dismay at having to deal with a Jewish nation in their own backyard. But history dictates that you look back and take their heartfelt desires seriously.
How would you feel if Mexico or Canada voiced similar animosity towards the United States? If you could possibly look into the history of the threats and desires for destruction that the Palestinians, under the PLO and now Hamas and Hezbollah, targeted over the years towards Israel, and apply them to a similar situation between our neighbors and America, you would get chills. To have close neighbors who actively hate you is a very frightening experience. With the vowed military assistance from Iran and Syria these threats and this hatred is destined to become physical if Hamas and Hezbollah become legitimized as a nation.
And why would Iran and Syria arm the Palestinians in Israel? The close proximity of attacking, or even nuking, an Israeli city or community will definitely affect the Palestinian people as well. Isn’t anyone on the Iranian or Syrian front taking the lives of the Palestinian people to heart? Living in such close proximity to each other will only mean that destruction for one is destruction for both.
And that brings us back to the actual meaning of Jihad. In my studies, Jihad means self sacrifice for the greater good. The Palestinian people are willing to go up in smoke if that will bring the end to Israel. It is a mantra and doctrine that is well taught in Gaza and the West Bank and in the pockets of Jordan and Syria where they live. It was the same mantra and doctrine taught to the Jihad pilots who boarded American planes on 9/11.
Being a well meaning and kind person as yourself, you might not understand this. But you cannot talk someone out of their own doctrine, their own passionate mission. You will not be able to talk Hamas and Hezbollah out of this, even if temporarily they don’t come to the table with these thoughts. Even if they are temporarily able to dance to the global tune of peace and supervised harmony between Israel and a newly created Palestine, it will re-emerge with the vengeance of an obsessed martyr once things have quieted down. Syria and Iran will forever be in the background waiting for their time to arm these fearless martyrs of Islam.
So you see, this is not just another fledgling nation waiting to step onto the global stage as a proud and self sustaining people. This is a martyr state, ready to give up their own lives for the destruction of Israel, ready to do the bidding of the greater Jihad doctrine, that being the destruction of Israel at the cost of their own lives.
In other words, ever since the Jews moved into that corner of the globe, it’s been like ‘there goes the neighborhood’… creating an entire Arab and Muslim block is the determination of Jihad and most of the Arab world.
So there you have it. I remain in Florida, but I would really love to move to Israel. I am hoping to go when my children finish college in the states. I am hoping both I and my children can relocate to Israel and live there in peace. I would like to have an organic tree and plant nursery in the north of Israel. I am hoping and praying that the hatred towards Israel from her Arab and Muslim neighbors turns to friendship and peace.
Not that writing this will change anything. I just wanted to let you know how I, a complete nobody from nowhere, just a Jewish plant nursery woman down here in Florida, feel towards this entire scenario. Actually, one of the real benefits of writing this is that now I can sleep.
Thank you again. G-d bless you, America, Israel, and all people, everywhere, who seek peace and pursue it.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Confessions of a Reluctant Cat Lady
I decided to lose the political agenda about Israel and Gaza and Gilad Shalit for a time. I couldn’t sleep.
So, I am diverting to an entirely different topic: Cats.
I have cats. That is in the plural. I always knew that dogs had a human heart. Actually, they cling to the human heart, as I’ve been told, as required by their Hebrew name, kelev, which means 'as a heart' or 'like a heart' (http://www.hebrewworld.com/Hebrewdog.html ).
But, since having cats, I have come to believe that cats can actually own your heart. Cats dig deeper. Some cats, that is, such as mine.
Unfortunately, some people are blessed with an unusual ability to connect to animals. I have known, since childhood, that I am one of these. All it takes is a look in the eyes, and I am hooked. And this does not only go for dogs and cats. I have been able to connect, sometimes even momentarily, to fleeting geckos in my yard and house, and butterflies. Once a beautiful monarch butterfly was floating around my head for a few moments, eventually landing on a leaf inches before me. She stayed, eyeing me carefully, for more than a minute (for what reason I don’t know).
And a beautiful fluffy black chicken that we had for about a year. Someone gave Lovey to me when she was a tiny chick, and I (fearing the additives and toxins of conventional chicken feed) raised her on raw organic oatmeal and all the grubs, bugs and worms she could find in my yard. She followed me around like a puppy and came when I called her by her name. She became huge and her feathers were so incredibly soft and fluffy on that oatmeal that even my kids were impressed (“hey, ma, you should sell this stuff … it’s better than all the shampoos out there…”). She was more than twice the size of Mitzi (my only cat at that time) who used to watch her constantly but was scared to pounce. I kept a watchful eye, nonetheless.
We finally gave her to a farm in North Miami. I was afraid that she would fly over the fence and be eaten by my neighbor’s dog (which happened to her sister within the first week I had them). I didn’t have the proper cage for her, and she needed to be able to walk around my yard. It’s over a decade, and I miss her still.
Back to the cats: When we moved to Florida, I lived with my three young children in Miami Beach, and in the backyard of the apartment house there were cats. Lots of cats. Of course, having young kids for me was an invitation to befriend every animal anywhere, and these cats were no exception. To make matters worse, the super of the apartment was a horribly nasty young man who had pit bulls and he liked to watch them kill the cats. I became a (reluctant) animal activist and reported this to the police. Big mistake. One day blood dripped onto my 5 year old son while he played in the yard; a dead cat (courtesy of our super) was strung up in a tree directly above the play area. Wonderful. We moved to a house in North Miami Beach. But I also took Mitzi, a beautiful black and white kitten who used to stay by me when I raked the leaves and tried to plant some flowers in that yard. That was 15 years ago. We have her still.
After taking in two stray dogs and Mitzi between 1994 and 2005, we met Mimi, an emaciated pregnant cat who came to our home about three days before hurricane Wilma. For those of us in North Miami Beach, Wilma was the grand-daddy of all hurricanes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma ). I had two huge 50 year old trees, a beautiful mango and a sapodilla. Wilma flattened them both within seconds. The hurricane took my entire back and front porch and parts of my roof. But somehow during the storm Mimi gave birth in my very small wooden shed, which remained somewhat intact. My son found her after the storm, in the shed with three tiny newborn kittens on a wet leaf mat crawling with worms. We took her and the kittens into the garage.
Those kittens and Mimi took our heart. My children, who in 2005 were 18, 16, and 12, were the perfect age to understand about all things ‘animal’. They were able to relate this to their science lessons from school, but they had never seen this up close in real life. They watched in awe as Mimi cleaned her kittens, played and disciplined them when they got older. It was so beautiful how she took up space in our garage and simply lay on the floor, swishing her tail every so often, her tiny kittens going wild over the sudden movements as if pouncing on a mouse. All G-d’s creatures became a theme in our house. My kids became very spiritual, talking about how beautiful all these creatures were, how perfectly created, even to the point of how perfectly they taught their young. Our awareness of the Divine was intense.
Even though I had spayed my Mitzi, I was reluctant to spay Mimi because she was nursing. I also didn’t want to take her away from her kittens for the full 24 hours required. So my reluctance turned into another pregnancy within three months. And then another pregnancy a few months after that. That is how I became the reluctant cat lady. Leave it up to the incredible ability to proliferate among cats, unaware to me. She got pregnant right before our eyes, again and again. Much to my later regret.
I have cats. That is in the plural. I always knew that dogs had a human heart. Actually, they cling to the human heart, as I’ve been told, as required by their Hebrew name, kelev, which means 'as a heart' or 'like a heart' (http://www.hebrewworld.com/Hebrewdog.html ).
But, since having cats, I have come to believe that cats can actually own your heart. Cats dig deeper. Some cats, that is, such as mine.
Unfortunately, some people are blessed with an unusual ability to connect to animals. I have known, since childhood, that I am one of these. All it takes is a look in the eyes, and I am hooked. And this does not only go for dogs and cats. I have been able to connect, sometimes even momentarily, to fleeting geckos in my yard and house, and butterflies. Once a beautiful monarch butterfly was floating around my head for a few moments, eventually landing on a leaf inches before me. She stayed, eyeing me carefully, for more than a minute (for what reason I don’t know).
And a beautiful fluffy black chicken that we had for about a year. Someone gave Lovey to me when she was a tiny chick, and I (fearing the additives and toxins of conventional chicken feed) raised her on raw organic oatmeal and all the grubs, bugs and worms she could find in my yard. She followed me around like a puppy and came when I called her by her name. She became huge and her feathers were so incredibly soft and fluffy on that oatmeal that even my kids were impressed (“hey, ma, you should sell this stuff … it’s better than all the shampoos out there…”). She was more than twice the size of Mitzi (my only cat at that time) who used to watch her constantly but was scared to pounce. I kept a watchful eye, nonetheless.
We finally gave her to a farm in North Miami. I was afraid that she would fly over the fence and be eaten by my neighbor’s dog (which happened to her sister within the first week I had them). I didn’t have the proper cage for her, and she needed to be able to walk around my yard. It’s over a decade, and I miss her still.
Back to the cats: When we moved to Florida, I lived with my three young children in Miami Beach, and in the backyard of the apartment house there were cats. Lots of cats. Of course, having young kids for me was an invitation to befriend every animal anywhere, and these cats were no exception. To make matters worse, the super of the apartment was a horribly nasty young man who had pit bulls and he liked to watch them kill the cats. I became a (reluctant) animal activist and reported this to the police. Big mistake. One day blood dripped onto my 5 year old son while he played in the yard; a dead cat (courtesy of our super) was strung up in a tree directly above the play area. Wonderful. We moved to a house in North Miami Beach. But I also took Mitzi, a beautiful black and white kitten who used to stay by me when I raked the leaves and tried to plant some flowers in that yard. That was 15 years ago. We have her still.
After taking in two stray dogs and Mitzi between 1994 and 2005, we met Mimi, an emaciated pregnant cat who came to our home about three days before hurricane Wilma. For those of us in North Miami Beach, Wilma was the grand-daddy of all hurricanes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Wilma ). I had two huge 50 year old trees, a beautiful mango and a sapodilla. Wilma flattened them both within seconds. The hurricane took my entire back and front porch and parts of my roof. But somehow during the storm Mimi gave birth in my very small wooden shed, which remained somewhat intact. My son found her after the storm, in the shed with three tiny newborn kittens on a wet leaf mat crawling with worms. We took her and the kittens into the garage.
Those kittens and Mimi took our heart. My children, who in 2005 were 18, 16, and 12, were the perfect age to understand about all things ‘animal’. They were able to relate this to their science lessons from school, but they had never seen this up close in real life. They watched in awe as Mimi cleaned her kittens, played and disciplined them when they got older. It was so beautiful how she took up space in our garage and simply lay on the floor, swishing her tail every so often, her tiny kittens going wild over the sudden movements as if pouncing on a mouse. All G-d’s creatures became a theme in our house. My kids became very spiritual, talking about how beautiful all these creatures were, how perfectly created, even to the point of how perfectly they taught their young. Our awareness of the Divine was intense.
Even though I had spayed my Mitzi, I was reluctant to spay Mimi because she was nursing. I also didn’t want to take her away from her kittens for the full 24 hours required. So my reluctance turned into another pregnancy within three months. And then another pregnancy a few months after that. That is how I became the reluctant cat lady. Leave it up to the incredible ability to proliferate among cats, unaware to me. She got pregnant right before our eyes, again and again. Much to my later regret.
Mimi gave us three kittens her first litter, two her second, and five her third. All within a little more than one year. It doesn’t suffice to say ‘now I know’… I wish I had known before. Live and learn.
Finally, I had to bring in all the cats and kittens to have them neutered and spayed. Thank G-d there is a low cost Planned Pethood in my area, something that I found out about accidentally. Vet costs for spaying and neutering range from $70-$200 for one cat. It’s simply outrageous. A woman I don’t know and haven’t met since told me about Planned Pethood. It probably saved my life.
I don’t believe in shelters that put down healthy animals. I refused to bring the kittens to any of the shelters in Florida because the ones that are no-kill have no room and generally get their animals from the kill shelters. They gave me no choice but to take my cats to the kill shelters and pray that they get adopted or chosen by the no kill shelters within 2 weeks. Slim chance. I said no, they stay with me.
Finally, I had to bring in all the cats and kittens to have them neutered and spayed. Thank G-d there is a low cost Planned Pethood in my area, something that I found out about accidentally. Vet costs for spaying and neutering range from $70-$200 for one cat. It’s simply outrageous. A woman I don’t know and haven’t met since told me about Planned Pethood. It probably saved my life.
I don’t believe in shelters that put down healthy animals. I refused to bring the kittens to any of the shelters in Florida because the ones that are no-kill have no room and generally get their animals from the kill shelters. They gave me no choice but to take my cats to the kill shelters and pray that they get adopted or chosen by the no kill shelters within 2 weeks. Slim chance. I said no, they stay with me.
Over the years, my beautiful orange cat, Max, a kitten from the first litter, disappeared. He was a real macho man, who, even after being neutered, screamed to go out and sprayed in the house. He was gorgeous, long fluffy orange hair, huge green eyes. I still pray that some kind person or family took him in. He was a relentless wanderer, couldn’t be caged.
I gave one of the kittens from the third litter to a technician at Planned Pethood, who was amazed at her deep orange color. She said she was the most beautiful kitten she’d ever seen. Mimi was a beautiful orange, black, and white calico, and all her kittens were beautiful. I was grateful to have found a good home for that deep orange kitten.
Also from the third litter; Velcro, a tiny all black kitten who clung to me for dear life and cried constantly at the door when I didn’t let him in. He and his mom Mimi disappeared the same day. I was frightened it might have been bunchers, or a woman I suspected was a buncher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher ). I didn’t sleep well for weeks after they left. I haven’t seen either of them since.
And a completely all white cat with blue eyes. I named him Ice. He was completely obsessed with me. I don’t know how it happens but there are some animals who are on my same wavelength. This gorgeous creature was killed by a car in front of my house while he was running towards me one day when I came outside. My heart has never healed.
So, there you have it. I have become a reluctant cat woman not of my own volition, but because I have found cats irresistible. I now keep four of Mimi’s remaining kittens (now five years old) inside at all times; two additional ones I allow out but they stay close to home; and Mitzi, who is not Mimi’s kitten but was my first. Mitzi is 15 years old now, and I recently noticed she has no teeth. She, too, stays close to home and lives mainly on my enclosed back porch, rebuilt after Hurricane Wilma. Lately she is having a hard time walking and getting up on things. I will have her until the end.
All in all, I have seven cats. I have also begun feeding a tiny stray cat in front of our house. She has beautiful eyes.
Dogs may cling, but cats will steal your heart. And, of course, this can also be said about chickens. Or maybe, it’s just something about me.
I gave one of the kittens from the third litter to a technician at Planned Pethood, who was amazed at her deep orange color. She said she was the most beautiful kitten she’d ever seen. Mimi was a beautiful orange, black, and white calico, and all her kittens were beautiful. I was grateful to have found a good home for that deep orange kitten.
Also from the third litter; Velcro, a tiny all black kitten who clung to me for dear life and cried constantly at the door when I didn’t let him in. He and his mom Mimi disappeared the same day. I was frightened it might have been bunchers, or a woman I suspected was a buncher (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher ). I didn’t sleep well for weeks after they left. I haven’t seen either of them since.
And a completely all white cat with blue eyes. I named him Ice. He was completely obsessed with me. I don’t know how it happens but there are some animals who are on my same wavelength. This gorgeous creature was killed by a car in front of my house while he was running towards me one day when I came outside. My heart has never healed.
So, there you have it. I have become a reluctant cat woman not of my own volition, but because I have found cats irresistible. I now keep four of Mimi’s remaining kittens (now five years old) inside at all times; two additional ones I allow out but they stay close to home; and Mitzi, who is not Mimi’s kitten but was my first. Mitzi is 15 years old now, and I recently noticed she has no teeth. She, too, stays close to home and lives mainly on my enclosed back porch, rebuilt after Hurricane Wilma. Lately she is having a hard time walking and getting up on things. I will have her until the end.
All in all, I have seven cats. I have also begun feeding a tiny stray cat in front of our house. She has beautiful eyes.
Dogs may cling, but cats will steal your heart. And, of course, this can also be said about chickens. Or maybe, it’s just something about me.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
A Letter To Gaza
It is clear now to me that my thoughts have taken on a life of their own. Possibly because I am in a degree in Public Health. This definitely could have done it, as I am insidiously being brainwashed with some rather remarkable ideologies; namely that people with these degrees can actually create peace and health in the world.
I can publicly state that I have been tremendously influenced by all my professors – remarkable as they are – who have come in every shape, size, color, nationality, religion, and personal lifestyles. This remarkable body of intellectually challenging university mentors and teachers have created in me, and possibly in all their students, an unusually high level of ‘savior complex’, which has manifested itself in today’s post, ‘A Letter To Gaza’.
What more can I say. After months and months of watching videos from around the globe and reading articles and books describing and portraying catastrophic human rights violations, including child slaves to the tune of 9 million globally (Child Slavery); child laborers totaling 160 million globally (Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor); man-made and corporate-created economic disasters and mass starvations in developing countries; an almost complete desecration of the crucial natural environmental resources in third world countries and rain forests by corporations around the globe; almost universal illiteracy; and serious issues in human rights (The Story of Human Rights), I can almost guarantee, with certainty, that my thoughts are no longer my own.
But I see this as a good thing. Having one’s thoughts take on a life of their own, particularly when it comes to global health, peace, and restoration , can be fairly admirable at times. I, for one, am beginning to actually admire these thoughts. I am curious to see how far this degree created ‘savior complex’ will take me.
Things are obviously getting interesting. I would never have dreamed I would be writing a letter to Gaza.
So here you have it, a Public Health degree-created ‘savior complex’ and thoughts that are not fully my own:
Dear Gaza,
As a university student getting a degree in Public Health here in the United States, I would like to ask you a few questions. After five years in Gaza, things for you have not improved at all. Actually, they have truly gone south. Why haven’t you yet been able to develop a sustainable community in Gaza? Why haven’t you been able to create jobs, adequate housing, parks for your children, and sustainable agriculture to feed your people?
These and additional questions stem from my work on my Public Health degree. If there has been one main thread throughout my degree it is that economic health precedes almost all other forms of societal health. If countries that have fallen victim to disasters are any indication as to what has happened to you, you will be surprised to know that external support often destroys a struggling nation’s economy.
Hand-outs, as they are often called, can ruin the ability of a nation to support itself. While handouts are often necessary in a crisis, like an earthquake or hurricane, if they are prolonged the local economy will never recover. This is what has happened to Gaza.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn has a land mass of 71 square miles. As of 2006, more than 2.5 million people made Brooklyn their home (What is the population of Brooklyn). The residents of Brooklyn enjoy a wonderful life. There is ample room for everyone. There is a wonderful economy, with businesses, jobs, schools, parks, homes, tourist attractions, everything that makes for a wonderful place to live. All this for 2.5 million people on 71 square miles.
I recently searched for the land mass of Gaza and discovered it was 146 square miles (Gaza: the Basics). That is more than twice the space of Brooklyn. I also searched for the population of Gaza. There are currently 1.5 million people living in Gaza. This does not include non- residents, tourists, and people coming into Gaza to work, as there are none. On the other hand, Brooklyn has hundreds of thousands of additional non-resident workers and tourists daily.
So here are the statistics:
Brooklyn, 71 square miles, 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands of additional daily non-residential tourists and workers – flourishing economy, healthy society
Gaza, 146 square miles, 1.5 million residents, no non residential tourists and workers – people homeless and starving, desperate and dependent on Israel
I have also lived in Miami, an even smaller, more highly populated city in the United States. Here are some statistics from there:
Miami, 35.68 square miles, 5.23 million residents (2008) not including the additional millions of non-residents as tourists and seasonal residents (Miami). Healthy, flourishing economy, healthy society
What is going on here?
Dear Gaza, you have clearly more than twice the space of Brooklyn, more than 4 times the amount of space of Miami, with only 1.5 million people as residents and no additional non-residential traffic. Brooklyn has 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands more as non-residential tourists and workers; Miami has over 5.2 million residents and millions more as non- residential tourists and workers.
As a student of Public Health, it is obvious to me that something is seriously wrong here. You have no economic health, and that is the problem. You depend on Israel for everything. If Brooklyn depended on New Jersey, or Miami depended on, let’s say, Tampa, for sustenance, they would also have millions of homeless and starving. You need to be self sustaining. You need your own economic strength.
When I relocated from Brooklyn to another city, I was distraught at being a woman alone with three young children. I was angry that I had to leave Brooklyn and felt completely uprooted and displaced. But right around that time I remember reading an article that had a small box on the page that said in big letters ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Since then, ‘bloom where you’re planted’ has become my mantra until this day.
Land for you is not the issue; at 146 sq. miles, you already have twice the size of Brooklyn and four times the size of Miami. What you don’t have are creative people who can show you how to put those 1.5 million people into decent housing, with good sanitation and running water, and additional creative people who can show you how to create sustainable farms on your naturally fertile soil (as we speak, Brooklyn, with their 2.5 million residents in 71 sq. miles has some of the most beautiful urban farms and gardens I’ve ever seen, and Miami, with their 5.2 million residents in 35 sq. miles has hundreds of backyard gardeners and community gardens, as well).
But. unfortunately, what you lack the most, is this remarkable ability to ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Without that, there is little hope for anything else.
Resources:
Child Slavery: retrieved from the web at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2008602565007230476#docid=8823573530624253148
Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor: retrieved from the web at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbLfFtzTokQ&feature=channel
The Story of Human Rights: retrieved from the web at: http://www.humanrights.com/#/what-are-human-rights
What is the population of Brooklyn?: retrieved from the web at: http://brooklyn.about.com/od/brooklynneighborhoods/f/qa_population.htm
Gaza: the Basics: Retrieved from the web at: http://www.slate.com/id/2208444
Miami: retrieved from the web at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami
Miami River Foods Project: retrieved from the web at: http://www.miamiriverfoods.org/
I can publicly state that I have been tremendously influenced by all my professors – remarkable as they are – who have come in every shape, size, color, nationality, religion, and personal lifestyles. This remarkable body of intellectually challenging university mentors and teachers have created in me, and possibly in all their students, an unusually high level of ‘savior complex’, which has manifested itself in today’s post, ‘A Letter To Gaza’.
What more can I say. After months and months of watching videos from around the globe and reading articles and books describing and portraying catastrophic human rights violations, including child slaves to the tune of 9 million globally (Child Slavery); child laborers totaling 160 million globally (Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor); man-made and corporate-created economic disasters and mass starvations in developing countries; an almost complete desecration of the crucial natural environmental resources in third world countries and rain forests by corporations around the globe; almost universal illiteracy; and serious issues in human rights (The Story of Human Rights), I can almost guarantee, with certainty, that my thoughts are no longer my own.
But I see this as a good thing. Having one’s thoughts take on a life of their own, particularly when it comes to global health, peace, and restoration , can be fairly admirable at times. I, for one, am beginning to actually admire these thoughts. I am curious to see how far this degree created ‘savior complex’ will take me.
Things are obviously getting interesting. I would never have dreamed I would be writing a letter to Gaza.
So here you have it, a Public Health degree-created ‘savior complex’ and thoughts that are not fully my own:
Dear Gaza,
As a university student getting a degree in Public Health here in the United States, I would like to ask you a few questions. After five years in Gaza, things for you have not improved at all. Actually, they have truly gone south. Why haven’t you yet been able to develop a sustainable community in Gaza? Why haven’t you been able to create jobs, adequate housing, parks for your children, and sustainable agriculture to feed your people?
These and additional questions stem from my work on my Public Health degree. If there has been one main thread throughout my degree it is that economic health precedes almost all other forms of societal health. If countries that have fallen victim to disasters are any indication as to what has happened to you, you will be surprised to know that external support often destroys a struggling nation’s economy.
Hand-outs, as they are often called, can ruin the ability of a nation to support itself. While handouts are often necessary in a crisis, like an earthquake or hurricane, if they are prolonged the local economy will never recover. This is what has happened to Gaza.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn has a land mass of 71 square miles. As of 2006, more than 2.5 million people made Brooklyn their home (What is the population of Brooklyn). The residents of Brooklyn enjoy a wonderful life. There is ample room for everyone. There is a wonderful economy, with businesses, jobs, schools, parks, homes, tourist attractions, everything that makes for a wonderful place to live. All this for 2.5 million people on 71 square miles.
I recently searched for the land mass of Gaza and discovered it was 146 square miles (Gaza: the Basics). That is more than twice the space of Brooklyn. I also searched for the population of Gaza. There are currently 1.5 million people living in Gaza. This does not include non- residents, tourists, and people coming into Gaza to work, as there are none. On the other hand, Brooklyn has hundreds of thousands of additional non-resident workers and tourists daily.
So here are the statistics:
Brooklyn, 71 square miles, 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands of additional daily non-residential tourists and workers – flourishing economy, healthy society
Gaza, 146 square miles, 1.5 million residents, no non residential tourists and workers – people homeless and starving, desperate and dependent on Israel
I have also lived in Miami, an even smaller, more highly populated city in the United States. Here are some statistics from there:
Miami, 35.68 square miles, 5.23 million residents (2008) not including the additional millions of non-residents as tourists and seasonal residents (Miami). Healthy, flourishing economy, healthy society
What is going on here?
Dear Gaza, you have clearly more than twice the space of Brooklyn, more than 4 times the amount of space of Miami, with only 1.5 million people as residents and no additional non-residential traffic. Brooklyn has 2.5 million residents, hundreds of thousands more as non-residential tourists and workers; Miami has over 5.2 million residents and millions more as non- residential tourists and workers.
As a student of Public Health, it is obvious to me that something is seriously wrong here. You have no economic health, and that is the problem. You depend on Israel for everything. If Brooklyn depended on New Jersey, or Miami depended on, let’s say, Tampa, for sustenance, they would also have millions of homeless and starving. You need to be self sustaining. You need your own economic strength.
When I relocated from Brooklyn to another city, I was distraught at being a woman alone with three young children. I was angry that I had to leave Brooklyn and felt completely uprooted and displaced. But right around that time I remember reading an article that had a small box on the page that said in big letters ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Since then, ‘bloom where you’re planted’ has become my mantra until this day.
Land for you is not the issue; at 146 sq. miles, you already have twice the size of Brooklyn and four times the size of Miami. What you don’t have are creative people who can show you how to put those 1.5 million people into decent housing, with good sanitation and running water, and additional creative people who can show you how to create sustainable farms on your naturally fertile soil (as we speak, Brooklyn, with their 2.5 million residents in 71 sq. miles has some of the most beautiful urban farms and gardens I’ve ever seen, and Miami, with their 5.2 million residents in 35 sq. miles has hundreds of backyard gardeners and community gardens, as well).
But. unfortunately, what you lack the most, is this remarkable ability to ‘bloom where you’re planted’. Without that, there is little hope for anything else.
Resources:
Child Slavery: retrieved from the web at: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2008602565007230476#docid=8823573530624253148
Unicef: World Day Against Child Labor: retrieved from the web at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbLfFtzTokQ&feature=channel
The Story of Human Rights: retrieved from the web at: http://www.humanrights.com/#/what-are-human-rights
What is the population of Brooklyn?: retrieved from the web at: http://brooklyn.about.com/od/brooklynneighborhoods/f/qa_population.htm
Gaza: the Basics: Retrieved from the web at: http://www.slate.com/id/2208444
Miami: retrieved from the web at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami
Miami River Foods Project: retrieved from the web at: http://www.miamiriverfoods.org/
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The blockade against Gaza
It is almost impossible for me to read an article about Israel or to view the comments on a blog about Israel and not spend the next few hours thinking about it. Such was the situation yesterday when I was browsing through blogs on Gilad Shalit, the young Israeli soldier held for four years by the Hamas in Gaza.
One of the blogs I was on said that Gilad’s family is supportive of the blockade as a means to get him out. I thought about this for a long time.
I went on another blog that was more towards general human rights (I don’t think it was owned by a Jew, or maybe someone who was very liberal) and there was a side column with a number of links. One of the links read ‘growing starvation in Gaza’.
I thought about this for a long time, too.
I am very affected by all of this, unaware to myself at times. I don’t realize how affected I am until it is 5:30 in the morning and I have realized that I couldn’t sleep because of my thoughts about these things.
Such was the situation last night. And here I am, venting again, which is a good thing. Better to vent than to stay up another night. Venting might help.
I have gone back to college (I only went 1 semester during the past 25 years). I started with my Associates Degree in Health Care Administration (January 2009) and I am currently finishing up (please G-d) a Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree (August 2011). Considering how much world events affect me, I might go on towards a Masters in Public Health (MPH) when I graduate next year.
I am also Jewish, and I try to keep as observant as I can. I originally was introduced to orthodox Judaism through the Lubavich, as my parents are secular humanists (Jewish secular humanists – although they had an orthodox wedding, of all things). I have history in Poland and other European countries that were Hasidic, specifically Belz. My great-grandfather on my father’s side was said to be Sephardic, from either Spain, Italy, or Turkey, whose family settled in Poland somewhere in the 16th century.
As you would expect, it’s a long story, but since I learned within the last few years that a person is either Sephardic or Ashkenazi through the father, that would make me Sephardic – my Sephardic Zaidy Mechel was my father’s father’s father. It would be wonderful to know how the Sephardic communities in Poland eventually assimilated to the point that they married Ashkenazi women and spoke fluent Yiddish. One day, after my degree, I hope to do research on this.
Getting back to my public health degree, the issue of starvation in Gaza, the issue of Gilad Shalit’s family supporting the Israeli blockade, and the issue in general of the headache Israel has with the Hamas and Gaza, I have come up, at 5:30 am, with a few unconventional ideas.
None of this is anything I should take credit for. These are my 5:30 am thoughts, which are totally responsible for themselves. Nonetheless, some of these thoughts sounded reasonable.
First of all, in the background of all this is the fact that there are no Jews in Gaza. At least no functional communities. If there are Jews, they are captives like Gilad Shalit and possibly some Jewish women who I have heard of throughout the years who had become wives against their will to Arab men. I can’t verify this. In all actuality it is something out of my reach.
So getting back: here you have an entire ‘nation wannabe’ in Gaza with no Jews. Actually they demanded from Israel, and the world - in 2005 when they were granted Gaza - that all the Jews, every last one, vacate immediately; Jewish homes and synagogues be destroyed; and ancient Jewish cemeteries be relocated out of Gaza so they can make the beginning of their ‘Palestine’. I don’t know about anyone else, but in my view, the entire world watched and condoned this incredible ‘ethnic cleansing’ right before their eyes. It is remarkable to me that no one noticed what this actually was… ‘ethnic cleansing’ to the highest degree. The only thing missing were the usual dead bodies that often goes along with 'clinical ethnic cleansing’. In a lesser sense, this was a form of 'generic ethnic cleansing’; creating the same effect (clearing out another ethnic group) without the potency of murder. The results are identical.
In a remarkable website written by an Arab American journalist (Farah, J. 2003) I discovered last night that the Arabs love Israel. Not only is it good to them (they are granted citizenship, vote, have free health care, etc.) but there are 1.2 million of them and counting.
There is not one Jew in Gaza. Remember this. And, while the world watches, there are no plans to include or protect Jewish citizens in this ‘Palestine’ of theirs.
So, given this backdrop, they have Gaza without any Jews, and they have Gilad Shalit without any remorse or human rights intervention as to how he is being treated. Actually, yesterday I came across a remarkable piece of news by the Human Rights Watch organization claiming that Hamas’ detention of Gilad Shalit is cruel and inhuman (Human Rights Watch, June 25, 2010).
So, here we have a tiny country, Israel, who is willing to share its tiny piece of land with 1.2+ million Arabs, give them good things including citizenship, and put up with their hostilities and links to Hamas in Gaza; not one Jew in Gaza and no plans for Jews to live within the borders, or enjoy any degree of citizenship, in the newly proposed ‘Palestine’; cruel and inhuman treatment by Hamas towards our Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for the past four years; and a blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza that hopes to effectively bring about the release of a healthy Gilad, plus claims that there is starvation increasing in Gaza due to the blockade.
Here are my 5:30 AM thoughts on all of this, and my 5:30 AM solution. Take it for what it’s worth:
Since the Palestinians made such an issue about Gaza, and they publicly displayed, while the world watched, a rather severe form of 'generic ethnic cleansing’… why not give them back the same? If Gaza is the true beginning of their illustrious ‘Palestine’ and they like their entire ‘nation’ completely ‘judenrein’ (so to speak – I don’t know the other terms describing ‘cleaning out Jews’ but in all languages it means the same)…. Why not park all the Palestinians in Gaza? That would solve a lot of problems, particularly problems regarding how Jews treat the Palestinians in Israel. If there were no Palestinians in Israel, as there are no Jews in Gaza, this would not be an issue. Jews would not have to be blamed for mistreating their Arabs, and the Arabs can work on solving their own problems. It’s a win-win.
Another win –win that my 5:30 am brain came up with was about stopping the blockade. Considering all the Palestinians in Israel – and, mind you, this means all – if Israel cleaned out all the Arabs from Israel, as in the prisons, schools, factories, construction groups, sanitation departments, universities, hospitals … in other words, what they did to us in Gaza … not one left…. we wouldn’t need a blockade. The nations of the world would come to rescue Gaza… and this would create peace. Trust me, this would definitely create peace. More on that later…
So, to get back to this pristine place where we don’t have any Palestinians in Israel and they don’t have any Jews in Gaza …. We wouldn’t need a blockade. And we wouldn’t have to worry either. Because the world will be taking care of Gaza. I am getting a degree in public health, which is the same as getting a degree in human rights, and human rights workers want peace. Because they want to live. And they go en force to help out a struggling country. And they don’t want any Israeli rockets landing on them. So there will be peace… trust me.
There are lots of human rights workers and organizations and peace keepers in the world that are interested in creating a flourishing nation of ‘Palestine’. Even though this seems sinister, it is not… the human rights workers and human aid workers won’t let them fire rockets on Israel… because there are going to be lots of aids workers working on helping the Palestinians in Gaza and they don’t want to get hurt.
Trust me. This can work.
Plus, the world won’t be able to say that Israel is starving Palestinian children because all the world’s horses and all the world’s men will be rushing in to put the Palestinians back together again… and they will have lots of work ahead of them… and they will be very concerned about any weapons in Gaza because they will understand that if Gaza starts firing them on Israel then Israel will fire back and it won’t be a pretty picture, and all of their hard work will be ruined. The aids workers do not want this. Trust me. I am in a degree for public and global health. These people believe in peace. They don’t like blood. Things will be good.
So there you have it. No Jews in Gaza. No Arabs in Israel. No blockade. Israel can work on developing all her neighborhoods without worry about the Arabs being tossed out. Gaza and the world’s aid workers will work on building up the neighborhoods in Gaza, putting the Palestinians back together again with nice homes, schools, food, water, and sanitation and lots of good things.
The world will be in Gaza. It will be good.
And hopefully we will have Gilad home, healthy and safe long before this.
Let the world take care of Gaza. Israel needs to focus on being home.
I can finally go to sleep now. I am also fasting (Tisha B’Av and the Three Weeks). Today is the 17th of Tammuz and the beginning of the three weeks.
Let the world and the Palestinians have Gaza. Not to worry. It will be good.
P.S. Incredibly and amazingly, I just came across a blog called ‘Arabs for Israel’ (Arabs for Israel, 2010). I guess since viewing this wonderful site, my ideas of cleaning all Arabs out of Israel should be revised. Those who truly love Israel can stay!
References:
Farah, Joseph 2003: Why Arabs Love Israel/World Net Daily: retrieved from the web at: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31947
Human Rights Watch, June 25, 2010: Gaza: Allow Access to Gilad Shalit: retrieved from the web at: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/06/25/gaza-allow-access-gilad-shalit
Tisha B’Av and the Three Weeks: Aish.com: retrieved from the web at: http://www.aish.com/h/9av/oal/48943446.html
Arabs for Israel, 2010: retrieved from the web at: http://arabsforisrael.blogspot.com/2009/02/who-are-we_09.html
Nonie Darwish: retrieved from the web at: http://nonie-darwish.blogspot.com/
One of the blogs I was on said that Gilad’s family is supportive of the blockade as a means to get him out. I thought about this for a long time.
I went on another blog that was more towards general human rights (I don’t think it was owned by a Jew, or maybe someone who was very liberal) and there was a side column with a number of links. One of the links read ‘growing starvation in Gaza’.
I thought about this for a long time, too.
I am very affected by all of this, unaware to myself at times. I don’t realize how affected I am until it is 5:30 in the morning and I have realized that I couldn’t sleep because of my thoughts about these things.
Such was the situation last night. And here I am, venting again, which is a good thing. Better to vent than to stay up another night. Venting might help.
I have gone back to college (I only went 1 semester during the past 25 years). I started with my Associates Degree in Health Care Administration (January 2009) and I am currently finishing up (please G-d) a Bachelor of Science in Public Health degree (August 2011). Considering how much world events affect me, I might go on towards a Masters in Public Health (MPH) when I graduate next year.
I am also Jewish, and I try to keep as observant as I can. I originally was introduced to orthodox Judaism through the Lubavich, as my parents are secular humanists (Jewish secular humanists – although they had an orthodox wedding, of all things). I have history in Poland and other European countries that were Hasidic, specifically Belz. My great-grandfather on my father’s side was said to be Sephardic, from either Spain, Italy, or Turkey, whose family settled in Poland somewhere in the 16th century.
As you would expect, it’s a long story, but since I learned within the last few years that a person is either Sephardic or Ashkenazi through the father, that would make me Sephardic – my Sephardic Zaidy Mechel was my father’s father’s father. It would be wonderful to know how the Sephardic communities in Poland eventually assimilated to the point that they married Ashkenazi women and spoke fluent Yiddish. One day, after my degree, I hope to do research on this.
Getting back to my public health degree, the issue of starvation in Gaza, the issue of Gilad Shalit’s family supporting the Israeli blockade, and the issue in general of the headache Israel has with the Hamas and Gaza, I have come up, at 5:30 am, with a few unconventional ideas.
None of this is anything I should take credit for. These are my 5:30 am thoughts, which are totally responsible for themselves. Nonetheless, some of these thoughts sounded reasonable.
First of all, in the background of all this is the fact that there are no Jews in Gaza. At least no functional communities. If there are Jews, they are captives like Gilad Shalit and possibly some Jewish women who I have heard of throughout the years who had become wives against their will to Arab men. I can’t verify this. In all actuality it is something out of my reach.
So getting back: here you have an entire ‘nation wannabe’ in Gaza with no Jews. Actually they demanded from Israel, and the world - in 2005 when they were granted Gaza - that all the Jews, every last one, vacate immediately; Jewish homes and synagogues be destroyed; and ancient Jewish cemeteries be relocated out of Gaza so they can make the beginning of their ‘Palestine’. I don’t know about anyone else, but in my view, the entire world watched and condoned this incredible ‘ethnic cleansing’ right before their eyes. It is remarkable to me that no one noticed what this actually was… ‘ethnic cleansing’ to the highest degree. The only thing missing were the usual dead bodies that often goes along with 'clinical ethnic cleansing’. In a lesser sense, this was a form of 'generic ethnic cleansing’; creating the same effect (clearing out another ethnic group) without the potency of murder. The results are identical.
In a remarkable website written by an Arab American journalist (Farah, J. 2003) I discovered last night that the Arabs love Israel. Not only is it good to them (they are granted citizenship, vote, have free health care, etc.) but there are 1.2 million of them and counting.
There is not one Jew in Gaza. Remember this. And, while the world watches, there are no plans to include or protect Jewish citizens in this ‘Palestine’ of theirs.
So, given this backdrop, they have Gaza without any Jews, and they have Gilad Shalit without any remorse or human rights intervention as to how he is being treated. Actually, yesterday I came across a remarkable piece of news by the Human Rights Watch organization claiming that Hamas’ detention of Gilad Shalit is cruel and inhuman (Human Rights Watch, June 25, 2010).
So, here we have a tiny country, Israel, who is willing to share its tiny piece of land with 1.2+ million Arabs, give them good things including citizenship, and put up with their hostilities and links to Hamas in Gaza; not one Jew in Gaza and no plans for Jews to live within the borders, or enjoy any degree of citizenship, in the newly proposed ‘Palestine’; cruel and inhuman treatment by Hamas towards our Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for the past four years; and a blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza that hopes to effectively bring about the release of a healthy Gilad, plus claims that there is starvation increasing in Gaza due to the blockade.
Here are my 5:30 AM thoughts on all of this, and my 5:30 AM solution. Take it for what it’s worth:
Since the Palestinians made such an issue about Gaza, and they publicly displayed, while the world watched, a rather severe form of 'generic ethnic cleansing’… why not give them back the same? If Gaza is the true beginning of their illustrious ‘Palestine’ and they like their entire ‘nation’ completely ‘judenrein’ (so to speak – I don’t know the other terms describing ‘cleaning out Jews’ but in all languages it means the same)…. Why not park all the Palestinians in Gaza? That would solve a lot of problems, particularly problems regarding how Jews treat the Palestinians in Israel. If there were no Palestinians in Israel, as there are no Jews in Gaza, this would not be an issue. Jews would not have to be blamed for mistreating their Arabs, and the Arabs can work on solving their own problems. It’s a win-win.
Another win –win that my 5:30 am brain came up with was about stopping the blockade. Considering all the Palestinians in Israel – and, mind you, this means all – if Israel cleaned out all the Arabs from Israel, as in the prisons, schools, factories, construction groups, sanitation departments, universities, hospitals … in other words, what they did to us in Gaza … not one left…. we wouldn’t need a blockade. The nations of the world would come to rescue Gaza… and this would create peace. Trust me, this would definitely create peace. More on that later…
So, to get back to this pristine place where we don’t have any Palestinians in Israel and they don’t have any Jews in Gaza …. We wouldn’t need a blockade. And we wouldn’t have to worry either. Because the world will be taking care of Gaza. I am getting a degree in public health, which is the same as getting a degree in human rights, and human rights workers want peace. Because they want to live. And they go en force to help out a struggling country. And they don’t want any Israeli rockets landing on them. So there will be peace… trust me.
There are lots of human rights workers and organizations and peace keepers in the world that are interested in creating a flourishing nation of ‘Palestine’. Even though this seems sinister, it is not… the human rights workers and human aid workers won’t let them fire rockets on Israel… because there are going to be lots of aids workers working on helping the Palestinians in Gaza and they don’t want to get hurt.
Trust me. This can work.
Plus, the world won’t be able to say that Israel is starving Palestinian children because all the world’s horses and all the world’s men will be rushing in to put the Palestinians back together again… and they will have lots of work ahead of them… and they will be very concerned about any weapons in Gaza because they will understand that if Gaza starts firing them on Israel then Israel will fire back and it won’t be a pretty picture, and all of their hard work will be ruined. The aids workers do not want this. Trust me. I am in a degree for public and global health. These people believe in peace. They don’t like blood. Things will be good.
So there you have it. No Jews in Gaza. No Arabs in Israel. No blockade. Israel can work on developing all her neighborhoods without worry about the Arabs being tossed out. Gaza and the world’s aid workers will work on building up the neighborhoods in Gaza, putting the Palestinians back together again with nice homes, schools, food, water, and sanitation and lots of good things.
The world will be in Gaza. It will be good.
And hopefully we will have Gilad home, healthy and safe long before this.
Let the world take care of Gaza. Israel needs to focus on being home.
I can finally go to sleep now. I am also fasting (Tisha B’Av and the Three Weeks). Today is the 17th of Tammuz and the beginning of the three weeks.
Let the world and the Palestinians have Gaza. Not to worry. It will be good.
P.S. Incredibly and amazingly, I just came across a blog called ‘Arabs for Israel’ (Arabs for Israel, 2010). I guess since viewing this wonderful site, my ideas of cleaning all Arabs out of Israel should be revised. Those who truly love Israel can stay!
References:
Farah, Joseph 2003: Why Arabs Love Israel/World Net Daily: retrieved from the web at: http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=31947
Human Rights Watch, June 25, 2010: Gaza: Allow Access to Gilad Shalit: retrieved from the web at: http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/06/25/gaza-allow-access-gilad-shalit
Tisha B’Av and the Three Weeks: Aish.com: retrieved from the web at: http://www.aish.com/h/9av/oal/48943446.html
Arabs for Israel, 2010: retrieved from the web at: http://arabsforisrael.blogspot.com/2009/02/who-are-we_09.html
Nonie Darwish: retrieved from the web at: http://nonie-darwish.blogspot.com/
Monday, June 28, 2010
Gilad Shalit
So here I am, reluctantly returning to my blog, after spending all morning reading articles and reports on the march that Gilad Shalit’s family has created in Israel.
My heart breaks for this family. I am crazy for my kids. I have three children. Two are in Israel. My daughter, 17 this august, is with me here in the states, but she drives. I am crazy for the safety of my kids. Even with prayers constantly asking the Almighty for His protection, I still worry constantly about them, about my boys in Israel, about my daughter driving . I am obsessed about their safety: has she really put her cell phone away in the car? does she remember about my no texting rule? and for my boys: do they know to be extra careful when walking in Jerusalem (Israel ranks very high in automobile accidents, G-d forbid) and where are they going for Shabbos … is the area safe?
I can’t even imagine Gilad’s family’s pain, not knowing where their son is, not knowing what he has had to endure the past four years at the hands of those demons… if he has been hurt, if he is still alive….
To prevent myself for becoming a further annoyance on the many news reports I visited, and through the many comments I posted, I am reluctantly using my blog to vent. Maybe I should have done this in the first place.
The first comment I posted was that we should give Hamas two months to give us back Gilad, at which time we would transport all the Arabs in Israel to Gaza if he wasn’t returned as a healthy young man:
“these people only know how to play dirty .... like (their demands for) hundreds of Palestinian terrorist prisoners in exchange for one IDF soldier... i don't even know what their specific demands are now .... but even hundreds to one is bizarre .... why doesn't Israel call the shots first ... like return Shalit in good health immediately or we are throwing all the Arabs out of Israel... period.. give them a time frame ...like two months …. Let them squirm …. Israel has lots of soldiers, but they have forgotten how to fight ….Let the fact that Gilad Shalit has not been returned yet make them suffer …. evict all of the Arabs in Israel to Gaza …. An additional million-plus Arabs crammed into Gaza within the next two months? … that should do it…Let them really feel it…”
… but then the urgency of this made me realize that this is a young man’s life at stake here …. Two months can be an eternity for him and his family. So I changed it to two weeks:
“Hamas only knows how to play dirty .... like hundreds of Palestinian terrorists in exchange for one Israeli soldier?... i don't even know what their specific demands are now .... but even hundreds to one is bizarre .... why doesn't Israel call the shots first ... like return Gilad Shalit in good health immediately or we are throwing all the Arabs out of Israel and into Gaza.... period .... give them a time frame ...like two weeks …. Let them squirm …. Israel has lots of soldiers, but they have forgotten how to fight ….Let the fact that Shalit has not been returned yet make them suffer …. evict all of the Arabs in Israel and cram them into Gaza …. How about an additional million-plus Arabs crammed into Gaza within the next two weeks? … that should do it…Let them really feel it….”
And that is how I feel. I don’t want the Israeli government to hate me. I hope to make aliyah within the next two years (please G-d). I don’t want to criticize what they are doing. But there comes a time when you have to stop responding with kindness to evil. These Hamas people are evil. They are pure evil. And the Israeli government has given them nothing but kindness throughout all these years. So I feel enough is enough. I don’t want the Israeli government to think I am an instigator or something like that. I don’t believe in war. I know that there are Palestinian mothers who love their children and don’t want anything bad to happen to them ... just like Jewish mothers love their children and don’t want anything bad to happen. But there comes a time when it’s either them or us. When we can’t continue swallowing all this dirt. Hamas is responsible for the people in Gaza. They have appointed themselves as the spokespeople for the Palestinians. So there it is. If they have put their people in danger, what can we do? We cannot have our young men captured just to avoid retaliation. We have to take a stand.
I feel that since they have made such an issue of Gaza (they cleared out all the Jews in 2005 so it could be the beginning of their ‘Palestine ’) we should park all the Palestinians there… let it be theirs …. All theirs…just as there is no Jew in Gaza …. Israel should give them back what they’ve given us …. give them all their Palestinians back to Gaza … prisoners, homeowners, students, mothers, fathers…..everyone who is Palestinian …. Give them all back …. If they don’t give us back our soldiers ….we can’t keep returning kindness for evil…Let them get everyone they ever wanted …. Right back in Gaza… totally…..
Sunday, June 27, 2010
my thoughts on the Immanuel issue in Israel
after a few sleepless nights sounding off my thoughts on the Immanuel affair in Israel to countless online discussion boards and talkbacks, i am finally taking my own advice and putting all this down on a blog. ... somehow, i got involved in all of this because i have two boys currently in yeshiva in Israel ... and the original demonstration was held right outside the front door of my middle son's yeshiva .... while my older son actually went on the demonstration... so what else can i do but be involved .... i'm the mom...
so... these were the issues: in Immanuel, two girl's schools, one Hareidi, the other Sephardic.... a parent from the Sephardic girls school complained that the Hareidi girls school was discriminatory towards the Sephardic girls, first by building a dividing wall between the Hareidi daughters and the Sephardic daughters... and then by moving out of the building altogether ... the reason was that the Sephardic girls and families practiced a lower level of observance ....
the Sephardic parent took these complaints to the Shas party, which is part of the Knesset... from there, this whole issue somehow got turned over to the secular court ... which then pressed charges against the Hareidi parents who withdrew their girls ... accused them of 'racism' and placed prison sentences on 67 Hareidi parents for not returning their girls to the Sephardic girls school ...
the newest update - after almost 10 days - Boruch Ha-Shem! - is that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Slonim Rabbi have agreed on a deal.... and hopefully resolved the entire issue without having the parents continue their prison sentences. a link to this is here: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/immanuel-parents-in-israel-today-it-s-the-rabbis-who-decide-not-the-courts-1.298550?localLinksEnabled=false
over the course of the past week, the entire affair affected me so much that there were nights i couldn't sleep. here is what i posted today (on http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/immanuel-parents-in-israel-today-it-s-the-rabbis-who-decide-not-the-courts-1.298550?localLinksEnabled=false) to voice my relief at the compromise: "Boruch Ha-Shem! G-d bless Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Slonim Rabbi, and may their efforts to create peace and harmony among all Jews, regardless of their 'temporary galut nationality', be blessed"...
and here is a previous post about my thoughts on the controversy in general... before today's agreement: "in view of the upcoming three weeks...i just want to remind us all that this Sephardic/Ashkenazi issue is a mere 2000 years old at most …. all of these new “Jewish nationalities’ occurred during this current Diaspora...
during the first golus, we all went down to Babylon, which is in Iraq … which (ironically) would have made the entire Jewish nation ‘Sephardic’…
prior to this current golus there weren’t any of these current ‘Jewish nationalities’ ….. there wasn’t a Sephardic or an Ashkenazi in sight …
Jews haven’t gotten along for way longer than the current golus …. actually the reason we got into this current golus in the first place was directly the result of maklokos… sinus chinum… and loshon hora ….in other words: a lack of loyalty and camaraderie … a lack of ‘brotherly love’…
and what were our excuses then?"...
wishing everyone an easy three weeks... and an easy fast .... and may Ha-Shem turn the mourning of this, our final three weeks and Tish B'Av, into rejoicing and overwhelming joy with this year's arrival of Moshiach .... amen...
so... these were the issues: in Immanuel, two girl's schools, one Hareidi, the other Sephardic.... a parent from the Sephardic girls school complained that the Hareidi girls school was discriminatory towards the Sephardic girls, first by building a dividing wall between the Hareidi daughters and the Sephardic daughters... and then by moving out of the building altogether ... the reason was that the Sephardic girls and families practiced a lower level of observance ....
the Sephardic parent took these complaints to the Shas party, which is part of the Knesset... from there, this whole issue somehow got turned over to the secular court ... which then pressed charges against the Hareidi parents who withdrew their girls ... accused them of 'racism' and placed prison sentences on 67 Hareidi parents for not returning their girls to the Sephardic girls school ...
the newest update - after almost 10 days - Boruch Ha-Shem! - is that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Slonim Rabbi have agreed on a deal.... and hopefully resolved the entire issue without having the parents continue their prison sentences. a link to this is here: http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/immanuel-parents-in-israel-today-it-s-the-rabbis-who-decide-not-the-courts-1.298550?localLinksEnabled=false
over the course of the past week, the entire affair affected me so much that there were nights i couldn't sleep. here is what i posted today (on http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/immanuel-parents-in-israel-today-it-s-the-rabbis-who-decide-not-the-courts-1.298550?localLinksEnabled=false) to voice my relief at the compromise: "Boruch Ha-Shem! G-d bless Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the Slonim Rabbi, and may their efforts to create peace and harmony among all Jews, regardless of their 'temporary galut nationality', be blessed"...
and here is a previous post about my thoughts on the controversy in general... before today's agreement: "in view of the upcoming three weeks...i just want to remind us all that this Sephardic/Ashkenazi issue is a mere 2000 years old at most …. all of these new “Jewish nationalities’ occurred during this current Diaspora...
during the first golus, we all went down to Babylon, which is in Iraq … which (ironically) would have made the entire Jewish nation ‘Sephardic’…
prior to this current golus there weren’t any of these current ‘Jewish nationalities’ ….. there wasn’t a Sephardic or an Ashkenazi in sight …
Jews haven’t gotten along for way longer than the current golus …. actually the reason we got into this current golus in the first place was directly the result of maklokos… sinus chinum… and loshon hora ….in other words: a lack of loyalty and camaraderie … a lack of ‘brotherly love’…
and what were our excuses then?"...
wishing everyone an easy three weeks... and an easy fast .... and may Ha-Shem turn the mourning of this, our final three weeks and Tish B'Av, into rejoicing and overwhelming joy with this year's arrival of Moshiach .... amen...
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