For God’s Sake!

I generally take the aspersion, “self-hating Jew” as a sign my opinions accurately express the moral turpitude of the Palestinian Occupation. Those who may be familiar with my blogs, or writing in other formats, know I am a long-time outspoken and harsh critic of  Israel’s tilt toward a Jewish supremacy ideology. Early on, when it led to Zionism’s transformation under the aegis of Rav Kook, the younger, in 1973, through the Gush Emunim Movement into a messianic call to claim the West Bank as Judea and Samaria, inaugurating the rapacious and rampaging Settler theft of Palestinian land and dignity–I spoke out.

I did so not only because I felt a political difference between me and the expansionist Jews. No, it was something I can only describe as a far different species of separation. I felt a rift between me and them caused by embarrassment that the Palestinian moderates–and yes, they are a subsuming majority–could see me as the same as those theo-messianic fanatics who believed God had given them the go-ahead to steal their land and heritage. With every fiber of my being I wanted the Palestinians–those who genuinely accepted the return of Jews to our ancient homeland–to know I wasn’t like the Jews twisting Torah to suit their self-deifying agendas. I was not somebody who would ever want to occupy their land–and I’d do what I could to stop any government from trying.

That is why I am writing this. Today is one of awful sadness. First, my People have been sought out by predatory beasts in the guise of humans and subjected to terror and torture, to face-to-face murder of whole families, to mowed down teens and young people whose dance steps turned to a race for what would be eternity, as bullets overcame them, and only trails of blood traced the joy they would never again know.

But, I thought, surely, my Palestinian friends (and I do mean friends) would grasp the likelihood Hamas had done this to prevent a Saudi deal with Israel–one to vastly alter the circumstances of the West Bank. And, everybody, most of all the West Bank moderates are cognizant that Hamas is their enemy as much as is Israel. Just look at what they have done in Gaza, ruling the 2,000,000 non-Hamas inhabitants with an iron fist.

How long would I wait to hear that a Hamas-sympathizer had called one of my Palestinian friends a “self-hating Palestinian” for declaring, “We are not Hamas! We are not like them! They do not speak or act for us! They are not our resistance movement!”

Disheartened, I now find myself asking, how long will I have to wait to receive a call from my Palestinian friends saying, “I am embarrassed that anybody could think that I am like them!”

Instead, across the board, the response of all Palestinians has been to mouth modified rationales, distilled justifications, balancing the Hamas violence against Israel’s ongoing “war crimes.”

To my Palestinian friends, here’s my message: If I have the guts to be called a self-hating Jew for standing up for your rights, and speaking out to defend you against atrocities; if I am embarrassed by those among my own People when they act like God has given them the supreme right to rule over you–then you should have the same courage. Get f..cking embarrassed. Be proud to be called a self-hating Palestinian by Hamas. And say so! Stop the balancing act. Stop making them your idea of a resistance movement. Here is just a small excerpt from the tirade of hate to which every member of Hamas swears an oath:

“Nevertheless the Islamic Resistance Movement aspires to bring the promise of Allah to pass, no matter how long it takes. As the prophet [Muhammad], may the prayer of Allah and his blessing of peace be upon him, said: “The time [Judgment Day] will not come until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them and until the Jew hides behind the rocks and trees, and [then] the rocks and trees will say: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew hiding [behind me], come and kill him.”  

B’nai Ishmael, b’nai dodi…ayfo atem?

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The author’s most recent book, “The Case Against the Gospels’ False Accusation of the Jews,” is available on Amazon and other retail outlets.