It's not easy to write this on Daily Kos. You see, I'm reading many diaries these days with one hand over my eyes.
I am a Jew.
I am horrified. We are all shocked by what we see going on in the Middle East.
But would you listen for one moment as I attempt to explain what it means to be a Jew watching these ghastly events unfold around the world?
Could you crawl inside the skin of a Jew, just to read this?
May I state without equivocation that this is not some blanket support of Israel diary--it isn't.
I recognize though with every passing day, sentiment around here and thoughout the United States is going to remain perilous for Israel.
So may I offer as a Kossack, my own deeply inadequate response to what I sense is happening, through the prism of my own American Jewish experience?
First, imagine for a moment, how out-of-whack everything is when I hear extremist Republicans embracing Israel. Do you think nyceve could possibly welcome such an event? It hurts, dear friends that these depraved souls are always among the first to step up and champion the right of Israel to exist whenever it is threatened.
That Israel is aligned with the people I most despise forces me to recognize that Jews are at best tolerated, mostly unwanted by pretty much everyone--except that is, Christian evangelicals who voice support for their own misguided and nefarious reasons.
This sad reality is still true many years after eight million were murdered. Anti-semitism is flourishing throughout the world. We escape the sting of it in the United States. But to deny its existence and that American Jews are blessed to live in a country that still treats us with relative decency, is to ignore the obvious
I live in New York, a city where I don't feel as if I need to conceal my identity. But when I leave New York--an hour in any direction, even in the United States of America--I often recognize that though I am an American, being openly Jewish might engender an unwelcome encounter
My last name is unambiguous. My last name is the Jewish equivalent of O'Brien. I am comfortable living with this name in big cities like New York and Los Angeles. I wouldn't feel so comfortable with such a name in large swathes of America.
This is a fact, dear friends. Or at least this is fact as I see it. Why do you think so many Jews change their last names? It is because they want to blend in, they want to remove any vestiges of their often unwelcome ethnic identity.
It's even more difficult to be Jewish on Daily Kos these days because opinion is clearly running against Israel. But that's okay, I love this place. I love that we speak openly here, that's why I decided to write this inarticulate diary. In truth, I'm not the right person to be writing this because what is playing out is so terribly complex. I don't understand all that is going on, so all I can contribute is a simple explanation from my heart about how an assimilated American Jew views the world.
I'd like to tell myself that the survival of Israel is not relevant in my life. But this wouldn't be true. I'd like to believe that I can divorce myself from my historic identity--but I cannot. This is why I know that as much as I try, I must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel and pray that Israel will be victorious but never cede the moral high ground. And as I write these words, I recognize just this thought alone will enrage many of you. You will likely repond, Israel ceded the moral high ground years ago with its inhumane treatment of the Palestinians. All I can answer is, yes,yes, this is true.
For American Jews, the United States is our refuge. When I say "our" of course I mean as an American Jew I feel reasonably safe here. America is my home--today. I don't know how shifting public opinion will impact my welcome here tomorrow. Crawl inside my skin for another moment, and understand that though many of us are too young to know an America that was unwelcoming to Jews that day could still come.
I submit to you that many Jews will be uncomfortable with what I am writing because it forces us to confront what it means to be a "guest" in America.
I believe as a Jew, and of course I am speaking for myself, that I am a "guest" in America. As long as things are okay, so am I. But when events get ugly as they are today, then I must pray that the better side of humanity will prevail and the world will be kind to us.
If it isn't, I tell myself that as long as Israel exists, a country the size of New Jersey--I will have a safe haven, a refuge, if necessary.
I'd like to deny it, but I know my destiny is linked to the survival of Israel. When an El El 747 touches down at Ben Gurion Airport, the tradition is for the cabin to be filled with the plaintive, mournful sound of the Israeli national anthem. Even, nyceve, a very assimilated American Jew, sheds a tear or two when I hear that music and I am reminded of our terrible history.
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