My parents were Jewish (I'm an atheist), but I was so concerned about the massacre in Gaza that despite being low income, I donated $50 to freegaza.org for their relief boat to Gaza, the Dignity. I had no idea that Cynthia McKinney would be aboard or that Israel would ram and try to sink the boat. (Click the link in the previous sentence to read the story.)
Well, I guess it is understandable, as McKinney is no longer a Democrat and no longer has unwavering support for Israel, right or wrong. But I donated that money in memory of my beloved grandmother, Feigele Steinkritz, who was deeply dedicated to human rights and taught me to care also.
Do I really think that Israel hates me personally just because I'm opposed to the massacre in Gaza?
Yes, I do.
What Israel is doing is totally out of proportion to any dangers they may face due to their occupation and inhumane repression of the Palestinians.
I think they're fanatics, like my brother, an illegal settler in the West Bank who, along with his second Christian wife, converted to Orthodox Judaism for the free housing and subsidies.
I think they're racists, like my parents, who said the Yiddish word for black exactly the same way a racist says the n-word.
Here's the email (reprinted with permission) that I got from Mary at freegaza.org when I wrote to apologize for not being able to donate more:
Dearest Mark,
Thanks for the lovely comments. I too am a senior citizen, on limited income, so what I try to give to the Palestinians is my time and effort. I was proud to be on the first boat, the FREE GAZA, in August, and I am delighted to be making my third trip to Cyprus to organize sending more boats. What amazes me most of all is the many young people who are eager to risk their safety, their lives and their future to jump aboard these boats, while constantly being threatened with violence by the Israeli Navy.
These brave youngsters are my inspiration and my hope for the future of Gaza and Palestine, though I will not myself live to see peace, I fear.
Best regards,
Mary
Israel stopped caring about world opinion when they hitched their star to that of the U.S., which also cares nothing for world opinion. Countless U.N. resolutions have gained approval from every country in the world except for the U.S. (and a few small, totally dependent islands) and Israel.
I think the best thing that could happen to the world right now would be for the U.S. economy to collapse and the dollar to devalue completely.
Maybe if we can't afford to continue the violence, we'd stop. I know that our usual allies, Canada, Australia, and England, have been hit too hard from our voodoo economic Ponzi schemes to bail us out.
And nobody else would want to.
I don't want to return the hate, but whereas when I was young I used to donate to the United Jewish Appeal, now I donate to the United Palestinian Appeal
It took a lot of violence and oppression to turn me around like that, but those are things that Israel seems to have in great surplus.