Sunday, March 2, 2008

Gaza, the right of return, and Noam Chomsky (Keywords rock, huh?)

So everyone hates Israel now. What's new? The people who have been persecuted for thousands of years are now being persecuting others. How horrific. Almost makes you want to join the Neturei Karta or something, huh? What's my justification for continuing to support the Zionist entity?
I don't really know if I have one. I don't really know if I need one. The Rebbe often said that it would be better for everyone, Jew and Arab alike, if Israel would just set its borders, stick to 'em, and make sure that everyone knew that its official policy would now be a no-nonsense one. Will this ever happen? I'm not going to say it's impossible, chiefly because my voice-recognition software isn't functioning too well today, but it sure ain't happening anytime soon.
And as Jews in America, what do we do? Is it really justified force when the IDF kills 70 natives just because one Israeli died? Is it more morally reprehensible to murder a father of four than a mother of two? Is not all human life sacred?
The answer, of course, is that not only is my blood redder than yours, but that saying, or even thinking something like that makes you sound like a Nazi. And what was wrong with the Nazis anyway? All right, so they killed six million Jews, and a whole heck of a lot of other people. And they're all burning eternally in the fiery pits of the damned regions that were previously inhabited by Cossacks, Benedictine Monks, and wine reviewers? Did they even have wine reviewers back in the day? Probably. Point is, as someone who's been reading Noam Chomsky's formative anti-semitic writing lately, the question certainly poses itself.
If we do accept the basic premise that we're a bunch of heartless genocidalists, and that we've finally found something good to write about, what will we do about it? Will we live with this hypocrisy, and urinate on those who fought to end all wars, or should we do something about it? When the Jews failed miserably to wipe out the seven Caananite tribes, were there any bleeding heart liberals who were happy? Are (by now presumably dead) blood-less liberals ever happy? Fine, so even I know that dead men rarely interrupt their turning over in their graves to smile, but how about their still living, if fading fast, compatriots? Have you ever seen Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama smile? Have you ever seen them tell the truth?
The same questions could of course be asked of John Mccain and Mike Huckabee, not to mention any and every single person on G-d's green earth, but right now I'm trying to avoid existentialism and focus instead on the here and now, not the then and there. Is paradise achievable? Will our children grow up in a world with only the most basic rudiments of common sense and ozone?
As the great Ira Heller would say, "We are all Ohel's children." We all have responsibility. Where exactly that extends is anyone's guess.
How many cliches would it take to resurrect a badly-written article? What we really need is someone to stand up and say, "It's my fault." The last guy who did that crucified. Oh, sorry, I'm confusing the guy whose followers claim resurrection for the other guy, the one who never existed but still wrote some pretty smart things, quite unlike those that I'm exposing you too.
At the end of the day...G-d did say to wipe out the Amalekites. So let's get cracking. (Skulls I mean). Sound like fun?

2 comments:

e said...

Too many questions and not enough answers. Your point (if you had one) completely flew over my head. I can't be bothered to read it again carefully, because I'm not certain that there is any great wisdom waiting to be discovered in your question mark-riddled lines.

Just like a guy said...

Oh, a point he wants? Listen, is your blood any better than another's?