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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Re: "From the Midwest to the Middle East"
Wednesday 20 August @ 12:21:16 |
 In response to letterwriters Polly Mann and Liza Burr (8/6/03), first and foremost, I must ask how a peace activist and WAMM co-founder can support the ISM, a Palestinian-led organization which advocates violence as a legitimate means of revolution. It has been my experience that Polly ardently opposes all violence—except, it seems, violence against Jews/Israelis.
Sorry Polly, but a “suicide bomber” is not defined “as someone whose father is powerless.” As a college educator in psychology, including teaching courses on the Psychology of War, I counter that a suicide/homicide bomber is someone who has been taught to do just that. Palestinian textbooks continue to inculcate children in hate and their society teaches the acceptability and glorification of violence against Jews. In America and around the globe, there are many whose fathers (if they have them) are powerless, but they aren’t running about blowing themselves up to murder others. What part of pathological behavior does this woman not get?
As for Polly’s take on history? In 1967, Egypt’s Nasser closed the straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping—an act of war. This was accompanied by bellicose threats and amassing of the Egyptian, Syrian and Jordanian militaries along Israel’s borders. In some minds war begins only when the shooting begins. Not so. Polly’s use of a quote by Menachim Begin is out of context; yes, Israel had a choice in how to respond to Egypt’s acts of aggression, and she chose to defend herself.
In rattling off confusing statistics about how much land Palestinians were offered at Oslo, Polly omits Jordan (and the Trans-Jordan) and all the other Arab nations from the equation of who got what land and when. The important point is that Arabs/Palestinians have repeatedly been offered the vast majority of their demands in exchange for peace but choose instead to war. Israelis don’t want to war. Palestinians do. And peace activist Polly supports which side?
As for Palestine Polly’s take on fairness and justice, “ALL Jewish settlements in the Occupied Territories are illegal and should be vacated.” Let’s see if I’ve got this straight … No Jews should be allowed to live on any land claimed by Arabs and all Arabs must be granted full and equal citizenship rights to live in the Jewish state, which they have sworn to annihilate. Right?
Of course Israelis “discriminate” against Arabs at army checkpoints. It’s the Arabs who are murdering them. That’s not “racism” as Polly calls it, that’s reality. And while both Arabs and Jews are Semitic peoples —our common ancestor being Abraham—the term “anti-Semite” was coined in Europe in reference to Jews not Arabs. Polly plays semantic games stating Palestinians are not “anti-Semitic.” Call it what she will, Arabs/Palestinians are still anti-Jewish.
And unfortunately so is Polly and most of the Twin Cities’ “peace” groups and their affiliate churches by their adamant refusals to have a balanced dialogue that includes Jewish/Israeli points of view that do not agree with their tightly held pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel beliefs, a dialogue of sorts now taking place on these pages.
Polly states my life and views might change if I were to spend a month or so risking my life to run interference for the Palestinians via ISM. Likewise, I suggest Polly’s life and views might change if she were to spend a month or so living amongst Jews in Israel, or even just learning about Jews from those of us who live here—and not just from the token few who agree with her point of view, her disclaimer to not being “anti-Jewish” just “anti-Israel.” Ironically, the fact that local peace activists expect war-ravaged Jews and Arabs to work out their differences, yet cannot figure out how to make peace with their Jewish friends in their own community, says this is about a lot more than Israel/Palestine and Arab vs. Jew.
Polly’s concluding comments comparing the majority of Israeli citizens to “good Germans” is most offensive and was probably intended to be, even if just repeating what was heard from someone else. Analogies to the Holocaust regarding the treatment of Palestinians by Israelis is most disturbing and demonstrates the depth of ignorance and disregard for cultural sensitivity. Like Rep. Arlon Lindner, Polly Mann just doesn’t get it.
Truth cannot be found if people only avail themselves to part of the information. Somewhere between the far left and the far right is the truth, but truth cannot be found until the local “peace and justice” community gets beyond their own pre-existing prejudices and invites open and honest debate.
Cheryl Lewis Fields
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