TIME FOR A CHANGE ...

... In Israel.

Not this

It's easy to fall into the trap of opinions becoming entrenched beliefs. What I mean from that is that opinions usually don't arise from a vacuum but are distilled from influences over a period of time. These influences can be family, school teaching, social interaction, reading and media - mainstream, alternative and social - to name a few and are fine-tuned by the individual's financial, political, racial, demographic and even geographic identity.

We often don't set out to be reactionary, socialist, leftist, right-wing or even anarchic but are conditioned this way. I like to think of myself as a realist (not an atheist or a deist) and a socialist-leaning person driven by a sense of fairness based on conscience and ethics. I owe this to my family, my education, my social positioning and my reading and media watching which, influenced by my family, my education, my social positioning and my reading means that I try and get a feel of opinions from all sides and don't close my mind off to alternative beliefs, theories and opinions (I renounced Catholicism and religion when I was about 12). Yes it is a circular system but it is what it is.

So as not to bore you with all of my beliefs, confusions and other subjective attitudes I'll just pick one that is not only topical but one that has been nagging at me for many years. This is Israel.

Modern Israel is, like the USA I guess, a modern 'experiment' that didn't evolve but was created as a final result of centuries of antisemitism driven by both Christianity and State repression which culminated in the Holocaust. It's creation, largely artificial, produced a nation, which brought with it internally, protectionism and, from outside, an overwhelming sense of guilt and the necessity for atonement.  That was then, post WW2 but now, if Israel wants to continue to receive world-wide support (outside of the Arab countries) it needs to abide by the same rules that govern any other nations. Amongst these rules are a ban on racism and marginalising populations based on ethnicity, religion and culture. Sure it's an ideal but Israel, as a Jewish state should understand this more than any other nation and should not promote an alternative form of racism that's as bad as anti semitism. Unfortunately this is happening in Gaza.

Judaism is more a culture rather than a nation as Jews worldwide are of diverse countries and languages but share a cultural and religious heritage. In Israel, where this is concentrated there has developed an anti arabic movement that, while not yet as vicious as anti semitism nonetheless is dangerous and a major influence on Israeli politics and military aggression.

I don't wish to in any way denigrate the suffering that Jewish people have endured for centuries under anti-semitic laws, policies and actions by many, many countries nor to trivialise the Holocaust but, Israel and modern Judaism need to stop playing that card and to embrace inclusivity in Israel, in Palestine and in The Middle East generally. Someone has to and, coming from a position of absolute oppression, peace and reconciliation initiatives sponsored by Israel will carry more weight.

"Past victims of racism have more reason than most to avoid being present perpetrators of racism."

        Keith Rankin