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April 19, 2005
Because Mac hasn't ranted in a while...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/19/international/middleeast/19westbank.html
I love the Jews.
Yes, the Palestinians have some legitimate gripes. And no, Israel should not be immune from legitimate criticism.
But still, I love the Jews.
Just try and wrap your mind around the entirety of Jewish history. Just try. Since the beginning of recorded history, no people have been as universally loathed, as hated, as despised as the Jews.
They have faced famine, pestilence, war so many times over that it should have killed them thousands of years ago.
And yet, the Jews survive.
Through pogroms, exiles, forced conversions, inquisitions, Holocausts, not only have the Jewish people survived, they've flourished.
The Persians, the Babylonians, the Romans, the czars, the Inquisitors, they've all faded away into the pages of history.
And yet, the Jews survive.
After all of it, all of the pain, all of the agony, this extraordinary group of people managed, one day, to finally end next year in Jerusalem. They had their state, in a harsh and unforgiving climate, surrounded by a dozen larger, more powerful nations, all anxious to see the death of the new Israel.
But this state, born the child of Death and War, became an oasis in the desert. A real oasis in an actual desert, yes, but more than that, Israel became an island of free thought and tolerance in an ocean of brutal repression.
If there is one group of people on Earth who has earned the right to be bitter, hateful, murderous thugs, it is the Jews. After the horrors of the past, one would have expected this new Israel to be a police state, a militaristic state with imperial ambitions.
But instead of indulging in the hate she had so rightfully earned, Israel turned to compassion. This is the country that took in the survivors of Beslan, treated them with love and sympathy. Why? Because if anyone understands the pain that comes from terrorism, it is the Israelis.
I love the Jews.
-Andrew, guest poster
Posted by at April 19, 2005 04:46 PM
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Comments
Thanks, dude. Things were looking awful about 3 years ago in Israel, but now it appears to be more like the usual "yeah, it's kinda bad, but it could be worse."
Posted by: Haggai at April 21, 2005 11:08 AM
The is a very good book about the Jews called "Jews, God, & History". It is remarkable what the Jews have gone through and survived. Very compelling reading.
Posted by: seawitch1261 at April 21, 2005 12:36 PM