Thursday, September 18, 2014
Amy Goodman: A venerable Jewish voice for peace
After reading the handout given in class, write a response to the article by Amy Goodman. In her article, Rabbi Henry Siegman, president of the US/Middle East Project, offered a more tolerant approach to the Palestinian and Israeli conflict than many other Israeli thinkers and politicians. Siegman believes that the current assault on Gaza (Palestinians living in Gaza area of Israel) "is disastrous." You many approach this article in a variety of ways. Defend it. Criticize it. Or take a quotation from the article in which to respond. This blog should reflect your own thoughts - not those of any other person. Blogs should be two pages in length.
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What are the solutions to such a problem? At this point, Palestine is forcing Israel to kill their children or surrender. The only solution to war is peace. We need peace to overcome these problems that are causing humanity to go insane. A former leader by the name of Golda Meir made statement that said, "We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we can never forgive them for forcing us to kill their children." This statement, even though it was made many years ago, speaks with so much meaning to this day. It is not fair at all for the people of Palestine to force Israel to feel the guilt. The guilt is weighing them down so much that most of the people do not even know how to handle the situation.
ReplyDeleteHenry Siegman's father was a Zionist movement leader who wanted a homeland. Going against his fathers wishes of having a land of their own, Siegman suggested to leave for peace. As long as they are not killing the children of the enemies, nothing mattered to him. I do think that it is bad to kill innocent children, for one should not stereotype a group of individuals, but in a situation as hard as this, protection of my own would be my priority. Stereotyping without noticing is something that I would do in this predicament.
Life is hard and it is not fair. People will judge others daily, and somebody is bound to not get along with another. I do not understand this world completely, nor does anybody else, but as long as someone is living a good life, there is hope. Peace is a hard subject when one cannot even get along with his or her neighbors. When taking a look at it on a bigger scale, the problems are shown where they are more frequent. In these situations, there is not much that anyone can do to bring things back together, especially when the problems are rooted as far back as these. I do not agree or disagree with Israel's ideas. It is wrong to kill, but when you are being killed, all that you can do is wait.
Grace, I agree with you that it is bad to kill innocent children. But people also need to realize that they don't have to do this. The Palestinians may be a little greedy with their demands, but they just don't wan to end up like the Jewish people before them did. (Alone. Tortured. Dead.) Of course they will want to fight for their rights, and push the envelope as far as they can. I don't blame them for this. The people could handle the situation by attempting to do things peacefully and fully listening to the demands of the Palestinians. Perhaps all they really want is to be heard. They don't enjoy the bloodshed of their 1,300 people either. As all the people in the country wait for things to be resolved, I believe that Americans could be trying to help them and encourage our country to stop sending weapons over. At least if we do this, we won't be like the non- Jews of the Holocaust who just pretended to be ignorant of the genocide and turmoil.
Delete"I always thought that the important lesson of the Holocaust is not that there is evil, that there are evil people in this world that could do the most unimaginably cruel things. That was not the great lesson of the Holocaust. The great lesson of the Holocaust is that decent, cultured people, people we would otherwise consider good people, can allow such evil to prevail, that the German public -- these were not monsters, but it was OK with them that the Nazi machine did what it did."
ReplyDeleteThese words of Henry Siegman reflect the lessons he learned as he ran across the globe from the Nazi machine. His family was Jewish, and they ran in order to survive. The Nazis were killing every Jew they found in brutal, inhumane ways. If they had been caught, they would have been subject to the torture the Nazis had prepared for anyone who did not fit into their mold of perfection. The horror of the Holocaust lead Siegman to understand the true meaning of evil.
His initial understanding was that the evil in the world was not what was dreadful. What was truly terrible was that there were people in the world who could do evil things. Evil itself is simply immorality; it cannot hurt anyone in and of itself. When people use evil means in their actions, evil can hurt others. This evil can manifest itself as stealing, lying, torturing, or killing. These behaviors harm their recipient, causing pain of both the body and spirit. When evil is simply a concept, no one is damaged because there is no evil doing.
The Nazi machine employed evil. The prominent leaders issued orders that would destroy thousands of lives, pulling apart families and sentencing each person to their own form of torture. Nazis worked men to death in the internment camps set up all over Europe. Women and children were gassed and buried in mass graves. Others were experimented upon, in ways that would horrify even those with the strongest of nerves. Families were separated from each other, and often died without knowing what happened to their loved ones. Those who were not captured hid or fled. Families in hiding lived in constant fear of discovery, as did the families that hid them. Only when they were beyond the long reach of the Nazi machine did any fugitive feel some measure of safety. The people who could ruin their lives no longer had the power to end them.
In the face of the mass destruction of humanity executed by the Nazis, it is easy to forget that they were not entirely to blame. Before Hitler revealed the Final Solution, he was welcomed by the countries he invaded. His passion lent him an air of certainty and conviction that was not often seen during that time period. The promises of an economic turnaround and reparations for the damages incurred during World War I made him a popular figure among the destitute of Europe. He had established himself wholly into the lives of the ordinary citizens before his Solution was put into practice.
When the genocide of the Jews began, no one spoke out. The free Germans and other civilians in subjugated nations turned their back on the Jews, thinking only of their own survival. They allowed the government that had deceived them to fully establish itself with no resistance. When they could have fought, they submitted. This is what Siegman calls the "great lesson of the Holocaust." The people who knew better, who could have provided a better change and prevented a worse one, let the evil take root and grow.
Siegman's realization is profound. By turning the blame from the Nazis to the general public, he takes a strong stance of the responsibilities of the people. The people are what gives a government power. Alan Moore once said "People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people." When the people accept a government, the ruling body has the power to change lives and take control for the good of the nation. If the government makes too many wrong decisions, the people can do away with it. Leaders who take drastic measures should be careful that the people agree with their methods. Everyone has boundaries that limit how far they are willing to compromise their morals before they feel obligated to speak out. When the majority feel that their morals have been compromised, they rise up against their rulers.
ReplyDeleteThis same concept should be employed by those who are fighting in the Gaza Strip. Children and innocent civilians are dying in droves, but the people have not decided it must end. Palestine and Israel continue to fight, and continue to lose their morality. The massacre will continue until more voices join Henry Siegman's, and each side realizes the atrocities they are committing. Hindsight reveals that the end will not justify these evils in any regard. In Nazi-controlled Europe, the people could have overthrown their oppressors. Lives would have been lost, but more could have been saved. The people would have saved themselves from immeasurable sorrow by preventing the calamity from happening. To prevent an extreme loss of morality and control from occurring once more, those with the power to stop evil need to be told that it is finished before it becomes too late.
I agree with this. Rabbi Henry is only speaking from his experience, as he knows what the result of mass bloodshed can do. I think that this could have been resolved peacefully, and I hope it is soon. Majority does rise up against the rulers when their morality has been compromised, and rightfully so. But America as a country that is represented in liberty and freedom should be encouraging the stopping of this instead of supplying weapons. I think that we have become just like the countries that supported Nazi Germany. The sad part of it is, America is supposed to be that country that is full of confidence and conviction, but I feel that as time goes on, we are regressing to become the opposite.
DeleteThe entire excerpt by Henry Siegman brings a whole new light to evil, and what truly defines it. I especially liked how you said "When evil is simply a concept, no one is damaged because there is no evil doing." This is an excellent point that explains the need for there to be an initial force, something or someone that brings about evil as a result of a selfish motive. Evil itself does not cause pain, but rather it is the evil people, invited only by those who refuse to stop them. Likewise, goodness as a concept does not bring people satisfaction. There must be someone who brings about this goodness to contradict the evil that brings about so much pain. When reflecting on the conflicts occurring in the Gaza Strip, this can be a simple solution. If America was to discontinue their supplying of weapons, and a better compromise were to be proposed, perhaps this initial sense of proposed goodness could end up leading to the end of the conflict.
Delete“No country and no people would live the way the Gazans have been made to live…our media rarely ever points out that these are people that have a right to live a decent, normal life too. And they, too must think , What can we do to put an end to this?” Rabbi Henry Siegman does something in this article that very few newscasters or people ever do when judging turmoil in other nations: he tries to put himself in the citizens’ shoes. He represents himself as an “ardent Zionist.” Zionism is a belief rooted in the fact that the Jewish people should have their own piece of land where they are free to worship as they please. The Jewish people are the Palestine people and the Israeli government gives the land where they live to them. When the land was first given to them, the space was good enough for the people who lived there. But as more Jewish people immigrated to the Palestine area, the demand for land grew. The Israeli government didn’t like this; they had given the Jews their land, and that was that. They would get no more land. Today, the fight continues. The Palestine people want more land, but the Israeli government refuses to give it to them. So to solve it, they do what every other human would do: fight.
ReplyDeleteThe Palestine side of the fight it like this: they will do anything to get more land, and finally have their freedom. The down side to freedom? It involves a lot of killing, and many innocent deaths. . The comparison the Rabbi uses to compare the Holocaust to the crisis in Israel today is very fitting. People are being killed and prosecuted over religious beliefs once again. It begs the question “How much did the world really learn from the Holocaust?” The Jews wanted to worship peacefully, but Hitler didn’t like that. So, he became just like Israel, and began an obsession with cleaning the population. Can’t Israel just split the nation into two equal parts and let the Palestine people worship in their place, and the Israeli people go about their business?
Religion has caused the majority of great historic wars. People fought to worship who they pleased, forced their beliefs on others, persecuted those who worshiped other gods, and fought in the name of their own deity. How many religions believe it is wrong to kill another human being? Almost every religion says that killing someone is fundamentally immoral. However, almost every religion has fought in the name of their god. These wars are rife with violence of every sort, and are deemed acceptable by the sponsoring religion because of the purpose of the battle. To fight in the name of their creator is right and just because their god has the ultimate authority over them. They know that he will be the one to judge them in the end, so fighting in his name is not considered wrong. These people compromise their morality in the name of their god. Their god is the one who imposed this morality upon them, so why would he want it set aside?
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned in the post above, both the Holocaust and the fight in the Gaza Strip are wars fought over religion. People are persecuted, and they think it is right because it is for god. These people should pick up their morals and use them properly. Killing is wrong. It can be rationalized, justified, and even glorified, but in the end it is still wrong. There is a reason soldiers never forget what they see during a war. People cast off their morals like dirtied clothes, and they never can quite regain them. Watching death on a daily basis takes a toll on humanity that cannot be articulated. They come back to civilian life and they are haunted, unable to forget. This is but a single cost that war has on man.
Compromise and negotiation are kinder ways to work through disagreements. When delegates from two countries sit down to write a treaty, hundreds of innocent lives are not lost. Men are not haunted by the horrors of lasting war. Families are not subject to the agony of waiting for news of their loved ones. War is an unnecessary thing, brought about only by man's inability to remain civilized in the face of disagreement.
"I always thought that the important lesson of the Holocaust is not that there is evil, that there are evil people in this world that could do the most unimaginably cruel things. That was not the great lesson of the Holocaust. The great lesson of the Holocaust is that decent, cultured people, people we would otherwise consider good people, can allow such evil to prevail, that the German public -- these were not monsters, but it was OK with them that the Nazi machine did what it did."
ReplyDeleteHenry Siegman professed these words regarding the Nazi occupation of Germany, most often referred to as the Holocaust. Henry, like so many others, fell victim to this deadly destruction. Looking back however, he had a perspective that differed from so many who believe that the Nazi party was the only one to blame for the tragedy. Henry believed that the evil came not solely through the Nazis, but also through those who allowed their reign to cause so many innocent deaths. He believed that it was the fault of the people who allowed the Holocaust to go on so long, the people who refused any attempt to inhibit the Nazi's power.
It is not a secret that there are evil people residing in our world. There are people who allow their selfish motives to cause destruction everyday. Often times, it is believed that these people are the reason for these evils that take place in the world. When we see an ongoing injustice such as the Holocaust, we immediately blame the people who initiated the wrongdoing - the evil people. But perhaps it is not solely the evil people, but also the decent people who are to blame for the suffering of the world.
It is the standpoint for many people that unless they are the one performing the crime or injustice, they are completely innocent. This belief, in the eyes of Henry Siegman, is incorrect. Imagine that there is a crime scene taking place right in front of you. You know that there is something that you can do to help, but instead you choose to remain as you are, an innocent bystander. You stand there watching, proclaiming, "Wow, I cannot believe that this is happening! What an awful person!" Does this not make you equally responsible for the crime taking place? You may not have been the initial starter of the crime, but you allowed the crime to carry out, leaving it to possibly worsen. Refusing to take action in the event of an injustice is equivalent to committing the crime yourself. It simply is not enough to put on a mask of innocence while watching the world fall apart, and claim that there is nothing that can be done.
This quote by Henry Siegman presents a challenge to all those who have ever experienced an injustice. It is not enough to simply state that there are evil people in the world, and they are the only cause of the cruelty and suffering. This brings about a certain sense of laziness and complacency. It is far easier to blame every crime and every injustice on the "evil" people of the world. That way, it becomes a common conclusion that nothing can be done, and that none of the decent people are to blame - they are completely innocent. When looking at it from the perspective of Henry Siegman, however, we are challenged and encouraged to take action. He presents the point that by allowing these crimes to endure, we are equally to blame. However, if we attempt to inhibit the wrongdoings of those considered to be malicious people, we are no longer considered to be guilty, and we have the ability to bring about a sense of love in a world full of hatred.
This excerpt can be related to nearly any conflict that occurs among a mass of people. The atrocities occurring in the Gaza Strip are just one example. By allowing these innocent lives to be lost, these people are equally to blame for the deaths of those living there. Although there are evil people who do unimaginably cruel things, there must be decent people who choose to bring about an end to the injustice. Where there is a source of evil, there must also be a source of goodness.
Mary, I completely agree with you. It is not always the evil people's fault. But I don't know what I would do if I were the innocent bystander witnessing a crime. In my mind, I imagine myself beating up a murder and bringing him to justice. But I do not think I would actually do that if I witness a murder. Does this make me a horrible person? I hope not. I could be wrong. But that's a question for another time. I guess that is what all these other nations are feeling. They are not really bad nations, they just have nit really done anything to help. It does not make these countries bad nations, they just have not done anything useful.
DeleteThroughout Amy Goodman's article, "Amy Goodman: A venerable Jewish voice for peace", she gave the reader an understanding of the terrible events going on in Palestine. She interview Rabbi Henry Siegman, who was an executive director of the American Jewish Congress and head of the Synagogue Council of America. Siegman discussed the situations which we're happening in Palestine and Israeli. However, there was this one belief that stuck out at me.
ReplyDelete"I always thought that the important lesson of the Holocaust is not that there is evil, that there are evil people in this world who could do the most unimaginably cruel things. That was not the great lesson of the Holocaust. The great lesson of the Holocaust is that decent, cultured people, people we would otherwise consider good people, can allow such evil to prevail, that the German public — these were not monsters, but it was OK with them that the Nazi machine did what it did" This statement was Siegman's belief on the Holocaust. I agree with sections of this statement he made. In the first part he said, "I always thought that the important lesson of the Holocaust is not that there is evil, that there are evil people in this world who could do the most unimaginably cruel things.". I agree with Siegman's original perception more than the actually perception. It seems many people see evil in the world caused by a whole community. The Holocaust is a great example, on which was already previously discussed by Siegman. This "whole community" of evil can be found throughout the world. The Muslim community was affected in a similar way. September 11, 2001, a terrorist attack occurred in New York City. The attackers were apart of the Muslim community, which was led by Osama Bin Laden. After this attack, many Americans began to believe that the whole Muslim community were all terrorist. However, not all Muslims were, it was just a few certain out of the community who were. Therefore, not all were evil, but there were a few who could do "unimaginably cruel things". I believe it is impossible for a whole community to be an evil community. I say this because though it may seem as if all in the community are evil, there are a few who do not believe the ways their society is behaving. This sort of behavior of reminds me of behavior that is commonly found in high school. That behavior is labeling. Labeling is setting a title on a person even though little or nothing is known of the person's true self. For the person with the label could be completely different from the label itself.
The second part of the quote is, "The great lesson of the Holocaust is that decent, cultured people, people we would otherwise consider good people, can allow such evil to prevail, that the German public — these were not monsters, but it was OK with them that the Nazi machine did what it did". I agree with the first part of the second statement. It is truly amazing how a community deemed as good people can allow such strife to occur. Sometimes good people can be triggered by a certain event that cause the evil inside them to show. Hitler at first seemed as if he was a good leader, who was trying to do what is best for the country. It turned out that what his idea of what is best for the country was only liked by a group of people. It was all on how Hitler saw his world. Though it was immoral, not all Germans believed it was. The Nazis for the most part believed what Hitler was trying to accomplish was right. When on the other hand, there were Germans who believed it was wrong. The German public were not monsters because not all believed in the genocide of the Jewish community. Only a certain few could be deemed as monsters towards the Jewish community. I am unsure how if feel on Siegman's last statement about the Germans being OK with the Nazi machine. Yes, many believed what was happening was the best for the country. There were also people who disagreed with the actions of the Nazi community.
The belief that a whole community can be evil is completely unfounded. Most times, the evil beliefs expressed are the beliefs of a small group of people. These people often do not represent the feelings of their communities. Basing the entire morality of a culture on the way a few individuals act is stereotyping to the extreme. This kind of moral stereotyping is even more derogatory than simply stereotyping a person's lifestyle because it affects how others view their actions. When someone is labelled as immoral, their mistakes become actions of spite and people begin to expect bad things from them. Extending this label to an entire culture is disastrous. The Muslims are looked at with fear because of the terrorist attacks performed by extremists. In reality, most Muslims are peaceful and want no part in the terroristic movement. Basing their evil off the small group of people who practice it completely destroys the reputation of the entire population. The extremists do not represent their entire culture.
DeleteSydney, I agree on what you said about people doing evil things. When a person is cruel to those around him or her they begin to fight. When that group starts to fight, they bring in another group of people. It is a domino effect that can only be stopped with everyone in the world being peaceful, which is nearly impossible. However, that also goes along with the thought of stereotyping. If we looked at people as individuals, not groups of people, it would be easier to see the good qualities instead of the bad. When a person assumes that another is bad because of where they are from, little good can come from it. A domino effect can be started in this way as well. If one person is nice to another, then they will be nice to more people. This will keep going until everybody loves each other.
DeleteI loved the point that you made about how much the world actually learned from the Holocaust. There is no doubt that the world was forever changed by the horrific actions taken during the Holocaust. It is an event that the world simply will not allow us to forget. There have been museums constructed, books written, and movies created about the devastating incident. It seems that every school year, teachers are sure to do something in commemoration of the Holocaust. But now we look at the world today, and we see similar persecution taking place every day. Terroristic threats and tragedies are becoming common. Religious persecution is growing and being popularized daily by the sickening actions taken by the group of Isis radicals. It seems that no one is remembering that the Holocaust took place for the same reasons. The constant reminders of the Holocaust are supposedly to prevent a similar incident from taking place. But has anyone stopped to think that what is happening in our world today may be the beginning of a similar tragedy?
ReplyDeleteI find this article hard to connect with but easy at the same time. It is hard for me to connect with because I come from a country and time that as a white teenage boy there is not that much discrimination against me, where as the Jews and Palestinians both are discriminated against. I come from a country where I do not have to worry about soldiers kicking down my door or airstrikes that much. Where as the people in the Gaza Strip have to worry about such events daily. However I can connect through religion. We may be from different religions but my religion and theirs has similar fundamentals. You always see in the news the pope calling for a negotiation of some sort. Rabbi Henry Siegman, a respected Jewish leader, calls for the same thing. Religion propels us to do a lot of things. The Israeli assault is an example, it is a fight over religious territory. I agree that this conflict should find a peaceful resolve. It has claimed far to many lives, especially those of civilians. The Israelites have a right to the land that they were given after WWII, they need a safe haven, somewhere for them to feel safe after such an atrocious genocide. That does not mean that they should be pitied. Israel has become a forced to be reckoned with in the past few years. I think they are good to have as military partners but I think that in this situations we should be less military allies and more humanitarian allies. I think that the United States are in a position to do some good. I would think that us along with the support of the United Nations could help the people in the Gaza Strip and push towards an end to this conflict. No country should go to war based on religion. At the same time no one should be scared and have to hide due to their religion. Like Siegman stated whilst he lived in Germany he had to run and hide from the Nazis. The same goes for those in the Gaza Strip, they have to hide because they are scared and do not know what will happen next. I think that the Palestinians have the better claim to the land. They looked at what the Jews achieved after WWII, a homeland of their own, and they strive for it to. Are they wrong to want that? It is the same as the Jews before them, so why not let them have some land too. Everyone has a right to live freely. That right was taken away from the Jews but they got it back. Now they do similar things to the Palestinians. That is not right. They know the pain of not having a home so why are they making others suffer that pain? If the Israelites would remember their past and put themselves in the Palestinians shoes it would be different. The senseless killing of civilians needs to end. We would not let any other country do it so why are we letting Israel?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on your statement about situations today. We are so fortunate to live in an area with minimal discrimination. We do not have to live in fear of a mass army forcing us out of our own homes to relocate us. Even though we are fortunate many are not. We should recognize that it could happen to any one, and we should all have an understanding of the Holocaust and the Palestine/Israeli events. This is so we know what types of dangers it causes for not just those countries but for most of the world involved.
DeleteI agree Elric, we do not commonly get discriminated when we are white, American, Christian kids. We do not witness religious wars first hand, most of us have only learned about them in school. But, what was the goal among most of those religious leader that the world fights about? Love and peace. If that was their goal, why is their so much bloodshed? So much loss? So much scaring both emotionally and physically? It is a heartbreaking war that should not be happening.
DeleteI can also relate to the part of there being little or no discrimination against myself . It's sad that there is such discrimination in other areas of the world. I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to be under attack in my own home. If someone were to bust down my door and tell me they were going to shoot me because I'm catholic, I would be speechless!
Delete"We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we can never forgive them for forcing us to kill their children." This was said by Golda Meir, an early leader of Israel. I agree and also disagree with Rabbi Henry Seigman's response. He said, "if you don't want to kill Palestinians, if that's what pains you so much, you don't have to kill them."
ReplyDeleteI agree wit his point because i believe that you don't have to kill anyone. Just because they are attacking your country, does not mean you have to pick up a gun, knife, or any weapon, and kill someone with it. The Palestinians are not holding a gun in your hand with your finger on the trigger and theirs on top of yours forcing you to pull the trigger. They are not holding a knife in your hand and swinging it into the flesh of another Palestinian. I don't believe that they were forcing anyone to kill another person.
Although you don't think so, you could hide without a weapon of any sort. You may either be killed or be saved. If the immediate reaction (which for most people it is) is to pick up a gun and shoot another human being in the head and kill them, that a CHOICE. In no way is that forcing.
but at the same time, I disagree with rabbi Seigman's view because if someone points a gun at your family and kills them, you are going to be angry and want to kill them. They didn't just kill your family they killed a part of you. If a Palestinian is coming into your village or town, you will have the urge to want to protect your family at all costs. Whether this means killing someone or several people or not. Sometimes you must do they unthinkable, the things that you never imagined you would do. They things that will forever leave a mark on you either physically or mentally. The image of the dying Palestinian that was just killed I front of you, will forever be in your mind. If I were in this position, I honestly don't know what I would do. I can say that I would shoot someone for my families safety, but in reality, i have no clue what i would do unless i was put in the situation of a Palestinian standing I front of me. Would I pull the trigger? Maybe, I don't really know. That person is just another person. It is often Sadi that we live in a cruel world. I don't think so. I think that we live in a good world, which good people who do cruel things.
Tabitha, I like how you compared the country to that of a family. If someone would kill my family, I would know how wrong it was to kill them and I am saying right now that I would not be able to do it. If the situation was real, however, a fit of anger might push me over the edge. Even though the people of Palestine are not physically helping the Israelis kill their people, they are setting them up to do just that. Israel cannot protect themselves without killing the children of Palestine. This is a very big problem that has not had a great solution yet. The Palestinians are not being fair to Israel or their own people. This world and its evil is obviously powered by greed. When one does not have as much as someone else, they fight. In church this weekend, the priest told us that instead of comparing ourselves to those who have more, compare ourselves to those who have less.
DeleteI believe in many points you stated. I don't know if I would pull the trigger wither. The person could be a terrible person who wants me dead, or it could be someone who is being forced to fight in the war and has no real opinion about the topic. I fell as if it would be like I would need to sit down with him and have a conversation with the person. By that time, I would not kill the person, because I would likely be dead. I agree with Golda Meir's quote about the worst is killing their children. That would be hard for me because the kids wouldn't get to experience the life the should have all be cause of my action is killing them. This would impact me more then them killing my children because I wasn't the one to end their lives.
DeleteAnger can cause a human being to act out in ways that they normally would not. Anger is a strong emotion, arguably the strongest, which can cloud our minds to the point we cannot see straight. The fight for Israel runs deeper than just anger. Israel must fight to protect themselves, their family, and their homeland. Israelis are forced into a situation with no right or wrong answer. It is not right for them to kill The people of Palestine, but it would not be right for the Israelis to make themselves vulnerable to their enemy who wants to slaughter their population out. In the end, if forced with this immensely difficult decision, I think almost any person would pick to protect their own.
Delete"There is a Talmudic saying in the 'Ethics of the Fathers,' 'Don't judge your neighbor until you can imagine yourself in his place.' So, my first question when I deal with any issue related to the Israeli-Palestinian issue: What if we were in their place?"
ReplyDeleteThis quote was said by Henry Siegman. He believes that the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian must end. His quote about him being in there place is a really good way to look at the situation. I believe that he wants everyone to think, "What if that was my family?" He believes that will help with an end to this horrible situation.
I feel as if with any given situation people are quick to judge. Wouldn't it save all the hassle if people just stopped and thought if you were that person how would you handle it. Many of us are to judge. That is honestly something I have to work on.
Judging happens everywhere around us. Take ECC and Public for an example. Public looks at as a bunch of rich snobby kids. Not everyone at ECC is rich for the first case, and second we are not a snobby group of kids. I mean sure people can be rude, but that doesn't give them the right to label us all as snobby.
Siegman then goes on with another quote, in this one, he compares what is happening in Israel to the holocaust. "I always thought that the important lesson of the Holocaust is not that there is evil , that there are evil people in this world who could do the most unimaginably cruel things. That was not the lesson of the Holocaust. The great lesson of the Holocaust is that descent, cultural people, people we would otherwise consider good people, can allow such evil to prevail, that the German public- these were not monsters, but it was OK with them that the Nazi machine did what it did.
This comparison between the Palestinians and the Nazis shows some important connections. One is that the leaders of both issues are evil. Their country is now label because of their doing. The point is that the people from the countries that are doing these horrible acts are not taking a stand. Sure they are just normal people like you and me, but they are just sitting back and letting it happen. These situations are not like the common cold, they cannot just let it run though it's course. Someone needs to take charge and stop it from continuing.
It is a risky task for normal people to go and try to over take the person who is in power at the time. It's easier said then done of corse, but the people that are sitting there watching it take place in their own back yard are to blame too. No, they are not monsters like Hitler was, but they are not angels.
Personally, I must take measures to defend this article. I strongly agree that the United States, as well as the rest of the world, should do whatever is in their power to stop this "slaughter." The Israelis should not be attacking the Palestinian people because they want something that they think they deserve as much as the next person. In fact, the Israelis went through almost the exact same thing years ago. What the United States is doing, even though they think that it is the correct thing to do, is not right. The United States should be trying to help stop this massacre that is occurring, instead, they are providing the means to kill countless innocent people to the Israeli people. One would think that giving weapons to someone who is going to use them for murdering countless innocent people would be completely out of the question. Personally, I would not give a weapon to a cereal killer. We, as a country who defends the helpless, should be doing all that is possible to bring peace to both the Israelis and the Palestinians.
ReplyDeleteI personally do not know much about politics, but I do not think that it is correct to allow someone to mercilessly kill hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people. In our country, there are different standards of war. There are laws preventing soldiers to kill innocent civilians, and yet the United States is practically giving the means to kill to the Israeli people. According to this article, over 1,300 civilians have been killed without any reason for them to be killed. If this continues, this attack will turn into a second Holocaust. During the Holocaust, Hitler killed thousands of Jews because he wanted someone to blame for the downfall of Germany during the First World War. Millions of innocent people were killed because of Hitler. This exact thing is happening to the people of Palestine. The only difference between the Holocaust and what is happening now is that the United States is on the wrong side of the battle this time. If the United States were to simply cut off the supplies to the Israelis, then the Israelis would figure out that what they are doing is in fact wrong. If this injustice continues, then history will be doomed to repeat itself.
If the United States was in the position of the Palestinians, then one would think that they someone would help to stop the injustice. Our leaders would rise up and fight against whoever was doing us wrong. The Palestinians, however cannot do this as easily as the United States would be able to do. The United States has more resources and manpower to fight off this type of unruly behavior, and yet we are allowing it to happen. No one should have to deal with this barbaric manner that the Israelis are showing towards the Palestinian people.
I strongly disagree with your argument. I do not believe the United States is on the wrong side of the battle. After doing research of the atrocities happening, you would find the Arabs have never allowed Israel to establish itself without attacking them. Many times Israel has tried to negotiate with Palestine and even give up coveted land, but Palestine denies the negotiation out of spite. Palestine is not fighting for land, but out of hatred. The answer to the crisis is not as simple as America cutting off supplies, if that were to happen, Palestine would go in and annihilate the Jews.
DeleteI would have to disagree with you as well. Like Lauren said, they tried to work at it peacefully but Palestine said that never happened. I believe in what Lauren said that it is a war out of hate. That could be the only reason behind it considering that Israel tried to talk about the situation they wanted changed in the first place.
DeleteBut I do agree with you comparing it to the Holocaust. The Israelites did nothing wrong to deserve this. I think this is a major problem, and if it continues could lead to an episode just like the holocaust. I believe that the situation can not get that far out of hand. If it does then nations and army's need to be prepared for what is a potential for the future.
DeleteI disagree as well Raeanne, I feel like the last thing the United Staes needs to do is get involved in the situation on the Gaza Strip. The United Nations is doing their best, but they are unable to settle it because religion plays a role in it. The two governments need to settle it for themselves, but they both have to much "honor." The United States getting involved would be like sending troops into Vietnam all over again. It is unneeded.
DeleteI absolutely disagree with you RaeAnn. Everyone is seeing this conflict as one sided, but in reality Palestine is doing more harm than Israel is. Palestine is killing more innocent lives that Israel is. There are bombs coming out of Palestine aimed at Israel everyday. The land was never for Palestine. It was in the possession of the Jewish people before Christ was even born. The only reason the Palestines even came to Gaza is because the Israelites were giving them a decent place to live so that conflict could be avoided. In Jerusalem, the Arabs and the Jews were living together and the Jewish leaders relocated the Arabs to Gaza because they knew if they lived in the same place there would be conflict. All that Israel did for the Arabs is care for them and give them stability. The Arabs acted harshly towards them, starting this conflict. The United States is doing exactly what it needs to do in this conflict. They are helping the country that owns the land. Bombs are coming at Israel every day, killing their innocent citizens. Everyone needs to do their research before jumping on a side. Palestine is in the wrong in this situation and people need to start realizing this.
DeleteI agree with this article. The Israelites have always been the United State's friend. I do not think that should change. I believe that the Israelites are some of the best allies that we have. But what they are doing right now is terrible. It is absolutely terrible. We, as a nation, believe in freedom of religion, and the right to have the best life possible. But the Israelites are not giving people any of these rights.
ReplyDeleteThe United States should take a more active role in helping the Israelites with their problems. The solution, though, is not to give them more weapons and ammunition. We need to help them open up a diplomatic relationship with Palestinians. The Palestinians have the right to live the way they want to. God is the only entity who has the right to tell people how to live. The Israelites acknowledge this. So in this sense, they are being very hypocritical.
One possible solution to the problem in Israel is to let the Palestinians found their own country. I believe that this is the best solution to the problem. The Settlers in Early America created their own country when they did not agree with the government. The Israelites also created their own country. So why can't the Palestinians do it? The Palestinians are not happy being part of Israel, and the Israelites do not like the fact that Palestinians do not like being being part of Israel. So this would be the best outcome for all. Because then they can both just be their own country, and just ignore each other.
Atrocities, like the one going on in Israel, is just unacceptable. The world seems to be more civilized then what is going on, but apparently that is an incorrect statement. The United Nations loves to just stick their nose into North Korea' business. They also like to poke around Iran's nuclear program. But why is it that the United Nations has done nothing about Israel. I would like to think there is not favoritism going on in the United Nations Security Counsel, but I cannot overlook the fact that Israel's best friends are on the Security Counsel. If there is favoritism going on, it needs to stop. Because these are people's lives that are at risk. It is not a matter of whether we like Israel or not. Even if this was Canada committing these atrocities, I would be very vocal for Canada to be punished.
The point is though, that we as a nation should be ashamed. We would never consider giving North Korea weapons to help exterminate their population. Yet, we give our weapons to Israel to eliminate their population. So sanctions should be levied against Israel, until they finally give in and give the Palestinians what they want. But the United Nations needs to do something, because this cannot continue.
I agree that United Nations and United States need to take an active role in this situation. As you said we are good allies which would should push us to stop their bloodshed. The UN should look after everyone which should push them to peace. If there are two valiant reasons for peace why is it not happening? Why do we let this continue? We as citizens of this country are in the position to push are government to end this. We can and should push for peace and try to become allies with Palestine.
DeleteNick - Your critical thinking skills are at work! I like to see students disagree with the status quo and you are illustrating that although Israel, an ally of the USA, they don't have the right to continue the killing of Palestinians. The one point I disagree on is your suggestion that Palestinians should find their own country. The media has us so confused that some people actually believe that Israel was the first in their so-called location. However, Palestine existed long before Israel. They were at one time referred to as the filistines - or philistines - in the Bible at least. Our governments have been working on both a one-state and a two-state solution for years to no avail. I know many Palestinians and I can guarantee that they will never ever leave their land. Some claim that the major problems in the Middle East, no matter which country it is, all are happening because of the Palestinian/Israeli issue. Very sad. I keep hoping one of my many students will one day be the one to solve this disaster.
DeleteThis article has the right idea, it points to the fact of "Think of if we were in their position." On the other hand though, I see that they constantly are pointing to the Israelis for their faults, but the Palestinians are not completely innocent in their retaliation efforts too. Now, it is the leaders to blame for the constant missile attacks, not the tens of thousands Israeli and Palestinian civilians who were massacred in these attacks. The effects the attacks have on these victims do not just go one way. And over what? Land. Killing thousands of people over a broader is quite frankly ridiculous, and I understand that there is also a religion role being played in it.
ReplyDeleteFrom the multiple articles that I have read,it says that each of their respective gods gave them the land and they feel like it is out of respect that they should be given the land. Well, I understand their mortar ideals, where if you kill people for your god you will be saved,but that can be extreme. I do not believe that it will save you, but it is an entirely different way of living over in the Middle East. Also, with the thought of death, the media does not show all of the victims that are effected by PTSD, or Post Tramatic Stress Disorder, from everything that they have seen in their lifetimes. Imagine just seeing someone you know laying dead in the street. Their mangled bodies and lifeless eyes. No broader is worth that, worth the horror. It tears apart my soul knowing what is going on over seas, but just imagine what is not know. No one fully knows what is going on over there and that scars me to no end.
Also, what was the common goal for every god in the world? Muhammad, Jesus, Buddah, and God all had the one mission to spread peace on Earth. So, why for thousands of years have people been fighting over religion and hi is the true god. The UN, or United Nations cannot really have complete control over religious aspects of war, so that makes it so much more difficult to come to terms with the attacks and what is happening. The governments really struggle with control and it also does not help the Palestinians case that Iran, who is their closest allied partner, has a hot mess government too.
The article has good points and bad, but the reality is that the people of these two different cultures need to understand that things are not going to magically be okay one day and someone is just going to give in and let the other group win. They both have to much "honor" for that, but in the end of this war they are going to look at the big picture and see the millions of innocent lives that have been taken for people who did not need to die. People that are going to be emotionally and physically scared by what they had to witness. The people that have became homeless because of a stupid boarder, about two different Gods who only wanted peace on Earth. They are doing the exact opposite and it is ridiculous.
At confirmation tonight, Mathew Kelly stated in his video something about wanting land. He explained that when he was younger his mother drew a line down the center of the sandbox for him and his brother. One day his brother decided to want more land and hit him over the head with a toy shovel. Crying and screaming for his mother inside, he went in but got no response from her upstairs. So, instead he decided to eat his brothers chocolate car collection. Was this right of him to do? No! What I'm trying to say is that, we often do things we shouldn't, for wanting the possessions of others,
Delete"We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children, but we can never forgive them for forcing us to kill their children." This statement is very powerful because I cannot imagine having the death of an innocent child on my hands, nor could I imagine losing the life of my child. Many people don't realize how long the conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelites has been going on. It actually has been going on for more than sixty years in some way or another. Imagine all the lives that have been lost, many of them are the lives of innocent civilians. When Siegman says that the Israeli militants do not have to kill the Palestinians, I do not agree. Some of the ways that these people are being killed are not direct actions such as bombs, guns, or other devices of war, but from consequences of the war such as orphanage, starvation, or unhealthy conditions. Throughout the article, I was given the feeling that Siegman blames the Israelites for this war. I believe that the Palestinians are as much at fault for the conflict as the Israelites.
ReplyDeleteWe have to look back at the establishment of Palestine to know where this conflict originated from. Both countries want the area of Gaza for their own religious reasons. They both believe that their God gave them this land and that it is sacred. Abraham was given the land by God and told that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abraham would go on to have two sons, Isaac to Sarah and Ishmael to Hagar. Abraham would give this land (now known as Gaza) to his son Isaac and Ishmael and Hagar being sent off. Ishmael would grow to be the father of Islam. In the Bible it says that no one is to deviate the land of the Israelites. To take a step back, in the days before the Crusades, any person was allowed to enter Jerusalem and worship. When the Crusades happened, the Crusaders came and did not tolerate anyone who was not a Christian, killing many people who were not. After the Crusades, an Muslim ruler named Saladin allowed Jews and Christians to live in the land of Jerusalem. Saladin was a very liberal leader and was very accepting of people who were not of his faith. Many years later, when the Jewish people would obtain control of their homeland the Muslim population dwarfed the population of the Jewish people. The Jewish leaders knew that they could not live together without there being a conflict. The leaders took the Gaza Strip and let the Muslim people live on the land. They would be taken care of and ruled by the Jews but it was good land for them to live and practice their religions on. After a period of time, the Muslims went to the Jewish leaders and proclaims that they were taking the land as their own and calling it Palestine. This is where the conflict started, with the Jewish people and the Muslims calling the land their own.
It angers me that Siegman puts the blame for this conflict on Israelites when it was their land to begin with. The Israelites have had control of this land for much longer than Palestine. Israel was nice enough to allow the Palestinian people to use their land to live and establish their lives on. Squatter's rights does not apply to the Gaza Strip. Most points that were expressed in the article I do not agree with at all. It is my personal opinion that the land belongs to Israel. I agree that the loss of innocent lives is tragic and not fair but the Palestinians have to realize that they are not entitled to the land. The countries that are supplying Israel with weapons are not slaughtering these people. They are trying to help a country take back what is theirs. The loss of lives is tragic but the people of Palestine need to realize that the land was never theirs. The only way to end the conflict is if they realize this and work to wards a resolution.
ReplyDeleteAbbey - I am curious about your sources. The Palestinians were in their land at least 2000 years before the Israelites. Up until 1948 both Palestinians and Israelis lived together in peace. It was the declaration of Israel as a state that inflamed the Palestinians. The British basically occupied the land until releasting it to Israel, thinking that it was the best location to offer Israel a homeland. The Palestinians were thought of as nomads and it was not known how intensely angry they would get for losing what they perceived to be their own home. There is a lot of history to this conflict. It was a man named "Balfour" from Britian who had designed the plans to turn this land over to the Israelites. He wrote the "Balfour Promise" which basically was what Palestinians considered a death sentence to them.
DeleteLauren - I respect the fact that you say the Israelites deserve a land of their own. I agree. The only problem I see is that by giving them a land of their own (as the British had done), they left Palestinians furious because they had been farming and living on that land for thousands of years before that. I would suggest that although the media always represents Israel as the "good guy" it is also a challenge for us to know the other side to this horrible and long-time event. I often wonder how we would feel if someone broke into our houses, evicted us, told us to never return, and gave us nothing in return. We would have to find another place to live but much of the land would have been taken by the invaders to our homes. Where would we go? How would we continue to exist? What if we were told that the Canadian government gave these invaders the right to do so? Who are they? This is how the Palestinians feel. Great Britain occupied Israel first and then gave the Palestinian territory to Israel so they would not have to suffer another holocaust. WOW - so what about the Palestinians? What right did Great Britain have in giving away the Palestinian lands to Israel? Now, I am not asking you to take my position - these are just questions to promote further thinking about the situation. We all, including me, need to keep thinking about how all of this occurred - without listening too much to what the media feeds us. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI do not think Palestine has a right to be angry seeing as their leader was a collaborator with the Nazis and tried recruiting Arabs for the Third Reich. Their antisemantism stemmed before Israel was established. Palestine has a valid point in being upset about the land, but in the end spilling the blood of their neighbors is not worth it, especially when they offered them land they could have graciously accepted and their leader was helping the Nazis. I'm not portraying Israel to be perfect, but I do think they are standing higher than the Palestinians.
ReplyDeleteI believe both Israel and Palestine have had severe problems with one another for too many years. It is not an easy situation to remedy. Yasser Arafat started the PLO to build a resistance to Israel's aggression. No matter who collaborated with whom, both the Israeli leadership and the Palestinian leadership is not without blame.
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