I have been thinking about Hamas; I have to confess that if you had asked me a few weeks ago to tell you four things I knew about Hamas I would be able to name one: their existence and status as a terrorist organization. My thoughts came together while laying down on top of my car watching the stars with the girl I'm in love with; having lost my mother early and in a horrific way, I immediately feel guilty when happiness surrounds me in anyway. How do I have the right to feel good in this world when the woman who gave birth to me was locked in a mental institution for her entire life. And for something that is treatable: depression.
But tonight, as I looked at the stars, I was not thinking about my mother, my mind was at Gaza where no one tonight is enjoying the Milky Way because the Israeli government decided to use the beauty of the sky as an avenue; an avenue of sheer destruction. I told my partner that I have been asking myself for a few minutes now why I didn't have a stronger reaction to the kidnap of jewish civilians while being furious of the reaction by the Israeli government to the actions of Hamas.
She answered my question so swiftly that I felt as if she had entered my mind and declared it:: " Here it is. Is that what you are looking for?" I had no reaction because you expect this of Hamas. You expect this of terrorist groups, and although you feel empathy towards the victims, you are not surprise by anything terrorists do anymore.
And that realization brought me back to my angry, vicious reaction towards Israel bombing of Gaza; you don't expect jews to behave like that. Jews have always been associated in my mind with the Holocaust, since the first time I learned about the atrocities at concentration camps. This week, for the very first time I realized that I romanticized Israel as a country because of my sympathy towards jewish people. I actually realized that for the very first time in my entire history in this planet I gave a group of politicians my trust. I should have known better.
I have been repeating this all day so I will say it again here: the world should ask of jews what we ask of muslims. Denounce the action of your government; denounce the bombings of civilians and children. There are millions of Palestinians in this world and we can not despise, hate, bare antipathy towards all of them because some of them are criminals and antisemites.
Tonight I learned that I fell out of love with the State of Israel - the same way I feel about China - and see them for what they are, a political group; a government body just like any other; filled with politicians and power hungry individuals who use their position to inflict pain on others and to force groups to bend to their will.
For over fifty years these people have justified keeping an entire group of people imprisoned in what can only be described as concentration camps and while they don't torture them as the nazi regime did, they do bomb and kill and silence the voices of the dissidents. Including children.
Tonight I realized that the Jewish people of today are not the victims of any Holocaust; the real victims have perished many, many years ago. The jewish that are here today are no different than you and I, like us, they have a history of sadness and violence that sometimes make them unable to enjoy life. Unable to forget the atrocities of a not so distant past.
Then, there are the other jews. The ones that hide behind an entire group of people to do what they do best, spread destruction, pain, humiliation and tremendous suffering to another group. When anyone dares to call them on their behavior, they immediately bring out the Holocaust and scream antisemitism. Somehow, they were able to convince the entire world that all jews are alike and pure of intent. Not a single word can be said of any jew without the risk of being accused of disliking an entire group.
Tonight, the Israeli government revealed themselves to me for what they always were, a despicable group of politicians that are killing and oppressing another group in the name of all the jewish community. An image of Hasidic jews come to me: crossing the street with their families. Going about with their days. In peace.
Is it too much to ask that Palestinians are allowed to do the same? And how absurd is it that we are asking. I am an atheist and more and more; an atheist. Thank the heavens for that. Never in all my existence a voice inspired me to plan the murder of thousands. Two thousand Palestinian children died this week alone.
You are not an antisemite if you state the facts; you are anti violence. You are anti war. We are all human beings.
