Sunday, December 17, 2006
Does Israel have the right to exist?
A mentally ill caucasian person of a non-christian faith walks into the local civic center with a Glock where there is an arena full of folks attending the NBA playoffs and shoots three basketball players. Please pick below why he chose his victims:
Now ask yourself, which one would the media immediately think it was...
Judiasm is a wonderful faith that transcends skin color. In my travels, I have met folks who practice Judiasm who were whiter than a sheet of paper and darker than a hundred million midnights. One of my best friends and my own Doctor is Jewish and originates from Jordan. Likewise, my wife's doctor whom delivered my two sons is also Jewish and originates from Chile. In conversations with both of them, I have noticed a pattern that was different than what is typically heard in the media. I suspect their perspective is different because they both did not have lineage from Europe.
At the local Jewish center, there is a single gentlemen whom I had the opportunity to socialize with who originates from Yemen. In terms of his appearance, he looks like he is from the Middle East. In our conversation, we started to discuss the issues surrounding peace in the middle east and mutually concluded the following. First, neither Iran nor Syria want to destroy Israel as described in the media because they minimally want to save other Muslims and Christians. We also said if this belief is true, then wouldn't it be better if Israel created equal opportunities regardless of race, religion, national origin and stopped practicing discrimination? We also concluded that the U.S. should hold all of its partners to the same standards and we should boycott any country who refuses to take the higher ground.
In terms of the NBA player example, if I didn't mention the faith of the killer, it would be strongly predicted that the media would have assumed that the killings were race related. Since I mentioned his faith, you would have then concluded that the killings where now religiously motivated. In all reality, we don't know and are guilty of reading into things we shouldn't.
What would happen if we actually asked the murderer of this NBA player why he did it instead of simply assuming? What would happen if we started to ask the perspectives of those of the Jewish faith whom did not originate from Europe but may have originated from places such as Yemen, Egypt or other African countries who are otherwise hidden from the media their perspectives?
I factually understand that there are a lot of people who are still torqued that their land got taken away from them 50+ years ago. Consider the scenario of my two sons whom have decided to pursue different religions. Sometime in the future they get into a fight and get arrested and decide to be hostile to each other for eternity. In their travels, they also run across some other McGovern's who exhibit the same belief structure but otherwise have any lineage to them and assert their right to come in their dad's home and put their feet up on my couch. Do I have the right to be hostile to the strangers? My two sons still look alike while the other McGovern's look different to them. Regardless of the faith of my two sons they still have a common lineage which may be distinct from their faith. Which is more important?
I am not convinced that Palestinians are out to kill Jews for faith reasons. I wonder if anyone has proof to the contrary that it isn't simply an economic scenario where the poor are rebelling against the rich? What would it take to bring economic equality to this region?
I am convinced that they are trying to kill Europeans whom they perceive as taking their land and hiding under another banner. If you look at the characteristics of those getting killed, they are NOT jewish folks from any of the African countries nor do they look like the Palestinians. If only folks of european descent were to leave Israel, would the chances for peace increase?
We cannot obtain peace for anyone until we identify the root cause of problems and by propogating over-summarized perspectives gets both sides killed. Let's start having an conversation on the real problems in the Middle East...
| | View blog reactions- Because they were tall
- Because they were rich
- Because they were black
- Because they were christian
Now ask yourself, which one would the media immediately think it was...
Judiasm is a wonderful faith that transcends skin color. In my travels, I have met folks who practice Judiasm who were whiter than a sheet of paper and darker than a hundred million midnights. One of my best friends and my own Doctor is Jewish and originates from Jordan. Likewise, my wife's doctor whom delivered my two sons is also Jewish and originates from Chile. In conversations with both of them, I have noticed a pattern that was different than what is typically heard in the media. I suspect their perspective is different because they both did not have lineage from Europe.
At the local Jewish center, there is a single gentlemen whom I had the opportunity to socialize with who originates from Yemen. In terms of his appearance, he looks like he is from the Middle East. In our conversation, we started to discuss the issues surrounding peace in the middle east and mutually concluded the following. First, neither Iran nor Syria want to destroy Israel as described in the media because they minimally want to save other Muslims and Christians. We also said if this belief is true, then wouldn't it be better if Israel created equal opportunities regardless of race, religion, national origin and stopped practicing discrimination? We also concluded that the U.S. should hold all of its partners to the same standards and we should boycott any country who refuses to take the higher ground.
In terms of the NBA player example, if I didn't mention the faith of the killer, it would be strongly predicted that the media would have assumed that the killings were race related. Since I mentioned his faith, you would have then concluded that the killings where now religiously motivated. In all reality, we don't know and are guilty of reading into things we shouldn't.
What would happen if we actually asked the murderer of this NBA player why he did it instead of simply assuming? What would happen if we started to ask the perspectives of those of the Jewish faith whom did not originate from Europe but may have originated from places such as Yemen, Egypt or other African countries who are otherwise hidden from the media their perspectives?
I factually understand that there are a lot of people who are still torqued that their land got taken away from them 50+ years ago. Consider the scenario of my two sons whom have decided to pursue different religions. Sometime in the future they get into a fight and get arrested and decide to be hostile to each other for eternity. In their travels, they also run across some other McGovern's who exhibit the same belief structure but otherwise have any lineage to them and assert their right to come in their dad's home and put their feet up on my couch. Do I have the right to be hostile to the strangers? My two sons still look alike while the other McGovern's look different to them. Regardless of the faith of my two sons they still have a common lineage which may be distinct from their faith. Which is more important?
I am not convinced that Palestinians are out to kill Jews for faith reasons. I wonder if anyone has proof to the contrary that it isn't simply an economic scenario where the poor are rebelling against the rich? What would it take to bring economic equality to this region?
I am convinced that they are trying to kill Europeans whom they perceive as taking their land and hiding under another banner. If you look at the characteristics of those getting killed, they are NOT jewish folks from any of the African countries nor do they look like the Palestinians. If only folks of european descent were to leave Israel, would the chances for peace increase?
We cannot obtain peace for anyone until we identify the root cause of problems and by propogating over-summarized perspectives gets both sides killed. Let's start having an conversation on the real problems in the Middle East...
