COMPILATION AND COMMENTARY
BY LUCY WARNER
MAY 30, 2021
PLEASE FORGIVE
ME IN ADVANCE, BECAUSE THIS IS ONE OF MY MORE IMPASSIONED LITTLE SPEECHES, BUT
I BELIEVE THE COMMENTS ARE WORTH THE READ. THIS IS ABOUT ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS,
MAINLY, BUT ABOUT THE FACTORS BEHIND THE “TROUBLES” THAT EXIST THERE IN
GENERAL. THE DOCTRINE OF AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH NEEDS TO BE
BURIED AND ABANDONED LIKE OTHER DEAD THINGS. IF THE IRISH CATHOLICS AND
PROTESTANTS CAN STOP KILLING EACH OTHER, THEN THE JEWS AND PALESTINIANS CAN
TOO.
ANY GROUP WHO
CONSIDERS OTHER GROUPS, OR INDIVIDUALS, TO BE OF LESSER IMPORTANCE AND VIRTUE
THAN THEY ARE IS MOVING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. THIS ARTICLE IS OF THAT SORT,
IN MY VIEW. JUST BECAUSE BERNIE SANDERS DOES NOT SUPPORT JEWISH ANNEXATION OF
PALESTINIAN LAND BY THE SNEAKING TRICK OF BUILDING JEWISH HOMES THERE TO THE
POINT THAT THEY NUDGE THE PALESTINIANS OUT DOES NOT MAKE HIM A “SELF-HATING
JEW,” OR LESS THAN A LOYAL AMERICAN IN REGARD TO OUR COMMITTMENT TO ISRAEL.
ISRAEL NEEDS TO STICK WITHIN ITS’ BORDERS AND ACCEPT A TWO STATE SOLUTION TO
THE SENSELESS AND HIDEOUS ONGOING BORDER WARFARE THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING THERE
FOR SO MANY DECADES -- OR CENTURIES.
THE
PALESTINIANS, OBVIOUSLY, SHOULD BE HELD TO THE SAME STANDARD AND THEY CERTAINLY
SHOULD ABANDON THE STANCE THAT ISRAEL HAS NO RIGHT TO EXIST. IF ISRAELIS AND
PALESTINIANS WERE TO GO BACK A FEW THOUSAND YEARS THEY WOULD FIND THAT ALL OF
THEM WERE PRESENT TOGETHER IN PRETTY MUCH THAT SAME AREA THEN. COOPERATION AND
PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL IN A SANE AND CIVILIZED SOCIETY.
IT’S A MATTER OF WHAT PEOPLE WANT, I GUESS, BUT WE CAN’T SAVE THE CAKE AND EAT
IT, TOO, ESPECIALLY THE WHOLE CAKE. THERE ARE OTHERS WHO ALSO NEED AND DESERVE
THEIR SHARE. WE DON’T DESERVE ANYTHING AT ALL BECAUSE WE ARE SO VERY FINE INDIVIDUALLY
OR AS A GROUP, BUT BECAUSE WE ARE ALL HUMANS TOGETHER ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.
A LITTLE HUMILITY WOULD HELP HERE, I THINK.
I HAVE HEARD
SOME BLACK PEOPLE CLAIM THAT BLACKS CAN’T BE RACISTS. THAT IS ANOTHER LOAD OF
HIGH-SMELLING FERTILIZER. ALL SORTS OF ASIAN PEOPLE ARE BEING ATTACKED
MINDLESSLY JUST FOR WALKING DOWN THE STREET. IN SEVERAL OF THOSE EVENTS IT WAS
A BLACK MAN WHO DID IT. YOU’D THINK BLACK PEOPLE WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE
SENSITIVE, AFTER WHAT THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH. THE NATIVE AMERICANS WERE ALMOST
DECIMATED, AND THEY COMPLAIN LESS THAN MOST ABOUT THEIR LOT, BUT I NOTICE THEY
ARE STEPPING UP AND SEEING TO IT THAT THEY ARE COUNTED IN THE LAST FEW YEARS.
I’M PROUD OF THEM FOR THAT.
IF ALL OF OUR
MINORITIES DON’T WORK TOGETHER THE USA WILL NEVER CHANGE, AND OF COURSE THE
REST OF THE WORLD HAS THE SAME KIND OF OTHERISM GOING ON. IT IS NOT AN ACCIDENT
THAT THE NEO-NAZIS HAVE COME TOO CLOSE TO ACTUALLY TAKING OVER HERE. WE’VE
ALWAYS HAD RACISM, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN THIS BAD SINCE THE 1920S. IT IS NOT ONLY
HORRIFYINGLY UGLY, IT IS FRIGHTENING.
THE ONLY WAY
OUT IS TO LOOK AT WHAT THE FLAW IN OUR THINKING IS AND BECOME WILLING TO DO
SOMETHING ABOUT IT. THAT MEANS EVERYBODY. IN SHORT, THE ATTITUDE I SEE
DISPLAYED IN THIS ARTICLE DESERVES NO RESPECT FROM ME, AND I DON’T GIVE IT ANY.
I WAS BORN IN 1945, SO I GREW UP WITH NEWS REELS THAT WERE NOT FIT FOR A CHILD
TO SEE, BUT I AM GLAD THAT I WAS ALLOWED TO EXPERIENCE THEM, BECAUSE I HAVE
NEVER FELT ACCEPTING OF THE THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN WWII – AND THEN KOREA AND
THEN VIETNAM. WHEN I WENT TO COLLEGE I LEARNED WHAT SLAVERY, THE SLAUGHTER OF
AMERICAN INDIANS AND THE HOLOCAUST WERE REALLY LIKE, AND IT HAS CHANGED ME.
I THINK THE
IDEA EXPRESSED BELOW OF A “1HR BYSTANDER INTERVENTION COURSE” REALLY NEEDS TO
BE A PART OF AMERICAN SOCIETY, ALONG WITH SOME OTHER EDUCATIONAL SOURCES AS
WELL, LIKE AN HONEST PRESENTATION OF OUR HISTORY. EVIL THINGS ARE SIMPLY
ALLOWED TO HAPPEN HERE, AND OFTEN WITH FEW CITIZENS SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THEM. IT
IS SO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I GREW UP THINKING AMERICA WAS AND STOOD FOR, AND I
COULD EASILY GET VERY DISCOURAGED. WHAT I DO INSTEAD IS WRITE THIS BLOG AND
PERSISTENTLY SAY MY PIECE, HOPING TO ADD SOMETHING TO THE SHARING OF IDEAS
WHICH I BELIEVE IS VITAL.
SO, I DO KNOW
THE PAIN THAT MUST BE BEHIND THIS WRITING, BUT THE RESULTS OF OUR PRESENT ROUTE AS A
PEOPLE, PLAYING OUT IN EVER MORE HOSTILE ACTIONS AS WE ALL SQUARE OFF AND TAKE
SIDES WILL JUST MAKE EVERYTHING WORSE. I’M JUST AN ELDERLY, POOR, ECONOMICALLY
AND POLITICALLY PROGRESSIVE, SCOTCH IRISH PROTESTANT TURNED UNITARIAN
UNIVERSALIST, AND I WANT TO SEE AT LEAST A LITTLE BIT OF GENUINE PEACE IN THE
USA, IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND EVERYWHERE BEFORE I DIE. I ALSO WANT TO SEE
MEDICARE FOR ALL, THE GREEN NEW DEAL AND A NEW ENLIGHTENMENT IN THE USA.
EDUCATION FOR ALL. JUSTICE FOR ALL. WE SHOULD LET OUR RELIGIONS GUIDE US TO HIGHER
PATHS OF THOUGHT RATHER THAN SIMPLY A STRONGER SENSE OF GROUP UNITY. THAT IS A
WAR FOOTING.
THE LION LYING
DOWN WITH THE LAMB IS PROBABLY TOO MUCH TO EXPECT, BUT HUMANS ARE SUPPOSEDLY
MORE INTELLIGENT THAN THE “LOWER” ANIMALS ARE. EVEN IF WE CAN’T MAKE THINGS
PERFECT, WE CAN MAKE THEM BETTER, AND THAT IS WORTH DOING. “THE PROGRESSIVES”
ARE ON THE RIGHT PATH, AND TO BE HONEST, IF ALL LIVES DON’T MATTER, THEN NO
LIVES WILL MATTER. ALL OF THAT ME AND MINE SENTIMENT THAT IS POPPING UP ACROSS
THE COUNTRY KEEPS US ALL IN DANGER OF A TRUE CIVIL WAR OF SORTS, AND WE CAN’T
AFFORD THAT.
Progressive Democrats pan antisemitism while lumping it with other forms of hate
From Sanders to The Squad, many lawmakers apparently unwilling to decry attacks on Jews without also denouncing Islamophobia or ‘all forms of racism’
By RON KAMPEAS
28 May 2021, 12:16 am
PHOTOGRAPH --
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez hold a news conference in Washington, DC, November 14, 2019.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images via JTA)
WASHINGTON
(JTA) — As reports of attacks on Jews broke into the news late last week,
Democratic lawmakers moved quickly to condemn antisemitism — but they didn’t
stop there.
“We’ve recently
seen disturbing antisemitic attacks and a troubling rise in Islamophobia,”
Bernie Sanders, the Jewish Vermont senator who is a leader of American
progressives, tweeted Friday. “If you are committed to a future of equality and
peaceful coexistence, please stand united against anyone who promotes hatred of
any kind.”
Numerous other
progressives soon followed suit, including multiple members of “The Squad” in
the US House of Representatives.
“The work of
dismantling antisemitism, anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian
racism, and every other form of hate is OUR work,” Representative Cori Bush of
Missouri tweeted.
Representative
Jamaal Bowman of New York wrote, “We’ve seen an increase in antisemitic and
Islamophobic hate, in NYC and nationwide — hateful words, hate crimes, and
other forms of violence.” And Representative Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts tweeted,
“I strongly condemn the rise in anti-Semitism and islamophobia we’re seeing
across the country.”
PHOTOGRAPH --
Jamaal Bowman, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 16th congressional
district, smiles as he talks to the media on Nov. 3, 2020 in the Bronx borough
of New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
The pattern
continued through the weekend and into this week.
“Antisemitism
has no place in our country or world. Neither does Islamophobia,” Senator
Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts tweeted late Tuesday. “That means standing
together and condemning all forms of bigotry and hate.”
The messages
all took aim at attacks reported while Israel and Hamas in Gaza fought a
conflict in which more than 250 Palestinians and a dozen Israelis were killed.
In New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere, violent attacks on Jews were caught on
camera. Meanwhile, mosques in Brooklyn and on Long Island were vandalized.
Halie Soifer,
who directs the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said she understood the
impetus to condemn all kinds of bigotries, but cautioned that doing so can have
the effect of diminishing the threat posed by one type of bigotry such as
antisemitism.
“There should
be no tolerance for hatred in any form, and Jewish Democrats strongly condemn
intolerance targeting any racial, ethnic, or religious minority,” Soifer told
the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “At the same time, there are unique root causes
of antisemitism that must be addressed, and for that reason, we would caution
against conflating or grouping this distinct form of hate with any other.”
Why Sanders
chose to frame his tweet the way he did and whether the Democrats’ messages
were coordinated is unclear. His office did not respond to a request for
comment.
PHOTOGRAPH --
Pro-Palestinian protesters face off with a group of Israel supporters and
police in Times Square on May 20, 2021 in New York City. (Spencer Platt / Getty
Images via AFP)
But his
approach is not unusual among progressives, who see bigotries not as distinct
but as stemming from the same toxic trends, and Sanders has explained his
thinking in the past.
“Like other
forms of bigotry — racism, sexism, homophobia — antisemitism is used by the
right to divide people from one another and prevent us from fighting together
for a shared future of equality, peace, prosperity and environmental justice,”
Sanders wrote in 2019 in Jewish Currents, a left-wing magazine.
Some Jewish
commentators expressed unhappiness about seeing antisemitism lumped with other
bigotries, likening it to the “All Lives Matter” pushback among conservatives
against the Black Lives Matter movement, a posture progressives revile.
“@SenSanders
just all lives mattered Jews,” Anne Herzberg, a human rights lawyer with NGO
Monitor, said on Twitter this week.
A number of
Democrats, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive
leader who sharply criticized Israel this month, issued statements that
exclusively condemned antisemitism. Ocasio-Cortez also offered practical advice
for how New Yorkers can support their Jewish neighbors.
PHOTOGRAPH --
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez speaks as, from left, Reps. Rashida Tlaib,
Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley listen during a news conference at the Capitol
in Washington, July 15, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
“We will never,
ever tolerate antisemitism here in NY or anywhere in the world,” she said on
Twitter. “The recent surge in attacks is horrifying. We stand with our Jewish
communities in condemning this violence. You can help. Take NYC’s free, 1hr
bystander intervention course.”
But some said
they wanted more. Representative Dean Phillips, a Jewish Democrat from
Minnesota, had some advice for his fellow progressives: Don’t equivocate when
it comes to attacks on Jews.
“I’ll say the
quiet part out loud; it’s time for ‘progressives’ to start condemning
antisemitism and violent attacks on Jewish people with the same intention and
vigor demonstrated in other areas of activism,” he tweeted Monday. “The silence
has been deafening.”
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