Let’s learn who/what *”colonizes”*! Shall we?
Colonialism: first known use 1864, and meant “the quality or state of being colonial”
Colonial: first known use 1768, and meant “of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony”
Colony: first known use 14th century CE and, by established definition, meant “a body of people living in a new territory but retaining ties with the parent state” – like Europe colonizing America/South Africa, like Saudi Arabia colonizing Jerusalem.
Jews are by ancestry Levantine indigeous. Jews, no matter where in this world, retain their ties to historical ANE Israel-Judea in the Levant. By definition, Jews re-establishing national self-sovereignty in their “parent state” is not an act of colonization – this land ain’t “new” for us!
We were forced out several times by *actual* Colonizers – out Israel-Judea by Assyrians, Babylonians, and Romans; out of Spain and Portugal by conquesting Christians; out of all of Europe and the Middle East by violent genocides, leaving refugee Jews nowhere to go *but* back to Israel (the “parent state”)!
Attempts to apply other definitions are attempts to alter the meaning and purpose of these words! Such are acts of antisemitism/racism.
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Before ordering the launch of near 4,000 missiles towards Israel (nearly 500 falling into Gaza itself), … Ismail Abdel Salam Ahmed Haniya, Gaza Palestinian dictator and former disputed Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, said on May 11, 2021:
“We shall never forget Palestine from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River! Palestine is from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River! And we shall never, never, never recognize Israel.
These are no mere slogans. This is our path. This is the truth, the truth! This is our principle, our ideology, and it is not up for compromise. It cannot be bought or sold. … That is our land. [Points toward Israel]”
This was said in Gaza, amid repeated chants of “Khaybar, Khaybar, Oh Jews, the army of Muhammad will return!” and “Death to Israel!”. Muhammad created Islam in Saudi Arabia, not Palestine-Jerusalem, hence the threat of conquesting war!
Israel fully withdrew from Gaza in 2005, and Islamic terrorist organization Hamas came in and took oppressive control of Gaza in 2007. In the charter of Hamas is the following:
“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Moslems fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him’.”
“Islam will obliterate it [Israel], just as it obliterated others before it.”
This one-State Arab/Muslim-ONLY solution has *always* been the stance of both PLO/PA and Hamas.
Prior statements by Haniya:
“We [Hamas] repeat today that we are with the establishment of a Palestinian state on any liberated part of Palestinian land that is agreed upon by the Palestinian people, without recognizing Israel or conceding any inch of historical Palestine.” – speaking to the Palestinian legislative council in Gaza, September 2011
In other words, peace only if Israel ceases to exist, and Jews are murdered – specifically, on historic Jewish homeland – for not knowing their place in this Christian/Muslim world.
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Perhaps you read this blatantly *propaganda* opinion piece by Diana Buttu, a lawyer, former adviser to the negotiating team of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Palestinian citizen of Israel.
One very important question here: Why is it that Israel is always observed and reflected upon in these media productions in a complete historical vacuum – rendering it just too easy to label Jews as the regional aggressors and the cause of problems?
This article in the New York Times, dripping throughout with antisemitism, fails utterly to share a demonstrable and accurate view of history. For example:
In the same one year period surrounding 1948 *both* Palestinian Arabs and Arab Jews experienced a “nakba”/”shoah” together! But, you *only* here about the Palestinian’s nakba. Why? Let’s look at the history of the region.
In 1947, Palestinian Arabs waged guerilla warfare against Jews, because Jews were going to declare Israeli sovereignty within a sovereign-less Palestine with U.N. backing. This warfare led to over 700,000 Arabs fleeing or being expelled by 1948. In 1948, over 850,000 Jews in Muslim controlled Middle East and North Africa nations were forcibly expelled and turned into refugees. The only place in the entire world that they could go was to Israel!
In that Palestinian propaganda piece, dripping with antisemitism, all this history is missing. Only the “nakba” is mentioned. But, what about the expulsion of Jews who have lived all over the Middle East for thousands of years (in Moslem countries as “second class” citizens, like Jews in Europe). This is why Arab Jews make up the majority of Jewish citizens in Israel of today!
But, of course, it’s the Jews fault! How dare they become the victims of Christian and Muslim genocides, survive it, and establish a small nation on ancestral grounds?! Only to be constantly the target of those who feel Israel should not exist and Jews should be dead or assimilated.
Ms. Buttu says, “We Palestinians living in Israel “sub-exist,” living under a system of discrimination and racism with laws that enshrine our second-class status and with policies that ensure we are never equals. This is not by accident but by design. The violence against Palestinians in Israel, with the backing of the Israeli state, that we witnessed in the past few weeks was only to be expected.”
And why is this? Are Jewish Israelis tired of being demonized for decades for trying their best to live in peace and safety and equality for all citizens? Is it because Netanyahu has weaponized the outlawed Israeli ethno-nationalist ideologies that arose within a minority of Israeli Jews because of the never ending attacks upon Jews by Muslim Arabs? Is it because the Palestinian Authority (aka, the PLO) and Hamas have always sworn by Charter to never agree to peace that includes Israel, no matter the cost?
Why learn from history, when you can convince the entire world to hate Jews and kill Jews with ahistorical propaganda pieces online and in news print? Facts matter! Honest history matters!
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This here! Who Hamas and Hezbollah and other Muslim extremists deem worthy of death for being Israeli Jews and Arabs, with a few Hindus and Christians intermixed. Age does not matter. Gender does not matter. Skin color does not matter! Just the fact that Jews have self-sovereignty on historic Israeli lands is enough! All to further the cause of systemic religious hatred for Jews by two conquesting religions.
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There it is! But, how do we achieve it with dignity, safety, and prosperity for *both* Israel and Palestinians?!
“This too is a paradox of this moment: As Israel is accused of being the bully, Jews are feeling increasingly afraid [all around this world]. [Why?]
[Because,] For increasing numbers of its critics, Israel is incapable of acting in honorable self-defense because its very existence is indefensible. As anti-Zionists put it, Israel doesn’t commit crimes: It is a crime. For justice to be done, Israel must die.
It is hardly surprising that, given the mainstreaming of eliminationist rhetoric against the Jewish state, violence against Jews around the diaspora is growing. If Israel is evil, then surely diaspora Jews who support it — and even those who are indifferent to it — share the guilt.
How is it possible that a democratic state, with all its flaws and challenges, is *losing the battle for public opinion* against a medieval fundamentalist regime that deliberately targets civilians across an internationally recognized border and hides behind its own civilians for protection?
Hamas’ success in firing at will at the Israeli home front — even announcing the timing of the next rocket barrage — has somber strategic consequences for Israel. Hamas, after all, is our weakest enemy. If it can manage to sustain a war against civilian Israel for nearly two weeks, what does that say about our long-term prospects in the region?
True, Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system destroyed most of the incoming rockets over our cities. But Israelis know another arithmetic: Hezbollah’s arsenal is 10 times greater than that of Hamas and far more sophisticated. The Iron Dome will not be able to protect us against a massive attack of rockets and missiles on multiple fronts.
By focusing on Israeli power, critics ignore Israeli vulnerability. Israel’s paradox is that it is at once the regional power and the regional loner. Hemmed in by terror enclaves to our north and south, Israelis are acutely aware of the fragility of our borders and the enormous effort required to sustain our ability to protect ourselves.
Israel’s dilemma is that it is forced to wage asymmetrical wars against terrorists embedded in a civilian population while, at the same time, it occupies the Palestinians in the West Bank. To be perceived as morally credible in our battle against Hamas, we need to prove ourselves committed to a fair resolution of the Palestinian tragedy.
Israel is the only country whose neighbors *have sentenced it to death*. Israel is also the only democracy that is a long-term occupier of another people. To effectively fight terror, Israel must strive to maintain moral credibility as a reluctant occupier. A renewed Israeli peace initiative is our opportunity to convey our vision for a different Middle East.
There is no reason to assume that Palestinian leaders would be any more responsive today [than they have been every other time: “No!” to peace, every single time]. But that doesn’t free Israel from the moral and strategic responsibility of offering the Palestinians an alternative future.” … Amen! This be so!
And, please, read this full article – stop listening to the propaganda media’s “selective perspective” onslaught against the efforts of Israel to achieve peace in this region! For *BOTH* Israel’s and Palestine’s sake! (Never mind the present and temporary Netanyahu government!)
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2021-05-23/how-to-halt-criminalization-of-israel
How to halt the criminalization of Israel
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Representative Alma Hernandez (Arizona) is an unapologetic Mexican-American Jew.
“As a 14-year-old she was brutally attacked [by a Police Officer] and subsequently exposed to the criminal justice system rigged against people of color especially those without means. This experience showed her first hand what happens in our school to prison pipeline that has ruined so many young lives. Alma, as a result, now suffers from severe spinal issues which have affected her physically over the years due to the brutal attack by the officer at such a young age. Because of her experiences, she is an outspoken activist who has worked on a variety of issues from education, women’s rights, criminal justice reform, and health care.”
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What being on the spectrum is like (high functioning low functioning does not mattah!):
You see it! You really see it! And those around you ain’t got time for what you got to see!
I should say now … done! But, all who understand, it ain’t never done. Yes?!
The big question is: How do you get others to see what is *so obvious* to you (high functioning low functioning does not mattah!)?!
The Nazarite, subject of present Jewish reflection (at this time of year) … is he/she on the spectrum?!!!
No one wants to be different from the rest. Basically, living a life where what interests you is ignored by most others.
Even demigod Samson, just saying, was just tryin’ to be normal?! … Damn, just tryin’ to take the D-line of life!
Okay, I”ll let you discuss. (Not tryin’ to impart any message here. Just reflecting tonight.)
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“If we want to know what the regular people were doing or not doing, archaeology is a wonderful tool to answer this question.” Yep, yep! As I keep saying,…
Do not mistake common Jewish lifestyle with religious idealizations of lifestyle. Throughout Jewish history, especially the ANE period, most Jews were not as pious to ethno-religious “Judaism” as those who made a living writing it, teaching it, preaching it to, and ruling it over Jewish people. This is still the case to this very day among non-religious Jews (in Israel, near 60 percent of the population). For 3,500 years this tension has been ever present between the religious elites/royalty of Jewish people-hood and the “secular” commoners/citizens of nationalized Judaism.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/what-archaeology-tells-us-about-ancient-history-eating-kosher-180977804/
What Archaeology Tells Us About the Ancient History of Eating Kosher
A new study of fish remains deepens scholars’ understanding of how the dietary laws came to be
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