I think about what Jewish Israelis will accept or not accept because if I don't then I'm not thinking politically at all. I'm indulging in the “science fiction” version of politics that is deliberately pleasing and fanciful but disconnected from fundamental realities that must always be taken into consideration. Jewish Israelis, and indeed the State of Israel, exist. They have power, considerable military means, economic success of a kind, technological expertise, and most importantly international support at a very significant level. I think most pro-Palestinian advocates don't understand how much more influence Israel and the pro-Israeli groups have developed in Washington even over the past five years and how profoundly deeper the military and intelligence links have become.
Ibish, Hussein. "Ibish, why do you keep talking about what the Israelis will accept?" Irishblog. July 18, 2010:
For any who truly care about lives (as lived on Earth), the above excerpt comes from one of the best analyses I've read in the bin labeled, "What We Need to Do Now."
"Political Scienc Fiction" needs go be done with, and I would much include in it reenactments in words and deeds of the 1960's Radical Left. That poison, from Noam Chomsky across and down, runs through too many systems, for the Jews and Arab Christians and Muslims of the "Middle East Conflict" need not only a politics of the possible but also a politics desireable and within reach.
Only two axioms need to be kept in mind:
1. Peace is itself divine: what a wonderful thing to have the freedom to attend to art, business, health, and family without the nagging ache that is political and military insecurity;
2. Inherently, all humans have both a right as well as the challenge of struggling with cultural, ethnic, and religious identity, we each should contribute to the preservation of the other's legacy, for few, if any are ever immune to the facts and myths of origins. However, let the past be past but never fully present.
Also, speaking as an imperfect Jew, I admit it, I would like even less to be a perfect internationalist.
For my doppelganger who God made Muslim, good--let's jettison what doesn't work, as the Jews have ditched animal sacrifice and burning alters for the "jealous God", and, as with the Jew's continuing relationship with Hashem, let each remain believers, pious, and in the camps of the faithful, and burdened to search and discover better missions in this life and eternally.
If such should go hard on the more chauvanistic egotists engaged with church, mosque, and temple, so be it: we guard one another, and our one God guards us.
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