One of the beautiful things about hosting a blog site is that you can respond to very thought provoking and sincere questions with an entire post.
Quite a few of you were taken by surprise and somewhat upset with my stance on Israel and the Jewish people. And given the unfortunate events taking place in the Middle East right now, I can honestly say that I understand where some of you are coming from.
But as sorry as I am for the innocent victims on the Palestinian side, I’m just as sorry for the countless Israelis who have been killed by suicide bombers and other despicable acts of terror over the course of that country's history.
So why do I defend Israel? Wow, where do I begin?
First, a little history lesson: Many of you are under the false assumption that the Israelis took away the Palestinian homeland and are now occupiers in a land that they have no claim to. (Kind of like us folks in America and what the white folks did to the Natives, I guess) But you would be incorrect. See, there was never a country called Palestine. Jews came from Judea not Palestine. There is no Palestinian language, no Palestinian culture distinct from other Arabs, and there has never been a land governed by Palestinians known as Palestine. NEVER!
Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. I’m not religious but I’ll play along, because I know that most of you are. King David established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and Muhammad never visited Jerusalem even once. Not once!! Jerusalem was under Turkish rule from 1517-1917, and under British rule from 1917 until 1948. Intense Jewish prejudice caused many Jews to flee Arab countries and most Jews in Israel today are of Arab, not European decent. Hum?
Jews purchased that land from Arab landlords, and there was an Orthodox Jewish community living in Palestine long before the rise of Adolph Hitler in Germany forced many Jews to flee like hell from Europe and settle in Israel.
Now I ask you, what were the Jews supposed to do? Our beloved America had turned many of them away after they tried to flee the tyranny of the evil one. So Jews established their own homeland. A homeland, by the way, which they have had to defend in four wars against Arab aggression. A homeland which is the only one they can call their own, (the Arab world has over 20), and a homeland which they have managed to do a pretty good job of keeping their own citizens happy in.
Oh come on Angry Black Man, what about the poor Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank? Don't they live under Israeli Occupation? You mean the Palestinians who can't get their own shit together? The ones who fight among themselves for control and power as much as they fight the Jews? You talkin about those Palestinians? Let me see now; Fatah rules the West Bank, while Hamas rules Gaza. Nice….. A "Two State Solution"? Try a three state solution; because I guarantee you that no matter what, those groups are going to be fighting among themselves for power.
But the Jews are easy targets. Why isn't anyone blaming the other Arab states for leaving thousands of Palestinian refugees hanging after the 1948 Arab Israeli conflict? Why don't we point our trembling indignant ass fingers at that scum, King Abdullah of Jordan, for betraying the other Arab nations? Why aren't we outraged at that thief, Yasar Arafat, who stole millions from the Palestinian people? Because it's easier to blame the Jews? Why don't we blame the British for making three different promises with despicable intentions in mind with their infamous "Balfour Declaration" after World War I?
So why am I defending the Jews? Because they stood by my side when the chips were down. Hell, some of them hung by my side. Because they helped to start organizations like the Urban League, and the NAACP. Because of stories I hear about Ida Wells in Memphis, Tennessee when Blacks organized a militia called the Tennessee Rifles to defend themselves, and it was a Jewish shopkeeper who risked his life to get them those rifles.
Because I have mad love for Haile Selassie (Save the Rasta jokes) and when that tyrant, Colonel Mengistu Mariam, overthrew him and started persecuting the Beta Israel people in Ethiopia, it was the Israelis who took them in. (Yes, there are actually Jews from Africa.) Maybe I got tired of seeing Jews trying to just live their lives, only to have their heads cut off on the Internet to make a fucking point. Maybe I like the fact that it's a Jew who started the Southern Poverty Law Center which tracks racist groups in this country and is one of the best run organizations in America. Maybe I like the fact that they don't proselytize to me about their faith like some people.
I know that Jessie and the rest of Rev. Inc. have made it cool to demagogue against Jews in this country. And the only thing that many Black folks and Jews have in common is love for a certain chosen one. If you’re Black and conscious, it's the hip thing to do; bash the Jews.
Remember when Professor Griff of Public Enemy told the folks in London that "if the Palestinians took up arms and went into Israel and killed all the Jews it would be cool"?
Sorry, I won't bite. The Jews are the least of my problems. To steal a line from the aforementioned Public Enemy, I won't "believe the hype".
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