Mr. Olmert – Tear Down That Wall

By Mark David Blum, Esq.

Today I learned that the municipal workers for the entire Province of Ontario, Canada have voted to join a world-wide boycott of Israel, “until it sees Israel recognizing the Palestinians' right to self-determination.” In my opinion, it is OK to be a Jew, support the idea of a Jewish State of Israel and still be appalled and offended at the antics of the government of the State of Israel. Just as one can be an American and oppose American policy. Right now, I am a Jew who does not support the policies of the government of the State of Israel.

Israel gives us a prime example as to why we should NOT be following Bush in his policies in the Middle East. For 50 years, Israelis have answered their neighbors with bombs, bullets, and civil oppression. Nobody says Israel is totally to blame. They chose the wrong path to resolution. If theirs was the proper path, then Israel would be the safest, most peaceful nation on earth. It is not and the situation has become more grave over the years.

Calling the Wall that Israel is building an “apartheid wall”, a global campaign started last July and has been supported by many North American churches and at least 20 Quebec organizations. Now with Ontario’s largest union joining in the boycott; a serious crisis of conscience develops.

The nature of the conflict and the standard Israeli response has changed that society. They have become a paranoid people who traded away most of their freedoms and civil rights for safety. Yet, despite all their efforts, Israelis are not protected and instead the situation is worse than ever. Being a Jew is synonymous with being an Israeli and anger toward Israel is now directed at Jews. This is an intolerable situation.

We know that Israelis fed us false information which helped shape our policy and invasion of Iraq. We remember the days of Entebbe and think the Israelis to be above reproach. We too are becoming victims of their misguided policies. Daily, the fearful Republicans and Theocons trade away our freedoms and civil rights for what they call “security”. We are building a wall around our nation to keep others out. The world has isolated us as well.

Israel was founded because it was time to give Jews a safe haven from racists who can no longer bring them harm. The problem is that in the process of isolating themselves and dealing with opposition with violence and anger, the nation has changed. Israel is becoming the very devil from which its founders ran. So too are we.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the Israeli government. If you want to know what our nation is going to look like in 30 yrs if we continue the path we are taking, take a hard look at Israel. We are already getting there with the murders of innocents, Abu Ghraib, children tortured at Guantanamo, the bombing of innocents at a wedding, and the near total worldwide isolation.

I am a Jew. I will not support the Israeli government just as I will not support the reactionary right wing in this nation as they take us down the path toward destruction and evil.

Bush is not defending Israel because of Jewish influence in Washington. It is the messianic Christian movement that is pushing the pro-Israel agenda. They live for the last of days and in doing so, are taking the rest of this nation down with them.

Let us not become the very devil we seek to slay. Doing so shall be the end of the American dream.

Tear Down That Wall