Me Anti-Semitic?
Like I Didn't Mention Arabs
Following yesterday's satirical post “Haiti Must Turn Jewish,” a number of readers have accused me of being both Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic.
Like when, where and how did challenging US policy regarding Israel become the act of an “Anti-Semitic” bigot?
Or more to the point, when, where and how did being Semitic become the exclusive right of religious and/or cultural Jews?
Fair questions.
Because, in the Middle East and North Africa alone, there are more that 250 million Semitic people including:
206 million Arabic Semites
27 million Amharic Semites
7 million Jewish Semites
6.7 million Tigris Semites.
These numbers, of course, cover only those people who speak one of a number of Semitic languages.
But according to Wikipedia, there are more than 467 million ethnic Semites living in the world today --- with less than 5% of them Jewish.
Now, as to the intent of yesterday's post....
My primary goal was to question why in God's name the people of the United States have flooded the tiny nation of Israel with nearly $60 billion in non-military aid during the past half century – and roughly a $100 billion more in military support.
Or, at the risk of being a crude American, what's the f*ck has Israel ever done for me or mine?
For the record, I've gone to Israel three times during my 40 years as a journalist.
The first time was in January of 1974 when I wrote about Israel following the Yom Kippur War.
The second time was during my time with the Philadelphia Bulletin when I revisited the scenes of the New Testament to write a series* called “Jesus' World Today” for the Holiday Season. (*Which was syndicated by the New York Times.)
The last time was in 1987 when I traveled to Israel with a group of South Florida Jewish families seeking to connect with their ethnic and religious heritage.
Each trip was both moving and memorable.
But then Israel is a place of miracles -- both Biblical and recent.
First, as sacred grounds for the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths.
Second, as a former desert wasteland turned into a 21st century industrial and military power thanks largely to the billions of dollars in economic and military aid the United States and its Zionist citizens have spent in support of the Jewish state.
Third, because Israel can do no serious wrong in the eyes of the the American media..
And finally – in my opinion – because Israel probably is where World War Three will start.
That said....
Nobody has ever been able to give me a logical reason for Israel's (1) existence as a so-called Jewish state, (2) illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons, (3) history of espionage in the United States, (4) treatment of the Palestinian people as second class citizens, (5) continued construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land, (6) and the exclusive right to consider themselves the only Semites on the planet.
Oh yes.
The fact that my country has lavished nearly $60 billion in non-military economic aid on Israel and less than $5 billion to make life better for our impoverished neighbors in Haiti makes me ashamed of my country.
Which, I suppose makes me an Anti-Semite -- among certain ethnocentric narcissists who consider me as a shameless bigot.
Following yesterday's satirical post “Haiti Must Turn Jewish,” a number of readers have accused me of being both Anti-Israel and Anti-Semitic.
Like when, where and how did challenging US policy regarding Israel become the act of an “Anti-Semitic” bigot?
Or more to the point, when, where and how did being Semitic become the exclusive right of religious and/or cultural Jews?
Fair questions.
Because, in the Middle East and North Africa alone, there are more that 250 million Semitic people including:
206 million Arabic Semites
27 million Amharic Semites
7 million Jewish Semites
6.7 million Tigris Semites.
These numbers, of course, cover only those people who speak one of a number of Semitic languages.
But according to Wikipedia, there are more than 467 million ethnic Semites living in the world today --- with less than 5% of them Jewish.
Now, as to the intent of yesterday's post....
My primary goal was to question why in God's name the people of the United States have flooded the tiny nation of Israel with nearly $60 billion in non-military aid during the past half century – and roughly a $100 billion more in military support.
Or, at the risk of being a crude American, what's the f*ck has Israel ever done for me or mine?
For the record, I've gone to Israel three times during my 40 years as a journalist.
The first time was in January of 1974 when I wrote about Israel following the Yom Kippur War.
The second time was during my time with the Philadelphia Bulletin when I revisited the scenes of the New Testament to write a series* called “Jesus' World Today” for the Holiday Season. (*Which was syndicated by the New York Times.)
The last time was in 1987 when I traveled to Israel with a group of South Florida Jewish families seeking to connect with their ethnic and religious heritage.
Each trip was both moving and memorable.
But then Israel is a place of miracles -- both Biblical and recent.
First, as sacred grounds for the Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths.
Second, as a former desert wasteland turned into a 21st century industrial and military power thanks largely to the billions of dollars in economic and military aid the United States and its Zionist citizens have spent in support of the Jewish state.
Third, because Israel can do no serious wrong in the eyes of the the American media..
And finally – in my opinion – because Israel probably is where World War Three will start.
That said....
Nobody has ever been able to give me a logical reason for Israel's (1) existence as a so-called Jewish state, (2) illegal stockpile of nuclear weapons, (3) history of espionage in the United States, (4) treatment of the Palestinian people as second class citizens, (5) continued construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land, (6) and the exclusive right to consider themselves the only Semites on the planet.
Oh yes.
The fact that my country has lavished nearly $60 billion in non-military economic aid on Israel and less than $5 billion to make life better for our impoverished neighbors in Haiti makes me ashamed of my country.
Which, I suppose makes me an Anti-Semite -- among certain ethnocentric narcissists who consider me as a shameless bigot.
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