<<I strongly condemn any national movement based on ethnicity and religion>>
That’s fair, I respect that. That would explain your opposition to Zionism. There are not many people who believe as you do, but there are some. I don’t want to speak for Gus, but I think his convictions are similar. At one time so were mine. When I was a kid growing up in Russia, we talked about a world without boundaries, where everyone will be treated with dignity, where everyone will contribute to the world what he can, and everyone will receive from the world what he needs. We studied Esperanto, and dreamt of beautiful future. And then we learned of the real world, world where an individual counts for nothing, where the strong preys on the weak, where defenseless can appeal for justice, for honor, for mercy – all for naught. The US is the greatest country in the world. We come here from all over, people of different races, different nationalities, different religions, and we try to get along. Not always successfully, but we try. Unfortunately, the US can’t accommodate everyone, and there are so few places like the US elsewhere. The Jews, the Kurds, the Tutsis of the world, those who have often been the target of abuse or worse, they all have learned bitter lessons what it means to be defenseless. And the only way to defend oneself is to have one’s own country and army. Since Jews were minority everywhere, they had to congregate together in one place, and Israel is the only place to which Jews are historically connected. I know you find the effects unpalatable and you disagree with the entire concept, but I hope you can understand. The goal was not to subjugate the Palestinians, but to affirm our right to live like all other nations. It was a matter of our survival. If you don’t mind, what country are you from? Do you know what happened to Jewish community there? Remember that historically Jews were a significant minority in every Middle Eastern country. |
