I am happy to inform you that you are totally wrong about Netanyahu. I have never been a groupy of his, but he has served Israel with the utmost honor.
I hope that's directed at Phil and not me. I don't agree with everything Netanyahu has done. Nor do you, I imagine. But I don't doubt his patriotism or commitment to the Jewish people.
You write, "For the far Left, there is no promised land — for Jews or anyone else. It’s an endless cycle of conflict. A forever war over identity and power. A world without reconciliation, hope, love, forgiveness, or redemption."
The Middle East that Jews willingly chose to join. An endless cycle of conflict. A forever war over identity and power. The last place on Earth one should look for reconciliation, hope, love, forgiveness, or redemption. No hope of a promised land for Jews, or anybody else.
Have you ever been to Israel? to the Old City? I ask because I too found it easy to write the place off as the epicenter of all that's irrational, superstitious, and wrong about the world. Stand there at the Western Wall, though, and walk the city's streets, and something else seems to beckon.
Oh, sure, you can sit in Florida and *think* about all this & pound away on your keyboard. But you of all people know that *thinking* doesn't get us anywhere. Experience -- that's the ticket! So, go have the experience, Phil! With your hair and hippie cred, they'll either greet you as a prophet, or you'll end up in the local hospital with a severe case of Jerusalem Syndrome. :-)
Hey Alan, many of us are still relative newcomers to Substack so thanks for republishing. I love your imagination and out of the box story telling. It adds context and substance to my bafflement and befuddlement that this "new narrative of Palestine" has completely hypnotized the Left. The Right I am used to. This? Explain it to me! Thanks.
"Explain it to me!" >> I'm trying, Chana! :-) ... The whole situation is maddeningly complex, of course. Or maybe it's breathtakingly simple. I can't decide which. But this much I know: It's worth my time and attention. ... Thanks for giving me some of yours, and welcome to Substack!
Dear Alan, I believe the whole situation is both at the same time. You just nailed it. What’s most maddening (for me) is trying to stay in the grey area and not become polarized. Trying to keep our humanity in the face of the inhumane. It feels beyond me. Hey, thanks for your warm welcome and encouragement! There are many writers here but not enough good writing and I appreciate yours.
You evidently have to pass some sort of censoring (maybe self-censoring) for you to have added that superfluous jab at the democratically elected leader of the people in the land of the Big Story. Other than that, I am glad you revisited this, Alan. This is interesting and original.
I *knew* you'd ping me on that. And I considered cutting it from the reposted version. Here's why I didn't...
You probably know that Bibi's father was Benzion Netanyahu (born Benzion Mileikowsky). He studied medieval history at Hebrew University, and wrote a history of the Spanish Inquisition in which he argued that Jewish converts to Catholicism were persecuted on a racial basis and not for continuing to practice Judaism. He said that Jewish history “is a history of holocausts” and that the Nazi genocide was different only in scale.
Put another way: The gentiles have always hated us, and always will hate us. They'll come for us in every generation, from now until the end of time. The challenge is to kick our enemies in the face before they kick us in the face.
I understand that worldview, and Netanyahu, father and son, are not completely wrong. But as you know, I'm a "measured messianist." I think G*d has presented us all with a problem, and a challenge: "See if you can dig yourselves out of the hole in which you find yourselves without some reference to Me." ... The Netanyahus' voice is the voice from Orwell's 1984: "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever." To which Isaiah and Micah and Amos would say: "George, George, George -- why so glum, buddy? You write about endless conflict because you can't see a way out. We're here to provide a more hopeful vision."
Israel (to me) teeters between those two worlds. Endless conflict... and the voice of Redemption. Yes, Israel should defend itself, without a doubt. Hamas and Hezbollah must go. But Netanyahu the son is a chip off the old block. And while the Netanyahu-Jabotinsky-Revisionist worldview has its time and place, it fails to reflect the best of us. It embraces the persecution story while ignoring the one that took shape at Sinai.
(Netanyahu-inflected Revisionism) - (the Prophets) = Putinism in Jewish clothing.
I am happy to inform you that you are totally wrong about Netanyahu. I have never been a groupy of his, but he has served Israel with the utmost honor.
I hope that's directed at Phil and not me. I don't agree with everything Netanyahu has done. Nor do you, I imagine. But I don't doubt his patriotism or commitment to the Jewish people.
You write, "For the far Left, there is no promised land — for Jews or anyone else. It’s an endless cycle of conflict. A forever war over identity and power. A world without reconciliation, hope, love, forgiveness, or redemption."
The Middle East that Jews willingly chose to join. An endless cycle of conflict. A forever war over identity and power. The last place on Earth one should look for reconciliation, hope, love, forgiveness, or redemption. No hope of a promised land for Jews, or anybody else.
Have you ever been to Israel? to the Old City? I ask because I too found it easy to write the place off as the epicenter of all that's irrational, superstitious, and wrong about the world. Stand there at the Western Wall, though, and walk the city's streets, and something else seems to beckon.
Oh, sure, you can sit in Florida and *think* about all this & pound away on your keyboard. But you of all people know that *thinking* doesn't get us anywhere. Experience -- that's the ticket! So, go have the experience, Phil! With your hair and hippie cred, they'll either greet you as a prophet, or you'll end up in the local hospital with a severe case of Jerusalem Syndrome. :-)
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/jerusalem-syndrome.htm
Hey Alan, many of us are still relative newcomers to Substack so thanks for republishing. I love your imagination and out of the box story telling. It adds context and substance to my bafflement and befuddlement that this "new narrative of Palestine" has completely hypnotized the Left. The Right I am used to. This? Explain it to me! Thanks.
"Explain it to me!" >> I'm trying, Chana! :-) ... The whole situation is maddeningly complex, of course. Or maybe it's breathtakingly simple. I can't decide which. But this much I know: It's worth my time and attention. ... Thanks for giving me some of yours, and welcome to Substack!
Dear Alan, I believe the whole situation is both at the same time. You just nailed it. What’s most maddening (for me) is trying to stay in the grey area and not become polarized. Trying to keep our humanity in the face of the inhumane. It feels beyond me. Hey, thanks for your warm welcome and encouragement! There are many writers here but not enough good writing and I appreciate yours.
You evidently have to pass some sort of censoring (maybe self-censoring) for you to have added that superfluous jab at the democratically elected leader of the people in the land of the Big Story. Other than that, I am glad you revisited this, Alan. This is interesting and original.
I *knew* you'd ping me on that. And I considered cutting it from the reposted version. Here's why I didn't...
You probably know that Bibi's father was Benzion Netanyahu (born Benzion Mileikowsky). He studied medieval history at Hebrew University, and wrote a history of the Spanish Inquisition in which he argued that Jewish converts to Catholicism were persecuted on a racial basis and not for continuing to practice Judaism. He said that Jewish history “is a history of holocausts” and that the Nazi genocide was different only in scale.
Put another way: The gentiles have always hated us, and always will hate us. They'll come for us in every generation, from now until the end of time. The challenge is to kick our enemies in the face before they kick us in the face.
I understand that worldview, and Netanyahu, father and son, are not completely wrong. But as you know, I'm a "measured messianist." I think G*d has presented us all with a problem, and a challenge: "See if you can dig yourselves out of the hole in which you find yourselves without some reference to Me." ... The Netanyahus' voice is the voice from Orwell's 1984: "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever." To which Isaiah and Micah and Amos would say: "George, George, George -- why so glum, buddy? You write about endless conflict because you can't see a way out. We're here to provide a more hopeful vision."
Israel (to me) teeters between those two worlds. Endless conflict... and the voice of Redemption. Yes, Israel should defend itself, without a doubt. Hamas and Hezbollah must go. But Netanyahu the son is a chip off the old block. And while the Netanyahu-Jabotinsky-Revisionist worldview has its time and place, it fails to reflect the best of us. It embraces the persecution story while ignoring the one that took shape at Sinai.
(Netanyahu-inflected Revisionism) - (the Prophets) = Putinism in Jewish clothing.