“Food for Thought”

“Food for Thought”
I have been trying to reflect on the unrest in the Middle East as impartially as I can, as both a non-practicing Jew who visited Israel over 30 years ago and a secular humanist. I feel we need to bring our behavior and actions “home” before we judge and condemn the actions of others.
For me what it comes down to is: (1) until we can recognize the civil rights of all people; (2) not demonize other nationalities, religious & ethnic groups, gender orientations, or political affiliations; (3) abide by the “Golden Rule”; (4) not believe we have the divine right to take the land or assets of other nations, ethnic groups, etc. without just and fair compensation and permission; (5) make a sincere and caring attempt to listen to those who are not in total agreement with us; (6) accept that we live an abundant universe where we don’t have to live in fear of having to hoard: food, money, land, and material possessions; (7) not try to convince ourselves that the lives of the peoples of: one nation, religion, gender, ethnic group are any more or less valuable than our own. Until we can embrace and embody the above concepts, we will always have wars and world conflict.
In the 13th century in the time of the Inquisition, non-Christian’s were labeled “infidels” and slaughtered, today a small group of Muslims label others as “infidels”. During the Nazi occupation of Europe the Jews, Gypsy’s, and homosexuals we labeled as “Vermin” and killed. During the “9/11” tragedy, George Bush said,” if you are not with us you are against us”, inferring that those who did not agree with him were also “evil doers”. The Mormons say that if you are not one of us, you will not be saved, therefore inferring non-Mormons will go to hell.
“One man’s freedom fighter is another man’s terrorist”. During the Revolutionary War, Colonists fought back against the British in a Terrorist Guerilla like fashion. During WW II Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto fought against the Nazi’s in a terrorist like fashion. After centuries of slavery and oppression some African American’s in the 60’s created violent extremist groups such as the “Black Panthers”, “Black Muslims” to finally vent their anger, and try to create a boundary of self respect. Today in the Middle East some frustrated Palestinian’s have created an extreme group called Hamas. The end result of the above was divisiveness, violence, and death. I don’t condone the actions of either side in the Middle East, but I do have empathy and an understanding of why they are behaving in such an inhumane manor. The Palestinians’ feel disrespected, locked in a ghetto type environment, and forced to live like animals in a penned up situation. The Israeli’s who are Jews who’s parents and ancestors were persecuted, had their possessions stolen, and were exterminated in one of history’s major holocausts’ are saying “Never Again”, we will not lie down passively like we have done in past centuries, be herded around like animals, packed into ghetto’s, and exterminated. Much of the suffering and death in the past has been carried out by power hungry, greedy, extremist despots in the name of religion, ethnicity, mass fear, etc.
Getting back to the present decade, do we wage war on an entire nation because a dozen extreme angry individuals hijacked some planes and drove them into the Twin Towers and killed thousands of people, or do we treat them as criminals? If a few hundred “African Americans” due to their anger and frustration waged a destructive riot in Watts do we bomb entire neighborhoods of people of color? It is probably more expedient in the short run to kill off hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, then to bring to justice just those who have launched rockets into Israel. But if we value the lives of all people equally, take time to listen and empathize, and not condemn those who are not like us, then we have a much greater chance for world peace.