Israel is not a Jewish state

Today I read this article, one more article about the heinous crimes the state of Israel commits and then continues to call itself a "Jewish" state. This article reports that Israel is now admitting it harvested the organs of Palestinians murdered by the IDF without familial permission or any permission.

http://sabbah.biz/mt/archives/2009/12/21/israel-admits-stealing-palestinian-organs/

It suddenly dawned on me, as I have been studying the conflation of Judaism and Zionism, as I have been ranting that the actions of the state of Israel are not the Judaism in which I was raised, that we need to stop calling Israel a Jewish state.

By calling Israel a Jewish state, we become at best passive, and at worst complicit, in the justification this tyrannical regime has used and continues to use to commit its heinous crimes. We buy into the rationale that due to the suffering the Jews have endured over the century, we must create a "safe" place all our own. Forget the rage we would feel if the US declared itself a Christian state, forget the rage we would feel if suddenly, say in reparation for its mistreatment of its Roma people, Europe declared New York a Romani state, forget for a moment, in other words, the injustice of any ethnic state that exceptionalizes one group over all others.

And just focus on the fact that in the name of all Jews, a government has committed unspeakable crimes against an entire indigenous population and then justifies its actions via the conflation of its ideology with Judaism. Are you offended yet? You should be. You know - like the outrage you feel when you read about the heinous acts of other colonizers against indigenous people, Native Americans, the Aboriginal people, hey, what was Ghandi's fight all about - the Brits' treatment of the indigenous Indians, no?

So what makes Israel different? Allegedly, because it is Jewish. Well, today, I denounce that this is a Jewish state. For, as I believe I have ranted about before, the Judaism in which I was raised was a religion whose people prided themselves on being at the forefront of social justice movements, on being disproportionately represented in said movements, on being good people. We are, for example, still stunned when a Jewish American commits a crime or any despicable act (yes, I have heard head shaking over the fact that both Spitzer and Mr. Weiner are Jewish).

The Judaism in which I was raised taught me about Rabbi Hillel who said the entire Torah could be understood in one rule "What is hateful to you, do not do unto others."

What would Hillel think of the Israeli treatment of the Palestinians? What would he think of ethnic cleansing, home demolition, illegal organ harvesting, illegal detention, torture, murder of children, denial of basic human rights - all in the name of Judaism.

Now, believe me when I tell you that I have many problems with all religions, my own included. I find them to be, without exception, inexcusably misogynistic. See, e.g., "When God was a Woman" by Merlin Stone. So I am not religious, I do not attend services because, whatever else we add to the prayer book, the Torah contains, portions advocating ethnic cleansing, rape, slavery, general misogyny, war-mongering and, I could go on.

But by the time I was raised, modern American Judaism had turned itself into a social justice movement - with one exception: Palestine. At the mention of Israel, these social justice values get checked at the door, no questions asked. Why? Because Israel is a Jewish state.

Well, today, I let all my fellow Jews off the hook: Israel is not a Jewish state. Israel is a tyrannical, land-grabbing, colonizing regime. I will no longer allow it to use my background to justify its crimes. Join me.

Stop the JNF Campaign Website & Several Actions

Address: http://www.stopthejnf.org/about.html

Gotta love these actions:

Art Activists Plant Trees in Luxury Cosmetics Store linked to Israeli Land Grabs
http://www.100daystopalestine.org/2011/05/28/art-activists-plant-trees-in-luxury-cosmetics-store-linked-to-israeli-land-grabs/

Artists Plant Trees in Luxury Cosmetics Store linked to Israel Land Grabs

http://www.100daystopalestine.org/2011/06/10/artists-plant-trees-in-luxury-cosmetics-store-linked-to-israel-land-grabs/

Dream Job

After ten years, I have finally left the corporate world. Yeah! I will miss the perks, that is for sure. Nothing says "classist society" like corporate perks. But now I am about to embark on what I can only call my dream job. I have accepted a three year fellowship at U-Conn Law School's Asylum clinic. I start this Wednesday. Good-bye corporate craziness and hello real work. Time to feed the soul (ok, so not the "sole" - no more shoe shopping. Sigh. Good thing I did quite a number over the last ten years . . .)