Jeremiah 31:16

I think this article by Jewish-American mother Susan Estrich takes the cake. She sure does lay it on thick...

In his stunning book, "My Promised Land," Ari Shavit writes about the Israeli character, the intensity, the passion, the full engagement with life, the entrepreneurial spirit and willingness to take economic risks, all no doubt shaped by the reality of living in a land where every Israeli is a target. It is no accident that Israel is a center for startups.

But as Israel calls up some 40,000 reservists, I cannot help but identify with the 40,000 mothers saying goodbye to their soldier sons and daughters, understanding that when survival is at stake, everyone serves. This is part of life, my Israeli friends tell me. I know.
...
We just want to live in peace and quiet," one mother, who had sent her children away, told a reporter. "I hope the day will come. If not in a peaceful or political situation, then the army will have to help us."

"The army will have to help us." Can the army keep every child safe? Can the army keep every soldier safe?

If you are under attack by those who do not value human life as we do, how can there be peace and quiet. If religious "leaders" can convince gullible, vulnerable young men and women that the best thing they can do with their lives is to die, killing Jews in the process, then how can there be peace and quiet?

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Until the Jewish women like Mrs. Estrich can open their eyes and see the charred Palestinian boys, the grieving Arab mothers, weeping and mourning their loss of life, I suspect people like this writer will continue believing that "their side" is blameless or of better moral character, and the "others" -- "who do not value human life as we [allegedly] do" -- are indeed humans of equal value in God's eyes too, nothing will change.

Why do American newspapers continue to run such blatant pro-Israel propaganda, from writers who clearly are too close to the emotional situation to think or reason clearly?

Mrs. Estrich continue bleating on, insinuating that American interests are the same as Israel's and the old "we're all in this together", even though it's not Americans continuing to settle on internationally contested land:

I read some of the comments posted in response to the story of the brutal killing of the three Israeli teenagers. The comments were as frightening as the story. People spewing hate against Israel, the aggressor, the occupier, and saying we Americans should let them go it alone, not waste our dollars or our hearts. And when accused of anti-Seminitism, they always say it's not about Jews, it's about Israel.

I have bad news for the Israel-haters. The same people who hate Israel also hate Jews and Americans, wherever we live, hate our traditions of equality and freedom, hate those who would allow women to be educated and to have control of their lives and bodies. It is not only Israel that is threatened by extremism, even if the bombs are not falling here. And it is not only Israel that must fight back.

Susan, the American people are tired of fighting in vain, while Israeli extremists continue to believe the law is for other people, and not them. If you, or your children, want to saddle up Sally and volunteer in the IDF, well you would not be the first Americans to do so. Go, fight, win.

(The Cuban-Americans who have successfully settled here, as well as immigrants from hundreds of homelands, understand that when you come to America, your allegiances to your past can continue, but there is a pluralism here -- a recognition of the humanity of others -- that must be respected. America is the New World, where these past ethnic and tribal hatreds must be extinguished. The United States of America: We're not a religious state. We don't have separate roads and facilities anymore for this tribe or that. We don't have special preferences for Jewish people over Arabs or Muslims here. And we understand, G-d made us all equal in his eyes. That seems to be the sticking point the extreme religious Jews can't get over, eh? The reason to move from Boca to Tel Aviv, where your privileges over other peoples are greater based on religious think. Not here though, not in our shared America.)


I just hope America soon stops financing the self-righteous. For such an independent democracy, Israel sure seems to have some internal work to do. Once they're done killing their way to peace and quiet, that is...