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| The 'deeply Jewish' NY State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal |
Rooted in their ‘deepest Jewish values,’ five NYC, state officials accuse Israel of ‘mass destruction’
As one gets deeper into the article we find out some more about how these Jewish state officials feel about the events taking place in Gaza over the last few months:
“We feel deep anguish over the insurmountable loss of life in the region—notably the tens of thousands of civilians,” they wrote. “Judaism teaches that all people are created in the image of God and all people are infinitely valuable.”
In their letter, the five New York city and state lawmakers accused Israel of “the mass destruction of Gaza and the killing of civilians who are trapped in a war zone with no possibility to flee to safety.”
“Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in shocking numbers by indiscriminate, large-scale bombing, and the rest live in a state of constant fear, hunger and vulnerability to disease,” they stated. “The war there has also led to increased persecution against Palestinians living in the West Bank and violence from some Israeli settlers who are using the Gaza war to hasten the evictions of Palestinians from their land to expand settlements that are illegal under international law.”
I don’t even know where to begin. But let me start with this. These five Jewish legislators wouldn’t know a deep Jewish value if it hit them in the face. Their knowledge of Jewish values is about as deep as piece of paper. They have taken one very widely known value and have misapplied it.
Yes Judaism teaches that all people are created in the image of God. I have made reference to that value countless times. But when speaking about a people who would rather see us dead while supporting any effort to reach that end makes their ignorance and stupidity abundantly clear. The vast majority of Palestinians cheered the savage butchery of their chosen leaders, Hamas. Their Godly image has therefore been severely compromised. It is not in the image of God to support Nazi like behavior against innocent Jews.
And even though these un-Godly people may not deserve be killed for their evil thoughts (which they believe are Godly thoughts!) that doesn’t mean Israel should stop its existential war against the Palestinian’s chosen leader, Hamas. Israel is currently involved in protecting their 7 million Jews against another attack like that.
That is a Jewish value. Letting up on that goal is the opposite of a Jewish value. And that doesn’t even address the fact that a goodly portion of those civilian casualties were actually Hamas terrorists, some of whom could have easily participated in the slaughter, beheading, burning, rape, torture and kidnapping of our people on that day. Nor do they say a word about the UN (whose views they are parroting) participation in those events via members of UNRWA.
Their claim of indiscriminate large-scale bombing is absolutely false. It is the height of ignorance to suggest that - which is surely based on the rhetoric used by Israel’s enemies bolstered by the media. Israel’s targets are based on the best intelligence they have about where the enemy is hiding. And they have done everything they can to prevent Palestinian casualties, while Hamas does everything it can to increase them!
The sympathy they expressed for Israel is almost a throwaway. As if to distinguish themselves from the antisemitic protestors who never mention it. But their demands with respect to Palestinians are identical.
The accusation that the war has also led to increased persecution against Palestinians living in the West Bank is another exercise in pure ignorance. They’ve got it backwards. Palestinians on the West Bank also supported the Hamas attack. They have increased their own violent hostility against Israleis.to show their solidarity with Hamas. Just today CBS reported the following:
Three Palestinian gunmen opened fire early Thursday morning near a busy checkpoint in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killing one Israeli and wounding at least eight others, according to Israeli police. The police said two attackers were killed at the scene and the third was later found and arrested.
Israel has no choice but to protect their people by using force. That these legislators see Israel as aggressors persecuting West Bank Palestinians instead of defending Israelis shows a complete blindness to the realities of what is going on there.
This does not mean that there hasn’t been some violence on the part of some of the settlers. I’m sure there has been. And to the extent that is has, Israel ought to put a quick stop to it with harsh measures for those few convicted of doing so. Harassing's people that already hate you is like poking a hornet’s nest and then wondering why there are hornets all over the place trying to sting you.
Those inclined to defend settlers will say that incidents like this are rare and do not reflect the behavior of most Jews living beyond the ‘green line’ - and that the media tends to blow these incidents up way out of proportion.
This is probably correct. But all it takes is a few. And as recently noted here there are more than a few as indicated by what happened in Huwara. That is all the media needs to make it look like all settlers are vigilantes looking for revenge or harass Palestinians until they pick up and leave. Those few tat are like that should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. But I digress.
These five Jewish legislators are not only ignorant, but they are stupid. Unfortunately their views are symptomatic of most American Jewry who know little about Judaism other than a few convenient phrases cherry-picked of Jewish literature. To say their values reflect the deepest values of Judaism when they have no clue about what those values actually would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic. I wonder how many of them are intermarried?
How many of their children even care that they were born Jewish? How many of them keep Shabbos - one of the most important Mitzvos of the Torah? You cannot claim to have deep Jewish values if you don’t honor one of the most important Mitzvos in the Torah. You cannot claim to have deep Jewish values if those you cite are not all that different from the humanistic values of the general culture.
While all of this sickens me it also depresses me. Ignorant Jews who claim to have deep Jewish values are victims of rabbis whose heterodoxy has abandoned teaching anything in the Torah that isn’t connected with Tikun Olam. That is the kind of ignorance that leads to supporting a cease fire. Which in essence increasing the odds of genocide against our own people.
How ignorant and stupid can you get!