NEW YORK (Turkish Journal)- By Jan Ellen – For some Jews, remaining silent keeps them safe because being out of their comfort zone puts them at risk of serious backlash from fellow Jews.
Setting the record straight, I refuse to be one of them.
As a Jew, born to a Jewish mother and a Jewish father, I was raised in Reformed Judaism, the liberal branch of our religion. I did attend Jewish school on Sundays and I carefully watched numerous Holocaust films with actual footage of dead bodies and those dying of starvation.
What happened to my people was horrific: they were branded with yellow stars and long numbers. Their homes were stolen from them, expensive paintings and valuable possessions were looted from their beautiful homes. Some were shot dead in the street, others were forced to be the next experiment for ruthless doctors of the Third Reich. Certain women were forced to perform ‘services’ for SS commanders to save their lives.
In short, the dignity of the Jewish people and the sanctity of their synagogues was desecrated repeatedly. Anyone who dared to save a Jew or hide Jews was at risk of being shot by the Nazis but they did it anyway.
The sheer heinousness of it all is just too much to bear. And that was over 30 years ago but look at what’s happening now because it’s incredibly sadistic and tragic. The Israeli government and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) are repeating history with the Palestinians.
I ask you, the reader who I assume to be a fair human being to base your viewpoint on facts not hearsay. Observers on the ground who include AID agency employees, NGOs, civil society organizations, journalists, Doctors Without Borders and other organizations have been eyewitnesses to the IDF killing Palestinian journalists, strip searching Palestinians, destroying and chasing them from their homes.
What’s much more tragic is the hostages suffer every day, every month they’re not rescued because the Israeli government’s goal is to wipeout all Palestinians as stated in the Nakba. Israel’s far-right and it’s governing body can no longer mislead it’s Western allies by claiming its only purpose is wiping out Hamas.
Israel’s purpose is wiping out an entire people right before the world’s eyes and the U.S. is helping them do it by continuing to fund Israel’s arms sales repeatedly. What do we call it when Israel refuses to allow hundreds of aids trucks waiting at the Rafah border Crossing not to cross. What do you call it when Israel arms settlers with rifles telling them to, with impunity, attack Palestinians in the West Bank.
What do we call it when IDF forces attack innocent civilians waiting for aid,.bomb the Doctors Without Borders offices, bomb the Red Cross building, bomb shelters with innocent civilians, bomb mosques, bomb churches, bomb schools, bomb multiple hospitals, bomb innocent Palestinians’ homes.
What do you call it when this is done repeatedly, day in, day out?
It’s known as the annihilation of a people AKA genocide and there’s no pretty way to say it. But the crux of the matter are the Jews who turn their backs on wholesale slaughter. The Jews who prevent other Jews with a conscience from standing up to tell the whole truth and nothing but.
To truly be a Jew means to value life and to protect it’s sanctity. Judaism does not call on its people to annihilate. The precept of Judaism is to welcome the stranger not to mercilessly slap them down.
.Netanyahu’s government has never played fair with the Palestinians. Netanyahu has been caught repeatedly lying about settlement building and he was already indicted on corruption. His only raison d’etre is to remain in power even at the expense of his own people’s freedom. The far-right already planned Jewish settlements on the pyre of Palestinians. Netanyahu refuses what other nations call for: a two-state solution.
Israel is copying the Nazis with no remorse whatsoever and certainly no regret. But America is aiding and abetting the intentional subjugation, starvation, brutality and killing of the Palestinian people. The U.N. and select nations have tried in vain to acquire a ceasefire through lawful channels and international bodies. It hasn’t worked because the U.S. vetoes any ceasefire at the U.N. Security Council (UNSC).
Now what?
Sign me:
A Jew For Human Rights
