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Quite awhile back I sent an email to my senator Russ Feingold asking him to make use of his special ability to speak out without being branded an anti-Semite. Russ is usually very responsive, but I have not heard back from him. I like Russ Feingold and believe him to be considerably braver and more decent than most. However on this subject even he seems to be unable to speak out.
A few nights ago on the ABC evening news a report on Gaza stated that there had been over 800 Israeli and Palestinian deaths in this latest assault. It was so striking that there was no breakdown of those deaths allowed.
The elephant in the room is of course that we allowed Israel to develop nuclear capability while insisting that the Iranians and Arab nations are too barbaric to be trusted with such power. It seems that mentioning that Israel has the bomb is still forbidden within the US media.
Many years ago in an ecumenical church visitation I asked the local Rabbi how he could support Israel as a war-like state. The rabbi’s answer was that the US was his Israel and Manitowoc, Wisconsin was his Jerusalem. It was all symbolic to him. What a different world we might have if all Jews felt that way.
Most of us in the US think of the Crusades as ancient history. It doesn’t take a lot of empathy to understand how the Arab world might see the present battle as simply a modern continuation of them.
