My parents were Holocaust survivors. I was born in a DP camp, a refugee camp. That was a genocide that lead to the death of 6 million Jews. Most of my family was murdered by Nazis and yes even Poles. Even though the war war over in eastern Poland my family and others who had returned to their shtetl were still being murdered by Poles who…
My parents were Holocaust survivors. I was born in a DP camp, a refugee camp. That was a genocide that lead to the death of 6 million Jews. Most of my family was murdered by Nazis and yes even Poles. Even though the war war over in eastern Poland my family and others who had returned to their shtetl were still being murdered by Poles who wanted their homes. So they walked across Europe to get to the boats in eastern Italy that were taking Jews to then British Palestine. They were stopped at the Czech border by General Patton…and eventually after 5 years got to America despite the long standing quotas that kept Jewish Holocaust survivors out of this country
But they wanted to go to get to the British Manndate of Palestine because they saw it as the place where long persecuted Jews could be safe.
This conversation between Mehdi, whom I have long admired and Naomi Klein, also long admired is based upon a false and fantastical premise. How is it that when Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and Smotrich say “from the river to the sea” that it is proof of genocidal intent, but when Medhi, Klein and all those other protesters blithely spout “from the river to the sea”, that it is merely a harmless metaphor?
It is NOT a harmless metaphor. It means to destroy Israel as a Jewish state. There are 7 million Jews in Israel. It certainly is a slogan that can also lead to violence. There is no room there for a two state solution. And a one state solution is nigh impossible and a recipe for oppression and violence by each community against the other.
And I bet far too many in these protest demonstrations are being led to wrongly believe , by people who should know better, that it is not a harmless metaphor, it is not a harmless slogan .
Thank you for your posts. In this venue it took a bit of courage.
By the way I am also disappointed that I don’t see posts about what is happening in this country. America. What about Trump and his incipient fascism? I valued what Mehdi had to say about that and hope he starts to do that again.
My parents were Holocaust survivors. I was born in a DP camp, a refugee camp. That was a genocide that lead to the death of 6 million Jews. Most of my family was murdered by Nazis and yes even Poles. Even though the war war over in eastern Poland my family and others who had returned to their shtetl were still being murdered by Poles who wanted their homes. So they walked across Europe to get to the boats in eastern Italy that were taking Jews to then British Palestine. They were stopped at the Czech border by General Patton…and eventually after 5 years got to America despite the long standing quotas that kept Jewish Holocaust survivors out of this country
But they wanted to go to get to the British Manndate of Palestine because they saw it as the place where long persecuted Jews could be safe.
This conversation between Mehdi, whom I have long admired and Naomi Klein, also long admired is based upon a false and fantastical premise. How is it that when Netanyahu, Ben Gvir and Smotrich say “from the river to the sea” that it is proof of genocidal intent, but when Medhi, Klein and all those other protesters blithely spout “from the river to the sea”, that it is merely a harmless metaphor?
It is NOT a harmless metaphor. It means to destroy Israel as a Jewish state. There are 7 million Jews in Israel. It certainly is a slogan that can also lead to violence. There is no room there for a two state solution. And a one state solution is nigh impossible and a recipe for oppression and violence by each community against the other.
And I bet far too many in these protest demonstrations are being led to wrongly believe , by people who should know better, that it is not a harmless metaphor, it is not a harmless slogan .
Thanks for sharing your family story and the lesson.
Thank you for your posts. In this venue it took a bit of courage.
By the way I am also disappointed that I don’t see posts about what is happening in this country. America. What about Trump and his incipient fascism? I valued what Mehdi had to say about that and hope he starts to do that again.