May they rest in peace, away from this cruel world.

Shalom.

The policies of the State of Israel are morally indefensible, odious and quite possibly are worthy of war crimes. But to compare the IDF to Nazis and Israel to The Third Reich is to dishonor the memory and suffering of the twelve million who perished in the holocaust.

The impression is enough.

Zionism is just another form of radical nationalism. Israel is not a Democratic state. Jews receive preferrential treatment because they are Jews.

There is PLENTY of discrimination against Arabs. Plenty of racism.

And the brutality and indiscriminate force the Zionists inflict upon the Palestinians – whose land and resources they steal – is rooted in Jewish racism and Jewish supremacy, ALL a part of the Zionist ideology.

Israel may not kill 6 million people all at once, in an assembly-line slaughter – BUT not many other people will.

The Nazis were uniquely insane. You had this Western country that was modern/technocratic for that time/etc. It was secular/etc. and here they were carrying out the most barbaric atrocities.

It was a marvel of collective insanity, emphasized by the factors I listed : the secular society/modern/Western/etc.

Israel is also secular and modern. Western. Yet, the citizens applauded this massacre. They openly discriminate against Arabs.

In fact, in ways, Israel is worse than the Nazis. This conflict has been going on for 60 years. 40 years of occupation.

Israel is status quo. Much like the US is status quo. So both of them can get away with murder again and again.

How many millions has the US killed? They may not have done it all at once but they’ve certainly amassed all those deaths over time with the SAME basic foreign policy and elite mentality.

That’s my point. Those variables are all there in the present-day in Israel.

The only difference between the Nazis and the Zionists is that outright genocide is no longer fashionable for a Western country. That’s for the 3rd world. We’ll have no part in that since we’re ‘above’ that now.

I am ashamed to be allied with Israel if Israel does not realize it cannot declare war on Hamas without clearly declaring war on a densley populated civlilian area. I am ashamed to be allied with Israel when Israel is engaged in covert ethnic cleansing. Hyperbole? No. Prior to this invasion, Gaza –for the past eighteen months — has been a humanitarian catastophre with flowing sewage in the streets, lack of medical supplies and starvation.

I am ashamed to be called a Jew aligned with Israel when the Israeli government, much like the American government the past eight years, lies and distorts facts to serve their purposes. Israel states Hamas fired rockets and broke the ceasefire. Hamas is a terrorist organization and should be condemned and should be dealt with. However, what Israel does not say is that according to Israeli news sources, Israel was planning attacks prior to the Hamas rocket attacks and I believe did begin to bomb a tunnel supplying materiel. Perhaps a just response; but don’t lie and say that Hamas broke the cease fire.

More close to home, I am also ashamed of mainstream Judaism if they remain silent, if Reform, Conservative and Orthodox rabbis do not overtly, loudly and forcefully condemn Israeli policy. So far, the only outcry I am aware of coming from the local Jewish community in Chicago is a letter from the rabbi of JRC which was published in the Sun-Times. If there are more voices of strong dissent, please make me aware of it.

Finally, and the bottom line, is that I am ashamed, sickened and disgusted when — despite the deplorable tactics of Hamas — the Israeli IDF kills and maims over 1,000 innocent Palestinian women and children in response to rocket attacks that have injured less than 100 Israelis and killed several solders. Yes, a human life is a human life and it is dangerous when we get into a numbers game; however, one cannot ignore the gross disproportionate response by the Israelis.

Thank God for Avenue J, Tikun Olam, The Magnus Zionist and other honest, compassionate voices. Thank God for the more than 500 Israelis that demonstrated in opposition to government policy. Thank God for deeply religious, Orthodox, Zionist Jews that speak out against these (quite possibly) war crimes.

The notion of the Israelis living peacefully alongside anyone, much less the Palestinians, has become thoroughly absurd.