Oh, oh, oh... You are so appreciated for saying out loud what all of us need to hear. You are so uniquely qualified and studied to share your learned perspective and remind and guide. Thank You so much for ALL You do!
My parents survived the Holocaust because they fled from Poland before the war, they fled from Poland because for hundreds of years, the Jewish people were not allowed to feel Polish but only unwanted. My parents lived in Belgium as probably undocumented immigrants and went into hiding after the Nazis attacked. Eventually they ended up in a South American country that allowed them to live there as stateless people because the government was antisemitic. However they and the other Jewish refugees lived there and settled there and eventually were granted citizenship. Except for a handful, my parent's large families who were not able to flee were "exterminated" for being Jewish. My parents had a severe fear of persecution which they passed on to me and which I tried to deny or diminish until last year when I traveled to Poland to a memorial ceremony to remember the 800 + Jews who were shot in a forest. My maternal grandmother for whom I'm named, her daughter (my aunt) and her 4 year old granddaughter (my cousin), sleep forever there. They were shot 50 at a time, and when I try to picture that, I cry inside. To stand in a forest and know what your fate was going to be.
While visiting Poland and realizing that most of the Jews who lived there were murdered, I began to feel and connect with my fear of persecution. The persecution of Jews was not invented by Hitler but his compelling arguments were so familiar, that it was easy to go along with the plan. In 1948, there was a rebirth of a process of returning to the homeland, and moments after the state of Israel was founded, neighboring Arab countries invaded with the plan to destroy it. This plan has not changed, and although it's a complex issue that has been going on for a while, Israel has reserved the right to defend itself. As many attempts have been discussed to have 2 states next to each other, allowing for Palestinians (which was the name of the region when the British ruled) to live in peace with Israel, all of them have failed. Human error, hatred, antisemitism, crappy governments and an a deep mistrust. The 2 and a half miles of tunnels Hamas have built under Israel using money donated to the people of the region to build and maintain an infrastructure doesn't build much confidence. Israelis don't want this war to go on, but Oct 7 2023 made a powerful statement. Killed in their homes, kept in captivity, raped and many videos sent by proud terrorists back to their families send a powerful message. Now curated lies by the media, protest marches by college students in the U.S. with signs "gas the Jews", Jews throughout the world attacked and insulted and the academic and journalist complicit words and actions tell us (tells me) the truth. We are not safe. My parents knew that and I didn't want to hear it. I hear it now. There are marches in our country in which white supremacists have Nazi flags and that's perfectly acceptable. I also know a few non Jewish people who are truly kind and thoughtful but are willing to keep silent when the survival of Israel is in peril.
The global chaos is very painful to watch, the suffering of so many is so great that we can't really find a solution except to pray and wipe the hatred from our hearts. The powerful continue to worship money and our country is torn by partisan politics without regard to "the people".
Thank you Marianne for your words and you have my endless respect and of course my vote.
"If anyone wants to support us getting there, I submit that the best way to do that is to bless us both."
There are brave Jewish and Palestinians people in Israel working on equality, peace, and safety for all right now. Standing Together is a grassroots movement that envisions a shared society.
Excellently written; -both intellectually astute and spiritually wise. Ms. Williamson once again, writing the Truth! I am Middle-Eastern American, and I stand with you, for peace for all!
In A Course in Miracles that God does not give us victory in battle; He lifts us above the battlefield. There, in that field above, Jews and Muslims have been friends for centuries and more.
Something I have heard said lately is "Never again means never again for anybody." We condemn Hamas for the terrorist attack on October 7th, just as we condemn the Israeli military for its war crimes.
Oh Marianne, thank God, I have been trying to get this across for years now. And yes, I almost always get shut down--from so-called progressives who think they are not prejudiced. Somehow a large part of the left thinks it has permission to be openly anti-Semitic, and those Jews who are confused or unconsciously self-hating help them. I know quite a few Jewish people who exhibit self-hating behavior, and many of them are fervent anti-Zionists. It's sad, the product of hundreds of years of persecution, until finally it gets internalized. Certainly, not all anti-Zionists are anti-Semitic, but the oft-repeated saying "It's not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel" has opened the gateway for all sorts of hatred to fly through. Jewish people are now blamed for the entire human condition; for being "colonialist" and "white settlers" when many of the accusers are themselves living on stolen land, in the same socioeconomic situation as the "Zionists" they revile.
The saddest thing, in all of this, is that the Palestinians, suffering decades of persecution and now in desperate straits, are being ignored or used as a political football by the many anti-Semitic anti-Zionists who care more about hating Jewish people than they do about caring for Palestinians. (I have witnessed this personally.) Let's pray these haters convert their resources to generate compassion and understanding for all sides.
A great example of holding respect for two sides of a complex issue and naming an underlying factor most will be unwilling to explore.
Just as, at some point, we all have to ask ourselves deeply, "am I a racist?" and be unflinching about the answer, the same question must be asked about anti-semitism. Most of us have been molded by cultural norms and tropes that for an underlying belief about "others".
Since October 7th I have read, listened and reeducated myself about the truth of the double standard all Jews are held to.
In the past I would have condemned the Jewish people for the absolute decimation and destruction they are perpetrating on the Palestinians.
Now my heart is broken for both and I can see that the political machine is doing what it does wielding its power to keep its power. We are not machines; we cry, we bleed and we love. I will not allow myself to become a pawn in the hatred that feeds the machine. ♥️
In the meantime, I’m encouraged by how many people are clearly unwilling to demonize or dehumanize either Palestinians or Jews. It says in A Course in Miracles that God does not give us victory in battle; He lifts us above the battlefield. There, in that field above, Jews and Muslims have been friends for centuries and more. May this horrible chapter in our history one day be seen as something terrible we went through but then made our way beyond. Thanks, Marianne for this statement of hope that Jews and Muslims can one day be friends again.
We have drifted into a multidimensional tribalism that is fear based. We need something that cuts through these barriers. Something that sits behind the fear that connects us. Pehaps something like a parable.
Mob mentality abounds. Same as always superiority feeds the ego. People forget Hamas was voted in. No excuses for Palestinian suffering but not excuse for flagrant Anti Semitism either. Thank you for your words. Much needed to be put down in writing.
Oh, oh, oh... You are so appreciated for saying out loud what all of us need to hear. You are so uniquely qualified and studied to share your learned perspective and remind and guide. Thank You so much for ALL You do!
Brilliant. Thank you.
Thank you for articulating what I've been feeling.
Brava.
My parents survived the Holocaust because they fled from Poland before the war, they fled from Poland because for hundreds of years, the Jewish people were not allowed to feel Polish but only unwanted. My parents lived in Belgium as probably undocumented immigrants and went into hiding after the Nazis attacked. Eventually they ended up in a South American country that allowed them to live there as stateless people because the government was antisemitic. However they and the other Jewish refugees lived there and settled there and eventually were granted citizenship. Except for a handful, my parent's large families who were not able to flee were "exterminated" for being Jewish. My parents had a severe fear of persecution which they passed on to me and which I tried to deny or diminish until last year when I traveled to Poland to a memorial ceremony to remember the 800 + Jews who were shot in a forest. My maternal grandmother for whom I'm named, her daughter (my aunt) and her 4 year old granddaughter (my cousin), sleep forever there. They were shot 50 at a time, and when I try to picture that, I cry inside. To stand in a forest and know what your fate was going to be.
While visiting Poland and realizing that most of the Jews who lived there were murdered, I began to feel and connect with my fear of persecution. The persecution of Jews was not invented by Hitler but his compelling arguments were so familiar, that it was easy to go along with the plan. In 1948, there was a rebirth of a process of returning to the homeland, and moments after the state of Israel was founded, neighboring Arab countries invaded with the plan to destroy it. This plan has not changed, and although it's a complex issue that has been going on for a while, Israel has reserved the right to defend itself. As many attempts have been discussed to have 2 states next to each other, allowing for Palestinians (which was the name of the region when the British ruled) to live in peace with Israel, all of them have failed. Human error, hatred, antisemitism, crappy governments and an a deep mistrust. The 2 and a half miles of tunnels Hamas have built under Israel using money donated to the people of the region to build and maintain an infrastructure doesn't build much confidence. Israelis don't want this war to go on, but Oct 7 2023 made a powerful statement. Killed in their homes, kept in captivity, raped and many videos sent by proud terrorists back to their families send a powerful message. Now curated lies by the media, protest marches by college students in the U.S. with signs "gas the Jews", Jews throughout the world attacked and insulted and the academic and journalist complicit words and actions tell us (tells me) the truth. We are not safe. My parents knew that and I didn't want to hear it. I hear it now. There are marches in our country in which white supremacists have Nazi flags and that's perfectly acceptable. I also know a few non Jewish people who are truly kind and thoughtful but are willing to keep silent when the survival of Israel is in peril.
The global chaos is very painful to watch, the suffering of so many is so great that we can't really find a solution except to pray and wipe the hatred from our hearts. The powerful continue to worship money and our country is torn by partisan politics without regard to "the people".
Thank you Marianne for your words and you have my endless respect and of course my vote.
"If anyone wants to support us getting there, I submit that the best way to do that is to bless us both."
There are brave Jewish and Palestinians people in Israel working on equality, peace, and safety for all right now. Standing Together is a grassroots movement that envisions a shared society.
standing-together.org
Excellently written; -both intellectually astute and spiritually wise. Ms. Williamson once again, writing the Truth! I am Middle-Eastern American, and I stand with you, for peace for all!
In A Course in Miracles that God does not give us victory in battle; He lifts us above the battlefield. There, in that field above, Jews and Muslims have been friends for centuries and more.
Something I have heard said lately is "Never again means never again for anybody." We condemn Hamas for the terrorist attack on October 7th, just as we condemn the Israeli military for its war crimes.
Oh Marianne, thank God, I have been trying to get this across for years now. And yes, I almost always get shut down--from so-called progressives who think they are not prejudiced. Somehow a large part of the left thinks it has permission to be openly anti-Semitic, and those Jews who are confused or unconsciously self-hating help them. I know quite a few Jewish people who exhibit self-hating behavior, and many of them are fervent anti-Zionists. It's sad, the product of hundreds of years of persecution, until finally it gets internalized. Certainly, not all anti-Zionists are anti-Semitic, but the oft-repeated saying "It's not anti-Semitic to criticize Israel" has opened the gateway for all sorts of hatred to fly through. Jewish people are now blamed for the entire human condition; for being "colonialist" and "white settlers" when many of the accusers are themselves living on stolen land, in the same socioeconomic situation as the "Zionists" they revile.
The saddest thing, in all of this, is that the Palestinians, suffering decades of persecution and now in desperate straits, are being ignored or used as a political football by the many anti-Semitic anti-Zionists who care more about hating Jewish people than they do about caring for Palestinians. (I have witnessed this personally.) Let's pray these haters convert their resources to generate compassion and understanding for all sides.
A great example of holding respect for two sides of a complex issue and naming an underlying factor most will be unwilling to explore.
Just as, at some point, we all have to ask ourselves deeply, "am I a racist?" and be unflinching about the answer, the same question must be asked about anti-semitism. Most of us have been molded by cultural norms and tropes that for an underlying belief about "others".
Since October 7th I have read, listened and reeducated myself about the truth of the double standard all Jews are held to.
In the past I would have condemned the Jewish people for the absolute decimation and destruction they are perpetrating on the Palestinians.
Now my heart is broken for both and I can see that the political machine is doing what it does wielding its power to keep its power. We are not machines; we cry, we bleed and we love. I will not allow myself to become a pawn in the hatred that feeds the machine. ♥️
In the meantime, I’m encouraged by how many people are clearly unwilling to demonize or dehumanize either Palestinians or Jews. It says in A Course in Miracles that God does not give us victory in battle; He lifts us above the battlefield. There, in that field above, Jews and Muslims have been friends for centuries and more. May this horrible chapter in our history one day be seen as something terrible we went through but then made our way beyond. Thanks, Marianne for this statement of hope that Jews and Muslims can one day be friends again.
God bless you always.
Thank you Marianne for your wisdom, your heartfelt message and unwavering humanitarian spirit. People are people. I bless you both.
We have drifted into a multidimensional tribalism that is fear based. We need something that cuts through these barriers. Something that sits behind the fear that connects us. Pehaps something like a parable.
Mob mentality abounds. Same as always superiority feeds the ego. People forget Hamas was voted in. No excuses for Palestinian suffering but not excuse for flagrant Anti Semitism either. Thank you for your words. Much needed to be put down in writing.