Hello Jew. This Israel-Hamas war is about you

You don’t need to love or even support Israel, but you do need to understand that what’s going on is 100% about you and your freedom.

You see, if you’re paying attention (and if you’re not, give me a call), this isn’t really the Arab-Israeli or Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It’s Israel-Hamas. Granted – they’re for the most part Palestinian, but what is going on isn’t really about their freedom or creating a country, it’s about killing Israelis - a project happily funded by anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish Arab governments.

So those Palestinian flags we see at the violent and loud protests throughout the world? They’re siding with the Palestinians, sure, but this battle isn’t really about creation of Palestine. Hamas had asked for an airstrip and eased restrictions between the Israel-Gaza border, but don’t confuse that with the quest for sovereignty as a nation, because it’s not even close.

Israel is up against the same thing as the U.S., as Iraq, as Kenya. Like them, they’re fighting terrorist organizations, not a country. Bibi explained terrorism better than anyone has before at a joint conference with UN Secretary General (also known as “Mr. wait what? There are missiles in our schools?)
 

“You spoke about the regional developments,” responds Netanyahu at their joint press conference, “What we are seeing here with Hamas is another instance of Islamist extremism that has no resolvable grievance. Hamas is like ISIS, like al-Qaeda, like Hezbollah, like Boko Haram.” “What grievance can we solve for Hamas? Their grievance is that we exist.”

Brilliant! He hit the nail right on the head. Or if we want to be a little more relevant, sent the precision guided missile right into the house of a terrorist.
So here we are. Israel, the Jewish home is up against a terror organization like other countries in the region and throughout the world.

Those battles are staying mostly internal. No invasions of foreign countries (we’re keeping our eye on you, America) and most importantly, international support is coming mainly in the form of words, not military actions. But like the effect of Nickleback, when they hear of an operation between Israel and Gaza, the public launches into a fury.

Now, it’s over there you say, not here, so it doesn’t affect you and you’re staying out of it. Nice try my dear Jewish-Canadian, the war being raged is all about you.

Israel is being compared to the Nazis all the time now. Swastikas are everywhere and the signs at protests are saying that the Nazi’s taught us well. That isn’t an insult my friends so dry your angry tears, because they did. They really did. Thanks to Hitler we’ve learned that it doesn’t matter if you identify with being Jewish, have one Jewish parent (including the one parent being the father) or grandparent. A little Jew in you counts as the full thing. So when Hamas releases their cheaply made videos talking about turning the sea red with Zionist blood, killing all the Jews, and saying other creative things to let us know they want us dead, they aren’t talking to the seven million inhabitants of the state of Israel. They’re talking to you. Yes, you the Jew who says “I didn’t go to Jewish school and the only Hebrew word I know is Shalom” and you, the Jew who says “I see both sides”. Good! See both sides. Tons of innocent Palestinians are dying at the hands of the country that protects our right to be Jewish, in Israel or anywhere in the world, because it has to defend itself against incoming Hamas rockets and because Hamas uses its people purposely as human shields. But remember, they’re looking at you, and those of you who refuse to be political must remember, you count.

Last week Turks in Turkey walked through Jewish neighbourhoods chanting, “Jew, don’t sleep, you’re next”. Storefronts of Jewish owned businesses in France were broken and vandalized aside from the Jewish demographic constantly being targeted (hence we see e planes full of French Jews showing up in Israel to make Aliyah constantly now. And Calgary, our dear economically booming but still a little boring city in Canada, hosted, of course unintentionally, the brutal beating of a Jew. Oh and then there is the recent “no Jews allowed” sign in Belgium.
Do you still believe this war is “them, not us?”

Consult your grandparents or your friend’s grandparents – for the majority of survivors of the Holocaust are going to tell you the same thing; nobody thought this would happen.

Let’s time travel back to the 1930’s in Germany and enter into a well-educated, advanced society of Germans. Not Jews and Christians – just Germans, co-habiting, with no religious lines. So, the calculated discrimination? Strange, but what would it lead to? Kristallnacht – scary, but what could they actually do? Yellow Star of David – absolutely out of hand but what? Are they going to try and kill us all?

Yes! Yes, Mr. Educated, intelligent, and modern Jewish inhabitant of Germany in the 30’s, and yes Miss 2014 degree in social justice with a passion for helping people and a fresh shellac manicure. You’re not paying close enough attention. We were taught well by the Nazis. They taught us that it doesn’t matter where, it doesn’t matter how observant you are, what matters is that someone who is angry enough just might come after you. And, we don’t need to go all the way back to the 1930’s and 40’s to learn a lesson from the Nazis, the new ones are doing a great job at reminding us just how safe we are. Remember Kentucky? The non-Jewish people in Kentucky who were murdered for being mistaken as Jews? That’s not even across an ocean, we can be there within hours.

Support for Palestinians is not the same thing as hating Israel or hating Jews. Not even close. Just like Israel the Palestinians need support. Could you imagine living in one of the most densely populated places on earth, wishing you didn’t have to be bombed all the time while your leaders are using aid money and supplies intended for you to further their own objectives of killing Israelis? More than that, their Arab brothers won’t even let them into their countries, and when they did they were put into refugee camps.

The difference? One of the smallest countries in the world finds a bus of their citizens blown up while heading on vacation, removes seats of an aircraft, and picks them up to treat them at home.  So if you weren’t looking before, it’s time to see what you’re up against. Your golden Canadian passport loses its meaning, and your Rebecca Minkoff purse can’t save you. You’re Jewish, and you’re affected. And though I would tell you to leave if you don’t like it, it wouldn’t even matter. You were born that way.

 A Jew is a Jew - that’s what’s important, and that’s why what is going on has everything to do with you.