An invitation I’d love and trying to sort things out

 

Image courtesy Freekpik.com

 I keep seeing Facebook posts urging me to apply to have ice cream at Rehoboth Beach with Uncle Joe and Jill—now there’s an invitation I’d love to get. IF I hadn’t vowed I’m not going to fly any more, and IF I were sure I would be absolutely tongue-tied if I ever really met them. I have a fondness for beaches, and they sound like such nice, genuine people—they love dogs, don’t they? The invitation to the Chicago convention doesn’t intrigue me—I remember too clearly, as a Chicago native, the Democratic convention of 1968, and it sounds like crowds and possible violence and noise—and everything I don’t want now. But a barefoot walk in the sand with Uncle Joe? So enticing. (Never mind that my walker would not do well on a beach!)

The continuing coverage of the student protests and law enforcement response overshadows what should be the center of the story—ongoing negotiations between Zionists and Hamas. Efforts in this country, especially the GOP bill that seems to outlaw anti-semitism and curb free speech and serve as a redundant repetition of laws already on the books, only serve to make matters more cloudy. If nothing else, I have been trying to figure it out in my own mind. Here’s what I’ve thought, sort of: Israel has every right to their territory (I’m not sure about the Palestinian land which they keep absorbing). The US recognizes Israel and that’s right because it is an established legitimate government. We do not recognize Palestine because Hamas, a terrorist organization, is in charge. We support Israel in its attempts to recover hostages (many of whom have died in captivity) and to eradicate Hamas—but we should not support the genocide of an entire people, and despite denials that seems to be Netanyahu’s final goal. It’s a fine line that President Biden and Secretary Blinken are trying hard to walk.

Look at the statistics: 1200 Israelis died or were taken hostage on October 7 (estimate down from 1400). Many died horrific, excruciating deaths, and there is no denying the brutality of Hamas, the absolute disregard for human life. But balance that against 35,000 Palestinians who have died since, including 13,000 children. We have no idea how many Hamas are included in that number, but the victims were inevitably mostly innocent civilians—especially the children. I know war and death have no balance sheets—you can’t claim, “You killed this many of my people, so I will kill twice that many of yours.” But still it seems out of proportion to me—overkill, if you’ll allow a bad pun about an awful situation.

One thing no one talks about is that if you look at a map of the Arab world, Israel is but a tiny dot in a vast sea of Arab countries. I would think that would make them more inclined toward negotiation than force, knowing that the entire Arab world could rise up against them. I think the US is an enormous stabilizing force in that regard, but Netanyahu does not seem inclined to listen to US advice that doesn’t go his way.

So the student protests? How do they fit in? The first thing that comes to my mind is that our country is quick to forget lessons learned. Someone pointed out to me that today’s leaders were mere children in the sixties, and the Vietnam protests didn’t register with them. Greg Abbott, for instance, was twelve years old when troops shot Kent State students. But he could read history, couldn’t he? Today’s situation is proof of that old saying, “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat its mistakes.” I am terrified that we are headed toward another Kent State type of tragedy. I know there is a lot of bitter anger on both sides, but I have also read that Palestinian and Israeli student groups have been meeting together on some campuses. And I know a few university administrations have reached out to students, invited them to talk. So much more reasonable than calling out troops in riot gear. The riot troops signify, to me, the conversative mindset: force, not reason.

A gentleman has posted elsewhere on my wall giving a reasoned history of Israel and why it must defend itself—cold hard facts, historical dates, reason. But what is missing is compassion. He keeps asking me in negotiation what I would suggest Israel give up to Hamas. I have no idea. I am not a schooled diplomat. But I know this—for Hamas/Israel negotiations, for the student protests, for most of the crises life faces us with: sitting down together at a table and talking is the solution. Not knee-jerk violence and punishment. We want to prevent more violence, not encourage it.

There are a lot of memes online about love and faith and one universal god—you and I dismiss most of them as trite and hackneyed and rightly so. But there is one thought I think worth repeating: we are all one people. We are all walking each other home—Jew, Arab, Christian, whoever. Humanity is or should be a lot bigger than religious or cultural lines.

When my children's half-sister was in high school, she signed up to work at a camp in Colorado that brought together Jewish and Palestinian women for conversation. One of her distant relatives said to her, "You can't do that! You're Jewish!" (She was half Jewish and not observant.) I thought that was such a negative incident that I've carried it in my heart for years.

Now about that ice cream … the thought takes me back to the Indiana Dunes of my childhood. Maybe Uncle Joe and Jill will join me there, in my I imagination. And we will have kind, caring conversations, with our dogs at our feet. Maybe I’ll blog about the Dunes soon.