Would the Violence in Gaza Stop if More Brave Young Americans Did This?

[McCamy Taylor]

This video touched me...the result of this brave young man's actions shocked me.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=680935605323935

Would police really wrestle a young American to the ground and wrap his face in a cloth, gagging him, because he dared to speak out for the people of Gaza? Yeah, I guess they would. Police are police the world over. But, would the Israeli legislator, who called upon her country to exterminate old women and children (little snakes) because terrorists hide among---would that same woman demand that her country bomb areas where American citizens were standing in solidarity with the people of Gaza? American citizens who happened to be Jewish? Or, would words of compassion coming from members of the faith which Israelis value so dearly reach their ears in a way that the same words coming from ancient "enemies"---Christians and Muslims---never can?

Israel does not represent Judaism, any more than the Conquistadors represented Catholicism. Both were/are political groups that have a religion which they use but which they do not always represent, political groups having interests which are not always best served by spiritual values.

When self proclaimed "Buddhists" in Myanmar burn mosques and attack Muslims, we know that they do not represent true Buddhism.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/world/139870/buddhists-attack-mosque-muslim-shops-in-myanmar

It does not matter if they wear robes. Buddhists, like me are not fooled. We do not make excuses for the violence. We do not express support for the awful dualism. We do not hesitate to call this what it is----genocidal violence carried out by one group against another group, hardly different from what happened in Rwanda except no one is carrying a machete.

It is summer. Maybe it is time for some young Americans to take a vacation to the Middle East. Maybe it is time for them to demonstrate their faith in action, nonviolently, the way that MLK JR and Gandhi demonstrated their faith. If someone wants to start a group, I'm willing to donate. Maybe if the U.S. stopped sending so many weapons and started sending more minds, we would be doing our closest ally in the middle east more good.

[GeorgeGist]

1. No.

[U4ikLefty]

3. The Isreal defenders on DU are above nothing. They called Rachel Corrie a "stupid bitch"

on this thread from DU2 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x216793

[cali]

2. What Israel is doing re the Palestinians is bad. Israel itself, like most nations

is a mixed bag. It's kind of absurd to cast it as all bad as you're doing. Israelis aren't a monolithic group. Of course there are Buddhists who do crap things, But in conflating Israelis with Jews, you're making this about religion in a way that it is not. Buddhism is a belief system. Israelis don't have a common religious belief system the way Buddhists do. There are lots of atheist Jews for instance- in Israel.

[edgineered]

4. Exactly the point.

Not being concerned about a peoples religious belief should not invoke an automatic reaction to comments against Israeli aggression as being against their faith. Sadly though, whenever citing atrocities of the Israeli military one gets labeled as anti-Jewish. It is the country, its leadership, and its foreign policies that offend, not the people of it.

The media makes it worse for people like myself by using terms like the state of Israel. It is a country. Calling it a state only sends a signal that we are about to hear a biased report. There is not a state in this country that is aggressive and nuclear world power. What's the point other than to have imagery of ducks on a pond instead of famine and destruction. Other descriptors like tiny and isolated strengthen an already negative feeling.

Taking a defensive stance for Israel by focusing on the people and not the problem is one of the biggest reasons support for their actions cannot grow. Like so many things discussed here progress cannot be made before ridding ourselves of our own biases for long enough to look at things from a different perspective.

Posters here will obviously try to correct me, as do some of my own relatives. Breaching this subject with them is as useful as talking to a dog, except the dog doesn't have a two-sentence or 20 second limit on his ability to listen.

[geek tragedy]

5. Ask Tariq Khdeir, Furkan Dogan, and Rachel Corrie. nt