A Giant Can Of Worms

It feels strange not to be writing for my blog, and today, I feel guilty for attempting to spill my brain out in words. As always, I begin writing. Nonsense at first, like the sentence above. Eventually, after a few sentences, my brain finds its way to a subject out of the ether. There is so much going on in the world, and in my life, it is hard to choose a topical direction. There are times when I am in the middle of an art piece and I will show photos of the work in progress. Other times, the news gets to me and I pick a political topic to opine on. The big topic in the news is war. The battle between Ukraine and Russia and now the fight between Israel and Iran. The battle on the streets of America rapidly evolving into civil war. I predicted a civil war amongst Americans when Obama first began his transformation of a civilized country into one of division. Rapidly, our neighbors are turning on each other. Although I do not know a single neighbor whose politics different than mine who will ignite a civil war.

The differences between Conservatives and Liberals in our country is real, strong, and flammable. These differences are definitely not rooted in race, religion, language, or ethnicity. They are emanating from within people’s minds. The war in Ukraine seems to be based on a pissing contest between ego-maniacs. Russia wants more land; Specifically the land Ukranians live on. I guess that a country that spans five times zones is not large enough to be significant. There is always something a neighbor has that you don’t and wallah, let’s go to war for it.

The fight, I have the most trouble understanding involves Jews. Historically, the Jews have always been the underdog. Hatred for Jews goes back thousands of years and I don’t know if anybody has ever known why. The current dispute between Palestinians and Iranians and Jews is unfathomable. Only one reason comes to me that is a possibility for disharmony. Take for example the differences between Jews and Arabs. They all come from the same area of the world, they all look alike, they live in the same region, yet they are totally different. Some say, the Jews use their cunning for business to cheat others. I can’t believe that there is a gene that spells a difference between one tribe having a stronger business gene than the other. The only difference that is logically noticeable is religion. The Jews model their lives upon the ten commandments. A second difference is that Jews hold a belief that there is but one God, and have done so for thousands of years. Muslims have modeled their religion on the Life of Mohammad. Although, there are some similarities between the two religions I can only understand a few of the differences. All of Mohammad’s rules are written in the Koran, and the single biggest difference lies in the belief that Islam believes that one God rules all. Judaism also believes in one God, but also in a separation between the state and God. There can be ethical, and moral rules as defined by the ten commandments and those dictating earthly matters such as property ownership, speed limits, boundaries, taxes. etc.

What is more intriguing is the hatred of jews by non-muslims, like Hitler. What is it that incites people to hate each other?

Growing up, I never disliked anyone, but I did pick up racial hatred from my parents. When Mom and Dad arrived in America from Europe, they did not have an inborn dislike for black people. They didn’t have blacks in that part of the world. I believe that Dad learned to dislike blacks from his superiors and co-workers on the railroad he worked for. Mom learned from her girlfriends and Dad. They did bring an attitude about Jews from Europe. We never discussed the matter, but my opinion is that they disliked Jews because Jews were responsible for killing Jesus.

So, why are the Iranians and other Muslim countries so focused on killing jews? What did the Jews do to make their neighbors hate them so? You tell me.

One scenario for this hatred is this; athough Jews have been a community in the mid-east for several thousand years, they did not become a country until 1948. When Israel was founded the total area dedicated to them was rather small as compared to neighboring countries like Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan all of which eclipse Israel in size. Palestine was also a large community that occupied the same area as Israel and declared itself a state in 1988. Therein lies the problem. Both populations, Israel with over nine million and Palestine at five million citizens live side by side in towns scattered throughout the same territory. Picture a map of towns both Israeli and Palestinian occupying side by side within the same territory. Both populations wanting to be in control. Each claiming sovereignty over the other. Imagine a Palestinian going to work in the morning and having to cross a border into an Israeli town only to pass into another Palestinian town to another Israeli border to enter an Israeli town where your job is located. Imagine having to live by all the rules of both countries multiple times a day while commuting.

The whole situation is giving me a headache.

The answer is that I don’t know and don’t care. We are too far apart to get into it. If the Palestinian lived in Frankfort and I became friends with him, things would be different, and we’d argue things out. In the meantime, I suffer from hearing all the opinions and news reports about Israel and Palestine.

If the Jews don’t wipe out all of the Palestinians, and the Jews don’t annihilate all the Iranians, this skirmish will last another thousand years.

See, I told you at the start that I don’t have anything to write about, but I did it again. I found a topic after I began pushing keys and opened a giant can of worms.

Leave a Reply

Discover more from Grumpa Joe's Place

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading