10/02/2004

If Wishing Would Make It True

If wishing would make it true, I would receive comments to my blogs, thus giving me a chance to interact here. This is new to me. Am I doing something wrong?

10/01/2004

On the Defense

The debate on Thursday night could not have gone better from a Pro-Kerry point of view. MoveOn requested that we write letters to the Editor of local newspapers, so this is what I wrote. :-----------------------------------------------Dear Editor, Kerry needed to do one important thing since the beginning of this race and that was to put President Bush on the defensive. He succeeded in doing just that at Thursday night's Debate. Kerry was on the offensive and gave Bush much to try to defend. Bush did not rise to the challenge because he couldn't. Why? Because his decisions regarding Iraq and the way he has misled the country and his inability to fully comprehend complicated situations are all indefensible

9/28/2004

Bush, Kerry and the Jewish Vote

Today I got an email from a friend with an article written by Jeff Jacoby from the Boston Globe. The title of the article was, Bush, Kerry, and the Jewish Vote. The gist of it was that Jews are knee-jerk Democrats and that this time perhaps they should think twice. Well, it was longer than that If you want to read it, be my guest .
And this is my response.
Dear Mr. Jacoby,
I actually have given a great deal of thought to this issue and have thoughts about it that go in different directions. Since I have been more active in this campaign then ever before, I have to actually step away from myself and my actions of late in order to objectively question Kerry's position on Israel. I had a Michael Moore/Farhenheit/911 Party back at the end of August because I became very mobilized by his movie and have more or less agreed with his other two movies as well (Bowling for Columbine and Roger and Me.) Since then friends of mine, Enid and Bill, sent me an email detailing why M. Moore is anti-Semitic. At the time, I thought some of it was taken out of context and tried to disregard the rest. I read (actually listened to the book on CD) his book, Dude, Where's My Country. He makes some remarks that come off sounding very much against Israel. So, I decided to write him an email. I will Fwd. it to you because it says a lot of what I feel about this whole issue of The Left and the Democratic Party in relation to Israel (and by association Jews).
My question lately is whether one is completely at odds when one considers oneself a Liberal, to the Left of center politically and even, as per Jacoby's article, a Democrat. and at the same time a STRONG supporter of Israel. Before the 1968 Six Day War, it was easy to think of Jews as the underdog, historically oppressed and subjected to persecution and anti-Semitism. Then after the war, Israel became strong militarily and had, not by it's own initiation, gained some land (though even with the "occupied" land, it still remained no bigger than the state of NJ). So, with the "occupied" land, a strong military, and the strong and unyielding Support of the United States, Israel went from being the underdog to being the "oppressor"; the so called "Palestinians" became the "David" to Israel's " Goliath." Israel lost it's "status" of being a "victim." So, it became the object of the Left's disdain and Palestine became it's darling. As an outsider, a Non-Jew, I suppose one could make a case for this, but they would have to be unknowledgable about Jewish history and look the other way when it comes to considering the rest of the Arab world in relation to the Arabs in the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan. I am clearly not one of these people. Israel will always be one of my BIG issues when it come to politics. I do, however see the logic and the humanity of looking for a solution for these people.
Having said that, in this particular election, though I agree that Bush has been a friend to Israel and actively against anti-Semitism, there are SO MANY other important issues that for this one time, I have put the "Jewish/Israel" issue on the back burner. I am hopeful that Kerry will also be a big supporter of Israel and if he isn't, I will be as outspoken about that as I have been outspoken in his behalf. His brother is a "Jew by Choice" and that can't hurt. I do not agree with Jacoby that Jews are by in large "blindly" Democratic. Perhaps that was once true, but I don't think it is today. We are, as a people, concerned with "tikun olam" and it is the Democratic party that shares that concern moreso than the Republicans do, traditionally. As for Al Sharpton, I didn't realize he was a rabid anti-Semite. I happened to be one who thought his speech at the Convention was "right on" in terms of Civil Rights. When push comes to shove, I will not work for someone else's "cause" if in the end, it will put me or my people at risk. But until I see that clearly, I will work for the rights of people who have been historically oppressed, as Blacks have been. And, by the way, though Kerry did not mention Israel in his Convention speech, Edward's did, though I must admit it was pretty much in passing.
So, in conclusion, I will continue to temporarily suspend judgment on Kerry regarding Jewish issues and hopefully take it up again after the election, should he become our next President. Something I hope and pray will happen. I think this time Jacoby has a point, but I will worry about it later.

Shalom,


Sherril

Come One...Come All Posted by Hello

9/24/2004

Michael Moore and Me

I have been a fan of Michael Moores since I saw his film, Roger and Me. Bowling for Columbine hit it right on the nose and after I saw Fahrenheit 9/11 I accepted MoveOn's request to host a Fahrenheit 9/11 Party. I wasn't alarmed when I read his book Dude, Where's My Country and read the following: "Hey, here's a way to stop suicide bombings - give the Palestinians a bunch of missile-firing Apache helicopters and let them and the Israelis go at each other head to head. Four billion dollars a year to Israel - four billion dollars a year to the Palestinians - they can just blow each other up and leave the rest of us the hell alone." I rather assumed he was speaking tongue in cheek and expressing his frutration with the Israel/Palestine situation. After receiving an email from a friend that gave examples of, what it purported to be, Moore's anti-semitism, I became not alarmed, but concerned. And so, I sent him the following email, which I will post here. I am looking for some responses with agreement, disagreement, explanations, etc. This is the email I sent.........
Dear Michael,
I am sure this won't be the first or the last email written by a Jewish person concerned with the perceived, and I believe misguided, notion that you are anti-Semitic. I recently had an argument with my husband who is an Israeli-American, defending you against this accusation.

I am also sure you are aware of the email that has been going around (I fowarded it in a separate email), which means to support the notion that you are against Israel, and by Jewish definition, therefore against Jews. It was sent to me by a friend who I had invited to my "FAHRENHEIT 9/11 PARTY. I am further sure that this is far from your main concern, especially at this time. To be frank, my involvement with getting Bush out of the White House, which was strongly fueled by your movie, Fahrenheit 9/11, has far surpassed my recent attention to Israel and things Jewish, regarding this campaign.

I am not a One Issue voter, though Women's Issues, specifically Choice, Gun Control, Funding Education AND Israel top my agenda. I am liberal in my politics and progressive in my thinking. So, I believe we have a lot in common. I have seen all of your movies, as have my two children, 18 years and 23 years old, and we all thought they made their points well and were well worth the watch. Having said all of the above, it does worry and even offend me that you see the Israeli/Palestinian issue through what to me looks like a skewed view. The Left in general takes this position, seeing the Palestinians as the Underdog and the Israelis as the Aggressor. History and Truth would suggest otherwise, or at least provide a VERY long and complicated explanation..

Anyway, what I would very much like to see would be some forum (a debate or an interviw, perhaps,) in which you could speak out on your positions regarding all of this. I know you are not anti-Semitic and I know that even if people have problems with Israel's positions on the Palestinian situation, that they are not necessarily anti-Semitic. Understand, however, that from a Jewish perspective, having a long, long history of Anti-Semitism and all that came from it, we are sensitive to influential people who may be undermining the haven that was established 56 years ago for a people who knew persecution in every other "homeland" in which they lived. The "Palestinians" also deserve their homeland and therein lies the basic dilemma. Hopefully, someday a workable solution will be found. But it will not be found at the expense of a Jewish homeland. If your position is contrary to the last two statements, then I would conclude differently about you than I have. My hope is that you can and do see both sides and that you were just showing your exasperation and didn't really mean it when you said in,"Dude, Where's Our Country" (which I read), "Hey, here's a way to stop suicide bombings - give the Palestinians a bunch of missile-firing Apache helicopters and let them and the Israelis go at each other head to head. Four billion dollars a year to Israel - four billion dollars a year to the Palestinians - they can just blow each other up and leave the rest of us the hell alone."

I know you are busy and may never read my email. I hope, though, that somehow it will catch your attention and that you will find the time, perhaps after Nov. 2nd, to respond. I want to continue to support you and all that you do to further progressive causes. I also want to know that your mind is open and that though you disagree with Israeli Politics, you are nevertheless a supporter of Israel's right to exist.

Very Sincerely Yours,

Sherril

9/21/2004

First Post

I am a novice blogger, I guess you could say, a newbie blogger, in cyber-parlance. In any case, I'm just trying to set up my own Blog and eventually I will post whatever it is I am thinking, doing, reading, etc. One thing I am really hoping to do is to connect with like-minded people regarding different aspects of my life. For now all I want is to set-up this thing and maybe to get a little encouragement from those of you out there, more in the know than I. So, if you are readiing this, please respond "IN KIND".