The Books & Movies Lied

I love the Jews and hate their bully state. The lies I have heard from the Israeli side about the beginnings, intentions and operations of the State of Israel have been embedded in the consciousness of at least two post-WW II generations through propaganda-romance novels like Exodus and Mila 18; depicting the Jews who "settled" Palestine after the Holocaust as the world's most-important victims (70 million died in that war,) and the Palestinians as a "nomadic" people, who somehow were just passing through or lived in mud hovels, and "didn't know what to do with the land anyway." For at least 20 years after the United States recognized Israel and began providing massive economic and military assistance, Israel insisted, "there is no such thing as a Palestinian people." The scattering of Palestinians by Israelis created what can only be called "The Palestinian Diaspora." It took the tragic massacre at the Munich Olympics to wake the world to the fact that the Palestinian people, did, in fact, exist, and seemed to think they had a grievance.

One other thing: When I hear someone say “the poor little country of Israel,” I want to retch. Poor little Israel, with a reputed 200 atomic weapons, and not a signatory to any pact or agreement allowing for their inspection, regulation or international oversight, since Israel (with India and Pakistan) has refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty, allowing International Atomic Energy Agency inspections. However, I love the Jews, their culture, history, food, literature, art, and entertainment, involvement with the sciences and scholarship, and one-in-particular, with a passion. The situation in Gaza and Israel grieves me more than I can describe. I don't see any way to change it until Jews and Palestinians change themselves, change their attitudes, change their hearts, change their methods, and change their minds. No state, no law, and no amount of money or arms can accomplish that.