Dear Readers:
First, a note - The following are a couple of observations about Israel that came to me a couple of mornings ago. I share them just as I’ve shared countless other observations about societal matters over the years. Of course, this is a particularly sensitive topic, and these observations are based on some debated facts.
I don’t write these observations as declarations about the controversial matters from this part of the world. I write them because they were ideas from that “alien looking down on Earth” perspective, ideas that offer novels ways of viewing the state of Israel, and ideas that I think build upon the general understanding of this topic.
From my understanding, the Old Testament is a history of the Israelites in ancient times and their ongoing relationship with God. It’s defined by waves of obedience and blessings but also disobedience and punishment.
If that pattern holds true through today—albeit glossing over much of modern history—then perhaps what we’re now seeing from Israel is a time they’re distant from God, given their repeated humanitarian abuses.
Yet a whole other framing of the state of Israel is presented if what I’ve read is true about today’s Israeli leadership having little ethnic connection to the Jewish people of the Old Testament—that they’re more European than Semitic. In that case, it’s less about a people historically known as the Israelis and more about this collection of various people who’ve recently gathered under the flag of the modern state of Israel. And as a collection of such individuals (rather than a specific ethnicity), what it means to be Israeli today, then, might be something more like a team or a political party or even a company with its own company culture. And it’s this culture—their motives and way of doing things—that attracts or turns people off.
For example, I know many non-religious conservatives who strongly support and identity with today’s Israel. For them, it’s about that “company culture” and the narrative of a people fighting for their existence while surrounded by their enemies—this right of this society to defend itself, survive, and thrive.
All the while, we do still have the dominant associations with this nation: Israel being a state for the Jewish people as well as the religious affinity felt by countless Christians.
But as large as these associations are, I increasingly recognize the aforementioned association based not on one’s ethnicity or religion, but on narrative—that one’s view of this state of Israel comes down to whether he or she sees it as a society rightfully fighting for its survival, or whether they are seen as those fighting with minimal regard for the accepted codes of war and even basic consideration for other peoples.
Bravo Brandon for bringing this topic up. If our brains cant simultaneously entertain the notions of protecting Jews, and criticizing the State of Israel, then why did God waste His time making brains in the first place?
Thanks for posting Brandon. It's a tough subject especially since without boots on the ground there folks have a hard time telling fact from fiction. It looks like Jewish folks who were oppressed in Europe and the mid-east are turning around and using modern western weaponry to conquer the mid-east and repeat the oppression against the locals.