Full Disclosure:\u00a0\u00a0I am not of the Jewish faith.\u00a0 \u00a0I was raised and confirmed into the Episcopal Church of the United States.\u00a0\u00a0I lapsed from that faith in the mid-1970\u2019s, and profess no organized religion today.\u00a0\u00a0However, my father was Jewish, and while he didn\u2019t practice most of his life, it was a Rabbi that officiated at his funeral.\u00a0\u00a0(Mom was ex-communicated from the\u00a0\u00a0Catholic Church for marrying Dad, and an Episcopal minister officiated her final service.\u00a0\u00a0Dad\u2019s funeral was handled by a Jewish Funeral home, Mom\u2019s by a Catholic one.\u00a0\u00a0We were children of a \u201dmixed marriage\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But as the son of a Jewish man, I learned a lot about Judaism growing up.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0And as that son, it was often assumed by others that I was Jewish.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0When I did the \u201cAncestry.com\u201d genetics, my DNA was identified as 54% Jewish, 45% English\/Irish\/Scottish, and 1% \u201cMediterranean\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0That extra 4% of Jewish marked a family revelation.\u00a0\u00a0Only 50% came from my Dad\u2019s side, where was the extra 4% on Mom\u2019s side?\u00a0\u00a0My oldest sister did the research to find that ancestor, about four generations back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I\u2019m \u201cJewish\u201d by genetics, and often \u201cJewish\u201d by cultural identification.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m more than just a \u201cGeorge Santos \u2013 Jew-ish\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0That\u2019s worked both ways in my life.\u00a0\u00a0Looking back, I think I got more first job in a Congressional office because they wanted a \u201cJewish kid\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0And on the other hand, I\u2019m also aware that my \u201cassumed\u201d Jewishness was insulted behind my back, and sometimes even to my face.\u00a0\u00a0I never used my \u201ctrump card\u201d to get out of that \u2013 in many ways I accepted the social distinction of being Jewish.\u00a0\u00a0It was, literally, part of me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And like many American Jews, I struggled with the issues of Israelis and Palestinians.\u00a0 \u00a0I grew up with the almost mythical story of the Jews in Israel, literally rising from the ashes of the Holocaust to build their own nation.\u00a0\u00a0The Biblical \u201cDavid and Goliath\u201d story of Israel, a small band of Jews standing against the millions of the Arab world who wanted them in the sea, was deeply engrained in my brain and soul.\u00a0\u00a0(Need a refresher \u2013 watch the movie\u00a0Exodus\u00a0<\/em>with Paul Newman).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n And like most Jews, I accepted the story that many of the Palestinians who lived in greater-Israel left at the urging of the Islamic leaders.\u00a0 \u00a0They were told to evacuate so that the Arab Armies could clear the Israelis out in 1948.\u00a0\u00a0They could return after victory.\u00a0\u00a0And that \u201cstory\u201d is, in part, true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there was no Arab victory, in 1948, or 1956, or 1967, or 1973.\u00a0\u00a0 The Arabs kept the Palestinians encamped on the Israeli border, political pawns to use against Israel in world politics.\u00a0\u00a0When Palestinians tried to assimilate into Jordan and Egypt, they were rejected.\u00a0\u00a0Only in Lebanon did they find somewhat of a \u201chome\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0And those camps, now almost eighty years later, have become the center of Palestinian resistance.\u00a0\u00a0The idea of returning \u201chome\u201d to Israel is passed from generation to generation.\u00a0\u00a0The sacrifices, some made by suicide bombers, are venerated in the family lore.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a \u201ctheory of revolution\u201d, that states that revolt only happens after hope is given, then snatched away.\u00a0\u00a0 In the early 2000\u2019s, there seemed to be some hope for a reconciliation between the Palestinians and Israel.\u00a0\u00a0But the political party of \u201cthe two state solution\u201d lost power in Israel, and the hard liners, willing to do almost anything to insure Israeli supremacy in the entire old Palestine, took over.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Israel, a nation founded on the ashes of genocide, is perilously close to committing the same crime.\u00a0\u00a0 The results of the heinous and desperate Hamas October 7th<\/sup>\u00a0attack on Israeli citizens, gave license to the current Israeli government to do anything and everything to the Palestinians in Gaza.\u00a0\u00a0The terrorism of October 7th<\/sup>was horrific, but the responding deaths of 50,000 Palestinians are no less awful.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n The hostages still held by surviving remnants of Hamas seem to be \u201cinconvenient\u201d\u00a0\u00a0for both sides.\u00a0\u00a0 The Israeli government is still slightly restrained by their existence.\u00a0\u00a0And Hamas can\u2019t let them go, because of the horrific consequences Israel might levy on the remaining Palestinian people.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Jews in the America, it is a divisive issue.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Are they the traditional folks who fight for the oppressed, the \u201cunder-dog\u201d, or are they in lock-step with the Netanyahu destruction of Gaza? Last year, there were Jewish college students on the sidewalks protesting against the Palestinian actions.\u00a0\u00a0And there were Jewish college students having seder supper in tents in the pro-Palestinian protestors campgrounds.\u00a0\u00a0(As I look back on my essays about October 7th<\/sup>, I can see my own evolution from firm Israeli support, to questioning, to deep, deep concern about Israeli actions).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Was there anti-Semitism on some college campuses? Of course there was. Were Jewish students at risk? Some absolutely were. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But to say\u00a0\u00a0that all of the protestors who couldn\u2019t \u201cstomach\u201d the outrages of the Israeli attacks on Gaza were anti-Semitic is ridiculous.\u00a0 \u00a0They were anti-Netanyahu, anti-bombing Gaza hospitals, anti-starvation and destruction of civilians.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n And here\u2019s the real \u201crub\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The Trump Administration is using this watch-word of Anti-Semitism as a cudgel to beat American colleges.\u00a0 \u00a0They are withholding government grants and funding unless the college kowtow to the Trump\u2019s demands.\u00a0\u00a0Columbia folded, the price of their principles was $400 million.\u00a0\u00a0Harvard, and other institutions, are still standing firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But the determination of \u201cAnti-Semitism\u201d isn\u2019t the purview of Donald Trump and his minions.\u00a0 \u00a0It is up to the \u201cSemites\u201d, American Jews, to determine what is anti and what is not.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s not up to Trump to punish the universities.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s up to American Jews, many of whom are benefactors to those same universities, to make that decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump and his group are using the \u201cJewish issue\u201d to pursue their own agenda of retribution against America\u2019s colleges.\u00a0 \u00a0But their real issue isn\u2019t Anti-Semitism, it\u2019s anti-intellectualism.\u00a0\u00a0Their issue isn\u2019t what colleges \u201caren\u2019t doing\u201d for Jewish students, it\u2019s that Trump doesn\u2019t like open, intellectual, sometimes fiery, discussion of ideas.\u00a0\u00a0The protests of last spring were against Trump\u2019s \u201cbuddy\u201d Netanyahu, and Trump is getting \u201cpaybacks\u201d for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Trump promised to be America\u2019s retribution in the 2024 campaign. \u00a0\u00a0And, so far, he\u2019s living up to that promise.\u00a0\u00a0But don\u2019t use \u201cthe Jews\u201d as an excuser to muzzle colleges when it\u2019s really about silencing America\u2019s intellectuals.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n To plagiarize the old cartoon \u201cPogo\u201d, \u201cThem is us\u201d. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two State Solution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Which Side <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Anti-Intellectual<\/h3>\n\n\n\n