I have by the way viewed snippets of this presentation, even before you had sent it. I refuse however (and object not in disrespect) to sit through it again. First off, General Peled’s book was co-authored by a rabid anti-Semite named Alice Walker. Secondly, even if there would be a fair proportion of utilizable wisdom contained in the 1 hour and 8 minute presentation, I am not sure I understand the direction you expect that I might go with that wisdom. Maybe I would become a Bibi hater. OK so what next??? Where, if I accepted the message am I to go, and how do I use the wisdom?
How do I use the wisdom that seems to ignore the well-established fact that the hatred of Arabs and Islamists is endemic to their culture? It is expressed in their Koran and has been so, since the birth of Islam in 723 AD. Is this possibly the primary reason that they have refused to accept the multiple peace-offerings that Israel has several times proffered since 1949. I do not hate them for this because I understand that they labor under a defective ideology that instructs them to do all kinds of not nice things to infidels. Infidels are defined specifically as Jews and Christians, but also include Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus. I do not under calculate the depth of their enmity, and the level of depravity to which they have continuously been capable of sinking. By this I would refer to using humans as shields, launching rockets from hospitals, teaching children to kill and to be killed for the honor of Allah, and sending children as young a six to military camp. Please help me find a comparable culture that so needlessly treats their own with such shocking brutality.
The point of raising this horror is that I think you might agree that with such raging self-hatred comes an innate inability to focus love and acceptance outside of one’s immediate family. There is a vicious circular vortex of shame that keeps building on subsequent acts of depravity. Because of the commission of ongoing acts of vile barbarity they build and build on one another like bricks in a wall. I expect very little from these folks but I also humbly respect their ability to live under such crushing misery. Regardless if that has for the most part been culturally self-inflicted. It's sad. You cannot say that it is not sad. Yet mistakenly over and over they keep reverting to the same failed behavior(s) which in effect has them trying to abate their misery by creating objects to hate external to their inner-selves and to focus on the destruction of those objects which lie outside of their shamed inner selves. What do we do with this culturally sanctioned circuitry?
Does this knowledge cause me to somehow hold Israelis above them as humans? Does this mean that I may threat them like the animals they they sometimes imitate? It absolutely does not. All beings are created in G d's image. Everybody has to do the best they can with the cards that they have been dealt. I must respect their difficult path. That’s G d talking not me. The trauma that is embedded in the Israeli psyche is massive. I do not understand how they live under these conditions of ongoing stress. But they have learned to do so. I do not view Israel as a panacea or Israelis as easy people. But they have during their short history given back in far greater proportion to their numbers and despite the distraction of the ongoing burden of external attack.
There are many people out there like Alice Walker. Most of them though are white-Anglos who descended from Middle-Aged European roots. Their grandfathers knew anti-Semitism very well. As you point out, much of this juice is silently transferred through physiological genetics. And so with this plethora of Jew haters out there why would I possibly want to listen to a message that supports their primary thesis: that Israel does not have a right to defend herself, even if 4,005 rockets reign down on Israeli kindergartens. Jack, doesn't the Talmud explicitly obligate us to defend ourselves against those who seek our physical demise. After all G d did wire us with the fight or flight capacity. Reform Judaism has unfortunately incapacitated this fight or flight response, telling us that to be more acceptable to "them" that we ought to be more Jesus-like and to turn the other cheek. Well my friend as you can see, turning the other cheek has brought us an Iran that the world is about to allow to go nuclear. We are about to drop $150 billion in Iran's coffers. That buys a lot of pressure-cookers. True, everybody will end up suffering but G d put the Jews on the railroad tracks in front of the oncoming train hoping that they would use the energy of their Choseness to figure out a way to save mankind. Thanks to our Jewish legislators for standing up so quickly...did I miss applauding Chuck Schumer?...well he did stand up to avoid crucifixion but will continue to do so only until your check clears.
You know, it would have been less time consuming to have just watched the movie. But I appreciate you getting me to think about this stuff and to speak my views.