Difficult Weeks as An Elderly Jew 10 20 23 5784

Complexity vs Free Palestine Binary Thinking

So, life is complicated for me these days. With required wheelchair living in an upstairs apartment, I don’t get out much, and rarely have a visitor save the caregiver who comes to visit 2 hours each week. My wife is not big on conversation while nothing I love more than the art of said conversation. I rely on social media for connection to the outside world.

But then October 7, a time culminating the High Holy Days with Simchat Torah, Hamas, an organization devoted to the death of Jews, invaded Israel, slaughtering innocent men, women, children, killing innocent babies, raping and murdering and taking hostages back into Gaza. 1400 Jews, most of them non-combatants were murdered on that fateful day.

The response by so many here in America has been… “Free Palestine.” Folks, Hamas does not represent the interests of the Palestinian people. They are akin to Isis. Most Americans have no concept of the complexity of the situation there, nor do they have any understanding of why a Jewish state was necessary, nor the history of efforts for a two-state solution that was turned down time and again by the Palestinians despite the best efforts of the world. They do not understand that with this Israeli government led by the right-wing Likud party has not been a friend of the Palestinians, but yet a significant portion of Jews and Israelis have worked for years to find common ground. Radical leaders on both sides have worked to the detriment of their own people. Not unlike here in the US I might add.

So when I try to go online, I’m met with accusations and massive simplistic responses to a complex issue. Yesterday, a woman chastised me for being brainwashed for supporting Israel after a terror attack against them. Let me explain a bit about me. My degree in college was Asian Studies, which included the Middle East with additional studies in International Politics. I’ve been engaged most of my life in a study of the region and the history of the Jewish people. Most people for instance do not know that when Jews were kicked out by the Romans, for most of the 1900 + years we mostly were not citizens in the lands where we lived, and in the cases where we were, it was a citizenship with conditions. Our people were attacked and slaughtered over and over throughout the years leading up to the Shoah. Here in America, antisemitism has been rising at alarming rates once again. I have family that was in Israel during the Yom Kippur War, 50 years exactly prior to the attack this year. Gaza was not under Israeli control. It was ruled by Hamas, and many of the folks slaughtered in the kibbutzim were ardent peace activists who would bring Gazans into Israel for medical care they could not get otherwise.

Lots of other facts come to mind. Like the land that was called Palestine by the Romans after they kicked us out never had self-rule. Some Jews remained in the land after many were kicked out. It has always been a mixed population. But consider this. The US was attacked in 2001 when radical Islamists with roots in Saudi Arabia crashed planes into the Twin Towers. We went to war with both Afghanistan which had connections with Isis and Iraq which did not. We took out the leadership of Isis over time, and innocent people as in all war were killed. Just over 2000 were killed. Israel lost 1400 innocents by a group who during the slaughter left behind Isis’ literature and gleefully filmed the slaughter of innocents. Any nation, and that includes Israel, have the right to protect their borders.

If you want to talk about statehood for Palestinians, I am all ears. At least when this all dies down. I support the rights of Palestinians and a two-state solution. One can be pro-Israel AND pro-Palestinian. Bibi’s government is one thing, but the people are another. Just like we are not all in the image of Trump, Baruch Hashem. But American obsession with their guy with a white hat/ guy with a black hat view of this part of the world are not serving us as well. I did not see this sort of uproar following the violation of basic human rights and the killing of innocents by Iran. Or by Saudi Arabia. Or countless other places around the world. Only Israel, and always in opposition to Jews. Being opposed to actions by the Israeli government is not antisemitic. But attacking not only Israel, but Jews around the world is.

Okay, I’ve spent years studying the region, and yet give no claim to being an expert. But people, why do you in a world filled with propaganda on all sides and without becoming an expert either in the region or Jewish history and the history of the land feel it is okay to attack Jews and people with connections to the land. Or do you say, well, I’m a liberal and liberals support free Palestine, so I don’t dare do anything but follow the status quo? And who said this was required anyway?

Anyway, in my lonely world atop an apartment in NE Mpls, a source of connection is endangered by the either/or folks of this world. It is impossible to fully discuss the intricacies of these issues via social media, or even in this little blog I do. I’m no stranger to hate, either as a Jew or as a Trans person, or as a Gay person. But it all pains the soul more than folks understand. Especially since some of it has come from the people I consider friends. Just do remember, typing words seems harmless enough, but can cause pain regardless.

Shalom b’ Ahava (Peace and Love)!

Aging in Perilous Times 10 03 2023

As a trans lesbian Jewish elder, I cannot ignore the ugliness that is today’s political reality. One of the two major parties has declared war on people like me, and so many others as well, all in the name of some imagined white Christian nationalism. Their tactics hearken back to a better name for their philosophy, that name being fascism. They are beholding to one supreme leader who despite his many crimes (91 indictments so far) can do no wrong. They demonize minorities because, well, that’s what fascists do. The Christo fascists among them call for putting us away in camps or alternately shooting us in the back of our heads. Wow, recollections of the SS Einsatzgruppen in WWII. Laws are being passed in several states criminalizing our existence in their war on woke. Attacks on our communities, enflamed by their rhetoric is at an all-time high.

But not just as a minority, they seek to cut critical portions of my income, specifically social security, and Medicare. Not to mention RSDI, SSI, food assistance, the list goes on. Just so a few billionaires can become even wealthier.

So attacks on our communities are nothing new, though not so widely publicized and encouraged by people who presume to be leaders. Once upon a time for instance, homosexual conduct was a felony. Goodness, once while wandering my Houston neighborhood years ago early in my transition, I found myself surrounded by thugs fully intent on beating the crap out of me. I’m not sure where it came from, but I began a full drag queen act, and they began to laugh. In that moment, I broke free and ran faster than I ever have the block and a half to a local police substation. No one was caught, but I lived to see another day. But we were NOT targeted by leaders, rather mostly the target of those who were afraid of us or had been taught we were somehow evil. We did not have Congressmen or Senators pointing the finger at us, and aside from certain fundamentalist preachers, we got little attention from them as well. But goodness, hate can be found at every turn these days. We are the target to distract the poorly educated who feel left out from the real source of their hard times, much as politicians have always done. For whom? The rich and entitled of course. It was said that Hitler once remarked that if there were not a Jewish people, he would have to made up one. Absolute power ascends often by creating a common enemy. Today, people like me are that enemy.

I’m so thankful to live in a progressive state that celebrates my existence. Oh, there are still haters here, but are not supported by the political leaders or the law. I could never return to the state I grew up in, because every trans person there walks around with a target on their backs. Texas has made it illegal for instance for me to use the bathroom. But... the haters want to bring this hate and division to our federal government as well.

So it is that I view the coming future with a certain apprehension. In my younger years, I could be out there working within movements to counter this rise of authoritarianism. If needed I could disappear for a time or run from danger if needs be. But today, I’m a 76-year-old disabled woman in a wheelchair, no longer able to drive, and with insufficient resources to pack up and move away. I view the coming future with hope, but growing trepidation that hope may not suffice. Will we as a people head off this growing fascist trend? If they do take control, what will the people do?

Now I know there are those who would seek to assure me. No this would never happen. You are blowing this up out of proportion. But see, I’m a student of history. Societies rise and fall. Germany in the early twenties was the most liberal nation in Europe and a gay mecca for many. Rome began as a Republic. MAGA is allied with and supported by Putin. We simply do not know how this will all play out.

So yes, I do have trepidations. And as one of many elders, there is a lot on the line. No, I won’t lie awake at night worrying, but it does bear mentioning, for the concerns are very real. Underpinning these times are a rise in racism, antisemitism, homophobia, transphobia, and distrust/fear of immigrants. Our nation and our democratic way of doing things is under attack. We are each called in our own way to ensure this does not happen!