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bliumchikI just read a forward someone sent to my dad. It basically consisted of a list of Muslim Nobel Prize winners and a much larger list of Jewish ones, followed by a list of things Israel has done in the conflict and why they're better than things Arab countries have done. Things like "Arabs started all five wars against Israel, and lost every one of them" and "630000 Arabs left Israel in 1948, while close to a million Jews were forced to leave the Muslim countries."
At the end, where they tell you to forward it to people, whether or not they're Jewish, it said "TRUTH AND PEACE ARE VALUES COMMON TO ALL OF US."
Alright, nevermind that the writer clearly doesn't think that PEACE is a value common to Muslims.
Nevermind that they're using the word Muslim interchangeably with Arab.
Nevermind the vagueness of their "call to action" which is really just "what will you tell your grandchildren you did in this crisis".
Nevermind all of that.
WHAT THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY'RE DOING FOR THE CAUSE OF PEACE BY SENDING THIS THING AROUND?! Alright, so you can say "we're better than them" for a given value of better in certain areas. SO WHAT? What exactly is that supposed to excuse? Do Jews deserve more rights because we've got more Nobel prizes? Is the fact that Jews have suffered more at the hands of Muslims than the other way round supposed to give us warm fuzzy feelings of righteousness? THE WHOLE WAR IS WRONG. Just because one side may have done less damage than the other does not make that side right.
How many people, recieving that email, will have stopped to think that most of the Jews on that Nobel prize list lived in democratic western countries? What kind of chance do you think anyone living in Iraq has to do something awesome in Physics? Where are they going to get research grants? No, I don't think people reading that list are supposed to think that. I think they're supposed to feel justified in hating Islam. I think they're supposed to feel that Israel is in the right in this war.
That's not right. Nobody is in the right in a war. Even if some people are less wrong than others, that does not excuse anything they do.
That whole email was about what Israel's enemies have done wrong. You're not supposed to care what Israel's done wrong.
And what's it all for? What exactly is that email going to do to stop the war? What possible use is it? I can't think of one, which means that unless I've missed something, that email was created solely for the purpose of going "nyah, we're better than them".
And we all know where that kind of philosophy leads. Pray that people who write emails like that never get into power. Every nation has a few potential Hitlers in it - it's up to the rest of us to learn from history and not create opportunities for them.
At the end, where they tell you to forward it to people, whether or not they're Jewish, it said "TRUTH AND PEACE ARE VALUES COMMON TO ALL OF US."
Alright, nevermind that the writer clearly doesn't think that PEACE is a value common to Muslims.
Nevermind that they're using the word Muslim interchangeably with Arab.
Nevermind the vagueness of their "call to action" which is really just "what will you tell your grandchildren you did in this crisis".
Nevermind all of that.
WHAT THE HELL DO THEY THINK THEY'RE DOING FOR THE CAUSE OF PEACE BY SENDING THIS THING AROUND?! Alright, so you can say "we're better than them" for a given value of better in certain areas. SO WHAT? What exactly is that supposed to excuse? Do Jews deserve more rights because we've got more Nobel prizes? Is the fact that Jews have suffered more at the hands of Muslims than the other way round supposed to give us warm fuzzy feelings of righteousness? THE WHOLE WAR IS WRONG. Just because one side may have done less damage than the other does not make that side right.
How many people, recieving that email, will have stopped to think that most of the Jews on that Nobel prize list lived in democratic western countries? What kind of chance do you think anyone living in Iraq has to do something awesome in Physics? Where are they going to get research grants? No, I don't think people reading that list are supposed to think that. I think they're supposed to feel justified in hating Islam. I think they're supposed to feel that Israel is in the right in this war.
That's not right. Nobody is in the right in a war. Even if some people are less wrong than others, that does not excuse anything they do.
That whole email was about what Israel's enemies have done wrong. You're not supposed to care what Israel's done wrong.
And what's it all for? What exactly is that email going to do to stop the war? What possible use is it? I can't think of one, which means that unless I've missed something, that email was created solely for the purpose of going "nyah, we're better than them".
And we all know where that kind of philosophy leads. Pray that people who write emails like that never get into power. Every nation has a few potential Hitlers in it - it's up to the rest of us to learn from history and not create opportunities for them.
