July 4, 2007
I’m not feeling that great about being an American this Fourth.
I haven’t felt great about it for a long time.
You know I love this country—and if the Canadians ever decide to invade Montana I’ll be the first one to bear arms.
It is a beautiful country. Many people have found opportunity here and built fortunes. We’ve sheltered many tired, weary and huddled masses. We should be proud of that.
I am proud of that. I am especially proud of our cultural contributions, like Jazz and Blues, to the world. I’m proud that I can sit here and write about this with limited fear. I say limited fear because I think our Constitutional Rights have taken a beating recently. I think it is less safe to have an opinion today than it might have been in the past.
I am not proud of the fact that our government’s legacy has become one of lies, corruption, and death. With all our flag waving, bombs bursting and rocket’s red glare; when it comes down to it we’ve done some pretty despicable things as a nation. Things we often point the finger and accuse others of doing.
How many documented cases are there of this nation’s breech of contract with Native Americans? We told them where they could live and then took the land back when we needed it. We forced our religion on them. There is historical evidence of a genocide against a people living within our own borders. You have to go back through the centuries; but the evidence is there. The government of this country practiced systematic and often brutal policies to control these people.
There is also the subject of slavery—the ownership and forced labor of human beings by other human beings. Why does it not seem rational to me that this should occur in a ‘free’ country. Please. You can point to the Emancipation Proclamation all you want; but Lincoln did it to weaken the industrial power of the south. Slavery wasn’t made illegal until the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which occurred in 1865. Even then, only 27 of the 36 states would ratify it. Those remaining nine states DID ratify the amendment, with Mississippi being the last in 1995 - 100 years later.
As a nation we have trampled across the globe, invaded countries, violated our own treaties, and gone against the advice and will of our friends. We’ve almost always done it in the name of freedom.
The last thing I want to say is this. It isn’t a popular viewpoint. I apologize now to those friends I know it may offend. This thing I want to talk about is our national hysteria over terrorism.
One of the first things that slippery and skillful manipulators will do in a situation is identify a common enemy. Find someone that everyone can hate. More importantly, find someone that everyone can fear. If you can manipulate their hate and their fear you’ve got them in the palm of your hand.
Most people are aware of the ties between the bin Laden (as in Osama) family and the Bush’s. Some are aware that our President flew members of the bin Laden family and other Saudi nationals out of the US immediately following the attacks on 9/11/01 - during a full national FAA grounding of all air craft. No questions asked. Do most people also know that most of the alleged 9/11 hijackers were Saudi nationals? Isn’t that just a little strange? Then there is the friendship between Osama and the US government during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (which we in the US pointed the finger in judgement at—yet where are we now?). There is even suggestion that US money helped get Al Quaeda off the ground.
What do you think actually happened on 9/11/01? I don’t know. I will probably never know. But my gut tells me there is a whole lot more to it than what we’ve been told about it. If nothing else, it empowered an administration to invade two countries while we grieved and angrily demanded pay back. By the way, none of the alleged hijackers came from either Afghanistan or Iraq and none of it had anything to do with Saddam Hussein.
Has anyone ever asked the question, “Why do these people hate us so much?”. Didn’t you ever wonder?
Bush will tell you it is because they hate our freedom. Now what kind of sense does that make? It doesn’t make sense. If they hate our freedom, what are they fighting for? These people are not even a government we are fighting (unless Iran moves into Iraq, thanks W).
We are fighting individuals who have volunteered for a cause they believe is for the greatness of God. That doesn’t make suicide bombing ok. But let’s just look at the situation. This hate might be coming from somewhere other than their hatred of freedom. What would it take to make YOU strap explosives to yourself and detonate them, killing yourself and a few dozen other people? This is extreme behavior. This is not drive-by shooting, road side bombs or booby traps. These guys believe they are fighting on God’s side against the devil and they are willing to give their lives to do it.
The only people these guys hate more than the United States is Israel.
Why do they hate Israel? There was no Israel prior to 1948. The country didn’t exist other than a historic and religious memory in the Jewish religion. The area that is now Israel was under Turkish (Ottoman) control until the early 20th century. They were driven out after WWI and Britain took control of the region.
Let’s consider that there were people living here. People with homes, families, lives… Generations of families who called this area home. These people came to be called Palestinians, which goes back to an ancient word, re-adopted by the Ottomans during the 19th century. Britain adopted the name Palestine to describe the region.
So all these people were actually living there and established there and they were mostly Arab.
Various agreements were made among the victors of WWI as to how this land (Palestine) would be controlled or divided. The most important of these was called the Balfour Declaration of 1917. It supported plans for a Jewish National Home in Palestine. It also had a condition - that nothing be done to prejudice the rights of existing communities there. It seems not to have turned out that way, has it?
Essentially Britain moved in and started managing things after they finally got rid of all Turkish control in 1918. Britain basically hung out there through WWII, eventually leaving when popular support diminished. In 1947 the British turned Palestine over to the United Nations.The UN General Assembly passed a partition plan for Palestine to break it up into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Arabs and Jews were already fighting. Jewish immigration had begun to the area many years prior and tensions were already high. Arabs completely rejected the plan.
When the British mandate ended in May 1948, David Ben Gurion formally pronounced the Declaration of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. The territory initially consisted only of the areas set forth in the UN Partition Plan. The territory would later expand mostly through various wars with neighboring areas. After the Declaration, Israel was attacked by surrounding Arab countries including Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq. The IDF, or Israeli Army was formed during a UN cease fire. Temporary new borders were established which gave the new Jewish country 23.5% of the remaining Mandate territory (the Arab or Palestinian parts). As for what was left: Egypt took control of Gaza and Jordan took control of the West Bank.
Many Arabs fled or were expelled. Many Jews were expelled from Arab countries, fleeing to Israel which increased the size of Israel even more.
So in the most basic sense, the homes of these long time residents were taken and the residents forced out. This happened as increasing numbers of immigrants settled and took over the country - aided by Britain and the West.
Most of the Palestinians left have been forced to live in the West Bank and Gaza regions. They are second class citizens in every way.
There are constant confrontations, deadly confrontations with the military. The Israeli Army shows no mercy and these people are frequently pummeled with bombs and rockets. The IDF are notoriously brutal. They return stones thrown with bullets and bombs. Israel claims this behavior in self defense or retaliation. But who is retaliating for what? Who are the oppressed? Should it not be expected that the oppressed are going to fight back if they are able? The United States has been a supporter of Israel from the beginning. We have supported Israel with money and weapons since the 1973 Yom Kippur war. Israel became the US number one ally in keeping rogue Arab nations in check and protecting our access to Mid East oil. Since then our kinship has only grown stronger, sharing massive defense systems, intelligence and technology.
So there you have it. At least what I think is the reason for all this hatred and violence. A bully supporting a bully and oppressing the native Arab people of the region. It happens without question. It happens constantly.
We brand political leaders of these Palestinians as terrorists and refuse to deal with them or recognize them. Israel will not give an inch.
This is grossly unfair.
Jewish and Arab tensions go back through Bible times. Old Testament times. There will always be tension there.
But we rub salt into this wound and inflame it by supporting a country that has engaged in the brutal eviction of a people from their homeland and the continued relocation and harassment of those people.
This support and relationship we have with Israel is why we are so hated in the Arab world.
What is the solution? What do I propose?
I don’t know. I thought Jimmy Carter did some amazing things in terms of relations in the Middle East. What Bush has done is simply demonic and unthinkable. We actually invaded two sovereign Arab nations—against the wishes of our friends and allies in the UN.
People have to start talking. They have to wake up. The US has to start saying, “wait a minute, you can’t treat people like that…” The US has to take it on the chin and get the hell out of the Middle East. The problem now is that Saddam was holding Iran in check—and with Iraq in it’s present state now; Iran can just run right in or back the factions they support into gaining power. Maybe that was part of the plan all along—that as a result we’d have to invade Iran. At this point, it seems inevitable to me.
I’m not a historian, political analyst, or economist. I did visit Israel in 1989 when I traveled with a musical theater company. I was there again in 1996 while doing a gig aboard a cruise ship. I’ve traveled from Tel Aviv to Cairo by bus. I’ve been to Jerusalem and visited towns in the West Bank. I’ve taken a boat on the Galilee (Lake Tiberias) not far from the Golan Heights (another Israeli expansion into Arab territory).
I’m just writing here in my own personal blog how I see it. Sitting here from my seat as a 41 year old IT guy and musician with two kids who likes to think and tries to keep up on the news.
We are losing economic ground rapidly. The dollar is falling. We’ve been stuck with a fascist, war-making government for eight years. It is time for some diplomacy. It is time for some common sense. Its time to stop being so afraid and so angry and take an objective look at what is really going on in the world.
