Israel-An American Value

Imagine. You live in New Jersey. The states bordering you are New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. They hate you just because you live in Jersey. They don’t allow you to travel to them, don’t allow you to take an airplane to Ohio because you’d have to fly over their territory.

Imagine. You live in New Jersey. You manufacture a lifesaving medical device. There are sick people in the surrounding areas, but they can’t call you to order the equipment because their governments refuse to allow telephone service (land line or cellular) to Jersey. The sick people die.

Imagine. You live in New Jersey. You send your children to the park to play. All of a sudden, a missile launched from New York lands in the playground. Children are killed and maimed. The NJ National Guard sends its members to New York to destroy the rocket launcher and bring the criminals to justice. The world cries that you are the aggressor.

Imagine this.

Entrepreneurs in New Jersey develop communications tools like Instant Messaging and the Intel Pentium Chip that runs all our computers. Scientists discover and manufacture new drugs that are affordable to all. Doctors volunteer for weeks at a time in places that normally don’t welcome Jerseyites, because those places have been devastated by earthquakes and tsunamis. Imagine that New Jersey is a beacon of light.

Is that really difficult think about? That New Jersey, in spite of being the brunt of so many jokes, could actually be such a stellar place?

Now, imagine this! That it’s not really New Jersey, but Israel. A country the same size as the Garden State, surrounded by populations that constantly call for the annihilation of the people living there. A country, that in spite of all the difficulties of geography, has developed into a blooming desert flower, literally.

And what’s more, Israel is a democracy in a region of dictatorships and theocracies. A place where the value of human life is respected. Where religious expression is welcome. Where women are recognized as valuable citizens and given equal rights. An outpost of American values among a sea of countries where children are encouraged to commit murder by strapping explosives to their chests. And then, those killers are praised for killing other children.

You may think I’m joking. That I’m making this up. But it’s true. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to the Rev. DeeDee Colman. You’ll be surprised at what she has to say. An African-American Baptist minister from Detroit, Rev. DeeDee, as she likes to be called, loves Israel as much as I do. And she proudly proclaims it to be the most moral place on earth.

Let me know your thoughts!

Have a Sweet Passover.

Have a Joyous Easter.

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~ by paulajoffe on March 25, 2010.