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jewish rhodesia
Today I had the displeasure of visiting Tyson's Corner Shopping Mall. For
those of you who have never been there, I envy you. Built thirty something
years ago, Tyson's Corner Mall epitomizes the deterioration of yesterday’s
town square into the opulent yet tasteless indoor shopping centers of today.
What was in my lifetime an intersection of two country roads in northern
Virginia has mushroomed into an "edge city" with millions of square feet of
office space and several hundred stores of every type imaginable (except a
grocery store). Not surprisingly its' transportation system is breaking
down, gridlock is the best way to describe this "conveniently" located
"community" just outside the Capital Beltway.
Much to my surprise, I was actually given a gift certificate for said Mall.
As I live now in North-East Washington DC, I am not sure why my family
member chose such a gift. Perhaps it was a cruel joke or a vain attempt to
assimilate me into "mainstream America" once again. Of course it was a gift
that I accepted and was determined to redeem, so let there be no mistake
that I was grateful for it. My plan was to buy a pack of gum and get the
change.
As I arrived at the shopping center in my automobile I was able to find a
place to park, surprisingly, on the east end of the complex by JC Penny. I
walked into the department store and through to the main multi-level
corridor and was greeted by four people wearing identical T-shirts that said
"Jews for Jesus". It is not as though they accosted me but after noticing
two of them making eye contact with me I felt compelled to ask them a
question about Israel. Now first of all let me establish that I reject the
notion of collective guilt (the idea that all Jews or all Americans are
somehow personally responsible for the state of Israel or anything else
about the horrendous foreign policy that we pay for with our tax dollars).
After all we have no choice. If we do not pay our taxes we eventually end
up in jail regardless of what we think about western Asia or anything else.
It was just that my curiosity of what these "Jews for Jesus" thought about
the "Jewish state" got the better of me. "Our position is that it exists"
one replied as two others scurried away. Then another asked me questions
about my faith. I wondered out loud what my faith had to do with the fact
that for more than fifty years Palestinians have been forced out of their
homes and that many of their villages have been erased? That even
Palestinian-Israeli citizens must carry identification that distinguishes
them as "non-Jews" and they are denied the full rights of citizenship. If
exclusion of this type was not acceptable in Rhodesia or South Africa then
why is it permissible in Israel? Why does our Government support this?
What would Jesus do about Jewish Rhodesia? The one remaining Jew for Jesus
that stood before me asked me whether or not I believed in the bible to
which I replied that "I believed that it exists". I told him that in my
masochistic twenties I had read the entire thing and concluded that it was
the most vile book ever written. He then informed me that I obviously was
not a Christian to which I replied "who are you to judge what I am or am
not?" Solemnly he replied that he was not there to debate with people about
the much prophesied state of Israel but to save souls, and that I was
"engaging in semantics." He then told me that Zionism had nothing to do
with religion and was all about communism. As I laughed in his face he
turned away showing me without a doubt that he did not consider my soul
worth saving anymore.
Feeling as though I was being a bit rough with the poor guy it then occurred
to me why it is a good thing that our state is not based on religion.
Although people talk about the "moral decay" of our society I feel that it
is a damn good thing that we are spared the religious public stonings,
inquisitions, and crusades that still exist in other parts of the world
today. For Israelis to boast that their society is progressive is
ludicrous. It is a throwback to the Dark Ages before bourgeois society
(despite all their disingenuous socialist rhetoric and their "high- tech"
economy). If it seems as though I am insensitive about the Holocaust then I
am sorry. The fact is that many progressive Jews are blossoming the desert
in Nevada and elsewhere and no one is throwing rocks at them.
Can we really
right a wrong with another wrong? After all the Palestinians are Semitic
too, and they had nothing to do with the Nazi's! So why should they be
abused in this way? (not just by Israelis but by Arab states as well). I
may know the answer to these questions but it does not help. Feeling a bit
solemn myself, I attempted to break out of my mood by going to the record
store. The fact is that I only listen to Pacifica and NPR radio stations so
I have no idea what most of the new music sounds like. The "new" Beatles CD
was on sale but I resisted, wondering why John wanted to be counted out of
the revolution. I instead bought "The Best of War" got my change and went
home.
by an East Coast activist
