tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post234452460625373960..comments2023-05-22T04:28:21.810-05:00Comments on The Why Man: Seeing the Middle East from a Jewish PerspectivePastor Philhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post-871746567187402502009-01-15T00:54:00.000-05:002009-01-15T00:54:00.000-05:00Hi Steve,You may want to listen to Elie Wiesel bef...Hi Steve,<BR/><BR/>You may want to listen to Elie Wiesel before comparing Kristallnacht to a school teacher's rod.<BR/><BR/>I'm not sure ethnic cleansing, and misplaced corporal correction belong in the same sentence. My concern would be that making such a statement already appears to be choosing a side, or at least is perceived as doing so by those whose ancestry was nearly decimated by ethnic cleansing.<BR/><BR/>If there were no Jews after WWII I for one would not be here today.Pastor Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post-37939495469513329322009-01-15T00:41:00.000-05:002009-01-15T00:41:00.000-05:00Aren't those Christians who defend the Israeli act...Aren't those Christians who defend the Israeli actions also being too quick to pick a side?<BR/><BR/>I don't think I'm qualified to pick a side, because neither side in this war has clean hands and a pure heart, and neither do I. <BR/><BR/>Remember <I>Kristallnacht</I> -- that sounds like a child who was unfairly beaten by a teacher at school with a cane and goes home after school and beats up his little brother who then kicks the dog. <BR/><BR/>We may be unjustly treated, but taking revenge for the illtreatment on someone else is no solution.Steve Hayeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11283123400540587033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post-12621812497048947992009-01-12T17:04:00.000-05:002009-01-12T17:04:00.000-05:00although the quality of reporting is at times susp...although the quality of reporting is at times suspect, more information is better than less. restricting access to reporters raises serious questions about a nation's actions. <BR/><BR/>of course, israel is not the only nation refusing access. egypt is not allowing much reporting either.g13https://www.blogger.com/profile/13856920828414078560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post-69757452310774902762009-01-12T16:33:00.000-05:002009-01-12T16:33:00.000-05:00That didn't work in Iraq. What would make it work...That didn't work in Iraq. What would make it work in the far more complex Gaza strip?<BR/><BR/>I have never found enough unbiased independent reporters to make sense out of these situations. They enter the fray with their own agendas, and we tend to call people unbiased who agree with our positions, and others biased who disagree with our positions.Pastor Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post-66934080579068316692009-01-12T14:12:00.000-05:002009-01-12T14:12:00.000-05:00i agree that it is problematic that we do not have...i agree that it is problematic that we do not have more (relatively) unbiased information flowing out of palestine. hopefully israel and egypt start allowing international observers and journalists into gaza soon.g13https://www.blogger.com/profile/13856920828414078560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post-76949362743309465952009-01-12T13:26:00.000-05:002009-01-12T13:26:00.000-05:00If I was raised Jewish rather than having some unk...If I was raised Jewish rather than having some unknown degree of Jewish ancestry, I would probably be extremely concerned about statements even as mild as yours here.<BR/><BR/>Why? Because I also know that the Gaza information is skewed by a number of factors. Muslim factions are driving the information we receive, and they quite frankly don't care about the Palestinian plight. If they did, they would have pressed Jordan a long time ago to become the Palestinian state it was meant to become. Extremists building bombs do so in houses among women and children purposely, and are increasingly utilizing those same innocents to build an army. These are just two variables which I find disconcerting and cause me to slouch away from Bethlehem (to use a bad sounding analogy.)<BR/><BR/>Like Iraq has become the place radicals run to fight the US. Gaza has become a place radicals run to destroy Israel. Wiesel's comments about Israel being a people without a place in WW2 dramatically communicates to this issue in Gaza, and the Middle East as a whole.Pastor Philhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07344719487413688550noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26895116.post-75063240239518331372009-01-12T12:35:00.000-05:002009-01-12T12:35:00.000-05:00thanks for the recommendation. i heard a little bi...thanks for the recommendation. i heard a little bit of the program on my way home as well and will give it a fuller listen as soon as i have a chance.<BR/><BR/>the conflict in gaza is complicated and difficult to navigate. as for myself, i raise questions about the current conflict because of my concern for the palestinian christians who are currently living in a state of siege. if israel was hemmed in by adversarial neighbors and enduring the level of bombardment that gaza currently is, i would be just as concerned for them. <BR/><BR/>i also think that many young christians tend to question the activities of israel because our government, and many conservative churches, have explicitly endorsed all of israel's actions in the past (though, fortunately, not their recent plans to bomb iran) and, in the most extreme cases, have painted any critiques of israel as anti-semitic.<BR/><BR/>i know this is a complicated discussion, but just thought i would add my two cents.g13https://www.blogger.com/profile/13856920828414078560noreply@blogger.com