After terrorists killed my cousin Daniel Pearl, my family called for peace. But after the worldwide celebration of our people’s slaughter, my hope for peace is dead.
My company's silence has been deafening, and I'm both ashamed and infuriated.
Ukraine flags were everywhere. Not one for Israel.
We had an employee from the Israel office killed in the massacre. I don't know who, and I don't know what the company did for the family, because after one single email, there hasn't been another word.
They overhauled their entire corporation for George Floyd.
Perhaps instead of giving up on your idealism, you need new ideals.
The hatred that so many feel for Israel and America doesn't stem from our failures, but from our successes. We are hated because we're good. Embrace that. Be proud of who you are instead of guiltily apologizing all the time. You'll find that a tremendous weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
That you lament far more the loss of your idealism rather than the loss of your family and friends neatly and succinctly demonstrates the problem with leftists/progressives like you everywhere: they are unable and/or unwilling to acknowledge reality which refutes their idealism. Your whole sense of worth and morality is tied to a world view that does not conform to reality. You held fast to that idealism until it became truly personal. Others don’t need reality to give them such a cold hard slap in the face.
My condolences to you on the loss of loved ones… saying good bye is very hard. As to the loss of your progressive idealism, I say, “Good riddance. Welcome to a new life of truth, and reality. You’ll become a better human being for it.”
Wow. Holy Shit. What a story you have, and thank you for sharing it because I can't begin to imagine how awful it must be for you to have to witness this evil and have your ideals shattered and soaked in the blood of the innocent. I'm sorry, Ilan, that you had to find out the truth about progressive leftism this way. The most hateful groups in the world march around shouting "Hate has no place!" while supporting acts of hatred. Heart Breaking.
People often forget what things were really like in this country in the run-up to WWII. My grandmother (I am half-Jewish on father's side) could not get work in New York City because she had a Jewish last name. She changed it from Seiden to Sedden and often told us growing up that her boss once found out about it and told her it was okay and that it could be their secret. That story has stuck with me my whole life as I pondered that question - why do people hate the Jews? A boyfriend of mine once asked me, "they must have done SOMETHING..."
In Germany, in the 1930s, Hitler's hatred of the Jews is what made him popular. His speeches were boring unless he brought up hatred against them. But it started long before that. It did not start with Hitler, obviously. Jews were demonized for (supposedly) not fighting in WWI which made them easy to dehumanize, demonize and hate.
I used to be a Democrat and stood on their side, united in hatred against Trump and his supporters. In 2020 a chill ran through me as I watched the bottomless rage spilling from my side aimed at one man and his supporters. So I changed that. I got to know them, to humanize them.
Now, I am shocked to see -- though I guess I should not be shocked -- how easily the new Left has slipped into dehumanization and hatred of Israelis now. They see it as "oppressed" and "oppressors" and in that designation, they believe, all is justified. We should be very afraid of where that is going. The Summer of 2020 is likely just a taste of what they will do if things don't go their way.
There is no possibility of peace with a people who will only accept your death. Growing up as a Jew and learning the history of our people, we think we are just learning “history,” that’s it’s all in the past and the future will be different. For Jews, in every lifetime we are forced to repeat this madness, but the madness is not ours: it belongs to the rest of the world. Anyone who clings to some notion of “fairness” to a people raised on hate is living in a delusion. In the US, we’ve let foreign Arab donations to colleges and intersectionality marginalize our best snd brightest and we’ve let the world paint a false picture. The miseducation of our youth has been planned and executed and we must right that ship. That is a fight in this country that urgently needs to be won. Please join that fight.
A well written account on how an individual’s hope for a better world gets pummeled over time. Thank you. I ask my friends this: how many Jews were there in 1948 in the Arab/Berber/Persian countries surrounding Israel, and how many there are now? Forces a little self reflection with their “Free Palestine” crap. Oh and how many Jews were forced out of Arab countries in 1948 when the state of Israel was formed.
In a sense, it is. But they haven't just been taught lies; they've also been converted to a violence-promoting ideology. That ideology has only been minimally violent up to now because they have been afraid of going to jail and losing their comfortable lifestyles.
But when they talk about "decolonizing" and shout "eat the rich," those aren't just overblown rhetoric. They actually intend to commit the promised violence when the opportunity comes.
Tragically, the world still holds Israel to a different scale. I too feel abandoned by my liberal Jewish friends who lectured me about “standing on the right side of history “ when Black Lives Matter became a new Jewish cause although anti Semitic at its core.
Now that BLM proudly supports the monsters of Hamas in Palestine, I will disassociate myself from these so called friends. Our son and daughter in law and five enthusiastic kids left Milwaukee because of anti semitism and now thrive in Jerusalem. They spend everyday doing what they can to help other Israelis who have lost their homes. Your cousin was a champion of mine. May you go from strength to strength. Am Yisroel Chai!
You are a good man Ilan. There is no shame in seeking a more just and peaceful world. I am so very sorry the plight of you and your people was abandoned by those who claimed to stand for those very same ideals. They should be ashamed and you are right to be angry. We stand with you and Israel in your fight for justice, and we grieve the pain and suffering of the innocent in war.
Ayye. It hurts. Thank you for putting it into written word so well. Much gratitude and faith that kindess will not be lost on you in moments beyond this one - and touch deeper than idealism ever could.
Really thoughtful, very very American Jewish in thinking, and very deluded -- though it's nice that he recovered. The idea of a Palestinian "two state solution" has always been lunacy. West Bank should go to Jordan, Gaza to Egypt. But of courser those countries not only like the status quo because of the grief it causes, but they don't want Palestinians either.
Palestinians have become a death cult. To use a technical term, they are nuts. They raise their kids of intellectual gruel. They don't want a state, they want Israel. Otherwise they would not have trashed the 4 offers of a state -- pre-settlement offers.
War is war. They started it. America and Britain didn't clutch pearls when they bombed Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to ashes. Why should Israel?
My company's silence has been deafening, and I'm both ashamed and infuriated.
Ukraine flags were everywhere. Not one for Israel.
We had an employee from the Israel office killed in the massacre. I don't know who, and I don't know what the company did for the family, because after one single email, there hasn't been another word.
They overhauled their entire corporation for George Floyd.
This is a gut punch of a read. My greatest condolences to you for the loss you and the many others have been suffering through.
Perhaps instead of giving up on your idealism, you need new ideals.
The hatred that so many feel for Israel and America doesn't stem from our failures, but from our successes. We are hated because we're good. Embrace that. Be proud of who you are instead of guiltily apologizing all the time. You'll find that a tremendous weight has been lifted off your shoulders.
Dear Mr. Benjamin,
That you lament far more the loss of your idealism rather than the loss of your family and friends neatly and succinctly demonstrates the problem with leftists/progressives like you everywhere: they are unable and/or unwilling to acknowledge reality which refutes their idealism. Your whole sense of worth and morality is tied to a world view that does not conform to reality. You held fast to that idealism until it became truly personal. Others don’t need reality to give them such a cold hard slap in the face.
My condolences to you on the loss of loved ones… saying good bye is very hard. As to the loss of your progressive idealism, I say, “Good riddance. Welcome to a new life of truth, and reality. You’ll become a better human being for it.”
Wow. Holy Shit. What a story you have, and thank you for sharing it because I can't begin to imagine how awful it must be for you to have to witness this evil and have your ideals shattered and soaked in the blood of the innocent. I'm sorry, Ilan, that you had to find out the truth about progressive leftism this way. The most hateful groups in the world march around shouting "Hate has no place!" while supporting acts of hatred. Heart Breaking.
People often forget what things were really like in this country in the run-up to WWII. My grandmother (I am half-Jewish on father's side) could not get work in New York City because she had a Jewish last name. She changed it from Seiden to Sedden and often told us growing up that her boss once found out about it and told her it was okay and that it could be their secret. That story has stuck with me my whole life as I pondered that question - why do people hate the Jews? A boyfriend of mine once asked me, "they must have done SOMETHING..."
In Germany, in the 1930s, Hitler's hatred of the Jews is what made him popular. His speeches were boring unless he brought up hatred against them. But it started long before that. It did not start with Hitler, obviously. Jews were demonized for (supposedly) not fighting in WWI which made them easy to dehumanize, demonize and hate.
I used to be a Democrat and stood on their side, united in hatred against Trump and his supporters. In 2020 a chill ran through me as I watched the bottomless rage spilling from my side aimed at one man and his supporters. So I changed that. I got to know them, to humanize them.
Now, I am shocked to see -- though I guess I should not be shocked -- how easily the new Left has slipped into dehumanization and hatred of Israelis now. They see it as "oppressed" and "oppressors" and in that designation, they believe, all is justified. We should be very afraid of where that is going. The Summer of 2020 is likely just a taste of what they will do if things don't go their way.
There is no possibility of peace with a people who will only accept your death. Growing up as a Jew and learning the history of our people, we think we are just learning “history,” that’s it’s all in the past and the future will be different. For Jews, in every lifetime we are forced to repeat this madness, but the madness is not ours: it belongs to the rest of the world. Anyone who clings to some notion of “fairness” to a people raised on hate is living in a delusion. In the US, we’ve let foreign Arab donations to colleges and intersectionality marginalize our best snd brightest and we’ve let the world paint a false picture. The miseducation of our youth has been planned and executed and we must right that ship. That is a fight in this country that urgently needs to be won. Please join that fight.
A well written account on how an individual’s hope for a better world gets pummeled over time. Thank you. I ask my friends this: how many Jews were there in 1948 in the Arab/Berber/Persian countries surrounding Israel, and how many there are now? Forces a little self reflection with their “Free Palestine” crap. Oh and how many Jews were forced out of Arab countries in 1948 when the state of Israel was formed.
"I thought it must be miseducation."
In a sense, it is. But they haven't just been taught lies; they've also been converted to a violence-promoting ideology. That ideology has only been minimally violent up to now because they have been afraid of going to jail and losing their comfortable lifestyles.
But when they talk about "decolonizing" and shout "eat the rich," those aren't just overblown rhetoric. They actually intend to commit the promised violence when the opportunity comes.
These are scary, scary people.
Tragically, the world still holds Israel to a different scale. I too feel abandoned by my liberal Jewish friends who lectured me about “standing on the right side of history “ when Black Lives Matter became a new Jewish cause although anti Semitic at its core.
Now that BLM proudly supports the monsters of Hamas in Palestine, I will disassociate myself from these so called friends. Our son and daughter in law and five enthusiastic kids left Milwaukee because of anti semitism and now thrive in Jerusalem. They spend everyday doing what they can to help other Israelis who have lost their homes. Your cousin was a champion of mine. May you go from strength to strength. Am Yisroel Chai!
You are a good man Ilan. There is no shame in seeking a more just and peaceful world. I am so very sorry the plight of you and your people was abandoned by those who claimed to stand for those very same ideals. They should be ashamed and you are right to be angry. We stand with you and Israel in your fight for justice, and we grieve the pain and suffering of the innocent in war.
This haunting piece doesn’t need embellishment but it brought Leonard Cohen to mind for me:
Seemed the better way
When first I heard him speak
But now it's much too late
To turn the other cheek
Ayye. It hurts. Thank you for putting it into written word so well. Much gratitude and faith that kindess will not be lost on you in moments beyond this one - and touch deeper than idealism ever could.
Justice for the wicked is mercy for the righteous. May God be merciful to Israel.
Poignant article - really sad situation.. Best wishes to you and your family.
Really thoughtful, very very American Jewish in thinking, and very deluded -- though it's nice that he recovered. The idea of a Palestinian "two state solution" has always been lunacy. West Bank should go to Jordan, Gaza to Egypt. But of courser those countries not only like the status quo because of the grief it causes, but they don't want Palestinians either.
Palestinians have become a death cult. To use a technical term, they are nuts. They raise their kids of intellectual gruel. They don't want a state, they want Israel. Otherwise they would not have trashed the 4 offers of a state -- pre-settlement offers.
War is war. They started it. America and Britain didn't clutch pearls when they bombed Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to ashes. Why should Israel?