TTT received the following note from a 22- year-old young adult living in Germany. He says he is a liberal Jew who doesn't practice the religion. What do you think about his opinions? How would you respond to Trajk? ---- With interest I have been reading Jonathan's article. Still, there are several points where I disagree with him.
Firstly, as a German citizen I am very sad about what has happenend during WW2 and what has been done to the Jews and often although I am only 22 I am ashamed about this. Still, what makes me sick is the fact that the former victims have not learned a lot from these times. It seems that the Jews as former victims have done the same terrible things to the Palestinians such as creating the West Bank and Gaza - for me nothing else than larger concentration camps. There are millions of Palestinian refugees who have lost everything...their home and their land and live in terrible conditions for many decades now - fences, mines, security forces, nobody can get in or out - maybe for work if lucky. Many have been killed. Palestinians have been treated like second class citizens for decades now...
And today in a peace agreement eventually coming soon, Israelis will probably get 80% of former Palestine and the the Palestinians get 20%. In addition, Israel has built so many little villages for Jews on occupied territory that it provides a huge problem now. The settlers there obviously do not understand that they live on occupied territory and not in Israel.
That with the less security...I have to remind you that Israel only has nuclear weapons...and if Arabs were to use chemical weapons and biological weapons, buffer zones like the Westbank and Gaza or Golan would not help at all.
Without peace now, Israel will not develop as well in the future economically and politically...economic opportunities would be missed for the entire region regarding trade and tourism and so on...also Israel will always only have Arab countries around...it would be smart to go on making peace with the remaining ones.
On the Jerusalem question...looking at international law only West Jerusalem is Israel...East Jerusalem is Palestinian...the fact that Israel has build settlements in East Jerusalem does not make East Jerusalem Israel...to annex territory is always illegal and void under international law. Israel has to accept that it will have to give most of East Jerusalem back to Palestinians and that it has to accept international law. At least I was always told that the annexation of some east European neighbors by Germany was bad...so why should it be different in the case of Israel?
Another point....so often it is said that Palestinians are terrorists...how can people be called terrorists when they only try to defend themselves? I think that description is a very poor excuse.
Maybe try thinking about your hardline way towards the Palestinians...today you might not think that in the future Israelis and Palestinians are friendly neighbors...but look at Germany...today I am proud of the fact that Germany is Europe's top economic power and biggest democracy doing the most for European integration and peace. We are not less democratic than any other western state. I am convinced that the Palestinians should get a chance as well - but a fair one.
After all - failure of the peace process would not mean disaster for Palestinians only, but also for Israelis.
Thanks.
Tjark Wilke
Write to Tjark
Tjark was responding to the article below
Israel is the ideal place nowadays to grow up - and live. Allow me to explain the reasons. In just 50 years Israel has become a developed, industrialized country - something that took America and the rest of the Western world hundreds and even thousands of years to do. Imagine yourself growing up in a place historically important; your house could be atop a yet- to-be-discovered lost civilization or something of the like.
Next, Israelis have a bit of a European side to them and they make good partyers, and party Israelis do, and do, and do. You're not convinced? Visit Tel Aviv's Dizengoff or Jerusalem's Ben-Yehuda or Eilat after dark.
Israelis are bright people, and most Israelis are immigrants back to the land from which they came. Israelis speak an ancient Semitic language that not long ago was on the verge of extinction - modern Hebrew.
To be an Israeli teen means a life of learning, Mango phones or cellular phones, television, European MTV, and tiyullim. However, Israeli teens also face a constant threat of violence and could at any moment could be involved in a clash. To be an Israeli teen means to be a chayal, a soldier, fighting and defending Israel's borders and the country's right to exist.
Even though Tzahal or the Israeli Army is mandatory, many teens are proud to join because they know it is their country they will be fighting for. It's a real tragedy, however, when you hear of the latest army news from Israel - more soldiers dead or wounded in combat.
Israel has a good infrastructure (good news), and transportation system, but teens have to wait until they are 17 to get a license. It sounds like a good idea, despite the high age, because teens, while inexperienced drivers, tend to be involved in the majority of car collisions.
On the bright side, Israelis could vote at 18, and join a gym at 14 with parental permission. Every Israeli teen is also required to do community service after school hours. Boring, you say? Not if it means working as an Emergency Medical Technician.
Stuck with going to a day camp? In Israel one can travel a few kilometers (or miles) and end up in a new and different land and climate region, making for a unique day trip.
Diet a problem? Not if people from most countries of the world have immigrated to Israel, and brought along their cuisine.
Just bored? Israel has more museums in a given amount of area than anywhere else in the world. Learn something new at an Israeli museum; it just might fascinate you.
Come on over. What's holding you back? Israel's Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu even encourages youth to make aliyah, so what's the problem? Truth is, your ignorance of Israel is.
Anyone can move to Israel. If you're Jewish (son/daughter of Jewish mother, or halachically converted), you can become a citizen the moment you arrive in the country. You may not believe me, but now when you make aliyah you are guaranteed a free one-way flight, and financial help from the government of Israel.
What other country encourages people to move, and helps them do it? None but Israel. Israel's technique of absorbing immigrants and teaching them a language - modern Hebrew - through services like Ulpan, goes unmatched anywhere else. So much so that delegates from around the world have gone to Israel for advice. Besides, what other country is willing to do mass immigration risking both infestations from new disease and economic losses. Again, none but Israel. I hope you now understand why so many of us teens hold so tight a connection with the land that has been promised to us all - the land of Milk and Honey.
Write to Jonathan
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