Changing course

So far, this blog has-relatively speaking- bleibt sauber as the Germans might say.

I have posted some poetry, that captures those moments where I sense the profound, and spilled some of my thoughts.

But I have not touched upon that issue that brings out the most of my vital juices, both my pain and my wrath, schadenfreude and shortsighted passion.
That "thing" is politics. Furthermore, no political issue troubles me more than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The dilemma I face seems rather clear-cut. I am a Jew by birth and faith and am nevertheless skeptical of the Jewish state (Israel).

By skeptical, I don't just mean that I am an anti-occupation peacenik. Rather I mean that I sincerely doubt the wisdom or viability of maintaining a Jewish ethnic state whose existence as such has depended from the start on population transfer and militarization.

This doesn't mean that I am opposed to Zionism, per say, nor that I support a single binational state in the Holy Land. I understand (and cherish) Judaism's attachment to Eretz Yisrael as a religion and consider that distinct from the national claim to the land made by the modern state of Israel.

Unfortunately, the naysayers never care for niceties. Jews whose express far milder criticisms, even those confined to mere policy, receive a shrill outburst our community's pro-Zionist establishment. (e.g. the American Jewish Committee and the Anti-Defamation League)

With that said, I am coming forward with my opinions for the first time ever on paper. I look forward, for my sake and others, to raising inquiries and fostering debates.