Posted on 12/05/2003 2:18:21 PM PST by First_Salute
To the editors:
Faisal Chaudhry writes of the American and Israeli desire to "reconstruct the ideological framework" of the Middle East situation, while creatively framing the same article with a conversion into a "white" vs. "brown" struggle (Op-Ed, "An Ideology of Oppression," April 11). At one point, Chaudhry even compares the situation to apartheid. This is a distortion of the fact that most Israelis and Palestinians are indistinguishable physically.
The Israeli government itself is comprised of a great number Sephardic Jews, many of whom originate from Arab countries. The chief of staff of the army, the minister of defense (who is the new leader of the labor party), the minister of finance and the president of Israel are all "brown." One might have an idea of the physical likeness between Arabs and Israelis by examining this week's Newsweek cover on which an 18-year-old female Palestinian suicide bomber and her 17-year-old female Israeli victim could pass for twins.
Israelis and Arabs are historically cousins. Until we accept the fact that we are constituents of the same family, we will blunder in believing that a loss for one "side" --- or, as Chaudhry names it, a "color" --- is not a loss for all human kind.
Outrageous and untrue finger-pointing is a childish tactic that disregards the responsibility of all parties involved, including Europe, the Arab nations and the United States, along with Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
We must be ashamed of every act of violence and mourn every child as if they were our own. I pray for the safety of all those in the region and hope that we may someday use our unique human assets of language and empathy rather than military technology or propaganda to resolve this conflict.
Natalie Portman , '03
April 12, 2002
Voobah... Voobah... Voobah...
DING!
NOAH!
What!? Who is that?
Voobah... Voobah... Voobah...
DING!
NOAH!
What!?
2. Ms. Portman made a rather large error in calling all Middle-Eastern Jews "Sephardic." Only those Jews whose families were expelled from souther France, Spain, or Portugal are Sephardi. The Mizrachim of the region, who lived in Diasporas since the 7th century BCE do not like living in the shadow of more recent immigrants.
In Israel, they have I.D. cards which state your nationality (or Race), like "Jewish" or "Arab". But unlike members of any other race, Jews, regardless of what nation they reside in, are eligible for citizenship in Israel. Thus, an Italian Jew or an American Jew may have dual citizenship.
All true, but irrelevent to my point that Ms. Portman confused two different heritages.
All major Jewish groups share a religion and quite a bit of history and genes. However, we have different histories.
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