A Need to Explain

Paula R. Stern
A Soldier's Mother
20 June '10

Sometimes, as I stare at a blank screen and know I want to write something, I hold back. It's easier to hold back here on this blog than other places because here I am only to write about my sons, about being a mother of a soldier, of several soldiers, here in Israel. That's my agreement, isn't it? Why you come back here? Why you find this place and read it?

But I don't want to write of my sons right now. I want to write of my anger, my confusion, my concerns, and perhaps above all else, my inability to understand the simple formula that runs this world. It is no longer politically correct to hate Jews. At least that much we have accomplished since Hitler rules the hearts and minds of Germany and in so doing, led our people to the brink of disaster and the world into the valleys of war.

Today, those same people who once hated the Jews, understand they cannot go around with the same old lies. They don't work. And so, born of the old hatred, there is a new one. They hate Israel. Israel is, suddenly, all things evil. More evil than Iran, more sinister than Syria. More violent than Sudan, Sri Lanka. More tyrannical than the Russians. We are most likely the single most hated nation in the world. It would be humorous, given our size, if it were not so sick. More, it likely borders on insanity when given how many times we have sent our sons and daughters to foreign shores to help others. Haiti, Kenya, Turkey, Indonesia. We did not question the religions or nationalities of those who needed our help. Nor, sadly, did we question their humanity.

We flew to Turkey - as with other places, the first to arrive. We risked our lives to save theirs. We donated while their rich Arab brethren sat on their hands and counted their obscene oil dollars. We were there to pull them from the rubble. Perhaps it is we that are insane.

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