Wednesday, June 09, 2010

An Open Letter to the State of Israel

To the State of Israel,

and to the people of Israel who must work to change their country, I write today to fully condemn the actions of Israel and their handling of protestors attempting to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. Let me stop and begin again here with some reasoning for my total condemnation of Israel’s actions as indeed their entire chosen method of interacting with the Palestinian people. Dear Israel, you have become a monster. I feel I completely understand the way Israel behaves and I want to be frank, firm, and direct in addressing what I see that is shameful, wrong and condemnable in Israel and the way it has conducted itself in the world. Dear Israel, for too long, you have modeled your behavior in the mold of your white western benefactors and it is a shameful and disgraceful legacy that casts a gall on the entirety of the state of Israel. You are no John Wayne. For too long you have treated the Palestinians like Hollywood and the rest of America treated the Native Americans. In the words of Nikki Giovanni, you are not the big bad cowboy, you are the Indian you so disdain….

I feel sad because I feel that Israel has fallen from its exalted state. I feel that you are no longer chosen….God’s people would not act in this way. God is neither an imperialist or a colonizer. You must awaken from this terrible malaise of patriarchy and militarism that you have fallen into and start to live in harmony with the rest of the world, especially the Palestinians. You must also stop trying to remake yourself in the mold of white men…or else you will suffer and learn the same lesson which they have learned and will learn. Live in peace and dignity, not in death and the ruin of all around you.

With Great Sincerity,

Brandon Wallace

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