Wishing everyone a lovely Memorial Day weekend. I honor those who have served in our military. I grieve over those who have sacrificed their lives for our cause of freedom and democracy and send deep solace to their families.
I have a lot of family who live in Israel. Their Memorial Day is called Yom HaZikaron. They actually blast a siren during the day where the whole neighborhood goes quiet for a moment. I guess we’ve experienced something like that to commemorate 9/11. But prior to that, I had always felt it unique to Israeli tradition.
Currently, Israel is under fire. It’s like two sides of a coin. On one side, Israel has rightfully gained the right to its existence and wants its civilians to lead prosperous lives, on the other side you have the thousands of refugees who were displaced in 1948 who the surrounding Arab counties wouldn’t take in, and 1948 is commemorated as a horrible time for the Palestinian people.
Israel gave the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians in 2005 to give them the chance to live independently. Instead of building schools and infrastructure, they built tunnels and invested in rockets to destroy Israel, and the Jewish people residing therein.
It is unfortunate that Hamas, a terrorist organization, has a hold on Gaza, and through its might and terror, has a hold on a mass of Palestinian individuals—like the ones who beat up my close friend a few weeks ago.
I haven’t heard of any Jews going to attack Palestinians in America though, have you?
It’s simply not our way. In fact, the video below is exemplary for how Jews live.
This Memorial Day I stand with America, who fights for democracy. And I stand with America’s ally, Israel, who is a beacon of democracy in the Middle East.
Mindful Nuggets 