With all of this, remarkably, Israel continues to insist it speaks for the Jewish population of the world. That's a smaller number than you think. There are approximately 6 million Jews in Israel, 5 million in the United States and about 2 million in the rest of the world. When we say we're a minority, we mean small. But that doesn't mean we all agree.
The original premise of this piece was the question: "Who am I? Let's change that to: Who are "we" -- because there are millions of us who do agree. We are the same group who have not only had it with Israel's policy of endless war, we also cannot abide its right wing, paranoid leadership.
So who are "we"? We are the Jews who Israel does not represent. We are progressives, obviously. We are supporters of peace movements, determined to convert America's (and Israel's) permanent war economies into green and consumer economies. We are supporters of enhancing the social programs for which our taxes pay, and we are champions of our Constitution which is in severe danger of being ravaged by our own right wing Supreme Court. We, the Jews Israel does not represent, are believers that our borders should be open to oppressed people everywhere, including the 25,000 children being deported to their Central American countries where they face violence, despair, and very possibly death. President Obama dismissed them by saying "some kids have it tougher than others." A president that cavalier doesn't speak for us either.
Since Israel proceeded with this genocide against the people of Gaza, I know who I am. I am a person who finally, sadly, recognizes the experiment of Israel as a failure and can no longer support it as a Jewish state or as a democracy. Because of this exercise in genocide the legacy of the 6 million Jews who died in Nazi concentration camps has been mocked. Their deaths have taught us nothing. Those who have been victims of genocide should be enemies of it -- not promoters of it. So to the 6 million plus Jews who live in Israel we say, if you really want to represent all 13 million of us, we urge you to stop using your vote to re-elect hawks fueled by hate like Netanyahu & sadistic agents of death like your Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman. You and only you can get rid of them. For the sake of your children, the children of Gaza, for the sake of all 13 million of us -- for simple human decency, vote your masters-of-war out of office.
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