By HANNAH BROWN
I want to address the elephant on Salt Spring Island: land ownership in Israel, genocide in Gaza, cries for intifada and revolution on Salt Spring Island.
In the Koran, do you ever see a reference to Palestine? Not one reference. Do you see references to Israel in the Christian New Testament? Oh yes, it’s set in Israel. Do you read references to Arabs there? Once, in the case of an Arabian man; the rest talks about Jews, Christians and Romans. What about the Hebrew Bible? Is it filled with references to Israel and Judea (modern day West Bank). Yes, and to Gaza, which was called by its Hebrew name Azza, which was a well-established city that had abundant commercial dealings with Egypt. In later years and up until 1967, Egypt was the administrator of Gaza and Jordan “ruled” the West Bank. Many Biblical stories are known by most of you about the Jews in Israel . . . I refer to the Sarah and Abraham story, Joseph and his coat of many colours, Joseph who saved Egypt from the seven years of drought, Moses and the Hebrews in the desert after escaping from slavery in Egypt . . . and on and on.
Where did Muhammad have his revelation about Islam? On Mount Hira in Saudi Arabia. Other important countries mentioned in the Koran are Iraq, Madina (Saudi Arabia), Yemen, Jordan and once Jerusalem, when Muhammad was taken there on his Night Journey to the Jewish temple where Muslims believe he met with Abraham, Jesus, Moses, etc. and led them in prayer.
On Oct. 7, 2023, five Palestinian terrorist groups joined Hamas and entered Israel in the very early hours of the morning, killing many people in their beds, beheading others, raping and killing young people at a music concert, and pillaging and burning people alive in their homes in kibbutzim built near the Gaza border. The kibbutzim were built there with the intent of helping Palestinians and furthering the cause of peace. Kibbutz Be’eri was constantly organizing peace conferences and daily taking Palestinians to Israeli doctors and hospitals. Vivian Silver, a well-known peace activist, was burnt alive in her home. Members of this kibbutz continually arranged jobs in Israel for thousands of men who came in daily to work in construction, farming, etc.
Hamas started this war with 30,000 in their army. If they were not lying to us, then how many of the “civilians” in Gaza have really been killed? Are the Israelis really killing civilians and letting these “lovely peaceful” terrorists live? Over two million people are still living in Gaza. This is not a “genocide.”
And yes, we all feel badly for the children. For some of you it’s the children in Gaza and for some of us it’s the children in Gaza and in Israel where 160,000 have been displaced because of danger and daily rocketing. I teach English to wonderful Arab and Jewish high school students in my Zoom room every week. Ask me for their stories next time we meet up. Ask me about these teenagers running with their iPads in the middle of our class . . . running to a bomb shelter. Several thousand rockets have come into Israel since last October.
Israel has the capability of wiping out Gaza. Instead, young Israeli men and women, Bedouin, Druze, Jewish, Christian soldiers are dying in Gaza in hand combat, often in the booby-trapped tunnels as they search for the hostages and for weapons that are stored in hospitals, schools, homes. Entrances to tunnels are under carpets in many homes.
“Intifada, and we are the revolution!” was continuously screamed in Ganges at the Pride Parade on July 27. We all know the horror of an intifada. I would like to know why people were not asking this crowd to stop screaming this horror. Why did they just walk on by? Why did only a dozen of you give me support with a thumbs up or by standing with me? Why was this group allowed to lead the Pride Parade — a parade that is meant for celebration of the legality and legitimacy of gay love?
The Syrian government gassed many of her people and millions have left the country as refugees. The lovely Syrian families we hosted on Salt Spring Island never got to see people with signs in Ganges protesting the Syrian government.
Darfur has women being raped and killed each day and children dying of starvation, but not one peep about this on Salt Spring. Why not? What is the missing link? I submit to you that the missing link is the Jewish connection, for all of the reasons that have always been and I’m sorry to say exist today. I am even sorrier to say they exist on my island.
The difference today is that a large number of us who are Jews know that if we keep silent it won’t go away. We have learned our lessons. Many on this island are saying, in a negative way, that we are “Zionists.” You can be sure we are! We have a right to a country that is ours . . . the same as Canadians, Mexicans, Irish, Brits, etc. have a “mother” country to call their own. Millions of Jews would not have been murdered in Europe before and during the Second World War if Israel had existed.