I remember when I was little, one time we were watching the Miss Universe beauty pageant on TV. That year, Miss Venezuela was very popular among the local press, though she didn't win. The Miss Universe winner of that year was Miss Israel. I distinctly remember this odd question in my head: Why does the Miss Israel look so white when she's from the Middle East. (In my little head, I see people from Middle East as chocolate-brown. It's nothing racist about it; it's just a child's world view to see different nationalities.) Well, at least back then, even though I was so young, I knew the map and remember where Israel is. No one seems to be able to tell me the answer; not even my teacher. But then, no one seems to care. It's Israel and the Middle East, and it's so far away. Who in Asia cares, really?
That question has never had any immediate concerns to me, and it never bothers me much. It wasn't until I move to America that my curiosity starts to tickle me again. As I become more aware of politics, I start to wonder why America is so closely aligned with Israel. And though Jews seem to control quite some wealth and upper echelon in society, they always seem to be a love-hate feelings among some parts of public. I thought, there must be more to its history that would explain it.
Quite recently, my son has reached the development stage when he's into everything that's World War II related. He reads everything about the numerous battles, weaponry, generals, countries involved and their history, how the War came about and its ramifications, and so on. I start reading some of the books with him. That's when I start reading up on more history books about the birth of Israel after World War II, and more. Even though I knew about Hitler's hatred of the Jews, an easy scapegoat for everything ill before his rise to power, and I knew about the Holocast, I have not realized the huge burden of the weight of these history has that carries into the modern day.
I don't pretend to fully understand everything still. The learning is still a work-in-progress afterall. Sometimes, looking at the on-again-off-again peace process in the Middle East, and all the entanglement that comes with it, it's almost like a hopeless cause. I'm sure, in every nation, public opinion runs the full spectrum, from the peace activists to the war-mongers. As I read the news today, about the uproar resulting from an Arab justice on the Israel Supreme Court not participating in the singing of its national anthem, it prompts me to jog down this inconsequential thoughts of mine, about this young nation and all the baggage that it carries.
I don't think it'll ever heal. For a nation that seems to be forever at war with its belligerent neighbors, how could it not? What amazes me still, is the determination and discipline of its people in general. The only other peoples with that kind of determination and disciplines that I can think of, are Germans, Brits, and Japanese. Nobody comes close; not even the Americans or Chinese.
The only thing that continues to amaze me, is how traditions continue to bind Israel and its people. How else could explain a people that refuse to forget its identity through millennia? It's truly remarkable. Although I'm not a very religious person, perhaps there's truth in it, when they believe that they are the chosen people.
So then, when it comes to this news story, it strikes me as odd, of how people want to be inclusive of the Arabs into its nation. As the article rightly points out, the democracy in Israel is paper-thin. Even though I understand full well, that for Israel to survive as a nation (physically), it has to become more inclusive of the Arabs, and to treat Israel like a nationality. But it's odd to me, as an outsider, looking at all its history, to see Israel trying to treat itself as a nationality since it's more like a race to me. In a way, it's not unlike the Japanese, trying to maintain its "pure blood" and to maintain Japan not only as a nationality, but also as a race. Well, we all know how Japan is going down now, with its aging population and declining power as a nation. Will Israel, the chosen one, go down that same path? Will God treat Israel any differently?
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