Reply #72: You decide if I am an anti-semite

[Zodiak]

I grew up in North Texas. I never met a Jewish person until I was in my late 20's when I moved to Manhattan. I am a musician, and played in a band there. It was my band mates who welcomed me in, introduced me to their friends, and basically showed me a great time and a great freindship. Every one of them was Jewish. They told me practically the minute I met them...they were proud of it. I admire that.

They called me "Hank Hill" because of my slight accent and tendency to say "Y'all".

I honestly admitted to them that I knew nothing at all about Judaism save that they do not believe in Jesus and the holocaust and Spanish Inquisition really sucked. They were quite surprised by two things:

1. They had no idea that a person can get through so much life without having any experiences with Jews.
2. That my North Texas upbringing did not train me to be an anti-semite. I simply nad no opinion.

My experiences in New York have shown me that every Jewish person I met there was friendly, caring, and American to the bone. They showed me the differences between Hacidism, Reform, Orthodox, and corrected me on my erroneous assumption that they do not "believe" in Jesus. They made jokes that they would convert me, eventually. They answered in all seriousness every question I had, even correcting some of my ignorance. They showed me tapes of holocaust footage that their parents had...as a pagan, I can only begin to grasp the burden of "never again!". They loved Israel in the same way we love America....they love the land and the people but did not always agree with the government there. Some did, some didn't, and agreement was issue-driven, not ideological.

It is because of all of this experience that I do NOT equate Jews with Israel. Heck, I don't even equate Israelis with their goverment....just as I do not necessarily do that with Americans. My band mates were bandmates foremost...the Jewish thing was just added flavoring, and a new and fun experience for me (I like learning new things...cultures fascinate me).

I do not agree with Israel's attacks. I think it is reckless, a war crime, and detrimental to both US and Israeli interests in the long-term. I do not believe that terrorism is an excuse to slaughter civilians in an act of war. Also, I do not believe that Jews are to blame for this. I blame a failure of US diplomacy, a failure of the presiding government in Israel in keeping a level head, and I blame Hezbollah for providing fodder for the offensive excuses we are hearing daily (6 Israeli civlians killed today).

I do not wish to see Israel expand, nor do I wish to see the territory acquired in 1967 to remain in the hands of Israel. I do not see that as a way to peace. That is my opinion.

So judge me. You know how I feel, now, and you know my history. Am I a left anti-semite?