Dear Peter,
After hearing how another once popular entertainer all of a sudden cares about the people of Gaza, I am to be quite honest, somewhat exhausted. It seems to be the same nonsense time after time. Don’t get me wrong. I respect anyone who genuinely cares about the well-being of others. The problem with your sudden expression of compassion for the Palestinian people is that it seems to be anything but genuine.
You see Peter, the problem lies with the very words you use to express this heartfelt concern. Let me first give you a brief background both of my own personal philosophy and of what is really happening on the ground. My philosophy, when it comes to writing one of these letters, and you can look it up and verify it if you wish, is that I write them primarily based on the words one utters. In some instances I will address someone’s silence, but that is only when that silence indeed speaks volumes. When someone expresses an opinion to me that someone is on what I consider to be the wrong side of the fence, I look for evidence to back it up. Nothing provides better evidence than the words one speaks. In your case the words are very clear. But I will get back to that in a moment. The second thing I wish to address are the real circumstances surrounding the issue you’ve chosen to make your latest cause. The reason your concern reeks of being so disingenuous is because as far as I can tell by research I’ve done, you’ve been so quiet till now, not just about the plight of the Palestinians, but about the plight of the Jewish people as well. I know you have been an activist, so this is not your first venture into this arena, but I can’t seem to find where you spoke up against the actions of terrorists blowing up entire families in Pizza places in Jerusalem.
Now to those words of yours that motivated me to write this letter.
“I am certain that Israelis and Palestinians will both benefit from a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.”
Are you really certain of this Peter? On what exactly do you base this certainty? Is it the desire Palestinian leadership has shown to work with the Israeli government? Maybe it’s the terror tunnels Hamas built with money provided for humanitarian assistance that convinced you of this. Or was it recently when a Palestinian terrorist, or as you might call him a freedom fighter drove his car into a crowd of Israelis killing a 3 month old baby. If Palestinian leadership would show one iota of willingness to be a partner in peace I would accept the possibility, but under the current conditions to state that you can be certain of the benefit to Israelis is stupid nonsense coming from a man who has never been called stupid by anyone. I’m sure you know better.
You went on to say, “We have watched Palestinians suffer for too long, especially in Gaza.” Is that so? If that’s the case why have you been quiet till now? If that’s the case why have you not said anything about the misappropriation of funds by Hamas, the corruption of leadership, and most of all the starting of wars by the very leaders claiming to protect the Palestinian people. The same leaders who proudly declare their young men to be future suicidal terrorists. Do you have nothing to say about that? Or is that just not the popular statement of the day?
You end your words of compassion with this grand finale. “I am not, and never was, anti-Israeli or anti-Semitic, but I oppose the policy of the Israeli government, oppose injustice and oppose the occupation… I am proud to be one of the voices asking the Israeli government: ‘Where is the two-state solution that you wanted so much?’ and clearly say that enough is enough.”
I could write 2 pages on those words alone, but since I believe the problems in this statement are relatively obvious, I’ll do it in one paragraph instead. Let’s be honest Peter, someone feeling the need to say they are not anti-Semitic while making these comments is not unlike a known liar leading with the question, “may I be honest with you?”. The need to make the point shows where one of the core problems lies. If Jewish blood mattered to you the rest of the statement would have been very different. You oppose injustice? Is it just to constantly send a barrage of missiles into population centers? Is it just to kill a 4-year-old boy while he plays in his house? Is it just to use your civilian populations as human shields? Why didn’t you speak up about any of this? I’m also curious as to what you actually call “occupation”. There was no military presence in Gaza till Israel discovered tunnels designed to commit acts of terror against innocent Israelis. Tunnels built from money given to Gaza to help the very people you now seem to care about so much.
You’re right Peter. Enough is enough. We’ve all had enough of seemingly intelligent people all of a sudden becoming stupid when it involves being fair to Israel. We’ve all had enough of terrorists being legitimized by people who claim to care about the future of the human race. And we’ve all had enough of entertainers using the platform given to them by their fans for the popular cause as opposed the correct one. Yes indeed, enough is enough.
I base this letter on your words. You, the musician who once used his talented use of language for lyrics, is now using language to promote the very injustice you claim to fight against. We’ve heard it all before, and quite frankly, I am sure you know better. That is what makes it so egregious. Then again, with how people seem to be today, I doubt even the monkey is shocked.
Sincerely,
David Groen
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