# 57 – O’Shea and Current War

July 15, 2006

From: John O’Shea [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, July 15, 2006 3:09 AM
To: Stephen Pohlmann
Subject: Israel

Hi Stephen,

I don’t want to take up your time but, the more reports I hear, the more strongly I feel about Israel’s position in the current crisis.

Some years ago, an Indian teacher on our staff stated that Israel was dealing with people who are basically stupid and never has that been more obvious than now.  The simple return of three kidnapped soldiers would put an end to all this bloodshed.  Israel has my full support in this matter.  I’m waiting to see how long this situation is going to last.

Apart from the news, one other thing happened today that prompted me to write.  A shipment of DVD’s arrived this afternoon and includes one of your father’s, namely, Moulin Rouge, which I haven’t seen in some time.

My best regards to your wife and children and my sincere hope that they will not have to live through this for too long.

All the best,

John

Dear John,

Just for those words, John, I’ll put you on my mailing list for ‘Letter from Israel’.

I moved to Israel for reasons of passion. Some liked to say that it was roots and all that. Maybe…

But I still consider myself a fair person, trying so hard to view see both sides, to keep an objective view, not to be blinded by media and emotions.

It was Golda Meir, perhaps stealing from some previous mind, such as Lincoln or King David, who said that IF she hates the Arabs, it’s not for what they do to us, but for what they make us do to them.

I don’t know how Jehovah’s witnesses do it – or maybe they just have not been in the same situations as the Israelis. But, not since the Maccabian times had Jews been known to be fighters. Even during the Nazi times, with the rare exceptions of such uprisings as those in Warsaw and Sobibor (camp), and the few who populated the Jewish Brigade, the Jews were the ones who would rather succumb to violence than defy it – or defeat it.

The Jews have a moral and historical right to a home here. The Palestinians, too – also Armenians, Kurds etc. (The other fights, such as those in the Celtic, Basque, Welsh, Catalan regions, are not quite the same. Recent history has shown that their neighbours are happy to live alongside; I believe those situations have more to do with national pride and tradition).

I often blame the ridiculous way the UN alowed the British and French mandates in this area to be dissolved, drawing borders that were just untenable, and creating countries that really had NO right to exist (such as Jordan, which is a far more logical home to the Palestinians). But no less to blame was the constant refusal of the Arab countries to accept an expansion (some Jews were always here) of a neighbour.

Refugees?

The World is aflow with refugees who have been forced to move by some many reasons, who have been taken in by decent nations, and who have been integrated into the new society. The hosts and the newcomers have worked together to build homes (e.g., UK and my parents).

I read through the comments on the int’l news and realise that there’s little hope for peace when an organization like Hezbollah can get so much support.

And to your comment about the soldiers…The action would more than likely stop if they were returned, but perhaps reluctantly. The Israeli military has unquestionably been watching the Hizbullah build-up of arms since the 2000 departure from southern Lebanon – all under the blind eyes of the Lebanese Govt. and the UN. I’m sure some of them were itching for an excuse to go in and break it up.

We’re OK here. Despite being only 60 km. north of Gaza and 85km. south of Haifa, it’s real quiet here – except for the TV’s and radios.

Moulin Rouge – Nice. All about Toulouse Lautrec. And my father appeared in ‘Lust for Life’, Kirk Douglas’s great portayal of Van Gogh. (My father also had a decent artistic hand – 1 sketch attached. I have a whole PowerPoint of his works, mostly done in the early 60s).

Best to you,

   Stephen