I spoke with an American Rabbi the other day who flatly denied that al Nakba, the expulsion of the Palestinians during the formation of Israel in 1948, ever happened. I was shocked. It was like a holocaust denier but in reverse.
As the conversation went on he slyly admitted that “maybe there were only a small number of people living there”. He’s convinced that the land grab is justified because it’s only a few people who were displaced. I asked him if the “small number” of Israelis murdered on October 7th is justified…
It’s amazing how our brains are so biased towards selective information and selective history. He was obviously an intelligent man, but he simply couldn’t admit the well known history.
I realize now that all of us have this potential to be bewildered if our bodily identities are threatened. It’s not unique to Israelis or Palestinians or anyone else. It’s a universally human tendency. That’s my belief.
Anyway, I love all of my brothers and sisters no matter their ethnicity or religion.
You see how american media coverage of the current genocide and imagine if there is no internet where press in gaza can send images and live footages. It is super easy to skew reality with the same news over and over again.
Just notice how every speach in the media start with “October 7” to justify the genocide. Ignoring the fact that 2million people has been inside a wall with no right to travel or access to water for many years now…
“I was always puzzled by the fact that people have a great deal of trouble and pain when and if they are forced or feel forced to change a belief or circumstance which they hold dear. I found what I believe is the answer when I read that a Canadian neurosurgeon discovered some truths about the human mind which revealed the intensity of this problem. He conducted some experiments which proved that when a person is forced to change a basic belief or viewpoint, the brain undergoes a series of nervous sensations equivalent to the most agonizing torture.”
I saved this quote years ago, I don’t remember the source, but your post reminded me of it.
I spoke with an American Rabbi the other day who flatly denied that al Nakba, the expulsion of the Palestinians during the formation of Israel in 1948, ever happened. I was shocked. It was like a holocaust denier but in reverse.
As the conversation went on he slyly admitted that “maybe there were only a small number of people living there”. He’s convinced that the land grab is justified because it’s only a few people who were displaced. I asked him if the “small number” of Israelis murdered on October 7th is justified…
It’s amazing how our brains are so biased towards selective information and selective history. He was obviously an intelligent man, but he simply couldn’t admit the well known history.
I realize now that all of us have this potential to be bewildered if our bodily identities are threatened. It’s not unique to Israelis or Palestinians or anyone else. It’s a universally human tendency. That’s my belief.
Anyway, I love all of my brothers and sisters no matter their ethnicity or religion.
You see how american media coverage of the current genocide and imagine if there is no internet where press in gaza can send images and live footages. It is super easy to skew reality with the same news over and over again.
Just notice how every speach in the media start with “October 7” to justify the genocide. Ignoring the fact that 2million people has been inside a wall with no right to travel or access to water for many years now…
“I was always puzzled by the fact that people have a great deal of trouble and pain when and if they are forced or feel forced to change a belief or circumstance which they hold dear. I found what I believe is the answer when I read that a Canadian neurosurgeon discovered some truths about the human mind which revealed the intensity of this problem. He conducted some experiments which proved that when a person is forced to change a basic belief or viewpoint, the brain undergoes a series of nervous sensations equivalent to the most agonizing torture.”
I saved this quote years ago, I don’t remember the source, but your post reminded me of it.
Google tells me it was by Sidney Madwed: https://www.quotes.net/quote/43787
ok now find the Canadian research he was talking about
deleted by creator