tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post7853225029822016124..comments2024-03-17T17:22:49.862+02:00Comments on A Soldier's Mother: For Brooke...Welcome AlwaysA Soldier's Motherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11370218893899121159noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-10293588983551205872010-11-18T23:02:34.648+02:002010-11-18T23:02:34.648+02:00Jan and Brook. . .
How wonderful to read of your...Jan and Brook. . . <br /><br />How wonderful to read of your efforts to reach out, appreciate and understand each others beliefs.<br /><br />Just a few days ago, via Facebook, I had the opportunity to reach out and respond to Ifrah Jan, Current City: Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, Religious, Views: ...Muslim by name... <br /><br />Below is a bit of what I tried to convey to Ifrah Jan. <br /><br />"Gene Rossano Your absolutely right Ifrah. Unfortunately, we all start out with a view of one side of the coin. Neither our politicians nor yours help in this area. Keep in mind that the singular driving force and purpose of any and all politicians is to... get re-elected. This means that we get what the politicians want us to know until if and when we develop independent informational sources.<br /><br />I am reaching out to, reading about and speaking with people of different cultures and by utilizing other means, such as Facebook and twitter I am trying to develop a better understanding and appreciation of all peoples of our world and the beliefs that they hold dear."<br /><br />Jan and Brook,we are now serving the function of "peaceful activists". Let's hope that through our efforts to reach out that we are able to influence our fellow citizens of our world and our respective leaders to the end of peaceful accommodation for all.<br /><br />I post a bit on Facebook. I encourage all of my relatives, friends and fellow American’s to “Speak Up America”. I guess that I need to expand this thought to “Speak Up Citizens Of Our World”.<br /><br />Much good luck to you, Jan and Brook. <br /><br />GeneGenehttp://www.bestdrycleanersfl.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-86994741034406674792010-11-17T09:46:30.702+02:002010-11-17T09:46:30.702+02:00Just another person who wants to commend you on th...Just another person who wants to commend you on this post. I sat here reading this, whilst nodding my head in agreement the whole time. <br />It is sad, but Golda Meir's saying still stands that there will only be peace when the Palestinians start loving their children more than they hate us.<br />And another one I must quote: If the Palestinians would lay down there arms, there would be peace. If the Arabs were to lay down their arms there would be no more war,but if Israel were to lay down its arms there would be no more Israel.Naschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11626329611709684940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-17507036020133804472010-11-15T21:30:20.290+02:002010-11-15T21:30:20.290+02:00Paula,
I am what Brooke might call a Christian Zi...Paula,<br /><br />I am what Brooke might call a Christian Zionist. I remember, as a (small) child, watching the Six Day War on the TV news with my father. I remember asking him how the small nation of Israel could possibly win a war which was so one-sided. I remember him saying it was because they were fighting for their homeland. It might have been an overly-simplified answer to a little boy (given the complexities of the Middle East and what led up to the war), but it was also true. <br /><br />In my life, I have seen Israel take dozens of diplomatic steps to build a lasting peace. Each time it is the Palestinian (using Brooke's terminology) side which violates the peace. I have seen Israel do some things which I didn't agree with (just like I've seen the US government do things I didn't agree with), but I have not seen any wanton behavior by the IDF. I have seen Israel produce numerous medical, technological and cultural advances in the last 60 years. I have seen the "Palestinian side" increase the hatred and the culture of death.<br />I have read the Hamas Charter which says "Israel will rise and will remain erect until Islam eliminates it as it had eliminated its predecessors." I don't see the anti-Islamic rhetoric in Israeli documents. <br /><br />In short, as a Christian who loves life, liberty and justice, I cannot support the "Palestinian" perspective of the Middle East. I am often reminded of the old truism, "If the Palestinians put down their weapons, tomorrow there would be peace. If the Jews put down their weapons, tomorrow there would be no Israel".<br /><br />Shalom,<br />JoeProphetJoehttp://americanapologist.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-12915084162488397762010-11-15T19:37:39.707+02:002010-11-15T19:37:39.707+02:00Another Soldier's Mother's comment crystal...Another Soldier's Mother's comment crystalizes for me the idea that the mainstream media are constantly looking for dramatic stories to further sensationalize, in order to get their versions of the events in the Middle East out for general public consumption, rather than producing a real "slice-of'life" example of what events actually occur daily.Brenda Mommynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-48853553509489340222010-11-15T02:30:58.671+02:002010-11-15T02:30:58.671+02:00Maybe Brooke would like to hear about some of my s...Maybe Brooke would like to hear about some of my son's experiences as an IDF combat soldier posted in the West Bank.<br /><br />A Palestinian man who had a farm near my son's surveillance tower invited the small group of soldiers to drop in for coffee anytime. My son said it wasn't unusual for Palestinian mothers to point out the soldiers to their little children who would smile and wave. While working at a couple of West Bank checkpoints during the Gaza conflict (where it was pretty quiet with a visible lack of sympathy for Gaza in what a few years before had been a Hamas stronghold), my son had a nice chat with a Palestinian man going through the VIP line--they were both graduates of the same American college and they parted with a handshake. He shared a good laugh with a young Palestinian construction worker who regularly went through the checkpoint on his way to work and one day showed up with his passport. It seemed his ID card had not survived the washing machine. My son told him that meant he had to get his mother to do his laundry from now on. My son also tells a hilarious story about a man in a truck trying to get through the faster medical line by saying he had a pregnant woman in the back. When my son looked, he found it was full of all the man's goats and yep, one was about to give birth! But the man was allowed through quickly anyway because goats are expensive.<br /><br />He also told me about the compassion he had for the family who came to the checkpoint late at night when it was closed to vehicles. They made an exception so the father, who was having heart problems, could get to the hospital as quickly as possible and not have to go a checkpoint farther away.<br /><br />And on a really sad note, he told me about a young woman who came to the checkpoint claiming to have a bomb. Her father had given her the choice to be honor-killed or to blow herself up at checkpoint where she would also have killed some IDF soldiers (not to mention innocent Palestinians waiting in line). She said she instead left the bomb in her bedroom and came to the checkpoint hoping to be arrested and put in an Israeli prison where she would be safe. It doesn't always end this way.<br /><br />There is a world of people out there, away from the activists and media, who are trying their best to live their lives in peace. I wish we could find a way to give them the support they deserve so that peaceful relationships could spread across the land for all time. I hope that my son and his fellow soldiers have played a small part in trying to make this happen.<br /><br />Paula, I hope you will put your wonderful response to Brooke in your favorites list. All the best -BAnother Soldier's Mothernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-80888159099107776732010-11-15T01:23:50.809+02:002010-11-15T01:23:50.809+02:00AMEN!AMEN!mamma-miahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08729824238376621170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-3231966111984116172010-11-14T22:13:32.087+02:002010-11-14T22:13:32.087+02:00Thanks, Jan. I can't believe how long it got -...Thanks, Jan. I can't believe how long it got - thanks for having the patience to read it!<br /><br />PaulaA Soldier's Motherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11370218893899121159noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4386256495088401444.post-39509886023490733692010-11-14T01:43:29.190+02:002010-11-14T01:43:29.190+02:00Now that was an excellent post! But then, all of ...Now that was an excellent post! But then, all of your writing gets right to the heart of the matter. It is good that Brooke reached out to you, and your comments to her were right on target. She saw the love you have for Israel, the love you have for your precious sons and their friends who keep Israel safe. You are right, Israel is a beautiful and holy land, and thanks to you, a person like Brooke has been enlightened, and maybe she will convince her Palestinian friends to see Israel with new eyes. God Bless you and your family, Janjanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16614592874778093878noreply@blogger.com