Great Power leads, inexorably, to decline.

I finished reading "Tablets Shattered: The End of an American Jewish Century and the Future of Jewish Life" by Joshua Leifer. The author traces the decline of Jewish culture in America.

I wanted to read this book to learn more about this and, perhaps, gain greater understanding of the Israeli occupation and continual killing and destruction in Gaza. If the subject interests you, I highly recommend reading this book.

As I've read, I realized what I consider to be some distinct parallels between what is happening to the Palestinian people in the West Bank, and what is happening in the United States. Here are my thoughts. And, before reading any further, I don't claim to be a historian or a philosopher. I'm just someone concerned about ongoing political instability in the Middle East, especially concerning the treatment of Palestinians by Israel, and the rise of anti-democratic governing principles in the United States, all in the name of so-called morality, which, I believe, is leading to the swift decline of freedom and choice, both in Israel and the US, and brainwashing people to believe this is a good thing, all in the name of God, based on fear, not fact.

There seems to be this myth perpetuated by most people, that the land in what is now called the Holy Land, belongs exclusively to the Jewish people. Conveniently, historically, other people living in the land, from Biblical times onward are just an inconvenience to be endured, shoved around and controlled. Many of these people, millions, are now refugees in their own land, especially so subsequent to the establishment of Israel in 1948. At that time, land that often had been in a family's possession for many generations was then taken over and occupied by Israel.

I am not without sympathy for the establishment of a Jewish homeland. Every people should have a place to belong, somewhere to thrive. Somewhere to feel safe. But what bothers me is that this takeover and occupation has continued to spread way beyond the initial territory allotted to Israel at the time of its creation, due in part to territory claimed as the spoils of war, and territory later occupied as a result of deliberate Israeli expansion.

The same expansion unfolded in America, dating back to the establishment of the colonies. Colonists took over territory occupied by Indigenous people. What they couldn't take by entreaty, they eventually took by force. This became more aggressively perpetuated in the mid 1800s when "manifest destiny" became the accepted mantra of Christians wanting to expand US territory westward. Indigenous people were pushed off the land they had lived on, and were rounded up and placed on Reservations, often the most inhospitable land, all in the name of white folks desire for expansion. And so as to justify this, and make it more palatable, it was said to be God's will. This deprivation was further compounded by white folks forcing Indigenous children into boarding schools where they had to dress as white folks dress, and not speak their own language and learn white ways and cultural norms, including Christianity as a religion, while all along, white folks called this evangelism. Not only that, but the US government went to war to claim territory from other countries who had previously laid claim to it.

The result of this displacement, both in Gaza and the United States, has similar outcomes. In Gaza, Israel, as occupiers have forced the Palestinian people from their land and displaced them, not once, but several times, the latest being the ongoing conflict beginning in October 2023. In response to the actions of a terrorist group, I believe Israel, has seized upon the opportunity to literally kill thousands and destroy the infra structure of Palestinian towns and villages in the West Bank. This goes way beyond rooting out terrorists. It seems to me to be vengeful beyond all reason, denying Palestinians access to basic food, water, shelter and medical care, not to mention setting Palestinian society back for generations. I seriously doubt Israel has any intention of rebuilding what they have destroyed, unless it is to rebuild for new Israeli settlers within to settle in the West Bank, placing even more people in already over crowded Palestinian refugee camps and providing minimal life necessities, at best.

To a lesser degree, we have done the same to Indigenous people in the United States--placing them on Reservations where the land is often not suited for agriculture or life sustaining, chosen because white folks didn't want it.

In some instances, due to the discovery of oil and various tribes developing money-making ventures such as casinos, the standard of living on tribal land has improved markedly, but certainly not for all tribes and Indigenous people, and there is still often a lack of access to educational opportunities and advanced healthcare. Poverty is still very real.

Also, this socio economic divide is further perpetuated, especially in Republican dominated states by overt efforts to disenfranchise Indigenous people by continually changing voter ID laws, thus making it impossible for Indigenous citizens to vote and impact their lives for the better. Leaders in Republican dominated states are well aware that Indigenous people most often support Democrats, therefore, they deliberately strive to make voting more difficult.

Israel too, has seen a political move to the right. This not only affects Israeli citizens economically, not usually in a positive way, but it also affects Palestinians living in Israeli occupied territory, even more negatively than Israeli citizens. Many Palestinians are not allowed to work in Israel, and checkpoints predominate the area, keeping many Palestinians virtually prisoners without access to jobs or a stable economy and without access to even rudimentary food, water and electricity. This problem has only been exacerbated by the continuation of the October 2023 conflict, and its continuation, unabated.

Both Israel and the United States are powerful nations on the world stage. However, both are in decline, I believe. Both have power, but are using it not always for good. The US, on the one hand, offers billions of dollars to other countries in humanitarian aid, while, at the same time, providing Israel state of the art weapons to continue to destroy, yet failing to address homelessness, poverty, lack of affordable housing and lack of healthcare here at home. So, there you have some of the parallels I see between Israel and the US. Both great powers, and both currently in decline and denial, as I see it.