I like to think of myself as caring and compassionate, especially toward those who are beaten down and needy through no fault of their own. I have no problem with slipping a Benjamin into the hand of an elderly widow or young mother who I am certain is not able to pay her electric bill. Yet, there are some things which simply cause me to rebel, to resist. One of these is the claim by some that they are eternal victims and that everyone must excuse their behavior because…

Well, you know.

Blacks in America are pretty good at this. They (or their ancestors, or perhaps only some) were made slaves by white people centuries ago and, due to that unfortunate tidbit of history, ought to have everything handed to them on a silver or gold platter today. Never mind that the ones who enslaved them (or their ancestors, or perhaps only some of them) were probably also black. Never mind that the term, Slav, which classifies a middle-European race, likely sprang from the fact that white people from that region were probably also “slaves”. Never mind that the black ancestors who were enslaved have long been dead, as have been their “masters”, and that there is no connection between myself and a black man in San Francisco or Atlanta as a result of that specific situation. Everyone knows they are victims and must be compensated.

Enough of that! Let’s get to the real meat here.

Earlier today, I watched a short “news” brief by ABC on the retaliation by Iran because of the Israeli strikes on that country on June 13. Friday the 13th. Exactly sixty-one days after President Donald (Cap’n Warp Speed) Trump had told the Iranians they had sixty days to conform and comply with his nuclear “negotiations”. If they didn’t, well, at least he warned them of the terror and suffering that was to come.

Anyway, ABC had a reporter on the ground in Bet Yam, a community which had received numerous missile strikes from the Iranians. (Where the heck is Iron Dome when you need it?) One of the complaints was that children, at least two, had been killed. Let’s be real clear about this, at least two Israeli children had been killed from the missile strikes and, for that, we ought to be outraged. Yet, there was not a word about the thousands of Palestinian children who have been coldly slaughtered in the name of “security” and “Greater Israel”, even though it is (and can be) completely documented. Nothing said at all about the Iranian children who died as a result of Israel’s aggressive action.

No! NO, NO, NO! Our children are dying!! Ours, not theirs. We ought to be the ones who are sympathized with, pitied, and something must be done about it!!!

Pat Benatar had something to sing about this. “I’m going to harden my heart…”

Truth is, I have trouble with ginning up any sympathy for the Israeli claim, because I know that the Israeli State is killing, has killed, an untold number of Palestinian or Iranian children. I can have pity for them, but…that’s about as far as it goes. The problem is that they have been claiming to be “victims of circumstance” for as long as I can remember, at least since the “oppression” in Egypt during the time of Moses, some 3500 years ago. How long does one have to be a victim before it becomes embedded into the DNA and bloodline?

Remember Pinnochio? The fox and the cat?

Is this wrong? Do I have a bad attitude? Am I in need of a readjustment in some camp somewhere?

I can, and do, feel sadness at the violent deaths of two Israeli children, but I also recognize and understand that this is payment received for the evil, violent, murderous behavior exhibited, pursued, and acted upon, by decades of Israeli leadership and society, which knew (know) only one thing: violence for the sake of power is to be pursued to the ultimate end, which is death. All that matters is that we win, no matter how much it costs, nor how many others have to die so that we can achieve our goal, our end. If some of those who die are our own, well…collateral damage.

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” — Jesus Christ, as recorded in Luke 6:38.