Donated Books for “The People of Gaza” Silent Auction

I’ll be donating my books to an event held in Chicago called “The People for Gaza”, a silent auction to raise funds to donate to Pious Projects a charity that fuels humanitarian aid for Palestine, as well as other affected areas.

For those who don’t exactly understand what’s going on over on the West Bank, here’s an animated video explaining it all in quick, succinct, easy-to-understand detail roughly 6 and a half minutes long. Made 11 years ago during the previous conflict (needless to say, it’s a constantly reoccurring problem) but still very apt today.

As it pertains to how I feel on the whole matter: the Israeli government has got to get its head out of its rear and stop shoving Palestinians off their land. Seeking shelter from one atrocity doesn’t give just cause to commit atrocities to someone else, plain and simple. Not every Palestinian is Hamas and not every Jewish person is thrilled with hearing a government enact warfare in the name of religion. Plus, Hamas wouldn’t exist if there was more equal & humane respect from the Israelis to the Palestinians. Jewish people lived in Palestine prior, anyways, so peace is wholly possible. Respecting Palestine isn’t going to leave Jewish people vulnerable and without land & country – but bombing Gaza and the West Bank into slick spots leaves plenty without land and, well, anything.

Also, while it is completely possible to disagree with the Israeli government, make sure that doesn’t somehow slip into anti-semitism. The Palestinians aren’t getting bombed because “Jewish r teh evilz”, it’s a government that running under the guise of saying “We’re doing this on the behalf of our religion”. Governments, though they would like to be, are not religions. Also, there are plenty of Jewish people who are against what’s happening to Palestine. For example, the video above actually came from Jewish Voice for Peace, and they perfectly expressed the heart of the issue.