A general statement regarding my beliefs

The Israeli Lebanese war has been very disturbing to me as a human being in general. I have had many teachers, instructors, professors etc. However the overwhelming truth of the matter is that the majority of them have been Black or Jewish and what has been taught to me is thinking critically and being able to express your opinions.

As I express anti-Israeli sentiments it is very hard for me to do considering the very good relationship and impressions I have had of Jewish people for all of my life. I had heard bad things, stereotypical things, that people say about everyone however I had not given the things I heard much credence. I also know that no matter how much money that Jews accumulate I recognize their need for a homeland and a place. Nothing else can bring this home to me more than a childhood memory I have of one summer when I was in debate camp. The racial makeup of senior debaters was one Asian, one Jewish, and one African American-me, the rest I suppose were WASPISH white males. In any event as soon as an instructor would leave the room the wasp's would precede to harass the Jewish guy, the Asian would laugh and join in, and I would sit there and wonder what was happening because being from a segregated setting of all blacks for the majority of my educational life I really had not experienced racial slurs being spoken to anyone in my whole life. Well the Asian continued to laugh, but he was next, and he was not laughing then, I suppose they never got to me because well I never laughed and being black you never can escape from how some black react to being called bad names. In any case I do recognize the rights of Jewish people to have a homeland.

As for the Palestinians and the Lebanese, I know how they feel about Blacks Africans, and African Americans by the cartoons that they have put out towards Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. I have found the cartoons disturbing and when I first saw them on Fox News I had to make the decision whether to continue blogging on the Lebanese issue; at one point I said I would stop blogging on the issue because of the cartoons, but I then said I could not do that because this was a humanitarian issue. Well today I looked for the cartoons again because I had to make the decision whether to attend a rally tomorrow outside of CNN center. Unlike several weeks ago where the only place I saw the cartoons was on Fox News, today I found the cartoons, I even found an extra cartoon that I had never seen before, and I made the decision that as an African American I would not feel comfortable protesting with a body of individuals who could produce a cartoon so stereotypical about an African American woman. I hate to say this and I do regret it, but I voted for President Bush the second time because I was proud of Condoleeza Rice. Not only was she a black woman but she was an articulate black woman, she was not a caricature of a black woman as some of the Clinton appointees had tended to be meaning she spoke standard English. As I reviewed the horrible images of our secretary of State and the words associated with her. I instinctively know that there is something in the Israeli-Palestinian-Lebanese situation that is not being conveyed to me. There is something that has not been written that can make me understand the Israeli side. I understand the suicide bombings and the emotion it created but why not then, why not let a suicide bombing trigger a war, it did not. Ultimately I have to say that there is something rather shady going on in Israel to make two soldiers an excuse for war, but the attitudes of the Lebanese towards blacks leads me to believe that they brought in a hatred towards the Jewish people and the Jewish people did not throw the first stone, because I know Secretary of State Rice did nothing to deserve the attack she received from the Palestinians.