Millroy: I Hate Hate

The topic today is hate. It is not that I want it to be; I find that it has to be.
I don’t understand hate; I doubt I ever will.

As you have probably already ascertained, I am addressing hate because of the violence taking place in the Middle East.

Unleashed by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, it is being taken to new heights by the Israelis as in retaliation they seem intent on destroying Gaza in their attempt to ferret out Hamas.
The Hamas attack on Israel resulted in atrocities equal to that committed by ISIS, the terrorist organization that established a caliphate through blood a few years ago.

Yet instead of condemning the Hamas attack, Palestinians not only in the Middle East but worldwide are rallying in support.

They point to the destruction of a hospital in Gaza yet prevailing evidence is that the death of hundreds was caused by a rocket aimed at Israel that misfired.

I do not intend to dwell on the Israeli-Hamas issue here; enough is being said on it elsewhere.
My thoughts here are pointed at the issue of hate itself and the animosity or outright hate that seems to be directed at the Jewish race everywhere.

Why?

Adolf Hitler and his Nazis set out to exterminate Jews. More than six million died during the Holocaust. Germany was not alone in this. Jews were shipped to the ovens by other countries too.
Canada turned away a shipload attempting to escape what was to come.

Anti-semitism seems to be rearing its ugly head again, although I suppose an argument can be made that it never went away. An ad on tv says that last year there were 70,000 posts saying “Hitler Was Right” and synagogues are being bombed and people murdered.

Just last week the president of a synagogue in Detroit who was known as one of the city’s most vibrant religious leaders was found killed near her home. The authorities have not yet determined a motive in the stabbing death of Samantha Woll, 40, but I would bet from her stature in the community that it is hate related.

The unrest has spread to universities, with supporters of both sides coming out in the hundreds, no middle ground seemingly possible.

An example: Hundreds of students gathered on the main quad at Columbia University in New York City to engage in duelling protests in support of Israel and the Palestinian people and to condemn the loss of life.

Pro-Israel protesters, most of whom were Jewish, draped themselves in white and blue Israeli flags. For much of the event, they remained silent, letting signs with photos of the victims of Hamas’ deadly attack speak for them.

Across the square, students who supported the Palestinians waved signs declaring “Free Palestine” and “End the Occupation”. A female student from Gaza spoke of her mother, trapped by an Israeli blockade.
The supporters of the Palestinians seem to ignore the fact that it was the initial attack by Hamas that sparked the Israeli response. The killing of so many, including babies, not seeming to enter their psyche, nor is the fact Hamas did not take over Gaza. It was elected by the Palestinians.

When it comes to the Jews, I can’t understand how one race can be singled out as has been the case for centuries. But the truth is that racism involves many, African Americans, Asians, our own indigenous.
I can’t imagine being black in the United States. If pulled over for a traffic infraction there, a young black man would have a good chance of being shot and until recently there would be no chance his assailant in a police uniform would face any penalty.

People use the term hate when they don’t really mean it, such as in referring to food, an item purchased, a movie or a movie star.

I never use it. I believe using it casually demeans its true meaning.
And I deplore those who use it with its true meaning.

I don’t understand how one person can truly hate another. I have no trouble with dislike or preferring not to be in someone’s company but hate goes too far.
It happens a lot in the breaking up of marriages.

That I really can’t understand. I went through it and the way I looked at it was that I had to take into account the 30 years we were together and that she was the mother of our four children.
Separate as friends, not enemies, so life can go on normally, with everyone involved in family functions.
I really don’t know if I am making any sense here.

I just found I had to go down this alley because of what I fear is going to happen in the Middle East.
I not only worry about the loss of life and humanitarian crisis that could result from an Israeli incursion into Gaza, but that the war could widen, bringing in other countries.

I guess in the final analysis I have to say I have also come to hate.
I hate hate.