20160518 (land loss)

Like America took land from the native people

Israel didn’t figure into my

Understanding until in high

School when I met Jim McC,

History geek, chunky, and

Given to a bit of a speech 

Defect which had it been more 

Pronounced would have been

A cross between a stutter and

A lisp. Like me, he wore

Fairly thick glasses and was

A peg or two down the economic

Ladder from the mainstream

Of the young Christian gents

Of the Cathedral Latin School.

I think he was more hip about

Anything in the historo-socio-

Politico sphere due to his father,

A veteran in Europe who  

Hadn’t seen combat. Jim said

He talked about the war without

The hesitation so common among

Many of the returned servicemen 

Who if they talked at all it was to

Bottles at the VFW. And Jim had

Benefitted richly from his father’s

Recollections, opinions, and 

Speculations. Jim read widely

Of Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, the Irish

Rebellion. If Jim disagreed with

A history teacher on early 20th

Century happenings, it was a good

Gamble, the teacher apologized for

Error the following day. Plus he

Knew reliably if not comprehensively

From the ancients to the current day.

Politically he leaned left and 

Held his own in debate which 

Proved difficult between his lisp

And his stutter. We used to gather

After classes for bad coffee at a

Truly greasy spoon on Euclid a

Short walk from campus. Bob

Lectured on jazz, I tried sounding

Scientific, and Jim held forth

On history and current events.

Somehow we got onto the

Matter of Israel which was only

Thirteen years old at the time

From having seen the movie

Exodus. I had taken the flick

Uncritically and hadn’t any

Real learning about it outside

Of barely remembered religion

Class biblical history which

Terminated with the apostolic

Commission, to Rome, to all 

Nations and beyond. And we 

Knew enough World War II

History to have been guiltstruck

By the Holocaust. Jim warned

Us not to let guilt over the 

Holocaust obscure our view 

Of the new Israel which once

Was Palestine and which was

Likely to be Palestine less and

Less as the prophets of the new 

Zion pronounced. People were

Driven from their homes into

Refugee camps and not permitted

To return, he told us, like we 

Did to the American Indians.

Unfortunately after that shred of

True history I turned away from

The subject and for decades 

Afterward paid not the slightest

Attention again until after

September 11, 2001, when I

Made the time to understand

Why the lands held by the 

Palestinians shrank with 

Every new map.

c. J.S.Manista, 2016