Trevor Noah is Right and Wrong about the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

Everyone has an opinion about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

During last night’s episode of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah shared his thoughts on the topic.

I agree with him and I don’t agree with him. I agree that this is a generations old argument that cannot be so easily solved. But if there is one point in which he is wrong about, it is power.

The issue is not the power itself, it is how it is used. In the 70+ years of Israel’s existence, the country has grown from a backwater desert to a thriving democracy with an solid economy and a drive to create. The list of inventions that have come out of the Jewish state are nothing to sneeze at.

If the Palestinian leadership would use their resources to build up their country and help the people, they wouldn’t need to blame Israel or anyone else. Instead, they focus their financial, physical, and people resources on building tunnels and putting their own children in harms way.

I’m going to end this post with a quote from the late and brilliant Golda Meir.

“We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us”

Advertisement

Exile Music: A Novel Book Review

Childhood should be a time of love, laughter, friendship, and innocence. But for some children, their early years are far from ideal.

Exile Music: A Novel, by Jennifer Steil, was published this month. Growing up in Vienna in the 1930’s, Orly lives a comfortable life. Her parents are professional musicians and her older brother is well regarded by the neighborhood. When she is not with her family, Orly spends her free time with her best friend, Anneliese. In 1938, her world is shattered by the Nazi invasion and the racial laws that quickly begin to restrict Jewish life.

After her brother flees to Switzerland, Orly and her parents are among the lucky few who find refuge in Bolivia. Settling in La Paz, they are strangers in a strange land. While Orly and her father make due, her mother is not quite ready to give up what they lost. She is also keeping a secret that if got out, could cause trouble. Decades later, when Anneliese comes back into her life, Orly has to make a choice. Does she stay in Bolivia with her family or return to Europe and pick up where she and Anneliese left off?

I really enjoyed reading this book. Orly is relatable character. Her voice and growth throughout the novel felt organic and true to the various stages of life that we go through as we grow up. I also appreciated the undercurrent of the LGBTQ storyline. Instead of feeling forced to make the book stand out, Steil includes in a way that gives her main character a layer and an extra oomph that is not often seen in this genre and this period in history.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.