Stage In The Sky

When did it become cool and hip to harass and persecute Jewish people again? You could say, “it’s not about a hatred for Jews, it’s about the liberation of Palestine.”…is that the truth?  

I was working on October 7th when I saw the headlines go up, that young men and women attending a music festival were attacked and killed. I didn’t know who was attacking them. Only that they were attacked. Militants parachuted down and began shooting indiscriminately. 

Hundreds were taken hostage. Some women were raped, stripped naked, and paraded on the back of trucks while people spat on them. That was someone’s daughter. Someone’s sister. Someone’s cousin.  

From that alone…one would think that whoever’s responsible should be hunted down and brought to justice, right? One would think that we can all agree killing innocent women and children is wrong, right?   

…one would think… 

In the days that followed, I saw something disturbing. It reminded me of September 11^th. I was 15-years-old when I saw the towers fall…and it was on that day that I realized there were people out there who hated America. They chanted, “death to America” and burned the American flag in the Middle East. I couldn’t believe it. 

Similarly, after October 7^th 2023, when thousands of young people were massacred, it blew my mind to see people cheering for Hamas, celebrating the murders. I saw pro-Palestine groups on college campuses blaming Israel, for what happened to Israel. I saw rallies pop up around the world with chants calling for the deaths of Jewish people. I saw people chanting “Gas the Jews” in Sydney, Australia.  

They say it’s because Israel’s been oppressing Palestine for generations. They say it’s because Palestine has been forced to live in an open-air prison. Ben Shapiro tackles a bunch of their “reasons.” And even after researching a list of conflicts Israel’s had with Palestine, here’s the truth:  

I don’t care what the reasons are. Hamas attacked unarmed civilians in the middle of a peacetime.  

That was someone’s daughter. Someone’s sister. Someone’s cousin that they raped, killed, spat on, and beheaded. The woman I’m talking about has become the de facto face of the massacre. She was a 23-year-old German Israeli tattoo artist named Shani Louk.  

I don’t know her. Never met her. But when I saw that and this BBC video where a husband recognized one of the bodies raped and killed by the Palestinians…dude, there’s no way you could ever condone this. There’s no logic or reason you could ever teach me that will have me nodding my head in agreement and going, “Yep, I get it.” 

Seriously…when I think of the January 6th incident when so-called insurrectionists stormed the Capital….part of me respected it. I wouldn’t do it. Not even sure if I’d condone it. But they didn’t just go around on a killing spree, murdering innocent people just to make a point. They took their fight to the capital.  

Even if your argument is, well Hamas had to kill some innocent people to get to the heart of Israel’s government…how do you explain the raping? How do you explain the murdered babies? How do you explain the “Gas the Jews” chants taking place from pro-Palestinian supporters in other parts of the globe? 

And here’s why I don’t buy the whole, “it’s not antisemitism, we just want a free Palestine…” argument. Where were these rallies before October 7th?

To the student organizers at Harvard who argued, “millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been “forced to live in an open-air prison” and called on Harvard to “take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.” Where was this energy before hundreds of innocent people were killed at a music festival?

I suspect, people have been waiting for an opportunity to openly blast their hatred for Jewish people.

And I tried…Ladies and gentlemen, I tried to find out the “why”. I have associates with family ties to Palestine. I respect these people and read their pro-Palestinian posts with an open heart. I’ve dug into videos and Wikipedia pages trying to get to the heart of the conflict. I’m not saying Palestine doesn’t have legit grievances. I’m not saying their oppression and displacement isn’t real. I’m not saying that at all. 

What I am saying, is murdering innocent civilian men, women, and children is wrong. Especially soft targets of people attending some music festival just trying to have a good time. 

“Well, what do you call what Israel is doing as they fire hundreds of rockets at Gaza?” 

I call it war. Murder and war are two different things. 

“Well, that’s not the way Hamas sees it. Hamas sees their actions as a war that’s never ended.” 

Well, that’s not the way I see it. And when you kick off your campaign by killing hundreds of innocent men, women, and children, you ain’t exactly swaying people to your cause.

Even with those on social media trying to shame us into caring about Palestine’s cause…why should we? No, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t care. I’m legit asking you why you think we should?  

It’d be like me scolding people who live out in the middle of Montana for not learning about the plight of black people. Why should they? There’s barely any black people in Montana! Not to mention, Montana’s got their own problems. 

Then, you have those who say “Hamas” isn’t Palestine. The thing is, and correct me if I’m wrong, Hamas is a major ruling party governing the Palestine territories since 2006. That’d be like the Democrats launching an attack on Mexico, and then people arguing “Well, the Democrats isn’t America.” 

And here’s what’s scary about all of this…The year is 2023. We’re coming up on nearly 100 years when something quite similar happened in Germany. 

I’m not Jewish. I’m not a Black Hebrew Israelite. I’m just a Christian who’s read the entire Bible and believes in it. Until the day Christ returns, I know war will continue to happen. I know there be terrible atrocities and the theft of innocent lives will continue. 

What breaks my heart is the reluctance to call it evil. 

Two weeks ago, I was in the gym and ran into my 70-year-old “friend” Stella…the same Stella who called herself a Christian but said, “I don’t see anything wrong with homosexuality” despite my  directing her to Leviticus 18:22.  

I mentioned my heart was heavy due to the attacks on Israel. This was back before Israel launched a full-scale counterattack. So, at this point, all we knew was the death toll of over 700 from the Oct 7th assault on the music festival with over 100 hostages taken by Hamas. 

After I said how sad I was, the first words out of Stella’s mouth was, “Well, you gotta understand that Palestine’s been oppressed for years.” 

She started talking about how Palestine was the victim, almost justifying the actions they took.  Stella is white, by the way. Had to point that out because for some STUPID f**king reason, some people are under the assumption that most black people are siding with Palestine (drives me up the wall). 

And as she talked, my anger brimmed. The treadmill was right there and I was half-tempted to just put on my headphones and start walking as she continued her soliloquy.  

Eventually, I did stop her and say, “Listen…Palestine’s issue with Israel and the attack on this music festival…these are two separate issues. I know people want to conflate the two, but I’m willing to bet the people attending that festival weren’t under the impression that they were at war.” 

“But Rock, you have to understand the history.” 

“No, I don’t. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing you can say to convince me that the raping of innocent women and spitting on their dead naked bodies is justified.” 

She continued, basically using the logic of, “You can’t blame them. They’re just the product of their environment and fighting to be free.” 

I stepped on the treadmill, but before I got started, I had to ask, “Just to be clear, killing and raping women is bad, right?” 

“Yes. That’s bad.” She said. 

“Great, thank you.” I said before beginning my work out. 

Seriously…it reminds me of the Nat Turner rebellion. Back in 1831, a black slave named Nat Turner led a revolt against white people. Which honestly, sounds pretty cool, like Django Unchained…that is until you read about how he and his comrades murdered innocent women and children in their beds. I’m sure the slaves had very good reasons for killing white people back then…but innocent women and children? I’m supposed to get on board with that because…oppression? 

And now, with Israel launching its attack on Gaza, the mainstream is quick to make Israel the bad guy. Last I heard, Biden’s Administration and the UN were calling for a ceasefire. And thousands have taken to the streets of New York calling for a free Palestine, saying “stop the massacre” of Israel’s attack on Gaza. 

“But Rock! Two wrongs don’t make it right!” 

So, let’s say you’re the president of a nation. 700 of your sons and daughters were murdered at a music festival. Some of them were raped and paraded naked on the streets. What do you do? Invite the perpetrators over for tea to resolve your differences? What kind of message does that send to the other countries who want to take you down? 

Let’s not act like any other country in the world wouldn’t react the same way if 700 of their sons and daughters were slaughtered at some festival like Coachella. Even if one of our American drones destroyed a small village or accidentally hit innocent civilians at a wedding party…you wouldn’t catch us celebrating that s***. 

Not to mention, the threat against Jewish people around the world is still ongoing. It burns me up to know there are Jewish families, here in America, afraid to send their children off to school because of the blatant antisemitism. 

“Rock, why do you care? This has nothing to do with you.” 

To be honest, I’m also surprised by how much the events affected me. I see what’s going on in the news, and Christ tells us things will only continue to get worse as signs to the “End Times”, so why do I care so much about this? 

Because I believe the Holocaust happened. That can never happen again. Not now, when we have the whole world connected via internet and instant communication.

And I care because…deep down, I owe a great deal of who I am to the descendants of Israel (God’s name given to Jacob). Moses (of the Tribe of Levi) wrote the first five books of the Bible.  

Most of my heroes, the men I look up to and try to emulate are of Jewish descent. Men like Jeremiah, Elijah, Isaiah, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, Daniel, Samuel, Hannah, Jephthah, Joseph, John the Baptist, Peter, Paul… 

I read their words. I’ve learned from the examples they passed down. I know that the path to salvation is through Christ alone and there’s a great multitude of Jewish people who don’t accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.  

But the fact is, if it wasn’t for God’s inspired word the Bible…my life, my purpose, my drive in this world would be meaningless. If I die, people at my funeral will likely describe me as a happy, smiling, good-natured person who did his best to try and make everyone feel loved and appreciated.  

They have no clue how much I suffer by denying myself and striving to take up the cross as Jesus Christ did. And even though I don’t see many who are like me in this world, I am inspired, knowing men like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Elijah used to go through much worse. I have to honor that.

So yeah…I have a great affinity for the Jewish people. That doesn’t mean I think they’re perfect or that Palestine doesn’t have legit reasons to take up arms. But maybe it’s just my stupid Toxic Male logic, that if I got a problem with a man, I’m not gonna go and beat the crap out of his 4-year-old kid. I’m gonna take the fight to he who wronged me.

I’m sorry…also, I guess it kinda strikes a nerve, reminding my of my own beloved cousin who was killed in a double-murder suicide. My 26-year-old cousin was helping a friend move out of a domestic abuse situation, when the husband came home, shot my cousin and then shot his pregnant girlfriend before killing himself. His problem wasn’t with my cousin and yet he killed her.

That guy’s a piece of shit. I don’t give a fuck about his reasons. Nothing could ever justify him robbing…alright. Let me stop. This morning, I read this headline of Mobs in Russia yelling “allahu akbar” while hunting for Jews…and I had to finally speak my thoughts.