Neo-Nazi couple learn they are Jewish

How odd would it be to grow up convinced that another person is of lesser value then you based on their ethnicity only to learn you are of the same ethnicity? Can your beliefs suddenly change so drastically?

This is exactly what happened to two Polish neo-Nazis who were childhood sweethearts and later became skinheads. They discovered their shocking family secret, that they are both Jewish, a few years ago after going through records at the Warsaw’s Jewish Historical Institute. Both their families had escaped Nazi Germany and hid their true identities in order to escape persecution.

Before they learned of their true roots, they both practiced the belief “that Jews were the biggest plague and the worst evil of this world".

They've now embraced their Jewish identity and are active in their local orthodox synagogue.

When I read this story I was struck with the obvious very deep lessons to be learned here. Not the least of which is that all people want basically the same thing, we just have differing ideas on how to get it. And who is to say that one idea can be judged as better ot more value than another?

Before these two ex-skinheads learned they were Jewish they would have never stepped into a synagogue and now they worship in one. The basic concepts of their belief system can not have drastically changed, they just focus them in a different direction within a different frame f reference. They are still the same people.

Plus, we can see how we are shaped by ideas and stereotypes. Now that they have learned they are Jewish, surely, they no longer believe “that Jews were the biggest plague and the worst evil of this world".

CNN did a documentary about Poles rediscovering their Jewish roots generations after their ancestors hid their religious identities to escape persecution during World War II. You can read more about it and watch excerpts from the documentary on CNN.

Conservative Mouthpieces and Hate Mongers

In a New York Times commentary, Mr. Krugman makes the observation that when the Republicans are in power right-wing hate groups are complacent, and when the Democrats are in power right-wing hate groups shorten their fuses while conservative talk-show hosts happily strike the match.

A recent DHS report brought this fact to light and conservatives, taking it way too personally, denounced it, saying the Obama administration is attempting to label all conservatives as terrorists.

But the one constant that validates the basic tenet of this report is the very conservative talk-show hosts themselves. Fox News’ group of conservative hate-mongers, led by Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck espouse, if not outright endorses, the action of anyone willing to ‘Fight for the Right’ by underscoring their views through violence.

Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage and all the others, as well as conservative print media, seem to keep themselves giddy by denigrating anything and everything the Democrats do without any thought whatsoever about helping this nation of taxpayers who are caught in the middle.

These platforms could be put to much better use by conservatives if they would present their party’s ideas, build on them in a positive way and condemn violence as the act of weak-minded zealots.

Escape from the tyranny of hatred. Conservatives hate Democrats so much that they are turning away from doing anything positive and it is doing a grave disservice to themselves.

I am calling on the Republican party to get its act together and formulate a solid, positive platform for the purpose of benefiting the whole country, not just yourselves, to run against the Democratic party of 2012 so we, the voters, can have a solid contest, without vitriol and the underhanded, backstabbing, negativity that so often accompanies the political election process. Don’t leave voters with the choice of the ‘lesser of two evils’. Make yourself a positive force.

Israeli Army T-Shirts Mock Gaza Killings

clipped from news.sky.com The Israeli army is at the centre of a second controversy over the moral conduct of its soldiers in as many days. The revelations centre on t-shirt designs made for soldiers that make light of shooting pregnant Palestinian mothers and children and include images of dead babies and destroyed mosques. The t-shirts were printed for Israeli soldiers at the end of periods of deployment or training courses and were discovered by Israeli newspaper Haaretz. One, printed for a platoon of Israeli snipers depicts an armed Palestinian pregnant women caught in the crosshairs of a rifle, with the disturbing caption in English: "1 shot 2 kills". Another depicts a child carrying a gun also in the centre of a target. "The smaller, the harder," read the words on the t-shirt. According to a soldier interviewed by the newspaper, the message has a double meaning: "It's a kid, so you've got a little more of a problem, morally and also the target is smaller."

This is truly reprehensible. The sentiment displayed on these shirts serves to perpetuate the animosity and hatred these two nations have for each other. Anyone who condones this type of behavior is undermining any chance to seek a peaceful resolution to their differences.

Having said that, and judging from past behavior between these two, I don’t believe for a minute that either side truly wants to find peace with each other but to so blatantly display and promote the killing of pregnant women and children is beneath contempt for human life. And there in lies a major problem this world needs to deal with.