CHOSEN PEOPLE
Code:
This continual attempt to charge those who criticize the Israeli government and policies with anti-Semitism is simple slander and libel. It has been very successful, sadly, in squelching those who hesitate to speak up for fear of retaliation. Am I anti-Black because I criticize the govenment of Zimbabwe? Am I anti-Arab because I criticize the policies of Saudi Arabia? Am I anti-Asian because I speak out against policies of China and North Korea? Am I anti-American when I oppose some policies of the USA? And we could go on and on.
You quote Dr. King. I happened to know Dr. King personally, and in fact twice went to jail early in the civil rights movement. A long story which may not be relevant here. What I can say is that Dr. King was increasingly concerned about the injustice directed against the Palestinian people. Yes, he had sympathy for Israel, as we all do. The Jews suffered enormously at the hands of Europeans, and we hailed the creation of Israel. My first doubts came in 1956 when the Israelis invaded Egypt. Thanks to President Eisenhower they soon withdrew. Frankly, Jewish participation and Jewish money were very important in the struggle for civil rights, This had considerable influence on Dr. King as it does today on most national politicians who dare not defy the AIPAC and other segments of the Israeli lobby.
Fortunately, more and more American Jews are coming to realize that Israeli policies are unjust and self-defeating. How can any fair-minded person defend the continual grab of Palestinian land on the West Bank with special roads for Jews only? It's an outrage. American public opinion will some day turn, and Israel has only so long to devise a more compassionate policy, else it will find itself alone.
There are no Chosen People. God is no respecter of persons, as the scriptures tell us. There is no chosen church, either. This kind of arrogance is an enemy of unity and good will. We are all God's children, trying our best to understand this mammoth and mysterious universe. I'm sure the Lord smiles upon our efforts but is annoyed far more by pious pretensions than any mistakes we might make in matters of theology. Too many modern-day Jews, Christians and Muslims act like the Pharisees who were quite convinced that their way was the one and only correct way. There are many paths to the one true God. And we are saved by grace and not by theology or church affiliation.
May God bless the whole world - no exceptions.
Anti-Zionism = Anti-Semitism"
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
". . . You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely ‘anti-Zionist.’ And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God’s green earth: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews–this is God’s own truth.
"Antisemitism, the hatred of the Jewish people, has been and remains a blot on the soul of mankind. In this we are in full agreement. So know also this: anti-Zionist is inherently antisemitic, and ever will be so.
"Why is this? You know that Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people returning to live in their own land. The Jewish people, the Scriptures tell us, once enjoyed a flourishing Commonwealth in the Holy Land. From this they were expelled by the Roman tyrant, the same Romans who cruelly murdered Our Lord. Driven from their homeland, their nation in ashes, forced to wander the globe, the Jewish people time and again suffered the lash of whichever tyrant happened to rule over them.
"The Negro people, my friend, know what it is to suffer the torment of tyranny under rulers not of our choosing. Our brothers in Africa have begged, pleaded, requested–DEMANDED the recognition and realization of our inborn right to live in peace under our own sovereignty in our own country.
"How easy it should be, for anyone who holds dear this inalienable right of all mankind, to understand and support the right of the Jewish People to live in their ancient Land of Israel. All men of good will exult in the fulfilment of God’s promise, that his People should return in joy to rebuild their plundered land.
This is Zionism, nothing more, nothing less.
"And what is anti-Zionist? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is antisemitism.
"The antisemite rejoices at any opportunity to vent his malice. The times have made it unpopular, in the West, to proclaim openly a hatred of the Jews. This being the case, the antisemite must constantly seek new forms and forums for his poison. How he must revel in the new masquerade! He does not hate the Jews, he is just ‘anti-Zionist’!
"My friend, I do not accuse you of deliberate antisemitism. I know you feel, as I do, a deep love of truth and justice and a revulsion for racism, prejudice, and discrimination. But I know you have been misled–as others have been–into thinking you can be ‘anti-Zionist’ and yet remain true to these heartfelt principles that you and I share.
Let my words echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews–make no mistake about it."
From M.L. King Jr., “Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend,” Saturday Review_XLVII (Aug. 1967), p. 76.
Reprinted in M.L. King Jr., “This I Believe: Selections from the Writings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
Have a great night as I
I’ll help you out again - you won’t find it 
