INDEPENDENCE DAY

     Today is the Day of Independence of Korea from Japan. My Korean lodger told me. He showed me the pictures of the Japanese soldiers abusing the Korean men and women. When a country or one culture declares everyone else to be barbarians or inferior to themselves, you can be sure, they'll end up committing barbarian acts. 

     I come from the Jewish background, from Russia. What German Nazis did to my people is forever stamped on my and others' mind. Although, my parents told me how a little Russian Grandma in their communal flat continually bemoaned the fact that Hitler couldn't finish what he started with the Jews! But that's not my point. My point is that, every culture does those things to others. Its very hard for me to say it, but Jews are not blameless in the struggle with the Palestinians. My young relative visited us from Israel. I opened my big mouth and began asking him questions, trying to ascertain, what the position of the Palestinians is in the Israeli society. He was at a loss. "We don't have any Palestinian acquaintances," - he said - "those people are, kind of, a lower class in Israel." All I know is, if a people are kept down, not given equal opportunities or a hope for the better future for their children, they will rebel. 

     I stopped watching movies about the Holocaust. What's the point? I will never forget the things that I already know, seeing them again will only make me vulnerable to bitterness and depression. The most beautiful people I ever met were German. I have no resentment toward that nation anymore. The Soviet Union and it's satellites did worse things to their own people and the world - and for much longer. Do we just keep rehashing the past hurts and gnaw our teeth at each other? My Korean lodger refuses to even listen to anybody who is Japanese. That doesn't make him a better person! It doesn't make the world a better place! SOME OF THE OTHER MOST BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE THAT I KNOW ARE THE JAPANESE!
     Dr. Park is 73 years old. It's hard for him to change the way he thought his whole life, I understand. It's up to those who are still flexible in their thinking and care about the world. It's up to us.