My First "Official" Weblog

I went to a political event tonight, "in honor" of tax day. It was supposed to be something of an environmentalist's nightmare on how our taxes, especially our state taxes, are being spent.

That was fine, but some of the "entertainment" was on the clueless side. One group decided that doing a three minute rant on Palestinians as victims was an appropriate way to educate us about environmental affairs. At least two people walked out. Instead of applauding or booing at the end, I said, "That was really poor judgment on your parts."

There's plenty of blame to go around in the Middle East. I'm not a Sharon fan, and I think he and Israel have behaved badly, particularly of late. But to portray the Palestinians as the only victims means you can ignore the hundreds of people murdered in terrorist attacks recently.

Ironically, I heard a brief ray of hope for Israeli-Palestinian relations just this morning. There's a hospital in Israel (in Jerusalem, I think - it may be called Hadassah) that treats all people injured by acts of terrorism or war. Jewish, Moslem and Christian employees work side by side. At least there's one place where people seem to be able to talk and work together.