Post by jewbird on Dec 17, 2007 12:06:48 GMT -5
I was reading about this island's history. Fascinating stuff.
Apparently they recently recognized the existence of a 13th aboriginal tribe.
And I'm sitting here thinking to myself how easy it is for the Jews to identify with the native Formosans on so many levels.
I mean, here you have a collection of 13 tribes, who so far as anyone knows, lived in a tropical paradise state of happiness and grace.
Yet as soon as the island entered into contact with modern civilization.
The Dutch were relatively fair in their treatment of both the indigenous population and the Chinese they imported to marry and breed the Taiwanese of today, which we ultimately take as the model for cross-strait relations.
However subsequent years were not so kind. The entire island was pretty much at the complete mercy of whomever was most powerful at the time and has been for over a hundred years, just as the Jews have been for much of their history.
And I think that, though the Jews are not of one mind about the legitimacy of Israel's formation and nature as a political entity, there is a deep sense of identification with the plight of the native people, who within the span of a few generations went from living in a state of relative grace to living under a military dictatorship.
I think this helps to explain why American foreign policy is likely to soften on Israel before it softens on Taiwan.
I think the Jews identify very strongly with the loss of state of grace the beautiful island suffered when the Pandora's box of modernity was opened and the notion that anything else bad might happen to it is met with a sense of moral outrage that is all but absolute.
Apparently they recently recognized the existence of a 13th aboriginal tribe.
And I'm sitting here thinking to myself how easy it is for the Jews to identify with the native Formosans on so many levels.
I mean, here you have a collection of 13 tribes, who so far as anyone knows, lived in a tropical paradise state of happiness and grace.
Yet as soon as the island entered into contact with modern civilization.
The Dutch were relatively fair in their treatment of both the indigenous population and the Chinese they imported to marry and breed the Taiwanese of today, which we ultimately take as the model for cross-strait relations.
However subsequent years were not so kind. The entire island was pretty much at the complete mercy of whomever was most powerful at the time and has been for over a hundred years, just as the Jews have been for much of their history.
And I think that, though the Jews are not of one mind about the legitimacy of Israel's formation and nature as a political entity, there is a deep sense of identification with the plight of the native people, who within the span of a few generations went from living in a state of relative grace to living under a military dictatorship.
I think this helps to explain why American foreign policy is likely to soften on Israel before it softens on Taiwan.
I think the Jews identify very strongly with the loss of state of grace the beautiful island suffered when the Pandora's box of modernity was opened and the notion that anything else bad might happen to it is met with a sense of moral outrage that is all but absolute.