LEYDEN, MASS.-I was lucky to have been born in Boston in 1947 and never served in the military and have never lived any portion of my life with an existential threat hanging over my head.
I have never worried that the bus I was riding was about to be blown up by that guy wearing the overcoat or that some stranger might pull up beside me at an intersection and start shooting.
Had I been born in Tel Aviv in the same year, my life experiences would have been very different. Israelis of my generation have lived their lives in constant fear of just such genocidal attacks perpetrated not because of any personal animosity but solely because of religion or ethnicity.
We liberal Americans have lived our lives in relative safety - the Israelis have not. This certainly affects the way one sees the world. They are living in a small county surrounded by enemies who seek their death. From the river to the sea - what does that mean to you?...