I got to thinking about the times I went looking to buy a house in my days as a young war veteran and newly graduated teacher.  I looked in places that had signs that said, in effect, “No Jews May Apply”.  In one place near where I settled to work for almost 30 years I was told by a realtor that the house I wanted was in a neighborhood where I would not do well.  I am Jewish, you see.

We went to the movies on Saturday after a marvelous session of Bible study where the social hall was filled, not with just the members of two different classes, but with a host of newcomers coming to hear the leader who had made a presentation the night before at the services.  We then went to the Saturday morning service to find that the huge sanctuary was practically empty.  All the energy had been used up the night before and the morning breakfast Bible study.  This weekend was devoted to the “installation” of our new senior Rabbi.

The show was the second in a series about Harry Potter.  It is a superb “movie”. Rather long, it held our interest and we were constantly beaming at the technical effects that put it into position to claim a lot of awards. The most intriguing effect was “Dobby”.  He is a smallish elf with enormous ears, a long pointed nose, worried expression and a penchant to interfere with Harry Potter’s life.

Dobby knew quite a lot of secrets that we were not privy to.  Harry was constantly trying to find a secret room and Dobby kept getting in the way.  But Dobby was also quite resourceful for stealing scenes by doing things he felt he must punish himself for.  He would suddenly bang his head against a wall or take some object and smash his head over and over – never crying but relishing the pain he was causing himself for he deserved to be punished for some transgression that I could never get straight and will not tell you anyway for it will spoil your trip to the theater.

The way I see it, the Jewish “settlements” in the “occupied” Palestinian territories are like my trying to find a house in areas where Jews were not welcome here in the United States. The settlements are not only a political move by Israel but are statements about the need to have both peoples live at peace mixed together. The military actions of the Israelis to protect the settlers against protests of the Palestinians are wholly one-sided. Rejection of the Jews by Palestinians who ambush the newcomers in murderous attacks are a continuation of the attacks in major Jewish cities against civilians. This quite   vividly demonstrates that the Jews are not wanted in what they consider to be their land. Dobby, the Israelis and the Palestinians are constantly banging their heads against walls only to do it over and over again.