American Indians and the Palestinians

Copyright ©2011. Venus, Taos New Mexico

From time to time the western media likes to report that this or that American Indian is hooked up with Palestinian and Hammas causes, also some like to mention how this or that American Indian supports Chavez, the mafia boss of a South American country.

In all my many years of association with and participation in American Indian life I have never met a single tribal relation who supports Palestine or any of the violent Middle East groups and policies. Nobody.

The only ones who come up in these associations are people identified as “AIM” (American Indian Movement) members. AIM has been and remains completely discredited among American Indians as a group. Its leadership has been shown to be cowards, killers and gangsters. The only passion for which they retain some small talent is in getting their names and faces into the media.

Palestinian support organizations may feel they get to use the plight of American Indians to poke and poison the dialogue on the United States. American Indians desperate for attention and support are sucked into this manipulative and toxic relationship, although in very small numbers. Not one dollar of the billions that move through Palestinian support groups has ever made it to any American Indian cause ever.

Saying American Indians support Palestinian causes because one attention seeking man with some American Indian blood is participating is less than genuine, to say the least. It is a lie, a desperate lie.

My official policy is that any country or culture that uses suicide bombers, anonymous assassination and repression of women are cowards and worthless bastards unworthy of respect or consideration. Cultures that support such behavior in any way cannot be taken seriously and must be viewed as criminals against humanity. Why would any traditional American Indian support such cowards or align themselves with such unworthy people? No good person would ever do that.

Beware any American Indian who claims to support dictators. It is just for spite, and out of ignorance. While any person is free to participate in whatever they want, one individual doing what they want to do is not a “movement of his people”.

In American Indian society today, our tribal teachers and elders put the sacred before the people as an instrument of peace. In many Middle east countries, religious leaders are the ones with the guns and armies and bombers. This kind of thinking is incomprehensible to me.

The tribal elders and religious leaders did not tell the coward Leonard Peltier to murder two young FBI agents minding their own business. He did that for his own reasons. He is one who has tried to make a “movement” from the bad choices made by one person doing what they want. People all over the world have sent him money and gifts and put pressure on the United States on his behalf. He is the poster boy for how bad an idea it is to take the insane and pointless behavior of one stupid man and build a movement that includes all “his people”. His bullshit is so transparent yet the money and the “movement” keep right on rolling along. Once something like this is set in motion, it probably cannot be stopped. Inevitability of motion is also not “a movement”. It is just a part of the pathogenic nature of life. Be informed.

There is a lot of frustration, and many lives that are diminished that should not be in the American Indian communities. It is understandable that people get fed up and reach for a rock or a gun. At the very least, under normal reality conditions religious and spiritual teachers must council, must demand peace…so far if middle east religious leaders are talking about real peace they do so very quietly because I rarely hear it. All people need to be aware of the danger of letting the loudest and craziest person in the room rule the agenda.

I am an American Indian religious and spiritual ceremonial teacher. These are my words, words from my life and mind. In my travels throughout the world I have yet to meet a militant coalition of any flavor or ideology that I could support with Sacred Pipe or with my presence. I am suspicious of “causes” and arguments from “victims”. This is particularly important when we have all witnessed the terrible murders, genocides, torture and assassinations that are now part of the hourly news cycle.

Many Palestinian arguments like to demonize the Jews and the Americans. There are some bad behaviors on that side of the problem without question. But it is rare for those same voices to be as ardent and determined in denouncing armed religious leaders, inter-tribal racism and suppression of Muslim minorities and the overall repression of women and a thousand other insults to human dignity practiced by Muslims against other Muslims. While so much media attention goes to the hate America and the Jews movement by the left hand, the right hand of darkness is murdering and torturing the village children.

The whole idea brings up a well of dramatic emotions and I could see how some idealistic but misguided American Indian might stumble towards Palestine. On the other hand as much as Palestinian and other very well-funded groups like to use the treatment of American Indians by the United States government as an argument against their policies, no Middle East group has ever offered a single dollar, moral support, or political endorsement towards any American Indian….yet if you get a crazy Indian from AIM to show up at some publicity event for Hammas, the Palestinian press will exploit this as important news and shows it around as high value propaganda. In this way, in my view, any American Indian getting involved with these people is what in an earlier age we used to call a “sucker”. Even among American Indians, we have one born every minute, just like the rest of you.

Religion is toxic when it is used to justify violence, repressions, oppression, politics, separation or isolation. Toxic and useless. When one member of one religion uses that religious identity to join with others doing the same thing, you have a gathering of gangsters, punks and bullies.

The purpose of all religion is harmony with the creator, with creation. Used in any other way, religion is a lie told in the name of religion. I believe this is true for all religious practices from the tribal to the Vatican and the Mosque.