John Lennon and the Jewish State

Today, December 8th, marks 25 years since the murder of John Lennon.

Why do I know this obscure piece of music trivia (considering that I couldn't even complete the I-Pod Meme)?

The answer is because one of Israel's most popular radio stations has made a point of mentioning this piece of information just about every hour, followed by one of Lennon's songs.

I have now been sitting in my office, listening to the radio, going on 8 hours, and each time I hear a reference to Lennon it bothers me more and more.

Why, you ask, should it bother me if this Israeli radio station should dedicate its music for a day to John Lennon, a man who contributed so much to the music world, a man who devoted his life to promoting peace and love throughout the world?

Perhaps, a closer look at the lyrics of John Lennon's most famous song, Imagine, might provide some clues:

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isn’t hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I’m a dreamer,
but I’m not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.

Personally, I don't see room, in Lennon's vision, for a Jewish State in the Land of Israel - especially one whose very existence seems to cause so much hatred, division and bloodshed in the world.

Now maybe I am reading too much into this, but perhaps this Israeli radio station knows Lennon's vision all too well, and it is a vision that they share - a vision of a world / region free of borders, a vision of peace and love in the New Middle East, a vision that no longer sees the need for a Jewish State when, instead, we could all just live together as good human beings - and it is for this reason that they are idolizing him today?

Or, maybe it's just because he's a rock legend (although, I don't recall this special treatment being given to any other rock legend who died).

In either case, it made for some good blog material.

Israel
Zionism
Judaism