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Letters
Monday, January 5, 2009 12:00 AM

Why Israelis support the Gaza offensive

Israel's post-traumatic war is not just about stopping Hamas rockets, but about repairing reputations -- and erasing the stain of failure.

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  • Monday, January 5, 2009 05:48 PM

    EatingRaul and what did I agree with you on?

    Unlike you, I lived in Israel for many years and served in the IDF. I witnessed the racism, the state terrorism and the racism induced sadism at military check-points first hand. Even strict searches for weapons can be conducted without humiliating the searched. What does spitting on men in front of their wives and kids, forcing them to dance or calling them faggots and goat fuckers in front of friends and family have to do with a security check? Go paddle your Zionist/neoconpropagand elsewhere you asshole.

    -- EatingRaul

    Like most of your ilk, you deliberately try to see things with as negative a view towards Israel as possible. I really don't care if you say you served in the IDF or not.

    I agreed with you the checkpoints suck, but if you actually served, you'd know they are manned mostly by young people, and you'd also know that there's a pressure at the check points.

    People, and young people especially, tend to respond to pressure with inappropriate responses. Notice, I even stated before that such can be counter productive to security.

    Nobody should be spit on, or humiliated in any way, but people should also not strap bombs to their bodies and blow people up.

    I've advocated having older people at checkpoints, they are less likely to engage in that activity, but I don't exactly have any pull with the IDF. It would behoove them to do so, since just like when American soldiers commits such acts, it undermines pretty much everything that is positive.

    I can understand why someone subject to that is full of anger and wants to strike back, I can also understand how it got to that point.

    That's where we differ, you have fallen into seeing only one side.

    To you Israeli society is racist, despite the acceptance of tens of thousands of black Africans.

    I'm not a fan of how Israeli society treats its Arab members, but I also understand that a great many view them as a third column.

    As I've said before, the basic issue is one of trust, which was building, and the extremists on both sides are doing what they can to reduce trust.

    That said, no Jew lives in the Palestinian areas, except as a captive. It's more Judenrein than even Hitler achieved, and while Arabs in Israel are certainly second class citizens, they are at least citizens.

    If Jew or Muslim could freely travel in both areas without fear, the whole area would be better off.

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