Site Presented By
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009
"Hamas official said that his security forces had launched a massive "preemptive" campaign aimed at thwarting Fatah's attempts to "spread anarchy and chaos." He confirmed that many Fatah operatives had been shot in the legs over the past few days by Hamas "to make sure that they don't help Israel."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1230733155685
Where is the Salon community outrage? Oh yeah, it only goes against the Israelis for killing the civilians which Hamas hides behind, never against the innocent people of Hamas. My bad.
"many parts of american public opinion"? after 9/11 even the pacifists were seeking to hang all the muslims/arabs. friends of mine who were never happy with israel's treatment of the palestinians were suddenly in favor of nuking the entire arab peninsula. and the majority of americans supported invading iraq for years, until it got too costly. and the antiwar folks couldn't drum up more than lip service, famously. and now obama is elected on a platform of keeping the war going in afghanistan.
yeah, that's many parts alright. i guess that if they had to go hide in the basement a couple of times a day for fear of rockets landing on their house, even though they hardly ever killed anybody, they would seek mutual discourse and airing of grievances before agonizingly choosing the path of war as a last resort.
of course the big question is why do hamas/palestinians choose the path of war when it's clear they can't win a military victory, and all they can hope for is a huge disaster and a lot of global sympathy which never seems to get them anything else? what do they have to lose by actually stopping the rockets for a year and using the carrot of peace and the stick of starting the bombardment again to manipulate the israeli voters to get their government to lighten up?
Except for the fact that the history of Zionism undermines your entire point
That's the way you see it, and when you frame it that way, if I agreed with you, then you might have a point. What I'm trying to get through your (apparently quite thick) outer brain covering is that, if you don't start from that premise, as I don't, your accusation that I hate Americans makes absolutely no sense. Perhaps the subtlety of this concept will continue to elude you.
Israel can continue its cruelty and brutality only for so long. Their success has relied on the inability of Arabs to agree on pretty much anything and the depravity of their leaders and most Sunni fundamentalist ideologies. The Israeli belief that they can dominate their neighbors via military force is based on the virulent racism that underlies Israeli culture and politics, and the inability of Jews in Israel and America to combat the pervasive extremist ideologies prevalent within their community. The Arabs will not remain asleep and ineffective forever, and they will never give up Jerusalem or have their will broken by Israel. Someday, they will learn how to translate that will into action. That's how it has also worked. Hezbollah represents the bare beginnings of Arabs awakening to their potential, one which will likely take some generations to fully develop. The large technological advantage Israel enjoys at the present time is one that can be easily negated with concerted action by the Arabs such as supply interdiction, concerted action that they will one day be capable of. Israel's only hope for survival is to marginalize their extremists, acknowledge their crimes, and submit to a fair US-guaranteed peace with their neighbors. Absent that, it's only a matter of time before another Jewish exodus, one from which they will never return.
God preordained all this stuff, so if Gaza gets flattened into a pancake....god's will and all. Who are the people of Gaza to complain about god's will, anyway?
But they arent worried. I saw the spokesman for Hamas, he said "BRING Em ON!, they were going to turn it into a graveyard for the Jews", and what not.
Then him, Tariq Aziz (akaBaghdad Bob), and the black knight from Monty Python brigade will drive the zionists into the sea.
the middle east is a silly place
Gotta say - anytime William Kristol (NYT op-ed yesterday) says your invasion strategy is sound and will probably succeed.......you SERIOUSLY need to get a new strategy.
"in America Arab Muslims and Jews can get along and do so just fine. They do so at work, at play and at anti-war demonstrations to my direct observation." somethingstinks
Absolutely true. And the thing is, in Tucson, AZ, opposition to Israeli occupation and military force is actually led by Israeli citizens who march with Muslims every week in a show of solidarity. We not only get along, we love each other.
Why did the Jewish population of Europe, when seeking a refuge and a county of their own, have to choose Jerusalem? Wasn't that asking for trouble?
-- Fallonius
One, it's their traditional homeland and ancestral home. Jews have lived in the area since before recorded history. To the point that every Seder (a passover event) has the phrase, Next year in Jerusalem.
Two, Jews would have never left the area, except they were forced out by enemies. Somehow they managed to survive as a distinct people.
Three, after centuries of pogroms and attempts at genocide, it didn't start with Hitler, he was just more effective than most, Jews decided that the only way to keep genocide from happening to their people would be to return to their ancestral home.
So, in seeking reestablishing a country of their own, to be safe from genocide, you have a problem with Jews returning to their own country? Where else where they supposed to go?
It's not as if Jews haven't had a many thousand year history with the area, it's not as if Jerusalem isn't their spiritual home.
If Mecca and Medina were conquered by a foreign body, let's say the Chinese, I'd support Arab Muslims returning to their homeland as well.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The Maine fight was supposed to be the dress rehearsal for repealing California's Prop. 8 -- but gay marriage lost
Once one obtains Seriousness credentials in the Washington media, they are irrevocable no matter one's conduct.
Salon headlines in your mailbox
