This article succinctly describes the lunacy of Israeli (and American) policy towards the Palestinians: why it is barbaric, why it will never work, and the illogic of its supporters.

Glenn has explained what happened vis a vis that video link (he did not "post the video," he posted a link to it.) It had been posted here in comments earlier, and has been widely disseminated around the internets. It was debunked; he posted the debunking. That's kinda how things work on a site like this. Journalism blog-style.

The horror of what's in that video -- no matter how it came about -- is something Americans hardly ever see on their teevees. Consequently, Americans have very little idea what Gazans (or sometimes Israelis) are going through. All they ever see is the mostly cleaned up aftermath of the bombs and the missiles, the suiciders, "bad" but not "too bad." If they routinely saw the mangled bodies and the bloody body parts, the survivors writhing in pain and calling out for help, the wimpering children, and they understood THAT was the consequence of keeping these conflicts going, there might -- just might -- be more impetus to end them. Leaders and ordinary people might -- just might -- be forced to find a way to bring it to a halt.

Glenn, you got busted linking to a clip of violence not caused by Israelis from 2005, and this is your correction?

(UPDATE: there's good reason to believe it's not from an Israeli attack), but it's certainly reflective of the carnage in Gaza. It's much easier to undervalue the suffering imposed on The Other when you don't have to see it.

How is it "reflective of the carnage in Gaza" any more than a clip from people being killed in Bosnia in 1994? Why not admit in your zeal to show Israeli "atrocity" you bit before you should have?

It's going to be hard to take you seriously the next time you critique traditional media's mistakes, misquotes and mis-citations, and then their lack of refutation. If you're going to be a real journalist (and you are, as the recent Chicago Tribune shows), you need to live by the very expectations you have so rightly placed on traditional corporate media the last few years.

Glenn, did something happen to you in early childhood that made you hate your mommy? Did your adolescent experiences as a closeted gay make you rebel against your synagogue?

No and no. I'm happy to answer.

But there's a major difference: I'm not passionately invested one way or the other in Israel. In fact, my strong policy preference would be for the U.S. to cease treating it like the 51st state and supporting it no matter what it does, and then, to me, it'd be like any other distant conflict -- for the participants to resolve on their own.

I'm not on the side of Hamas or the Palestinians. As I've made clear, I think Hamas commits war crimes and shooting rockets at civilians is outrageous. I have no passionate attachment nor antipathy towards Israel. It's you who does. That's the point.

You are doing nothing but patronizing those who disagree with you, and it's extremely offensive.

-- zenwick

'All exit doors are to remain open during business hours'.

Bravo Glenn. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. In a sea of cowardice, and group think, you emerge.

Gosh, whatsamatter Zenwick? Did your upbringing so emasculate you that you cannot think as an individual, but only as a "Jew"

That bit of prpjection on your part was very telling. I always suspected that American Zionism was rooted in socio-sexual dislocations of Jews in America, but that bit of projection was stunning proof.

"n fact, my strong policy preference would be for the U.S. to cease treating it like the 51st state and supporting it no matter what it does, and then, to me, it'd be like any other distant conflict -- for the participants to resolve on their own."

Mine too. It is the perfect solution, the one staring the world in the face for forty years.

xtra hilarious with that picture. the only humor to find in all of this mess, i suppose

the perfect word for arguments that rely on such gems as "What about the Babylonians not speaking perfect English?" This sort of thing inevitably provokes "What about the Hittites cheating the Babylonians when they were trading on the Silk Road?"......Then there's something about the Canaanites who were really Phoenicians but "What about Cleopatra? I've been told that she was a Norwegian" and so it goes on and on.

This is 2009 but some people on this thread don't seem to accept that. In China it's going to be "The Year of the Camel"..maybe?

I'm not going to defend Chris Matthews, Bryan Williams, or Ann Coulter. Frankly I think they're all trash. I'm telling it the way I saw it, and I don't read those clowns.

Tell me, did Americans at large tune in and talk about how wonderful and Reagan-like George Bush was for the aircraft carrier stunt? Did any of your friends or coworkers react that way at the time? Or was that just the usual garbage from the vapid chattering class?

Chris Matthews gets sexually excited at anything with pants that looks like it might smoke a cigar and drink a nice scotch. Ann Coulter is a caricature of herself, who doesn't even really believe her own crap, and Bryan Williams is a complete hack.

What did Keith and Jon have to say about it at the time? Anyone remember?

Far and away the more war-mongering and massacring religion of the past 1000 years has been Christianity. Convenient how that always gets left out of our history books.

Not sure where you matriculated, but the Crusades, the Inquisition etc. were all covered pretty thoroughly in my textbooks. Studying those things was a definite contributor to my rejection of organized religion of any kind at a rather young age.

It's that sort of inflammatory, easily-disproved rhetoric that makes it difficult for the people you are arguing with here to take your position as anything but knee-jerk support for Israel. It is also a perfect illustration of Glenn's thesis:

Extreme emotional and cultural identification with one side leads people to believe that X is good when done by them and evil when done to them.