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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
You wrote that you're not in a position to do anything about the rockets.
OK.
So what *would* you do, as a self-described wishy-washy liberal (I hope that was you:) to stop the rockets?
Good afternoon from (a suburb of) Tel Aviv.
I agree with every word you wrote.
Regarding self-haters like Glenn, I believe it's a result of 2000 years of diaspora living, where non-jewish terror and murder caused jews to internalize fear, weakness, and self-hatred. If you want to see the best example of this, go see Woody Allen's Annie Hall. The scene where he's eating with his non-jewish girlfriend's family, and imagines himself being seen as an ultra-orthodox jew, tells it all.
Jews like Glenn have a real problem when they see Israel using force in its defense. I believe it's mostly fear; we're abandoning the historical jewish response to persecution, which is to run, and trying something new; what if we fail?
Israel is a criminal state that kills children with abandon. This is essentially what humanitarian organizations like the International Committee of the Red Cross have said. Are they anti-Semitic too?
If anybody ever gets arrested for whatever reason,
ask the pleasant police for a larger pair of handcuffs.
Tight wrist-cuffs, and sitting in a cop car is a bummer.
So, hum birdsongs? A blue bird do a dung shoulder splat?
Israel is a criminal state that kills children with abandon.
Actually we haven't gotten around to using abandon yet.
But I'll suggest it at the next Mossad meeting, nkay?
The author's assertion that the rockets sent by Hamas into southern Israeli cities which have increased dramatically in recent months, killing and wounding Israeli civilians, "pose no real threat to Israel" is utterly groundless. Hamas, a sworn enemy of the Jewish State, has repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel. In recent weeks its rockets have reached deeper into Israel than ever before. Hamas intentionally targets civilian populations, and the constant stream of rockets has compelled the shutdown of schools in cities across southern Israel. This poses "no real threat"?
Let me try to simplify this for you:
Hamas fires crude rockets on Israel. In 8 years they kill 20 people. They are the "little terrorists" . It doesn't justify it that most of Hamas are refugees whose land was stolen by Israel and who have for the past 60 years been prevented from returning to it contrary to UN resolutions or that they are under foreign military occupation. Terrorism is terrorism .
Israel attacks Gaza with white phosphorous bombs that burn civilians and other lethal weapons killing over 900 people including 250 children and injuring over 4000 people (over half of them are women and children) many of whom will die or be badly handicapped due to the nature of the weapons Israel uses indiscriminately. They are the "big terrorists". It doesn't justify it that they are fighting Hamas. Terrorism is terrorism.
I'm enjoying Eran Yashiv who is the associate professor of economics at Tel Aviv University and research fellow at the Center of Economic Performance in London School of Economics.He's been studying religious traditions for over thirty years.
There is a excellent interview with Rabbi Adin Steinsatz.
Is it googled?
He's a Rabbi who aspires to those great lawyers who are influenced by a Mahatma Gandhi.
Let our first act every mourning be the following resolve:`I shall not fear anyone on earth.
I shall fear only God. I shall bear ill-will towards no one. I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
That's quoted in Divine Sparks, ed. Karen Speerstra (Morning Light Press, 2005).
(Maybe this same Mahatma Gandhi quote will not be deleted here. I hope not. If not, thanks.
Actually we haven't gotten around to using abandon yet.
But I'll suggest it at the next Mossad meeting, nkay?
- JonathanInTelAviv
This is assuming you are not called to the international criminal court before your next meeting. Oops I forgot you feel secure protected by the Israel Lobby which will make it all OK.
One of my many eccentric "odd-ways" is if I bump, I enjoy saying:`Hey! Nice sensation! It's my own nature's entertainment. Bumping is fun.
If Vulcan were a Rabbi, maybe buy you soup?
I'd enjoy conversation over chicken rice broth.
So by your reasoning the Indian police who killed innocent people while hunting the Mumbai terrorists are also terrorists.
Even worse, the Mumbai terrorists only went at it for a few days, not the years Hamas has been using terror.
I guess the murder of hundreds of children and the maiming of thousands more in Gaza doesn't really concern you in the least (after all they are not Jewish). I am sure the Nazis made jokes as they murdered Jews.
Most of Hamas support comes from useful idiots here in the west.
January 13, 2009: The only chance Hamas has of surviving its current battle with Israel, is to stir up enough anger against Israel to force the Israelis to stop fighting, and enter into a ceasefire agreement that Hamas can easily subvert. This Information War campaign is not going well for Hamas. While there are demonstrations in Moslem countries, and in the West as well, they are not as numerous or as spirited as in the past. Worse, most Arab countries are either lukewarm in their criticism of Israel, or openly blame Hamas for the current round of fighting.
There are several trends going on here. First, most Moslem nations have had it with Islamic terrorism. Even before September 11, 2001, the current round of Islamic terrorism was unpopular in Moslem countries where Islamic terrorists had already been operating. The al Qaeda campaign in Iraq was particularly demoralizing to Moslems worldwide. Al Qaeda revealed itself to be more capable, and willing, to kill Moslem civilians, than non-Moslem troops. Al Qaeda made things worse by bragging about non-existent successes and claiming that victory was inevitable. By 2007, it was obvious that al Qaeda had been defeated, and even al Qaeda eventually admitted it. Now Hamas is asking Moslems to buy into another campaign, just like the failed al Qaeda effort. A lot of Moslems are not taking the bait, despite efforts by Arab media organizations to make it appear otherwise.
Second, Hamas is seen as counterproductive to Moslem goals. That raises another problem. What exactly are "Moslem goals." To the Islamic radicals, it's turning the world into one big Islamic state. To Islamic moderates (or just "non-radicals") it's getting Moslems in general a little more respect. Islam, as a religion/culture, is not big on introspection and taking responsibility for failure. But the Islamic world has lower economic and educational achievement than the rest of the world, and a lot of that is a direct result of some Islamic practices (no education for women, or working outside the home, and general resistance to new ideas and technology). An increasing number of Moslems are beginning to question these traditional practices, and are hostile to the old school attitudes espoused by Hamas.
Third, there is the Iranian connection Hamas has developed. Iran is another Islamic state, but one that opposes the majority (80 percent of Moslems) Sunni sect of Islam. The Iranians champion Shia Islam (ten percent of all Moslems). Nearly all Palestinian Moslems are Sunni, and many are uncomfortable with this Shia connection, as well as the failed radicalism of the Shia clergy that run Iran (as a religious dictatorship which calls itself an "Islamic republic.")
Hamas is seen as a spoiler, an organization that concentrates on destruction, rather than trying to build something positive. While most Moslems back the destruction of Israel and killing of Jews, if only because of decades of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda, most also prefer the Fatah approach to dealing with Israel (lie and cheat all you have to in order to establish a separate Palestinian state). Actually, more Moslems are coming to accept Israel, and are not supporting a genocide of all Jews. Hamas is backing the wrong trends.
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 survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
Salon headlines in your mailbox
