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Teach,
You’re obviously pro-Israel. I’m just wondering why. Could you explain that for me? Is it a religious choice?
Reasic, I don’t think you have to be pro-Israel to understand that as long as Hamas fires rockets from Gaza, Israel has a right to defend itself.
That doesn’t mean I’m not concerned about the Palestinian civilians caught in the crossfire or those living under terrible conditions. I hope that some day a two-state solution in which the Palestinians can live freely and peacefully in the West Bank and Gaza is possible.
Sorry about the Giants, Teach.
Let’s see, Reasic. I have a choice between choosing to support a democracy made up of people who would prefer peace, but have been attacked non-stop since the inception of the nation, or, I can support murderous thugs who specifically target civilians, including women and children, send their children off to blow themselves up, teach their children hate, and have turned their culture and religion into one of hate and murder.
Hmmm, tough choice. Which one do you support, Reasic? Based on your party affiliation, and your cute little “is it a religious choice?”, I suspect you support the murderous group. Am I right?
And, yes, like Silke, I am concerned about the civilians. I think it is a crying shame that so many get put in the middle of war as human shields by Hamas (and Hezbollah, etc). Of course, they themselves could decide “hmm, maybe backing a murderous terrorist group is not a good idea. Maybe instead of working towards destroying Israel, we could work towards peace and prosperity.”
I understand your concern over the current situation, but I think it is myopic. Yes, the Palestinians currently seem to be the bad guys, because of random rocket attacks, but have you ever looked at the potential reasons for the rocket attacks, or the history of the dispute?
In an effort to be objective about it, I did. The entire region belonged to Arab people for centuries. Then, Jews began to migrate to the region in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Over the years, skirmishes between the groups resulted, INCLUDING terrorism by the Jews. You should research groups such as the Irgun and the Lehi, and also the Haifa Oil Refinery Massacre and the Deir Yassin Massacre. Now, Israel no longer resorts to such tactics, but they don’t need to because they have financial and military support from powerful nations like the US, which allows them to have an overwhelming naval, air, and ground presence. No need for RPGs and stones when you have tanks, jets, bombs, battleships, and state of the art weaponry, right?
Now, Israel was given a certain amount of land in 1948. Then, in ’67, they launched an unprovoked attack on their neighbors, resulting in the acquisition of the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan Heights. The UN passed a resolution that they withdraw from conquered lands, but they did not. So we have a situation in which many Arab people are living under what they consider to be a an occupation by foreign oppressors. Gee, I wonder why they’re so pissed.
Understand here, that I do not condone the Palestinian rocket attacks or any other acts of terrorism. However, I do try to understand the history of the situation, so that I can better evaluate which course of action I think would be best.
This is a very complicated issue, and my experience has been that most right-wingers are pro-Israel for religious reasons, and they generally over-simplify everything to rationalize their stance. It usually seems to boil down to a hatred of the methods used by Palestinians, and a support for Israel for biblical (end times) reasons.
No, I don’t agree with rocket fire coming out of Gaza, but either do I agree with the indiscriminate bombing, which generally results in many times the casualties (in this case over 100 times). I don’t agree with a call for the destruction of Israel, but neither do I agree with starving Palestinians.
Reasic said: I don’t agree with rocket fire coming out of Gaza, but either do I agree with the indiscriminate bombing, which generally results in many times the casualties (in this case over 100 times). I don’t agree with a call for the destruction of Israel, but neither do I agree with starving Palestinians.
I am well aware of the history of the founding of Israel, but none of those statements are mutually exclusive nor do they preclude one from supporting Israel’s right to live in peace and the Palestinians’ right to live in their own viable state.
I have always thought that what the Palestinian people need most is the equivalent of their own Gandhi. I don’t know if that will ever be possible given the history of this struggle but this cycle of violence where both sides can’t see past the latest provocation has to stop before anything can be accomplished.
I can agree with that, Silke. A Ghandi figure would be great. However, you must also remember that those types of people are not usually immediately popular, and often get jailed and even assassinated (Ghandi and MLK being good examples). However, the final outcome usually ends up working out in the end. Hamas is definitely the anti-Ghandi, and Palestinians would do much better without them.
Reasic, the entire region belonged to the Hebrews for quite a long time, too. See The Bible and other historical documents about that.
And it is a very complicated issue, one that is exasperated by the failure of the other Arab nations to provide anything much more then graft and extremist Islamic viewpoints to the Palestinians. They have been given chances time after time to join the civilized world, but, their leaders constantly let them down. Even Clinton could do little. They have been given back territory won during wars that Arabs started 4 times, and Israeli settlers have been kicked out. They still want more and more. Hamas’ charter calls for the destruction of Israel. That is what they want.
A Ghandi like figure is good, but, what they really need is $$$. We could start with the billions that Arafat skimmed (I think he was worth something like $4.5 billion when he croaked), and allow the money to be used for aid, education, infrustracture, etc, instead of bombs, missiles, and guns. I think raising their standard of living could do wonders.
Yes, I realize that. If you go back far enough, it’s belonged to just about everybody (Babylonia, Assyria, Greece, Rome, etc., etc.). However, I was simply trying to get you to look through the eyes of a Palestinian for once. All they’ve known for recent centuries is that this land was theirs, and was very recently taken from them, and is now occupied by Israel. Imagine 60 years ago a large contingent of illegal immigrants in the US proclaimed independence, and were recognized as a sovereign country within our borders, effectively taking a large portion of our country away from us. Let’s say, just for argument’s sake that it’s the entire middle of the country. Then, 20 years later, they took the rest of the country. Now, they are extremely powerful, propped up by huge support from other hispanic countries. How might those who live in Oregon or Virginia feel about that?
They have not been given much of what was taken in ’67, which was started by Israel. Sure, the extremists might have extreme views (imagine that), but there are also moderates, who would like a withdrawal by Israel to 1948 boundaries, which Israel refuses to do. And yes, Israel “moved out” of Gaza, but they still have an oppressive blockade in place, tightly controlling every route in or out, either by land or by sea.
And yet Israel blocks most if not all aid from reaching Gaza. Raising their standard of living and their collective education would do wonders, but claiming that Israel doesn’t at least exacerbate the problem is delusional.
Israel won that land in wars that they did not start. They did not have to give any back.
Where are you getting the info that Israel blocks “most if not all aid?”
No, Israel took those lands in a war that lasted six days in 1967 (called the Six Days War). This was a pre-emptive attack by Israel, in which they bombed Egyptian planes on the ground, for instance. Israel was the first to attack. Afterwards, the UN passed a resolution (242, I think), calling for a withdrawal to 1948 boundaries. Look it up.
From pretty much everywhere? Why would everyone be calling for a stop to the Israeli blockade, if it didn’t exist?