News+and+politics religion philosophy the cynic librarian: Israel Gets Another Pass While Palestinians Bleed to Death

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Israel Gets Another Pass While Palestinians Bleed to Death

... and gasp, hunger, thirst, shiver with terror...

So where is the outrage over Israel's invasion of the sovereign territory of Palestine? Pause..............

The "arrest" of democratically elected Palestinian officials. Pause.......................................................

There is none. Instead, the news media lead off the story noting that this invasion and the arrests were preceded by the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by a radical wing of Palestinian militants. Oh, wait, didn't Israel kill, then deny killing, then admit killing seven Palestinian family members on a beach?

Pause...........................

Steve Clemons draws a useful historical analogy and puts the Israeli actions into proper perspective:

Israel would do well to go reacquaint itself with the USS Liberty, which Israelis fired on killing American servicemen. I have had a discussion with someone who was the former head of the U.S. National Security Agency who has no doubt at all that Israel's attack on the U.S. ship was purposeful and not an accident, as Israelis and Americans eager to cover up the incident have asserted.

America's response was measured and put in context -- whether one agrees with that or not. Israel got a huge pass.

Israel is demonstrating profound immaturity with its behavior, though I support the importance of negotiating and even pursuing its kidnapped soldier. However, despite its regional superpower status, Israel is showing that it tilts too easily towards responses far disproportionate to any sane or reasonable action. While Israel radicalizes Palestininans and many Arabs in the region with this behavior, it needs to know that it is eroding American support for its behavior and position.

Lines must be drawn -- and Israel is way over the line now.
Who cares? Let Israel rampage and destroy everything. What I'd like to know is who the fuck gave Israel the right to do this? Oh yeah, I forgot.... G--.

Right.

It's about time that they stop pawning off their thuggish and bullying behavior onto God and realize that soon Americans will begin seeing them for the thugs and bullies that they are. Then they will find that all their petitions to God will simply mean nothing since God--it's supposed--does not support murder and irresponsible and conscious spreading of chaos to foment hatred and vengeance.

While we meditate on this irony, let's also pray for the safe release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, as well as the return of compassion, forgiveness, and reason to the daughters of Jerusalem.

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2 comments:

Bukko Boomeranger said...

Nowe Israel has its own Baghdad in the Gaza. Soon to be repeated in East Jerusalem. What's coming will make both sides look back fondly at the "peaceful" days of Intifada 1 and 2. Meanwhile, the average Palestinian people will continue to get chewed up. Where is the Palestinian, or Israeli, Gandhi or Martin Luther King to lead by non-violent moral example?

Faustus and FrankenKitty said...

I have wondered myself about this. There are peace activists on both sides, I know. Perhaps one thing the governments learned in dealin with King and Gandhi is that if you suppress press coverage of their efforts and existence then it's almost as though they do not exist.