from the "banality of evil" to willfully condoning and rationalizing evil, (4.00 / 2)

in only 60 years.

beyond horrendous.

And they will definitely cause themselves -- and us all -- to be killed in revenge for this evil they cheer for.

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by: amberglow @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 16:04:01 PM CST

_Most_ sobering analysis award to Boutros Boutros-Ghali (4.00 / 3)

Boutros Boutros-Ghali (86, UN Secretary-General 1992 to 1996):

[I]t is already clear at this point that Israel's attack on Gaza has been a catastrophe. This military operation has given a boost to fundamentalists not only in Palestine, but also in every other Arab country. I have a hard time believing that Israel hasn't noticed this. In their attack on Lebanon in the summer of 2006, the Israelis must have learned the lesson that actions like these only strengthen the position of the integrists. During that period, Hezbollah increased its influence and grew to become the strongest political forces in Lebanon. . . .

Israel has a habit of closing its eyes to hard facts. In geographical terms, the Gaza Strip represents almost exactly 2 percent of the total area of Palestine. There is no getting around the fact that this area would have to be greatly expanded as part of the scope of a genuine peace agreement. An additional fact on the ground, which the Israelis prefer to forget about, is the 1.3 million Arab Palestinians who remained in their villages and cities when the state of Israel was founded in 1948 and who make up about one-fifth of Israel's current population. By around 2060, the Palestinians will account for roughly half -- if not more -- of the inhabitants of Israel and the areas occupied by Israel. . . .

The growing imbalance between Jews and Arabs in the area controlled by Israel is of decisive importance for the near future of the Jewish state. Already today, you can see that the Zionist idea of having a purely Jewish state is not going to work out and that this (demographic) development renders the idea no longer tenable. The fuse is already lit. Emigration from Israel is already on the rise -- and not just in the wake of crisis situations. More and more parents are losing faith in the future and want to spare their children from having to live a life marked by constant fear and a lack of peace. . . .

Not much has changed in the United States since my term as secretary-general of the United Nations. The American public is not particularly interested in the Arab world, and the pressure exerted by the Jewish lobby is as strong as ever. However, it is unfortunately the case that Israel only responds to pressure if it is coming out of Washington. Given the current disaster in Gaza and the absolute split between Palestinian camps into that of the Islamist Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority, which continues to be open to negotiations, Washington will do nothing over the next three or four years to facilitate the resumption of peace negotiations. Events in Gaza have set us all back by years.  . . .

Working together, the Arabs put a good peace plan on the table that envisioned recognizing Israeli sovereignty within the pre-1967 borders in return for an independent Palestinian state within these borders. Israel made the mistake of ignoring this offer. . . .

http://www.spiegel.de/internat...

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by: fairleft @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 16:20:39 PM CST

middle east crises solved by blogger (0.00 / 0)

news at eleven.

doesn't anyone else get tired of pretending this vastly complex situation can be broken down into simple "x is good, y is bad" terms? there is no clear line where the evil started. isreal has a reason for bombing palestine, hamas has a reason for bombing isreal, bla bla bla. there are too many debts to repay, trying to solve this based on who last did what is always doomed to fail since it perpetuates the historical blame game. the only path is reconciliation, a desire to live with each other. but neither side is there yet, so this will go on.

~* the * Will * to go on *~

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by: ObscureName @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 16:28:52 PM CST

You're Lucky (4.00 / 9)

the blogosphere wasn't around in the 1980s, or we'd have you on record saying the exact same thing about apartheid South Africa.

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 16:35:40 PM CST

[ Parent ]

this makes us all less safe -- all Americans, (4.00 / 3)

and all Jews everywhere.

This situation is why Bin Ladin attacked us. This situation is only possible at all because of our billions every year and all the weapons they can shoot.

You don't even have to look at their reasons -- just look at how WE arm one side and cheer loudest when they wall in, deprive, and bomb, the other.

We're still learning how to live here without discrimination, killing, reservation-ing and stealing land, and/or enslaving others -- they need to do so too. Should we stop our efforts here to make a more equal society with opportunity for all?

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by: amberglow @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 16:40:46 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Sometimes, the truth is simple . . . (4.00 / 10)

but those with an interest in obscuring it have succeeded in doing so.

This is almost certainly the case here, as can be seen from the comment above.

The unvarnished truth is the following:

1) Israel is engaged in, and for a generation has been responsible for, massive human rights violations.

2) The U.S. should not be supplying military aid to nations responsible for massive human rights violations.

3) Conclusion: The U.S. should immediately cut off all military aid to the state of Israel.

Which part of the above syllogism is in any way factually or logically controversial?

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by: John Halle @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 17:30:29 PM CST

[ Parent ]

your sophisticated uselessness is ever so much more appealing (4.00 / 1)

Here's a place to start, since you can't find the start of the evil: the party with more power has more responsibility than the party with less power to change the situation.

And which party would that be? The United States of America, soon to be headed by Barack Obama and the Democrats.

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by: barryr @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 19:55:27 PM CST

[ Parent ]

More "national hysteria" from NYT (4.00 / 4)

These justifications for Israeli atrocities Gaza appeared in an article this morning:

"Almost 100 percent of Israelis feel that the world is hypocritical. Where was the world when our cities were rocketed for eight years and our soldier was kidnapped? Why should we care about the world's view now?"

--What? The "world," at least the US, was giving you billions of dollars in military support

"We do feel bad about it, but we don't feel guilty. The most ethical moral imperative is for Israel to prevail in this conflict over an immoral Islamist philosophy. It is a zero sum conflict."

--This is how you define "moral" imperative: our lives are worth more than theirs?

" 'Imagine,' I tell a French reporter, 'that every two days a missile falls in the Champs-Élysées and only the glass windows of the shops break and five people suffer from shock, What would you say? Wouldn't you be angry? Wouldn't you send missiles at Belgium if it were responsible for missiles on your grand boulevard?' "

--Even if this analogy made any sense, which it doesn't, there's an assumption that the only "logical" response is to do what Israel is doing. Isn't that called myopia?

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by: jeffbinnc @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 18:02:40 PM CST

Every Street Gang In America (4.00 / 2)

understands this logic.

What could possibly be wrong with it?

"Senate passes expanded GI bill despite Bush, McCain opposition"

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by: Paul Rosenberg @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 18:10:41 PM CST

[ Parent ]

This I do not get (4.00 / 2)

Why exactly should the world's media have been writing about the Qassam rockets?

They've been notoriously ineffective. They've been responsible for a minimal number of deaths. More people die on the roads of just about any country you name except Bhutan. It doesn't even begin to compare to the casualties Palestinian suicide bombers used to cause.

It might merit an occasional article, maybe being paragraph ten in reports on other events in the area, but this is not front page news. This is an irritation, newsworthy only insomuch as to explain why Hamas kept up at the tactic - to keep spirits up and to provoke an over-reaction.

Forgotten Countries - a foreign policy-focused blog

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by: Englishlefty @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 18:53:42 PM CST

[ Parent ]

"The world" is code (0.00 / 0)

for "the world media" or "world opinion".  

"Here's a song about blind faith. That's always a dangerous thing, whether it's in your girlfriend--or if it's in your government." Bruce Springsteen, quoted in Glory Days (Born in the USA tour??)  

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by: 4jkb4ia @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 20:22:55 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Or (0.00 / 0)

"The UN".  

"Here's a song about blind faith. That's always a dangerous thing, whether it's in your girlfriend--or if it's in your government." Bruce Springsteen, quoted in Glory Days (Born in the USA tour??)  

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by: 4jkb4ia @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 20:23:35 PM CST

[ Parent ]

IMHO essential reading (0.00 / 0)

Lisa Goldman. In this post she writes that even the Hebrew press did bury the Tel Aviv protest.  

"Here's a song about blind faith. That's always a dangerous thing, whether it's in your girlfriend--or if it's in your government." Bruce Springsteen, quoted in Glory Days (Born in the USA tour??)  

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by: 4jkb4ia @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 20:21:58 PM CST

And tonight, I'm told, President-Elect Obama dines with William Kristol (4.00 / 1)

Beyond irony, beyond shame, beyond anger. The only way to deal with abominations like these is to go after those responsible, wherever they are found. Like the man said: This will not stand....

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by: William Timberman @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 20:39:38 PM CST

"After the Wounded Knee massacre, [L. Frank] Baum reminded [his] readers: (4.00 / 2)

"The Pioneer [his S. Dakota newspaper] has before declared that our only safety depends upon the total extermination of the Indians. Having wronged them for centuries we had better, in order to protect our civilization, follow it up with one more wrong and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth. In this lies the safety for our settlers and ... soldiers..."

EXCERPTED FROM- "Toto Information Awareness: Gaza and the Goon Squad Meet the Wizard" - by Richard Rhames
http://www.counterpunch.org/rh...

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by: DICKERSON3870 @ Tue Jan 13, 2009 at 23:47:55 PM CST