the israeli's crying when people in the united states don't agree with what they do is the same thing as a teenager who's finacially dependent on his parents crying when he gets told he can't do whatever he wants. let them do whatever they want, but without our money and without our weapons. this idea of the all powerful israeli military is a total joke! what weapons do they produce themselves other than a tiny assortment of small arms? they are a conscript army full of women, let's see how long they can last without the blank check mislabeled as us foreign aid!
If you don't want the U.S. to give anymore $ to Israel, fine, but that's not really the issue here. And Israel is able to stand on it's own two feet now. The U.S. chooses to support it because we're allies. Not because Israel will go bankrupt if we don't. And not even the biggest Israel hater can deny their intelligence and military is a force to be reckoned with. They have to be at the top of their game, surrounded by their enemies like they are.
By the way, are you aware that we also give millions in aid every year to the Palestinian Authority?
The Palestinians have the right to defend themselves just as surely as the Israelis do. They are human too. It's amazing how that never gets thru in the American media.
If violence is wrong it's wrong for everyone. Eliminationist fantasies aside, the Palestinians aren't going anywhere. If an argument requires denying the humanity of your opponent, it's a shit argument.
In the same way that apartheid South Africa was forced to change, eventually Israel will as well. The occupation and settlements can't continue unending. The only question is how many innocents will die before change occurs.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_p...e_occupied.htmlLeave it to you to start with the liberal moral relativism and post an article from Slate. The Palestinians have a right to protect themselves? From what? Israel wasn't attacking them. Hamas, who the Palestinians actually
elected to be part of their government some years ago and allow to remain among them, has been firing rockets into Israel. From where? Gaza. The same place that Israel forced their own people out of not long ago in a gesture of peace. But "peace for land" always turns into peace for rockets with the Palestinians. And Hamas, like the cowards they are, hide behind their own people, hoping they will be killed in retaliatory strikes so they can then parade their bodies in front of TV cameras. And the international media falls for all of it. Israel is constantly trying to keep the peace. They are fine living with peaceful Palestinians. It's Hamas and it's Palestinian supporters (backed by Iran) who will settle for nothing less than Israel's complete destruction.
One of the under-reported stories is how Palestinians contribute to their own misery through their own bad choices that they refuse to take responsibility for. Case in point:
After Arafat died in late 2005,(leaving his family in Switzerland richer by the $2 billion he embezzled from his own people), Mahmoud Abbas became leader of the Palestinian Authority. Israel thought he was a man of peace so they returned Gaza to the PA--in the process removing 9,000 Jewish settlers, many forcibly, so the Palestinians wouldn't be bothered by any Jews in their midst. The Palestinians immediately voted out the PA and installed Hamas, an Islamic terrorist organization whose charter calls for the destruction of Israel. They then started raining rockets down on Israel (~9k by now).
What did the Palestinians think was going to happen when they voted in Hamas? Did they think Israelis would stand idly by while their country was being attacked? And, what did they think would happen now, when Hamas resumed raining missiles on Israel, storing them in private homes, schools, hospitals and mosques? Israel actually warns Gaza residents when they are about to attack, and gives them time to clear out--do we provide similar concern to our enemies in Afghanistan? The people clear out; Hamas urges them to stay because Hamas wants dead martyrs so they can prop up their corrupt, fascistic regime and generate wailing-mother video for the global media.
I believe the average Palestinian doesn't want war any more than the average Israeli, and with good reason: Palestinians have suffered far more casualties in the many battles waged with Israel. But they need to take responsibility for their actions. Hamas, with Gazans' fervid approval, started the current battle.
And let's not forget the summit Clinton held with Arafat and Barak at Camp David. Even Clinton blamed Arafat for those talks failing. The Palestinians were offered just about everything they ever wanted but he turned it down. The Palestinian masses allow themselves to be fooled and exploited by their leaders.
Actually when Hamas was elected Fatah tried to overthrow it and lost. Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (Fatah) have now just recently formed a unity government. One of Israel's responses was to imprison/kill Hamas elected officials.
As I've written before Israel has increased the number of settlements during the so-called peace process to the point where it is laughable to talk about a two-state solution. They have done this despite the PA acceding to virtually every Israeli demand. There is, absent massive pressure, no longer room for a two-state solution.
You write as if the Palestinians are destroying Israeli homes, forcing the Israelis into ever smaller refugee areas or using live rounds against protesters. This is not the case. The occupation and creeping annexation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza are criminal actions.
Israel doesn't get to pick the leaders of the Palestinians any more than the French got to decide who led the Algerians or the Americans chose those of the Lakota Sioux. From a Palestinian perspective one could just as easily say that we refuse to negotiate with an Israeli government that includes groups like Shas or Yisrael Beitenu.
The only solution long term is a unitary state with equal rights for all. If South Africa can accomplish it, Israel certainly can.
Israel may not get to choose the leaders of the Palestinians but there can be repercussions for the Palestinians choosing terrorists to lead them. And Israel is
forced to play hardball with the Palestinians, keeping them under tight control, because time and again the Palestinians have proven themselves to be unworthy of anything more. Every time Israel gives something, they get bit in the ass for it. The Palestinians are completely dysfunctional and incapable of running their own state. Leave it to a liberal hack like you to get this whole thing totally back-assward. You're what I was talking about in my first post.
