For three days Israel has pounded the Gaza strip in reaction to rocket and missile attacks by the Palestinian Group Hamas. Hamas violated a cease fire agreement by launching missiles and rockets at towns and cities in southern Israel. The Israeli air strikes are the most severe in many years and the death toll in Gaza has surpassed 300 at this writing. Muslims the world over are demonstrating in protest of Israel's actions condemning them for their aggression. Aggression? What aggression, this was in response to being attacked by an organization dedicated to the complete destruction of their country. And why don't these so-called peace loving Muslims condemn the actions of Hamas?
I went back and did a review of the history of modern Israel. Basically there is little or no genetic difference between Jews and Arabs, they are the same people. Both are descendant from Abraham and both call him the father of their peoples. So why then did the Arab countries react so negatively to the establishment of a modern Jewish State back in 1948? A close look seems to reveal a lot of the trouble stemmed from outside influences. Great Britain for example during the period leading up to the war in 1948 continued arresting Jews attempting to return to Israel even though the U.N. had voted to allow it. In fact I was quite surprised to learn that there were British officers who had resigned their commissions to join the Arab forces that fought the Jews. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to conclude that Britain's behavior during that conflict must have led the Arab leaders to believe their cause was internationally acceptable.
But the fact is that the attitude towards the Jews by those Arabs who would see that nation wiped out is and has never been a just one. The Jews are their brothers and considering how they were treated by the outside world one would think the Arab people would have welcomed their Jewish brothers back with open arms. Instead the region has been a hot bed of violence and unreasoning hatred.
For the life of me I cannot see how anyone, Muslims included can defend Hamas. They are the ones who are the aggressors. They blatantly carry out attacks against civilians. Often targeting schools and hospitals. Israel on the other hand takes great effort to avoid civilian casualties. In fact Israel has opened a road into Gaza so that humanitarian aid can be delivered. How much chance do you think there is that Hamas would do that for Israeli civilians?
Israel is doing what it must to try and protect it's citizens. To do anything else would be irresponsible. If anyone is to be condemned it must be Hamas. It's obvious any peace talks they engage in are insincere and as far as this correspondent is concerned a waste of time. The only answer is the destruction of Hamas completely. Think about it. What if you were facing the following scenario. There's a man living around the corner from you. For what ever reason he has decided that he does not recognize your right to live in that neighborhood. In fact he has announced to everyone he does not recognize your right to exist. And now he has announced that he has made it his number one priority to kill you. Now he's throwing Molotov Cocktails at your house and when you retaliate all your neighbors condemn you but not the guy who started it.
Regardless of it's history Israel is a sovereign country like any other. They have a right to defend themselves without being condemned. If the good Muslim peoples of this planet truly love peace then they should be condemning Hamas and any other group or person that continues to hold on to the idea violence has any legitimate place in our world.
*************
Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent
Devin's column, "Left Of The Right" published weekly or more to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.
Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.
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Comments: 50 ( 1 removed by Devin Barber )
At least Israel warned ordirnary citizens beforehand to get out of areas that were targeted. As far as the West leaning more to one side or the other, Hamas is a terrorist organization, who would condone their actions? And let us be honest, at least Israel does attempt to try and make some sort of agreement, and even at their angriest, will listen to intelligent diplomatic discussions, or some sort of idea from countries that are really trying to help. Hamas is hopeful I am sure, to turn this into something else. I hope that they are squelched. It will not be a good thing for any country. Think about that. Thanks for the article Devin, and I did learn a little more history I did not know. Ellen B
Our real question is "Should we do anything about it?" If so we need solutions that have a chance to work. Obviously killing people on either side has failed and will continue to fail. Perhaps there is another way.
I still wonder where the mainstream media is on this one. There was almost no coverage of what was going on in the weeks before this retaliation. I do believe that Rueters, BBC, Associated Press, NPR, ABC/NBC/CBS, all favor the Hammas and Hezbolah over Isreal.
I follow Powerline Blog, one of the best in today's alternative media. They are big supporters of Isreal and follow it better than anybody I know of on the net. Here is their opinion.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/11/022094.php
That was the ORIGINAL aggression.
And now Israel, after having robbed these lands, continues to defend their "right" to be there, with more aggression, while continuing to attempt to expand their borders, into lands occupied by other people.
There is much about the situation that is not being mentioned, in this article. While I'm sure there have been "wrongs" done, on both sides, (in my mind, it is always "wrong" to attack unarmed, innocent civilians), the Israeli military has committed many atrocities against the Palestinian people, which are not being mentioned here.
Take some time to look into the plight of the Palestinian people, and you will soon see that the current "hostility" towards Israel did not just arise out of nowhere. It was been well EARNED. And it is not a simple case of innocent Israeli's attempting to defend their borders from an aggressor that only wants them gone! (though this is how US media consistently portrays the situation)
Cease fires are brokered, and a lot of press is devoted to pointing it out, when Hamas breaks the cease fire, but what is not mentioned, is that Israel is also frequently breaking their agreements, by continuing to expand into Palestinian territories. They bulldoze people's homes, leaving them with nowhere to go, they wall in the Palestinians, and won't let them out to work, or even to get needed medical care, in life or death situations. Their soldiers shoot down Palestinian civilians (even little children) on a daily basis, including reporters who are trying to report to the world, what is really happening. And the attitude of the Israeli's is, they have every "right" to commit all these atrocities, because they are "the chosen people"!
Of course, Israel could not continue with it's usurpations and aggression, if it did not have the support and financial backing of nations like the US. And the only reason the US ever involved itself in any of this, is because of RELIGIOUS FANATICISM, here in our own country. (aka - the Christian right believes the Israeli's are "God's chosen people", that what is happening in the Middle East now, is all a fulfillment of Bible prophecies, which justifies everything that happens there, right or wrong... They also believe anyone who defies Israel, or it's right to "exist", is also defying GOD!)
Which means we are all being dragged into supporting what is basically a "religious war", with decided favoritism towards the Christian and Jewish faiths. Something which is completely against Constitutional law...
Of course then, the finger is pointed at Muslims - why aren't they doing anything to stop the aggression of Hamas and the Palestinians? Well, by the same token, why does our nation support the aggression and war crimes that Israel is committing every day? The answer, in the case of the latter, is simple. Because religious fanatics in our own country, believe that Israel can "do no wrong". That is the only reason our country COULD have, to continue supporting, both financially and militarily, a nation which is continuing to commit war crimes and genocide, every day. If this were any OTHER nation, we would wash our hands of it, and publicly condemn their atrocities!
If all the "Christian" nations of the earth stopped providing Israel with support, Israel would then HAVE to look at some more "diplomatic" solutions to their relationships with their neighbors. They would no longer have the luxury of being the "bully" on the block. They would have to start being NICE to their neighbors, they would have to start accepting compromises which please everyone, not just themselves. From my perspective, I think that would be the BEST thing, and the only REAL chance for PEACE.
But of course, they have stirred up so much hostility, with their hard line politics, their violence and aggression, their attempts to usurp more and more territory, it will be very hard for them to cultivate any good will with their neighbors, now. As they have pretty much destroyed any hope of that, with their callous and brutal policies.
It was a bad move, from the very beginning, to come into this land, usurp it from the people who were already living there, and claim they had the "right" to do this, just because they are ISRAELITES! And, as the Bible says, (paraphrasing) "A house that is not built on a good foundation, cannot be expected to stand for long".
GT
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2008/12/022396.php
Powerline Blog, the best source of news on Isreal that the mainstream press won't give you.
The ox being gored is based on land claim and historical land claim.
If more people were honest about the conflict--and I do not believe that we often are--we would need to reconcile how we truly feel, deep down, about Christianity, about Judaism and about Islam.
How we were raised obviously comes into play, here--and grievously so. And, in my opinion, we don't want to admit that sort of subtle and deep-rooted influence:
Are the Jews the ones who killed Christ?
Do the Muslims wish to destroy the West?
After 9/11, are the Christians on a Crusade, through the auspices of several powerful western nations?
These stereotypic, conspiratorial notions of bias, in my opinion, influence who we demonize:
Israel or Hamas or the Palestinians or the Zionists.
They started it; no, they finished it
No, they finished it; they started it.
It doesn't MATTER who started it. It DOES matter whom we demonize!
Both sides are at fault. The more any of us blame one side or the other, the more things worsen.
To say one media outlet is biased and not to point to another major agency or organization that is, on the other side, biased, is laughable.
Both sides have claim to the same land--historical or otherwise.
Sometimes, intractable probelms are just that--intractable....whether we like it or not and whether we wish to concede it or not.
Brett
But you did leave out the fact that Israel has continued to try to assimilate the West Bank by allowing Jews to construct and enlarge settlements there. You don't get peace that way. Sure the Palestinians have been absurd in their embrace of terror as a tool. But Israel did carve a nation out of somebody else's territory. To call the Jews and Palestinians racially identical oversimplifies. I am part German, should my family have embraced Hitler?
We have reached a place where the grievances of Israel and Palestine are both real. Without BOTH of them showing willingness to forget the past- a tall order- and refrain from acts that marginalize the OTHER- another tall order- there can be no peace. There are plenty of jihadists on one side of the fence and a fair number of Greater-Promised-Land Zionist nut cases on the other, such as the guy currently in prison for assassinating Yitzhak Rabin and effectively ending the peace process long ago. You can't condemn one side without sparing a word for the failings of the other.
So, I really have no hope. Now, they both(Yes, Iran is funding Hammas) have Nukes, and are dumb enough to use them. Isreal lives in a world with personal and economic freedoms, Islam, I hope someday can, but it's doubtful.
There IS" a peaceful way out of this, it's just that Hamas has no interest in peace; their only goal is victory over Israel. And their idea of victory is the elimination of Israel. How do you negotiate with that? Answer... you don't. Sometimes there is no other choice than to defeat your attacker so they cannot attack you any more.
I agree that our foreign policy in re Isreal is that they're in the right, period. And I agree that's wrongheaded. But that can of worms was opened in 1948, and there's no getting the worms back in the can. We have to work with what IS, not what we wish things were. Noting is to be gained untill and unless BOTH sides abide completely by the terms of the truce.
Well expressed article! If one looks at the history, the prejudice against Jews is not limited to the Muslim world, by any means. That is why they were so easily victimized by Hitler, people were ready to believe bad things about Jews without any proof other than their being Jews.
Some of this is directly related to the Jewish merchants skills in commerce and banking. It seems to be diminishing today, perhaps because other individuals are seen as the banking forces today. And hopefully, we've become a little more sophisticated in our evaluation of things and more inclined to ask for proof. We'll hope the field will balance out and people will not be discriminated against because of race regardless what theirs might be.
I believe that Israel has every right to defend itself. That would appear to be exactly what they are doing at this time. And you are correct, there was no outcry when the Israeli towns were targeted.
Hamas is an organization currently fighting in the Palestinian areas of Gaza (plus Lebanon, etc). It is not "the" Palestinians. The innocent collateral damage in the territories is on the hands of both Hamas (for drawing the fire) and Israel, for disproportional and sometimes less-than-discriminating violent response.
Let's not forget the blockades, the checkpoints, the wall, etc. that peaceful, non-Hamas-affiliated Palestinians must go through on a daily (and sometimes hourly) basis just to live their quiet lives ... or should I say, the lives they have left.
Israel has a right to defend itself, but the innocents among the Palestinians who are being slaughtered and maimed in the name of controlling Hamas terrorism (and let's remember, right or wrong, Hamas is providing some humanitarian aid to the Palestinians who desperately need it) are paying too high a price for this conflict.
>Muslims the world over are demonstrating in protest of Israel's
> actions condemning them for their aggression. Aggression?
You got it. Muslims are complaining because non-Muslims will not
just die, or put up with their abuses or intolerances that the world
has been bullied with long enough.
If they are going to ask for respect to be immoral criminal countries, the world sooner or later has to realilze there is no way this can be allowed to stand no matter how many hundreds of years they have gotten away with it inside their own societies.
I just know that there are enough natural disasters in the world, ztunamis, earthquakes, tornados, famine, drought, global warming, diseases and the like, WITHOUT man creating man-made problems with conflict, bombings, wars ALL mostly linked with what goes on in the minds of groups of mankind.
WE HAVE INTELLIGENCE! THIS IS THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY! We have advanced since the Romans invaded across Europe. Strange how ego gets in the way of calm, rational thought. Today, mankind has the power to invent new technology for medicine, transport, communications and elsewhere, but some people just cannot give up the ol' cave-man instinct of just smashing someone out of existence simply because they are in the way.
I thought following a particular belief did away with that sort of thing!!
We are ALL special, unique, no matter what religion we claim to follow, or others have persuaded us to follow. Hate is like a snake biting its own tail.
Peace.
Turning a religion into a viral political system that demands sacrifice, terrorism and murder in order to avoid it yourself is not something that should ever have been accepted or condoned in the UN or anywhere else.
All we can see them doing about anything is blowing things up.
When a Palestinians spends any time with a Westerner they are informed on, told on to whatever their local government structure is. If they say anything that is critical of the Palestinian government or positive about the Israelis they can be accused of collaboration. If this happens they put their life their family's life at risk and many have been publicly tortured and murdered for it.
The nature of a totalitarian state is that innocents are ground up into the machine so that they are used militarily to the greatest extent they can be.
The ugly way out of this is to do what needs to be done, whatever the immediate damage,and then make sure that such a system is obliterated and never has the opportunity to enslave their people again.
As long as there are differences in Religion, Nukes wont even fix the problems. This War will never end until God returns to make everything right.
Not everyone believes in the same set of virtues as you. Some, unfortunately, are told what to believe from an early age and cannot question what they are expected to do in their religious and cultural habits. It's called 'conditioning.'
I regret, it is a dilemma; both sides must back down to stop the meaningless deaths, but neither can see it. They each see themselves as 'right' because of what they have read or been told. How sad to be that conditioned.
Think out of the box. You are liable to find the air is fresher and you can breathe easier!
Peace.
You dont have to believe in what I do, and I never said you did. If someone points a gun at my head I know where I am going if he follows through. Do you? My point is this, as long as their is a difference in beliefs as far as religions go between Isreal and Gaza they will fight and thats the end of the story. So my saying that God is the only one to make it right in the middle east is my belief and it doesn't have to be yours. Happy New Years
This whole Palestinian problem comes from a bullying, abusive, sick mentality of the Arab culture in the Middle East that has corrupted Islam and been appeased by the West for over 100 years. If it were not for the fact that the main cultural sites of Islam are in the Middle East, and that the Arab countries, and Iran, have so much oil, this would not matter, the Arabs would have wasted away by now.
It is the West's fault, philosophically, on multiple accounts that while we claim to be all about democracy and freedom, we do not live up to our beliefs unless someone can make a ton of money on it and use that money to water down our core beliefs and cool down the fervor for freedom and justice that we in the West must have to preserve our culture. Unrestrained greed misnamed as Capitalism and Liberty is what is killing the will of the people to see justice on the world when they cannot see justice for themselves.
Long before the Zionist movement to build a homeland for the Jews, and before WWII the Muslims in the Middle East were persecuting minorities. It is the motivation for the Jews to build a homeland, something the Christian Armenians did not get to do before they were murdered about the time of WWI.
The reality if Islamic states is that only Muslims have recognized legal rights, something that is antithetical to the very idea of human rights - yet these countries are somehow allowed into the UN to corrupt the aim and votes of this attempt and global democracy.
In order to prevent Israel from coming into existence, Palestinian Muslims, Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Syria allied their countries in WWII with the Nazis. (notice the absence of Saudi Arabia on that list who was an ally) At the end of the war, the Nazis in Germany were punished and removed from power, and forbidden to come back - but not the Nazis in the Middle East.
Notice on the web the formations of Hamas and Hezbollah using the Nazi raised arm salute as their own form of salute ... there is certainly no religious Islamic gesture of that form.
After WWII the Nazi leaders of the Middle East were left in place for the sake of expediency, the world was tired of war, and to fight the Muslim world was just something that was not going to happen. Because of this decision and the oil that was found there there has been allowed to come into existence a virulent totalitarian culture of evil based on a corruption of Islam and expanded by terror and propaganda, disinformation and lies. Today "Mein Kampf" and the proven forgery "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" are bestsellers in the Arab world. Movies that portray Jews in a postive or even human light are banned ... such as "Schindler's List". Those in the Arab Muslim world that ask questions or disagree with the decree against the West are criminals.
This is a war to confirm the injustice and evil of a way of life that was bad enough when it was just between a few tribes in the desert, but should be not tolerated and ended clearly when it makes a mockery of the beliefs and culture necessary for tolerant cooperative survival on our planet between peoples of different cultures and societies.