Kopel blames the victim for being killed
Rocky Mountain News media critic Dave Kopel’s column attacking Rachel Corrie was appalling (“Stories about slain ‘shield’ lacking,” On the Media, Oct. 6). In effect, Kopel blamed the victim for being killed by Israeli forces.
Kopel complained that The Denver Post failed to provide a context for Corrie’s death. He then did the same thing by omitting the fact that the Israeli destruction of homes is a violation of the Geneva Conventions. Kopel also managed to ignore the 40-year Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
Kopel tried to spin the International Solidarity Movement’s nonviolent efforts to protect ordinary Palestinians from Israeli violence. His major point was that ISM talked with people using violence in their resistance to Israeli occupation. If talking with people who use violence is a problem, what does that say about those who talked with Israeli terrorists Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir who later became Israeli prime ministers?
Israeli historians such as Benny Morris and Ilan Pappe have documented some of Israel’s early use of massive violence in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during 1948-’49. Ellen Cantarow, a Jewish author, wrote in 2002 about Israeli crimes: “Those who exonerate or apologize for Israel as it commits them are guilty by association.”
Ron Forthofer, Longmont
There are NO "Palestinian" lands. There were no Palestinians until 1967 - after Israel won the war against all the Arab nations that attacked it. Until that point in time Gaza was part of Egypt and the West Bank was part of Jordan - there was no distinction of any type of unique people(s) that inhabitied these areas. They were Arabs - who lived in Egypt and Jordan. After Israel won the war and took these lands as its own - which is perfectly acceptable when your nation is attacked - these so called 'Palestinians' stole the name that had been once used to describe the entire region going back to the time of the Romans and Jesus Christ. That wonderful Nobel Peace Prize winner Yasser Arafat was the primary propagandist who sold this name (and this lie) to the world and has convinced the likes of Rachel Corrie and apparently Ron Forthofer as well that they are a unique and oppressed people. They are not and they never were a unique people and there has never been a country or a nationality called 'Palestinian' until 40 years ago. They are Jew-hating Arabs who are bent on destroying Israel and have had numerous chances for their own nation/country and every time they have had that chance that have pissed on it and walked away. As Golda Meir once said, and I paraphrase here, "The (so called) Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity."
Posted by Michael on October 20, 2007 05:56 AMThe diverse Arabs, not Palestinians, which Michael correctly says are not an ethnic or racial people and did not have a national occupy nor have right to any land, ought to be glad that the U.S. intervenes in this issue by keeping Israel from whipping them off the face of the planet.
Posted by Allen Campbell on October 20, 2007 07:12 AMSome people are afraid to recognize that Israel has committed atrocities also. They are called fanatics, just as those who don't recognize that the Palestinians have committed atrocities are fanatics.
"whipping them off the face of the planet". Yes, emotional fanatics. Without a tremendous amount of American aid, Israel would not be in a position to do much whipping.
And anyone who claims. as does Michael, that the Palestinian people are not being oppressed by Israel needs to go from the fiction section of his brain to the fact section. Yes, Israel has to take action to defend itself, and it should, but there are very good arguments that it has gone too far and indeed has hurt its own chances for peace by doing so.
Posted by Truth on October 20, 2007 07:34 AMMichael, Michael, How can you say that there were no palestinians before 1967? These culturally differentiated ethnic Arabs lived in Palestine for 600 years or more continuously. I think that they have more of a right to call themselves "Palestinians" than the new Jewish immigrants (Europeans with a dream) that arrived after the British took that area away from the Turks post- WWI (and created a state with UN help in 1948).
I wish people would have more historical knowledge when they say things.
I wish people would have more historical knowledge when they say things.
Posted by GoodGriefMichael on October 20, 2007 07:42 AM
Actually they know perfectly well their history. The Diaspora is an integral part of their history along with the terrorism of the Irgun:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Irgun_attacks_during_the_1930s
What is a myth is that Arabs voluntarily left their homes during the ethnic cleansing of 1948 and that the Israeli Occupation Authority has managed the occupied territories in a humane manner.
Check out the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions to see the number of homes that the Israeli Occupation Authority has demolished over the years (www.icahd.org/eng/). It is ethnic cleansing on par with the Warsaw Ghetto. There is no compassion or mercy by the Israeli Government towards the Palestinian people and these injustices will fuel terrorism for years to come regardless of the outcome of the US occupation of Iraq. The Israeli Occupation Authority killed Rachel and the Israeli supporters are desperate to divert the issue away from self determination for the Palestinian people and the return of Israel to their internationally recognized borders.
Posted by Wes on October 20, 2007 09:38 AMof course it is the victims fault, what you expect individuals to be accountable for their own actions....these folks ( the ones not accountable) are just mirroring the federal elected members of our government.
Posted by on October 20, 2007 10:08 AMHmmmm.....
Dozer versus human "shield"......
No contest.
Dozer "wins" every time.
Her action, standing in front of a moving dozer, was the act of an idiot.
A now deceased idiot.
Doesn't matter "why" she did what she did, Dozer 1 Corrie 0.
There are thousands of ways to express your disapproval of something. Damn few of them are all but GUARANTEED to get you dead.
It ain't rocket science.
The Media and their Jew hating friends in the Democratic party have propped up Corrie as some sort of martyr when in all actuality she represents nothing but liberal stupidity.
Don't stand in front of a moving bulldozer and you wont get flattened like a pancake.
DARWINISM AT WORK
I guess those students at Tienanmen Square shouldn't have stood in front of those tanks either. Those monks in Myanmar shouldn't have stood in front of those soldiers and protested the injustice of the corrupt government junta.
The cowardly Republican approach to confronting injustice is to slink away for fear of their personal safety.
No condemnation of the hand that pushed the throttle of the bulldozer. No questioning of whether there was another way to deal with peaceful protest besides killing someone. Just more mindless hatred towards anyone who wants justice in the Middle East and a solution to the need for Palestinian self-determination. Way back in 2003 the cowardly Republicans were talking about how the March of Democracy would transform the region and reduce terrorism. Now we know they support the roar of the bulldozer and terrorizing people in their homes.
As far as the comments by Posted by on October 20, 2007 10:41 AM that the Democratic Party is anti-semitic, what a liar. There is a difference between the Apartheid policies of the Israeli government and the practice of Judaism. Judaism can survive without the state of Israel. The leading Democratic candidates such as Senator Clinton are very much supporters of the state of Israel and barely recognize the rights of the Palestinians. Quit playing the anti-semitic victim card you fraudulent liar. It cheapens the real issue of antisemitism.
Posted by Wes on October 20, 2007 10:56 AMIt had to be easier and smarter to remove Rachel Corrie from the path of the vehicle, than run over her. I know the Israeli crew claims they didn't see her, but really. And Dave Kopel is a media critic from the Independence Institute which is nothing more than a propaganda mill run by a bunch of self-appointed "experts" with self-promoting titles such as "research director".
Posted by Stan B on October 20, 2007 11:17 AMWes;It is inconvient that you dont acknowledge the reason that dozer was there in the first place. Why do you hate Jews?
LIBERALS ARE IDIOTS!
Posted by on October 20, 2007 11:25 AM"...How can you say that there were no palestinians before 1967? These culturally differentiated ethnic Arabs lived in Palestine for 600 years or more continuously. I think that they have more of a right to call themselves "Palestinians..."
They do. Just like the British citizens in the 13 colonies called themselves Americans. However, naming one's group doesn't give anyone a country or a "right" to the land. If they wanted that, they should have taken it, back, like we took this country from the British and then the Native Americans. The Arabs in Palestine fought (and some continue to fight) and they lost. They need to accept that and work on today and tomorrow, for their children's sake. Otherwise there is no hope.
Posted by Mac on October 20, 2007 12:36 PM11:25 a.m.
It is unfortunate that you cannot devise a coherent statement. Why is it that anyone disagreeing to the Israel actions is a liberal?
Anonymous name callers are cowards!
Posted by Holy Reality on October 20, 2007 12:47 PMNaturally, there is a dispute about the death of Rachel Corrie. Her side say the driver of the dozer saw her, the other side says he could not see her. While my impression from the accounts is that her friends were in a better position to see what happened than were the Israelis other than the dozer driver, we can only speculate, not be sure. In any case, I do think she should be honored just as the person who stood in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square was honored for bringing a great deal of needed publicity to what the Chinese government was doing.
It is inconvient that you dont acknowledge the reason that dozer was there in the first place. Why do you hate Jews?
Posted by on October 20, 2007 11:25 AM
Please tell us why 18,000 Palestinian houses have been demolished. Was it collective punishment against the families of suicide bombers which is against international law or was it simply to illegally take the land by force without compensation?
Why do you hate Arabs and want the Israeli government to steal their land and destroy their culture? Is it for Ersatz Israel? I think we know who the real racists are don't we anonymous?
Posted by Wes on October 20, 2007 03:40 PMMany Jews are supremacists. They call themselves Zionists. Some mistaken Christians have become Neo-Hebrews and Zionists. These people share the same outlook as other supremacists throughout history. They murder other people and take the property of others. They justify their immoral behavior by saying God told them to do it. The Battle of Jericho, the first bragged about genocide in literature (no, the bible isn't history).
Harry Truman observed "The Jews, I find, are very, very selfish. They care not how many Estonians, Latvians, Finns, Poles, Yugoslavs or Greeks get murdered or mistreated as D[isplaced] P[ersons] as long as the Jews get special treatment. Yet when they have power, physical, financial or political neither Hitler nor Stalin has anything on them for cruelty or mistreatment to the under dog. Put an underdog on top and it makes no difference whether his name is Russian, Jewish, Negro, Management, Labor, Mormon, Baptist he goes haywire. I've found very, very few who remember their past condition when prosperity comes." Truman saw the ethnic cleasning that was being done in Israel and he was disgusted. So were many Jews.
The Ethical Culture Society was formed by Jews that rejected supremacist thought (late 1800s and in oppositon to Zionism). They felt Jews had NO future with Zionism and choose a path that had a future. The Zionists (both Jew and Christian) hide behind the human shield of the Jews murdered in WWII. Truman didn't feel it was fair to give Jews compensation but exclude Gypsies and others that perished in the same camps. There were Zionism supporters at the top levels of power (Churchill, Morgenthau,etc) that gave Jews special privileges and exlcuded other victims. The guilt-ridden Americans are still easily misled into supporting the hatefilled, supremacist regime in Israel.
As the atrocities of Israel are slowly exposed and as justice seeking people gain more power, it is very likely that in 50 years there will no more Zionist regime in Israel. And like the other infamous supremacists (Nazis) the Zionists throughout the world will be held accountable for atrocities that they supported.
And stop this lie about people that object to Israel's conduct are liberal. 60 years Jews weren't allowed in the Republican Party, or my suburb. Jews were nearly synomymous with Communism (think kibbutz), Left wing do-ggoder(think ethical culture), and LIBERAL politics. It only the Pseudo-Christian, Neo-Hebrew End-Timers that have turned the Republicans/Conservatives into supporters of Israel.
wes 3:40
If the palestinians controlled their people the Israelis wouldn't have to implement the effective policies of dozing the houses of families of gutless homicide bombers that TARGET innocent women and children on a regular basis.Israel has always avoided civilian casualties and offered numerous fair offers that have been refused.
The truth is most Arabs want to see Israel driven into the sea.You might want to read Michael's 5:56 post carefully. As far as the lib/antisemitic connection,who are you kidding?Are you arguing there is more support for Israel on the left than the right?
LIBERALS ARE IDIOTS!
Sometimes its fun to do a quick Google search of people when they post letters to the editor. Gives one a glimpse at their bais.
After Ron Forthofer, try searching on Steve Laudeman. Seems these guys have a singular fixation on Israel and Zionism to the exclusion of almost all else. With all of truly horrible violence in the world, its hard to understand why some people can't find anything to focus on beyond a small democratic country with 5 million Jews living in a sea of hostile neighbors.
Search wiki, or google and you'll find far more dead bodies under each of the following names than you will in Israel's conflict with the Arabs.
India, Pakastan, Zimbabwe Darfur, Algeria, PKK/Turkey, Phillipines, Malaysia, North Korea, Egypt etc...Except for North Korea, notice anything in common? That's right, since 9/11 the "Religion of Peace" has carried out more than 9,800 deadly terror attacks.
If these guys really cared about dead bodies, they'd be turning over other rocks. But it's not about evil and terror, its about attacking Israel and the Jews.
Save the dhimwhit replies and accusations. I'm happy to tell you where I stand: I'm a Jew, support AIPAC and a proud Zionist and supporter of Israel. I proudly voted for the President of the United States, George Bush and would do so again. I think the 2nd Ammendment is just grand and spend my free time teaching other Jews how to responsibly carry and deploy firearms. Finally, in the entire world, I can't think of any group of people less deserving of their own country than the murdering Arab rabble calling themselves Palestinians.
And don't forget..."Those who bless the Jewish people will be blessed. Those who don't...72 goats".
PS. I think most liberals are just fine. But I wouldn't trust one to have guts to help me in a tight spot.
Posted by matt on October 20, 2007 09:21 PMMatt is another one of those narrow-minded people who heavily populate both sides and who can see issues only in black and white.
"But I wouldn't trust one to have guts to help me in a tight spot."
Sounds like a really bad case of paranoia.
He said nothing whatsoever that has anything to do with trying to find a peaceful solution to anything. To the extent people like him are calling the shots, the prospect of peace are slim and none. There are too many people with his attitude on both sides. They have intelligence confused with bravado.
Posted by Truth on October 21, 2007 12:21 PMTRUTH-
You confuse my worldview. I don't see the world in black and white...rather I see it as good and bad or right and wrong.
I don't consider myself the least bit paranoid. I'm actually kind of a realist. Evil people have been trying to kill my people (the Jews) for millenia. Same holds true today. Therefore, my family owns and is very proficient with the firearms we deem necessary to protect ourselves.
Liberals want to negotaite with people who just want to murder Jews and westerners. Or, they stand up in front of the cameras and proclaim the war is lost, or un-just, or we're too harsh blah blah blah. When the Jihadist headchoppers see this they think we are weak and with just a little more violence they can change our policy. Mealy-mouthed liberals get innocent people killed (Americans, Israelis, Iraqis and even Palestinians because terrorist bombs dont discriminate) when they undermine the much needed measures we have taken here and those taken in Israel.
Thanks fo much for asking me for my suggestion as to how peace can be achieved in Israel and beyond. (HINT: Because we are dealing with Arabs any peace will not come about through peaceful means) I will now educate you.
1. Arabs (most of them anyhow) are genetically unable to give up hope of "smashing the Zionist enemy" because their unending series of wars against Israel have proven they are nothing but a bunch of cowardly blowhards. Their ego's have been serially pounded into the sand by little Israel's army and despite the immense wealth under the feet, can do nothing to raise the standard of living for their people. Let me spell it out for you...they are losers who keep losing in the hopes that one day they'll win. They dont want peace.
2. A "Palestinian"state was created (with a majority "Palestinian polulation") in 1948 when the Jews historic homeland was partitioned into an Arab Palestine (now known as Jordan) and Israel. There is no need for another "Palestinian" state and why would anyone think its a good idea to spend so much treasure getting rid of Saddam and the Taliban only to create another terrorist state? There are already 22 Arab nations. Almost without exception they are horrible places that you would never want to visit let alone live in...especially if you're a woman or an infidel (Jew, Christian, Athiest, Hare Krishna or Bhuddist). Who on earth except a dhimwhit would want to create another one?
3. Peace in Israel is really quite simple. Since the Arabs will never stop hating the Jews, and since the Europeans seem to be more interested in oil (or maybe just want someone else to finish off the Jews) Israel should just give up on currying favor with the world and expel every Arab who refuses to live in peace inside Israel as it currently exists.
Just wondering...why do you care what a tiny nation of 5 million Jews trying to live in peace in the middle of a realy bad neighborhood do anyhow?
Matt,
I always worry when someone uses the "genetically unable" codeword. I am an Egyptian and some of our our best friends in Egypt were Jews. In fact, our family intermarried with Jews. So, enough of the drivel. What so many Arabs hate is the concept that european Jews, with a Zionist dream, came to the area occupied by the British (after they took it from the equally oppressive Turks) called Palestine at the behest of Britain. A state was subsequently formed by the UN, over indigenous Arab protestation, called Israel. The local population has since been angry and, with the support of other Arab nations, tried to reverse this fact several times with futility!
Arabs are not bloodthirsty or "genetically" incapable of anything if only a good reason exists for anything the US and Israel says.
Indeed, Matt, you did educate me:
"Arabs (most of them anyhow) are genetically unable to give up hope of smashing the Zionist enemy."
"Since the Arabs will never stop hating the Jews,"
The big problem is that there are too many people like you on both sides, people whose minds are set in the concrete of bigotry. It isn't a matter of genetics but rather a lack of education, maturity and exposure.
There is no having an intelligent discussion with bigots like you, whatever side they are on.
"black or white". So you really thought I was talking about colors?
Observe This!
I guess the Arabs will have to get over what they hate. Israel is, was and always will be the eternal homeland of the Jewish people. No other nation has ever existed in this place and while Jerusalem appears more than 700 times it the Tanach it isn't mentioned even once in the Koran.
What many "observerers" fail to mention is that Israel has been almost continually inhabited by Jews for more than 3,000 years. If you look under many of the moslem holy sites, you'll find Jewish holy sites which pre-date moslem life by hundreds and sometimes more than a thousand years.
It's disingenuous to suggest Israel was initially inhabited by "European Zionists" when the vast majority of Jews in Israel in 1948 were Jews of Sephardic (Arab and Mediteranian) heritage who had been expelled by the Arabs first from Israel and then again from their adopted Arab homes on Israel's Independence.
The UN didn't create Israel...the Almighty did. Even a lasped Moslem knows this is a fact. But because the Jews never bought into Mohammed as a prophet, we've been a target since the 7th Century. On the other hand, it's hard to point to any Arab country except Egypt that existed before the allies defeated the Ottoman Turks in WWII.
The local popualtion (Arabs squatting on Jewish land in Israel) have been angry since long before Israel existed. They raped and pillaged their way across north Africa, murderd thousands in north Asia and eastern Europe and were finally turned back from the gates of Vienna in the 17th century by the Polish Army. The problem is that until every last infidel is converted or killed, until every piece of land ever occupied by Mohamadens is returned Arabs will be angry. Get over it already! Build a productive Arab society. Allow someone to be freely elected once in a while. Let women and ethnic/religious minorities have some equality. Stop indoctrinating your children into Jihad. End the non-stop blood libels and racist propaganda shown on TV in every Arab nation. When the Arab Moslem world pulls itself out of the 7th century, then I will gladly admit I was mistaken in my assertion that Arabs are genetically unable to pursue peace.
The paltitude that "Arabs are not bloodthirsty" is very nice indeed and I am sure it plays well in the salons of London or Paris. But facts are sometimes hard to deal with and I've got more than 9800 deadly Islamic terror attacks since 9/11 that give lie to your assertion.
Posted by on October 21, 2007 03:45 PMI failed to take credit for my post at 3;45PM...apologies.
Thanks a ton TRUTH for your reply. If I had a better education, more maturity and was exposed to a wider cross section of the world's cultures perhaps I would have caught the nifty nuance you tossed out when you said ..." narrow-minded people who heavily populate both sides and who can see issues only in black and white." Republicans like me are notoriously bad a nuance. Perhaps you've heard?
To reiterate (dim bulbs like me often repeat ourselves because we're narrow minded and can't readily remember what we said) I do right and wrong, good and bad...black and white doesn't work for me but I do love the way a blue star and two bars looks on a white background.
Anyhow...here's how I see it in my narrow-minded, bigoted, hardcore Zionist eyes: Blow up civilains on purpose = Bad
Persecute people on the basis of what they believe = Bad
Indoctrinate your children to hate then send them out to blow up on a bus full of civilians = Bad
Squander the oil weath at your feet on monuments to your ego then blame the eeeevil Jooos when the people get mad = Bad
Stand in front of a bulldozer destroying a house used by terrorists to bring guns and explosives in order to blow up innocent civilans = criminally stupid (should have said terminally stupid...maybe Darwin Award stupid)
Have a really healthy dislike for the bad people described above who want me dead = PRICELESS...just like LIFE!
The stereotyping of Arabs is the first clue of an unaware mind and a spirit in fear. The distorted account of history follows a close second. The desperate attempts at nullifying the Palestinians as a people is a dishonest strategy to avoid the recognition of dispossession and justice denied to the Palestinians. Much easier than taking responsibility for the ethnic cleansing of 1948, when, after Israel's portion was created in 55% of historical Palestine (separate from the already created state of Jordan in the early 20's) the majority in the future Israeli state still had a majority of Palestinians in it. Ben Gurion obviously saw this as a threat. Plan Dallet anyone?
To the well meaning Christian out there that is not too thrilled about lighting up the torch of Armageddon just yet, why is it that the first followers of the teachings of Christ, who were the first Palestinian Christians, spoke Aramaic and were therefore Semites, why is it that their descendants who speak now Arabic and are now known as Arabs and were, as Christians, the largest proportion of a population to be ethnically cleansed in 1948 by the Hagannah, Irgun and other groups turned Israeli army, why is it that they cannot return and must also leave their birth land because there is no place for their religion in the Jewish land of Israel if the Second Coming is to take place?
Posted by SAM IAM on October 21, 2007 04:31 PMOf course, 9,800 terrorist attacks is meaningless without more information. But if we take that figure and if we assume that that there were a hundred different people involved in each attack, that would be 980,000 Islamic terrorists. There are different figures for the Arab population, but one figure you see is 325 million.
Let's see, that would leave about 324 million Islamists who are not terrorists, or one out of every 325 Islamists.
While the above figures grossly overstate the number of Islamic terrorists, accepting them at face value, good old Matt thinks that 325 million people are genetically terrorists because one out of every 325 of them, or about 0.3%, is a terrorist.
That comes from seeing things in only black and white as Matt does.
I do get the impression that Matt is not very skilled in genetics, not nearly as much so as in bigotry. Bigotry is the "art" of seeing things in black and white, as Matt does.
Posted by Truth on October 21, 2007 07:05 PMOf course, my calculations grossly overstates the possible number of terrorists. Probably by more than a multiple of ten. If by a multiple of ten, that would be mean that every single one out of every 3,250 Arabs would be a terrorist, or 0.003%.
Posted by Truth on October 22, 2007 07:11 AMI don't know who posted the diatribe against my letter. It starts with "observe this" and goes on to assert that Israel was created by God, not the U.N.
I would normally stop at that point knowing that any discussion with such a person is useless. However it still gauls me that someone would say Jews inhabited the area for 3000 years continuously. So what? other Semites (Arabs)did too. Also the "kingdoms" of Judea and Samaria (read the new testament) only existed for about 300 years. The American public needs to know the history of that area so badly. We could save so much money and so many lives if we spent our money educating the Palestinians and building up their infrastructure. They need a reason to live other that pure revenge!
"It starts with "observe this" and goes on to assert that Israel was created by God, not the U.N."
I guess it could have been posted by George Bush.
Posted by Truth on October 22, 2007 09:07 AMAs far as the lib/antisemitic connection,who are you kidding?Are you arguing there is more support for Israel on the left than the right?
LIBERALS ARE IDIOTS!
Posted by on October 20, 2007 08:50 PM
Interesting that Mr. Anonymous equates intelligence with whether one supports Israel or not. The big rub for this Israel supporter is that Liberals don't turn a blind eye to the treatment of the Palestinians by the Occupation Authority. Sorry dude. Being a liberal means believing that all people are created equal and all deserve equal treatment under the law. When Jews were oppressed and discriminated against liberals were their friends. Now that their true loyalty is to the government of Israel which oppresses the Palestinians, liberals are the enemy. Liberals haven't changed. They remain committed to a fair and just world. Who would you rather have next to you in a foxhole George Bush or Jim Webb? If you said George Bush you are a fool.
Posted by Wes on October 22, 2007 03:38 PMWhat?
Posted by on October 22, 2007 07:48 PMAs far as the lib/antisemitic connection,who are you kidding?Are you arguing there is more support for Israel on the left than the right?
Posted by on October 20, 2007 08:50 PM
Mr. Anonymous really does a disservice to Jews everywhere by equating antisemitism with a lack of support for Israel. "You don't support illegal settlements and putting the boot to Palestinians? You're antisemitic". This cheapening of the bigotry that is antisemitism to include anyone who doesn't agree with Mr. Anonymous is an affront to every Jew. Crying wolf without cause is a sure way to eventually lose the whole flock. Grow up little boy and learn to differentiate between a criticism of unjust treatment and true prejudice.
Posted by Wes on October 22, 2007 10:11 PMAs far as the lib/antisemitic connection,who are you kidding?Are you arguing there is more support for Israel on the left than the right?
Posted by on October 20, 2007 08:50 PM
Mr. Anonymous really does a disservice to Jews everywhere by equating antisemitism with a lack of support for Israel. "You don't support illegal settlements and putting the boot to Palestinians? You're antisemitic". This cheapening of the bigotry that is antisemitism to include anyone who doesn't agree with Mr. Anonymous is an affront to every Jew. Crying wolf without cause is a sure way to eventually lose the whole flock. Grow up little boy and learn to differentiate between a criticism of unjust treatment and true prejudice.
Posted by Wes on October 22, 2007 10:12 PMI am glad to see someone is paying attention. Even if we disagree. (see Posted by matt on October 20, 2007 09:21 PM). I am not fixated with Israel. I agree there are many other issues and many other injustices in the world.
But here's the key: Those countries you listed do not receive $3 billion of my tax money every year, as does Israel. Those countries do not enjoy the unconditional military, economic, and political support of the US government, as does Israel. As a matter of fact, if you add up the total foreign aid we provide to those countries, it would not even come close to the amount we provide to Israel.
Do you know what we could do in this country with an extra $3 billion? Education, health care, environmental protection, economic development. You apparently would prefer that money be used to arm Jews - either here or abroad. I would prefer that the money stay here and benefit a larger cross section of unarmed Americans - including Jews and others.
You can remove me from your 'Jew-hater' file and put me in your 'liberal-commie-pinko' file.
Posted by Steve on October 23, 2007 08:17 PM