January 9, 2009 12:01 AM
Differences
I have my issues with Israel's policies in Gaza, and with the Palestinians in general. That said, I have even more issues with Hamas and the way it perpetuates this conflict. Firing rockets at unarmed civilians is unacceptable, no matter what the provocation (and Israel is guilty of many crimes, I believe, in the manner in which it handles the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza). That said, I keep imagining what the Mideast would be like if the Palestinian cause had been taken up by a Gandhi instead of an Arafat. My imaginary non-violent Palestinian nationalist would not fire missiles from crowded civilian areas, fully expecting that any response will almost certainly kill innocent civilians, who become unwilling cannon fodder in Hamas' relentless and immoral war against Israel.
January 9, 2009
9:56 AM
Pam Myyers writes:
Well said Mr. Stein. You have the conflict defined with one of your best. Keep this up and I will miss you.
January 9, 2009
10:29 AM
Ted in Vegas writes:
WOW! I agree with you!! Had the Palestinians sought peace at any point during the past 61 years, they'd have it. Too bad for them.
War is hell and crimes against humanity are committed by all parties in ANY war, that's why the defining line in the international tribunals is whether those crimes were policy or individual actions.
January 9, 2009
12:12 PM
Alan Weiss writes:
Mr. Stein, your graphic is exceptional. Paraphrasing what Golda Meier said years ago, "When the Palestinian loves their children as much as we do, then there will be peace.
However, while your statement reflecting an "imaginary non-violent Palestinian nationalist" is an absolute, your comments around that statement may lead people to think that Israel is an oppressor and that Gandhi (that great pacifist anti-Semite) would serve the Palestinians better, totally distorts history and the truth. 78% or more of the people on this planet were not alive before 1967 and 90% were not old enough to understand what happened before then. If the surrounding Arab nations in 1948 had let the Palestinian have peace, none of the wars since would have happened. It was the other Arab countries between 1948 and 1967 who occupied the land of the Palestinians and it was those countries who put Palestinians into "refugee camps" (that still exist 60 years later, even when they exist in land controlled solely by Palestinians). Ask yourself when was the last time that an Israeli mother strapped a suicide bomb on the body of her child to go kill innocent Palestinians. When one really knows about who causes these wars and who causes the hardships among Palestinians, then all of these perceptions about the evil occupier Israel disappears. The only thing Israel wants is peace and they have pleaded for peace for 60 years.
January 12, 2009
12:24 PM
Jan Tyler writes:
Mr. Stein,
I have always looked forward to your political cartoons but I felt this one in particular was horrific. Doubtless it is hard to satirize war but to portray one side as angels and the other as devils serves neither side well. Your accompanying essay does little to balance the starkness of the image.
Your editor, John Temple in his Saturday essay asked that people share a kinder, gentler perspective of one another. Palestinian parents grieve for their children as well as Israeli parents. When you lump a group of people together you are blinded to the humanity of the individual.
I am reminded of Mahatma Gandhi's great saying "An eye for an eye and soon the whole world is blind." Thirteen dead Israelis in this current conflict and over 900 dead Palestinians. Enough already. It is time for both sides to call for a cease-fire.
January 13, 2009
11:00 AM
Ted in Vegas writes:
Funny how the West Bank Palestinians weren't shooting rockets and mortars into Israel and how Israel is not attacking Palestinian "security forces" in the West Bank...
Let those Palestinians who don't want to die offer peace instead of death and they'll have peace.
January 17, 2009
1:42 PM
Katharina Barry writes:
Mr. Stein - Your tasteless and vile cartoon about the war in Gaza was published in our local paper. I have called them. Who could find anything amusing in the horrible inhumane conditions those poor people have suffered for years? They have no place to go and hide from the bombs; they live in a prison. They fled their homes a long time ago and now their land is occupied and divided by high walls. Almost no one in America talks about this. -
Katharina Barry
January 19, 2009
10:21 AM
Ted in Vegas writes:
Katharina Barry: So?
Did you forget that those Palestinians (Hamas, Hezbollah, PLO) have been MURDERING Israelis since long before they left their lands or the walls were built?
In fact, those walls were built to keep Palestinian Homicide Bombers and Machine Gunners out of Israel. In fact, the blockade was started to keep rockets and mortars out of the hands of the Palestinians.
All those idiotic Palestinians have to do to have peace is to quit trying to MURDER Israelis. The West Bank Palestinians seem to have figured it out; why can't they?
August 3, 2010
5:32 AM
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August 3, 2010
3:07 PM
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August 3, 2010
3:36 PM
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