you forgot to mention that Hamas are a bunch of peace loving angels that would never hurt anyone in any way.........
--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "do.rflex" <do.rf...@...> wrote: > > > > What we are witnessing in Israel's deadly attack on Gaza today is > really at the intersection of many different things. > > First, it is a particularly deadly campaign stunt. Israel's current > government is led by the Kadima party. Kadima started out as the > personal political vehicle of Ariel Sharon. > > Sharon was known as the Butcher of Beirut and was a notable hawk in > Israeli politics. He eventually came to the view that the best way to > deal with the Palestinians was to wall them off from Israel and to > forget about them. This walling off process necessarily entailed > taking a fair amount of what little land remained to the Palestinians. > > It says a lot about America's political elites and media that they > considered these views not only moderate and reasonable but clear > evidence that Sharon was a man of peace. It says even more about > Israeli politics that Sharon's plan was criticized by his country's right. > > This brings up my second point. Although it is hard to imagine, > Israel's political leaders are even more intellectually and morally > bankrupt than our own. After Sharon had a brain hemorrhage, most of > Kadima's raison d'être disappeared but such was the dearth of > leadership that it continued on as the principal party in Israeli > politics. > > Sharon was replaced by Ehud Olmert. It was he who decided to initiate > the disastrous bombing campaign and invasion of Lebanon in July- August > 2006, which devastated that country to no purpose and led to Israel's > strategic and embarrassing defeat by Hezbollah. > > Yet despite widespread charges of incompetence, the absence of any > saner alternative to Olmert allowed him to hold on to power for two > more years until a long simmering corruption scandal finally brought > him down. > > With elections approaching, Kadima's principal rival was Likud's > Benjamin Netanyahu, a well dressed Israeli fascist. As for the Labor > party, it is largely a spent force and was further weakened by its > participation in inept coalition governments with Kadima. > > Israel's right which makes up most of the country's political spectrum > is a strange and deeply unsettling place seldom visited by American > politicians and media precisely because of the great ugliness that > resides there. > > It has a religious component which begins somewhere around Sarah Palin > and goes to places that we would think they were kidding except they > are not. > > It also has a neocon wing. Even Labor which is often thought of > (mistakenly) as left of center on national security issues is filled > with them. Those in Kadima are, as Sharon was, even harder line. > > And then there is Likud and Benjamin Netanyahu even beyond them. > Netanyahu does not see Palestinians as people but as enemies. He is > not interested in peace but in defeating those he sees as his enemies. > His is a vision of endless war because the alternative for him would > be to actually acknowledge the rights of the Palestinian people but > these he sees as an existential threat and is completely unwilling to > address them. > > With Netanyahu in power the likelihood of an Israeli attack on Iran > would greatly increase as well. Since conventional forces would be > ineffective, there is a real risk that such a strike would be nuclear > in nature. Now this may sound crazy, and it is, but as I said before > this is the nitty gritty of Israeli politics that our politicians and > media refuse to look at because it would be hard to defend even for them. > > Kadima killed 155 Palestinians today to show to potential Likud voters > that they can be just as tough on the Palestinians as Likud. > > This wasn't a military strike about some inaccurate and largely > ineffective missiles. It wasn't even about Hamas and its control of > Gaza. This was, in fact, a murderous form of political advertizing and > electioneering. > > Third, this brutal and unnecessary attack raises larger issues. There > are always larger issues. The US financial meltdown as well as fallout > from the Madoff scandal will hamper traditional financial support for > Israel by Jewish Americans. Israel's own economy will likely be hit > hard by the global recession. > > Given the kneejerk backing by our political elites, Israel should > still receive its current support from the US government but this will > be insufficient to make up for the shortfalls in other areas. Less > money means that divisions within Israeli society are likely to > increase as various groups try to hold on to their pieces of a > shrinking pie. > > One of the principal ways Israelis have managed to avoid dealing with > the issue of Palestine is because they have been largely insulated > from the consequences of their policies there. They have lived in a > bubble of prosperity. With the world recession this will become > increasingly difficult for them to do. > > Today's attack also shows just how worthless Bush and Condoleezza > Rice's policies with regard to Israel-Palestine have been. I have > chronicled for years Rice's ridiculous and absurd announcements on > talks for talks about talks to begin discussions leading to the > creation of a framework to begin talks on by this point who knows or > cares. > > As for Bush his interest and effectiveness was made manifest in the > November 2007 Annapolis peace conference. It lasted all of a day. Bush > showed up briefly to give a speech and even after being President for > 7 years still managed to mispronounce both the names of Olmert (Ehud > Elmo) and Mahmoud Abbas (Mahoomed Abbas). The problem is that our > policies will remain heavily skewed toward Israel. > > Despite Israel having 200 nuclear weapons, Obama, Biden, and Clinton > have repeated their determination for the US to defend a country that > can defend itself. > > This is underlined by Obama's Middle East adviser Dennis Ross. Ross is > a Jewish American neocon with strong ties to both Israel and its > lobbies in this country. It would be hard to imagine someone less even > handed than he. But that is another blind spot of our elites. They > think he is. Yet can anyone imagine a similar acceptance of a > Palestinian American if one held a similar position with Obama? > > This lack of balance has led along with Iraq to a loss of credibility, > loss of prestige, and general failure of policy in the region. The > Israeli attack on Gaza was just another example of this. > > Finally, Israel's attack today shows again that the two state solution > is dead. Israel is in a classic colonizer's paradox. > > It would like to put in place a political and security structure in > the territories it occupies, that it can deal with on its terms. But > for any political leaders and security forces to have any legitimacy > in the eyes of the subject population, they must be willing to oppose > the colonizer. As a result, the colonizing country always ends up > destroying genuine homegrown leadership and is left with either a > group of collaborationists with no credibility or an increasingly > radicalized opposition --as each succeeding group of leaders is done > away with. > > Yet Israel has persisted in replaying this paradox over and over again > for decades. It has steadfastly refused to allow any distinct > leadership to form in the Territories. > > At the same time, it is unclear if the Territories ever could have > been economically and politically viable on their own but it is > evident today that they are basket cases and that their viability is > now impossible. > > Beyond this are the demographics. Israel is effectively incarcerating > a huge and growing fraction of the population that lives on the land > it controls. It has been doing so for 40 years but at some point the > apparatus of that prison system will become too expensive or too > shameful to maintain and it will collapse. > > Pressures on this system will only increase with the worldwide > economic downturn, the relative drying up of American aid, and the > sheer number and wants of Israel's subject population. Israel like our > own state is based on a fatally flawed premise. As we found out in our > own history, we could not exist half slave and half free. Nor can > they, half prisoner and half citizen. > > At some point, Israel will have to come to terms with itself and this > will include the acceptance of the fact that the Palestinians of the > Territories are Israelis too. I do not expect this to be easy or > painless, but, as the fairy tale of the two state solution fades in > the light of reality, it will be this or a charnel house. > > By Hugh, Oxdown Gazzette, Saturday December 27 > http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/2675 >
