Arthur Cordell wrote: > Just to note that the Left seems to have adopted an anti-Israel stance.
Or maybe it's just the leftist anti-imperialist and anti-racist stance logically opposing an imperialist and racist state. > I would not invest time and effort rebutting such an article. > > In the same way I wouldn't invest time and effort rebutting The Protocols > of the Elders of Zion. Now, now... I wouldn't elevate an antisemitic forgery to the level of facts. > Maybe over a couple of beers...perhaps. Alcohol is not exactly promoting a _sober_ discussion... > People do form points of view after examining the facts. So people > examine the facts on abortion, capital punishment, welfare, the war > in Iraq, etc. etc. And the points of view that are formed differ, > depending on the indiviual and values, and social context, etc. > From a common set of facts different conclusions can and will be drawn. The problems start if the "points of view" _contradict_ the facts. This usually happens in ideologies, like zionism. An illustration: (from Fisk's book "The Conquest of the Middle East", October 2005) <<Before the massacres of 1982, Philip Habib was President Reagan's special representative, his envoy to Beirut increasingly horrified by the ferocity of Sharon's assault on the city. Not long before he died, I asked Habib why he didn't stop the bloodshed. "I could see it," he said. "I told the Israelis they were destroying the city, that they were firing non-stop. They just said they weren't. They said they werent doing that. I called Sharon on the phone. He said it wasnt true. That damned man said to me on the phone that what I saw happening wasn't happening. So I held the telephone out of the window so he could hear the explosions. Then he said to me: 'What kind of conversation is this where you hold a telephone out of a window?'">> > With all good wishes for a 2006 where we exchange facts, where true > learning takes place but where ultimately we realize that each of us > comes to FW with a belief system and a set of values and outlook and > way of thinking that it is unwise and unproductive to challenge in > this sort of venue. True learning can only happen if we put facts above "I..... is 'my team'." Cheers, Chris ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SpamWall: Mail to this addy is deleted unread unless it contains the keyword "igve". _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] http://fes.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
