http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-slater/a-message-to-israel- time_b_155978.html
I can understand that after centuries of persecution it's satisfying for a Jewish state to be the aggressor for a change, but there's a codicil that goes with that role. You don't get to act like a victim any more. "Poor little Israel" just sounds silly when you're the dominant power in the Middle East. When you've invaded several of your neighbors, bombed and defeated them in combat, occupied their land, and taken their homes away from them, it's time to stop acting oppressed. Yes, Arab states deny your right to exist, threaten to drive you into the sea, and all the rest of their futile, helpless rhetoric. The fact is, you have the upper hand and they don't. You have sophisticated arms and they don't. You have nuclear weapons and they don't. So stop pretending to be pathetic. It doesn't play well in Peoria.
(Yes, I know, we Americans should talk--always trembling in our boots about terrorists and 'rogue states' and 'evil empires' when we have enough nukes to blow up entire continents, and spend more on arms in an hour than most of the world's nations spend in a year. But just because we're hypocrites and Nervous Nellies doesn't mean you have to be).
Calling Hamas the 'aggressor' is undignified. The Gaza strip is little more than a large Israeli concentration camp, in which Palestinians are attacked at will, starved of food, fuel, energy--even deprived of hospital supplies. They cannot come and go freely, and have to build tunnels to smuggle in the necessities of life. It would be difficult to have any respect for them if they didn't fire a few rockets back.
The Israel lobby has a hissy fit when anyone points out that Israel has been borrowing liberally from the Nazi playbook, but to punish a whole nation for the attacks of a few--which Israel has been doing consistently in Gaza--is a violation of international law--a law enacted in response to the Nazi practice. And please, spare us the hypocrisy--borrowed, I'm ashamed to admit, from my own government--of saying 'every effort is made to avoid civilian casualties'. When you drop bombs on a crowded city you're bombing civilians. Bombs don't ask for ID cards. Bombs are civilian killers. That's what they do. They're designed to break the spirit of a nation by slaughtering families. They were used all through World War II by all sides for that very purpose. And that's what they're intended for in Gaza.
And please, Israel, try to restrain yourself from using that ridiculous argument, borrowed again from Bush (how low can you get?), that Hamas leaders "hide among civilians", by living in their own homes. Apparently, in the thinking of Israelis, they should all run out into an uninhabited area somewhere (try to find one in Gaza), surround themselves with flares and write in the sand with a stick, "Here I am!"
Yesterday you shelled three UN-run schools, killing several dozen children and adults, despite the fact that the UN had given you the precise coordinates of all its schools in Gaza. So much for 'taking every care to avoid civilian casualties'. You seem to feel you can kill whomever you like, whenever you like, and wherever you like, just because you have a blank check from the United States. Every day this assault goes on you're demonstrating contempt for the UN, the international community, and human life. Talk about a rogue state.
You might also pay attention to the fact that your outdated policy of macho bullying--the policy you've been following for decades--isn't working! The Palestinians are human. They're not dogs you can beat into submission. The worse you treat them, the more they'll fight back. That's what it means to be human. The more you oppress people, the more people resist. We dropped more bombs on Viet Nam than all the bombs dropped by all nations in World War II. Not to mention napalm, herbicides and all kinds of sophisticated land mines. But did they bow down and kiss the feet of their conquerors? They did not.
You'll have to kill them all. And when you do, you may finally lose the support even of the United States.
Remember that American support is based entirely on the notion that no politician can win without the Jewish vote. But not all American Jews think Israel is on a divine mission from God. A great many American Jews believe in international law and justice.
I can understand how Israel could resent this lecture coming from an American. After all, isn't this what we Americans did? Came into someone else's country, slaughtered 95% of its inhabitants and took over? And didn't we go all Nervous Nellie whenever they fought back, accusing them of aggression to justify even more genocidal slaughter? And didn't we get away with it?
Yes, but I'm sorry to tell you, Israel, you came on the scene too late. Genocide just doesn't fly any more. I know it isn't fair, you have every right to feel aggrieved about this, but the world's smaller, cowboys are passé, and bullies aren't heroes any more.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Philip Slater: A Message to Israel: Time to Stop Playing the Victim Role
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Yes, the photos make the Israelis look bad-- all dead bodies look bad, no matter how they died. But in comparing Palestinians to Jews under Hitler, and Israelis to Nazis, you must remember that the Nazis were atrocious not just for their tactics, but because their tactics were used against their own citizens-- not against a group of people who (like the present-day Palestinians/Arabs) had pledged themselves to Germany's (now, Israel's) destruction. The Jews never vowed to wipe Germany off the face of the earth, whereas Hamas and its allies have made that vow against Israel. So Germany's aggression against the Jews was without provocation, whereas Israel's aggression against Hamas is because of ongoing provocation that is just the "tip of the iceberg" of Hamas' agenda against Israel itself, which it views as a contaminant in a Muslim Holy Land, held in trust for Islam, rather than as a return of the Banu Isra'il to the land Promised them by God (as described in the QUR'AN OF ISLAM ITSELF, WHICH HAMAS IGNORES). Hamas' hypocrisy is that it claims to be Islamic, as if land could be held "for Islam" and not for the GOD of Islam, who might just want His land trust turned back over to the Jews at this time for the glory of Himself which is for the benefit of all mankind to believe and turn to a Holy God and away from animal stupidity. Israel must deal NOT JUST WITH THE HAMAS OF TODAY, but with the Hamas of Hamas' own dreams and Israel's nightmares. Just because someone is weak today, does not mean he will be weak tomorrow, especially if you lift the controls that are keeping him weak; then, he (Hamas) will strive to make good on his vows to destroy Israel, by Hamas' leaders' own arrogant testimonies. Hamas is suicidal, and voting for Hamas was suicidal for Palestianians, who behaved like the Germans who voted for Hitler, pretending that his agenda to slaughter the Jews was an exaggeration on which he would never act... they were wrong, but they tied their fate to his lunacy, hoping to restore their pride as a nation after the defeats of WWI, just as the Palestinians are desperate to restore pride after the defeats of the Arab-Israeli conflicts. In this case, I am afraid that it is the Palestinian people of wounded pride and economy who have behaved like the post-WWI wounded German people, and that Hamas has become their National Socialist Party (elected, as was Hitler, but uncontrollable dictators at heart, as was Hitler), and that their fate in attacking the Jews will be the same as that of the Germans. The Jews will survive, and those who attempt to destroy them will die- you have already seen it in every battle so far... how many more are needed to convince? You can call it Divine Providence, or military superiority (and where did that come from, if God is sovereign?), but the formula for casualties works with amazing consistency, as demonstrated in Lebanon in 2006 and now in Gaza-- that for every Jew killed in Israel, 100 on the side attacking Israel will die. Even in the huge body count of WWII, in the BILLIONS of dead, a rough formula is that for every Jew killed, 10 non-Jews (outside of Israel the ratio is lower) died in the conflict that had its origins in Hitler's vision of destroying the Jews in order to prove his total sovereignty over not just mankind alone, but over the concept of Deity itself. If another power arises that attempts to consolidate global power by way of conquering/killing the 7 million Jews in Israel, biblical prophecies hold that much of the Jewish population will be destroyed (as they have strayed from God even while basing their claim to Israel on the Bible), but about 2 billion non-Jews from the earth's population could be destroyed as a result of the same evil intentions that will seek out Jerusalem as the "throne" and seek subjugation of the Jews as the "gem in the crown of power." Deity has deliberately staked its identity to the survival of the Jewish people, by way of demonstration of Deity's existence. Hence, the emergence of Jesus as Savior from among the Jews (not the black race, as Barack Obama's church preaches), as they are the "herald" people for Divine Consciousness among the human race in this cycle of human spiritual evolution. In case one doubts one's spiritual origins, and devolves in to material and carnal semi-consciousness, the last rung on the ladder of humanity on which to catch oneself before falling into the pit of atheistic, secularistic immorality's hellfire is awareness of the Jews and their Biblical roles of exodus and return, which exist AND ARE BEING FULFILLED IN THIS DAY to prove that we are CREATED to be "beyond flesh and bone," BUT if we persist in denying God, then flesh and bone will be demolished to establish the Kingdom of Heaven within man's heart of stone. The prophecies of Islam state this: The end of this era will not come until the slave girl (Palestine) has given birth to her mistress (Israel). Behold, Muslims! The infant daughter of Palestine has been born, and her name is Israel,and she is your MISTRESS, according to the Prophet of Islam, pbuh. AND Islam further commands: DO NOT KILL THE INFANT DAUGHTER! DO NOT BURY THE FEMALE CHILD IN THE SAND! SO, YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO ATTACK ISRAEL. YOUR OWN GOD COMMANDS YOU TO SERVE HER!! (Pretty amazing God stuff, huh?)
ReplyDeleteJang, again you are walking in the route of justifications, you justify killing. Fine. Israel is burning babies and actually, practically, really wiping Gaza from the map because Palestinians WISHED to wipe Israel from the map. Okay, what do you think after Israel burning babies with prohibited weapons now?
ReplyDeleteI mean was Israel smashing the whole population to “convince” them not to “wish” wiping it from the map? And they are convinced now? What do you think Palestinians think now? If they vowed once upon a day to wipe Israel from the map now they are saying no way we can live in this world with Israel anymore, either us or them. That is how people feel after burning their babies. That is how any human being would feel after burning his/her baby. You see? The man is telling you that Palestinians are human beings not dogs, and you are still talking as if they are dogs.
Jews did not vow to wipe Germany from the map but they were working to take control into the whole German economy, so they were not “vowing” they were taking practical steps to control Germany. So that is a fair justification for the holocaust.
It is not mentioned in the Quran that this is a promised land for Jews, who said this?
Again this is really crazy:
You are justifying killing babies on the basis of the following:
What people say,
What people believe
So according to what they wish and believe they deserve to be killed!
That tells the world that Israel did not only learn from the Nazis, it also learnt from the Catholic inquisitions!
By the way, stop saying: hamas hamas hamas
Hamas is only 20 years old and the Israeli brutality is more than 60 years old
To JanG ...the way JanG justifying the Zionism aggression towards the palestinians, is that God give them the green light to do what ever they like to reach the promised land .. they can kill, torture destroy for the sake of this promise .. do you think this is a true concept in any religion .. calling for burning and killing the babies for the sake of living in the holly land ??? the first commandments in the Torah is not to kill ..i think you need to know God better .. God never favour a group of his children over others .. God is Just and he call his children on this earth to be his agent in this earth and rule by just , the way you interpret the saying of the prophet in the last days the slave girl will give Birth to her mistress .. is totally your won interpretation which goes with your own desire ..the interpretation of this saying of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) .. that when we reach to the point that our children(slave girl) start to take control and boss around her own mother (mistress) and that applys on childrens and parents ... when the parents lose the control of their children ..in this point we should know that we are very close to the end ...where no values and respect in the family ...this has nothing to do with Israel honestly JanG i don't know from where you get this idea to interpret this saying of the prophet for the favour of Israel .. what it makes me astonished how you linked the teaching of the prophet not to kill their own baby girls to forbid to attack israel ..well prophet Mohammed forbid killing in the first place to any human being(( based on the old testement and new testement and final testement= islam )) ..i should mention here that the jews where already living in the holly land side by side with the muslims and the christians before the British invation to Palistine ...so as you said in your comment(( DO NOT KILL THE INFANT DAUGHTER! DO NOT BURY THE FEMALE CHILD IN THE SAND! SO, YOU ARE FORBIDDEN TO ATTACK ISRAEL. YOUR OWN GOD COMMANDS YOU TO SERVE HER!!))your interprtation is a zionism inteprtation....the teaching of the prophet Muhammad to Quraish tripe not to kill their own baby girls by burying them in the sand .. which was a custom for these tribes at those days .. here comes the great teaching of Islam .. elevating them from the custom of ignorance and darkness to the light and glory of Islam which teaches the mercy and love ..teaches them how to be mercy even with animals and trees he switch them from ignorant nation to a great nation calling for love,peace and just to all human ..all humans in islam in the same level .. there is no the smell of discrimination to other nation in the teaching of Islam as you believe that israel is a superior nation and all others especially palestinians should be slaves to them and serve them .. all what i can say to you every ward you wrote interpreting islam to miss lead others who doesn't know the teaching of Islam you gonna be accountable for in front of God in the day of judgment
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