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RichardWitty
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16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - A Jewish state -- or J... · 0 replies · +1 points
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - Leaving Israel · 2 replies · +1 points
No real starting point.
The Lebanon kidnappings were an independant starting point. The kidnapping of Shalit was accompanied by multiple kidnapping attempts in the West Bank, with the Hezbollah kidnappings experienced by Israel as a "last straw:.
The presence of big weapons in the hands of Hezbollah allowed them to undertake "little kidnapping operations". As, the presence of nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran will allow them to escalate their "resistance solidarity" in the form of increasing harrassment of Israeli civilians.
None of the actions by either Hezbollah, Hamas, Israel, are justified or justifiable.
The dysfunctional complex is the problem, and that is solved by urging of mutual acceptance of the other, and NOT by solidarity with escalating angers picking either self-defined victim/hero side.
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - Leaving Israel · 1 reply · 0 points
Dropping the two-state solution as a goal, is giving up.
If you need to reassess where your energy is best directed, do so. Its not a failing to choose to bring up a family safely in all meanings of the term.
The Israeli response was an example of extreme frustration on the part of the not quite up-to-the-task Israeli government.
The conflict is between civility and fanaticism, between liberalism based on respecting the other, and solidarity based on picking a side (or a fantasy, in the case of the single-state proposal).
As peace is an exercise in consent, it takes movements for civility IN Israel, movements for civility IN Palestine, movements for civility in the US, movements for civility in the Arab world.
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - many American journali... · 13 replies · -2 points
A truly reliable source of information?
Ethan Bronner has written some very informative pieces, that have actually scooped Phil's theses. For example, in February he posted a series of articles from Gaza describing the Gazan society as surprisingly cosmopolitan in orientation, and suprisingly absent of radical propaganda (at least relative to his expectations).
I found that informative and MORE reliable in confirmation, than what I read here.
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - Huwaida Arraf on non-v... · 0 replies · +1 points
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - Roadmap's offspring: I... · 11 replies · 0 points
Iran is within their rights to enrich uranium as a complying (sometimes) member of the nuclear non-proliferation protocols.
And, Israel would be violating international law to attack a sovereign state that is in legal compliance with international nuclear protocols, even if that state is in violation of international law in funding, supplying, training terror activities on another sovereign state.
The issue of the settlements in Israel/Palestine indicate Israel's apparent intent, either to stop settlement construction and be satisfied with enough or to expand.
Similarly, Iran's military support of Hamas and Hezbollah and other factions, is a tipping issue, indicating to the world whether Iran seeks to be a peaceful and prominent member of the international community, or an aggressive interloper in others' negotiations.
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - Roadmap's offspring: I... · 0 replies · +1 points
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - many American journali... · 8 replies · -3 points
By that I mean that you are deriving an experiment that can only provide for UNRELIABLE conclusions.
All of the writers that you sited, have changing and nuanced positions on Israeli politics.
The state of US politics (Obama as president vs Bush as president, and democrats controlling Congress vs conservative republicans) is a FAR larger factor in the writers' tone and content.
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - Roadmap's offspring: I... · 15 replies · 0 points
If the left stopped pandering to Iran's aggression, then there might be some hope as they wouldn't have a great deal of enablers adopting the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach, as if Israel is an enemy anyway.
16 years ago @ Mondoweiss - Gaza is Tet. '68, and ... · 1 reply · -2 points
It is important that Americans, and particularly Jewish Americans, become aware of Palestinian understanding of history, and motivated to improve their current condition.
Gaza is not like Tet even in the obvious analogy that Phil suggested. There aren't 500,000 American soldiers in Israel. Israel is NOT a fascist state like Vietnam was. Only the odd neo-conservatives regard Israel/Palestinian as a global war. (It could be if more terrorist influences than even Hamas militia get involved).
Creation