I decided to post the whole article even though I do not agree with few things in it. **************************************************** Philip Slater is an American actor, sociologist and writer. He has written twenty plays and has acted in over thirty plays and films. He is the author of the bestselling book on American culture, The Pursuit of Loneliness. A Message to Israel: Time to Stop Playing the Victim Role 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.= http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-slater/a-message-to-israel-time_b_155978.html
Hey Sameeh, who attacked first? Stop bitching about small little Hamas attacking first and than getting it's assed kicked. The ass kicking is an incentive to behave. You better hope Hamas behaves or they are in for another ass kicking. Your attempt to change the reality of the issue is laughable.
Hey ZZZzzzz lets say you're some annoying kid. You weigh about 130 pounds but that doesn't keep you from shooting spitballs at the 200 pound body builder who is far older than you and a far better fighter. After hitting the body builder in the face with the spit ball he punches you straight in the face and breaks your nose. Are you going to keep shooting spitballs at him?
Doesn't matter, the action is the same... David stands up to Goliath, or he stands down. Israel is Goliath now, and you suggest David (the Pals) stand down because David is bigger... I happen to think both sides are wrong, so I am not caught up in your morally and logically fallacious dilemma of who threw the first stone...
Isn't it time for the Arabs to stop playing the victim role? It's the Arabs who did not accept the partition, it's the Arabs who started countless wars, intifidas, carried out thousands of terror attacks, fired tens of thousands of rockets into Israeli residential communities, it's the arabs who use human shields, it's the arabs who target civilians, it's the arabs who resort to extra judicial exectutions of their political opponents, it's the arabs who vote for Hamas and Hezbollah. They are no victims, they are the ones who are involved in every terror attack not just in Israel but all over the world, from Mumbai to Moscow to London to Argentina.
Your idealism makes you sound like some type of hippe. You might as well argue against prisons because you think it's wrong to make a person sit in a small cell 23 hours a day. There is something called punishment and discipline your non-existent father never taught you. Guess what? Sitting in a cell 23 hours a day sounds horrible. Thats why some people don't comit crimes. You define the saying ignorance is bliss fully. Wouldn't it be such a perfect world ZZZzzzz if we could all just be so morally gifted as yourself? Hamas would understand that it's actions are unwarranted and hostile and Israel would understand that there are deep seated conflicts between themselves and Hamas. ZZZZzzzz i know exactly what you would say if I asked what you propose Hamas do? You would say Hamas bombing Israel is wrong (Unless you are truly a nutcase). Than you would say Israel bombing Hamas is wrong. Just admit you have no real answers. You're just some idealist that has no answer other than your humanist bullshit that has been tried a million times.