A Special Place in Hell / Rebranding Israel as a state headed for fascism
No one knows fascism better than Israelis.
By Bradley Burston Tags: Israel news Bradley Burston Jerusalem GazaSHEIKH JARRAH, East Jerusalem - No one knows fascism better than Israelis. They are schooled, drilled in the history, the mechanics, the horrendous potential of fascist regimes. Israelis know fascism when they see it. In others.
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A protest against home demolitions in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. |
| Photo by: Daniel Bar-On |
They might well have expected that when fascism began taking root here, it would arise at a time of a national leadership of galvanizing charisma and sweeping, powerfully orchestrated modes of action.
But that would have been much too obvious to deny. And it would take denial, inertia, selective memory, a sense that things – bad as they are - can go on like this indefinitely, for fascism to be able gain its foothold in a country founded in its very blood trail.
In fact, it has taken the most dysfunctional, the most rudderless government Israel has ever known, to make moderates uncomfortably aware of the countless but largely cosmetized ways in which the right in Israel and its supporters abroad have come to plant and nurture the seeds of fascism.
Wrote Boaz Okun, the mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronot's legal affairs commentator and a retired Israeli judge, of Israel's ban on Noam Chomsky: "The decision to shut up Professor Chomsky is a decision to shut down freedom in the state of Israel.
"I'm not speaking of the stupidity of supplying ammunition to those who claim that Israel is fascist," Okun wrote, "rather, of our fear that we may actually be turning that way."
At the weekend, Israeli police riot troops waded into a thoroughly non-violent sit-in near the entrance to this East Jerusalem settlement zone, where Palestinian residents were expelled by Israeli court order, to allow their homes to be taken over by Jews.
What was curious here was not the neck-wrenching brutality of the Yasam riot police in their gunmetal gray uniforms, bristling with assault rifles, clubs, tear gas and helmets, arrayed against the demonstrators, most of of them Israeli Jews, some of them well past retirement age.
What was surprising was not the fact that several burly officers, seeing a young Reshet Bet (Israel State Radio news) reporter interviewing one of the seated demonstrators, his microphone clearly and unmistakably marked, jumped him and dragged him away in a headlock to a police custody van.
In the end, what was peculiar was that the police seemed so entirely bewildered, so completely lacking in clear orders, left on their own to decide how to proceed in an arena of hair-trigger sensitivity. Fascism with a confused face.
Why should we be concerned by any of this? Perhaps because we have made our peace with a number of factors that can turn a society toward fascism as a solution.
1. Losing a War.
We've lost two in the space of less than three years. Our targets, Hezbollah and Hamas, are better armed and entrenched than ever. Our strategic and diplomatic standing is in decline. Iran and Syria are ascendant. And there is abundant reason to suspect that the Gaza War, a major factor in the loss of our international standing, may have been altogether avoidable, the huge civilian death toll indefensible and unconscionable. This has, in turn, led to
2. International quarantine, a sense of being scapegoated, and a search for an internal fifth column.
3. A radical redefinition of positive values.
Look no further than the name of Jerusalem's obscene Museum of Tolerance project.
4. Olfactory fatigue
We have grown desensitized to the consequences of actively denying basic staples and construction supplies to 1.5 million people in Gaza, many of them still waiting to rebuild homes we destroyed.
We have grown inured to the appropriation of Palestinian-owned West Bank land, to abusive treatment of law-abiding Palestinians at checkpoints, to the ill-treatment and summary expulsion of foreign workers, to racist, anti-democratic and, yes, fascistic rulings by extreme rightist rabbis, especially some of those holding official positions in the West Bank.
5. Fascism by rubber stamp.
"There are a million reasons why someone would be denied entry into Israel,” Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Hadad said Monday, when asked about the ministry’s border policies in the wake of the Chomsky ban.
“There may be a million reasons, but try to find a single criterion for entry refusal and you’ll hit a blank wall,” said Association for Civil Rights in Israel attorney Oded Feller. "The Interior Ministry simply doesn’t publish them, despite a court ruling that ordered them to do so.”
6. The sense that despite everything, all is well.
There will be those who argue that the fact that I, or my Haaretz colleagues, are allowed to publish what we do, is proof that there is no fascism here, nor evidence of a police state.
The fact is that were we not Israeli Jews, and part of an establishment institution, any of us could find ourselves tossed out on the same pavement, and with the same lack of due process and due explanation, as Noam Chomsky.
7. The sense that there is a war on now, when there isn't.
8. Selective enforcement of court rulings. Routine defiance of same, in particular by radical settlers
9. The 180-degree untruth that officials allow Israeli and Jerusalem Arabs to do what they want, while cracking down on their Jewish neighbors.
10. Equating criticism of the government with favoring the destruction of Israel.
This has become increasingly felt beyond Israel's borders. In San Francisco, the canary in the coal mine of free discourse within the Jewish community, the Jewish Federation [JCF] recently revised and tightened the terms under which it agrees to grant funds to organizations.
"The JCF does not fund organizations that through their mission, activities or partnerships … advocate for, or endorse, undermining the legitimacy of Israel as a secure independent, democratic Jewish state, including through participation in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, in whole or in part."
The guidelines go on to state that "Presentations by organizations or individuals that are critical of particular Israeli government policies but are supportive of Israel’s right to exist as a secure independent Jewish democratic state" are "generally in accord with the policy statement," but "early JCRC [Jewish Community Relations Council] consultation is strongly encouraged and the programming should be presented within an overall program strategy that is consistent with JCF’s core values."
In another troubling sign, Rabbi Michael Lerner of Berkeley, long a vocal supporter of a two-state solution, became the object of death threats and vandalism of his house in Berkeley, California. Rabbi Lerner was also targeted in the press by Alan Dershowitz, who described him as the worst of the "rabbis of Hamas."
Can all this have spread this far, this fast? Because of Israel, have Bay Area Jews who do not believe in a specifically Jewish state, now forfeited their right to be part of the Jewish community? Have Jews who love Israel but are seen as too critical, or who support a boycott to make their criticisms manifest, been effectively excommunicated?
It's a free country, I guess.
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logios claims that judaism "is especially prone to fascism." this claim is based on the spurious logic that jews did not prosaletyse, unlike christianity and islam. from this, logios concludes that christianity and islam are unversal religions, whereas judaism is a national religion. all of these conclusions are non-sequitors. fascism was the product exclusively of christian, industrialised europe. this is so for the simple reason that without an industrial base, there can be no fascism under the accepted definition of that term. nationalism pre-dates industrialism, and it worked very well within the confines of christian europe. judaism, which did not have a state, did produce a universal religion. one needs consider only the belief in monotheism, in the setting up of courts of justice, in the ten commandments, in charity, in the laws of hygiene, in family law, in the respect accorded women, in the commandment to love thy neighbour and the stranger, to see how absurd is the claim that judaism is "especially prone to fascism." to the contrary, judaism gave many of the ideas for equality, justice and democracy, including the absolute command to give and keep a day of rest.
"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. THEN THEY CAME for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. THEN THEY CAME for me and by that time no one was left to speak up."
countries have the right to deny entry to their territory for any reason that does not contradict the country's own laws. it is the refusal to leave a country that is regarded as in contravention of international norms. refusing chomsky entry into the west bank was perhaps unwise given his notoriety but by no means shocking or extraordinary.
I live in Israel and what he writes obout , is like he is writing about a DIFFERENT country. Burston has became like Ilan Pappe, Gideon Levi and Amira Hass . All Professionals Israel Bashing ... Making a living from hating Israel. All of you should go and work for your living instead of writing nonsense.....
A strong piece, undermined by a spurious argument on San Francisco.
Considering that Burston is a disciple of Chomsky, then some observations ought to be made. According to Chomsky, Iran is a more democratic state than the USA (regardless of what Left wing American Jews may think of their own country). According to the same Chomsky, Iran's elections last June were free, and more representative than the US elections. The same professor of Linguistics goes on to claim that US, UK and Israel are terrorist states. So if we follow Chomskian newspeak, which Burston is diluting, then yes, Israel is fascist, just like the UK (mother of all western democracies), whereas Iran isa free democratic stae, and Ahmadinejad a champion of freedom and religous tolerance, gay and women's rights. Perhaps Ahmadinejad should be invited to Israel, to teach about freedom and human rights.
Thank you Mr Burston, for these honest and straightforward words. You may have been provocatively drastic in your wording, but it was about time that someone started to look at Israel's doing in what is going wrong, instead of blaming Iran and Hezbollah and all the Jew-haters in the world. This reaction has become kind of a natural reflex as soon as anybody dares criticising Israel's politics. It's always the others. But the world isn't full of Jew-haters! And critcism on one side doesn't mean that the other side has to look at its own share as well. It's just that most people can not understand the arrogance with which the Israeli government is ignoring common sense. It's time to wake up and look at your share!
Overwhelmingly, perhaps universally, the people who donate to the Bay Area Federation are opposed to the BDS movement. The BDS Jews are part of the "As a Jew" crowd; they only identify as Jews when it's useful to bash Israel. The former don't want to substitute the latter. Some "fascism."
Burston is right on in connecting the grave situation in Israel with developments in the Bay Area Jewish community (and the US in general). A large group of prominent Bay Area Jews have OPPOSED those guidelines in an Open Letter published in The Forward. See text at: http://tinyurl.com/2eew8py
Haaretz c allowed to publish is proof that there is no fascism here, nor evidence of a police state yes try to publish an anti arab anti muslim such article in any of the 25 arab and 100 primitives countries in world and see what happenes to your throat you are lucky to live in israel and publish all these nonsense which are in sharp contrast to the great majority of israelis and who gave you permission to use the word WE you are not we you are they. the muslims and the leftists who cause problems worldwide
The writers of this edition seem to be so self involved in their own power trip. What do you mean by noone else knows better about fascism? Ask the Sth Americans - Eastern Europeans and just about any one. YOU are one of the few lucky ones. Talk about not understanding the world or thinking like any Norther European - NO ONE IS BETTER. What sorry people are some Israelis. By the way - if any one is waiting for you to lower your arms to attack you. THEN YES. You are at War- constant War. OR PROBABLY YOU ARE SO USED TO IT, THAT IT DOES NOT FEEL LIKE WAR, WHICH IS WHAT WOULD FEEL TO ANY ANY ONE ELSE, in any country. I live in Australia and from our perspective - you are always at War. REALITY CHECK MATE
Yellow journalism in it's purest form... How can Haaretz allow this guy ro continually spout off?
Israel. An insignificant land area smaller than the state of Connecticut and surrounded by and amidst hostile forces. It is the same old story of Jewish survival. I have a hard time swallowing Burston's column today.
A very good article. I fully agree with your assertion: 'Have Jews who love Israel but are seen as too critical, or who support a boycott to make their criticisms manifest, been effectively excommunicated?'
Wow. What passes for journalism these days. Reading articles like these are very upsetting, but with the risk of sounding too emotional I'll argue Burston with just the facts. 1. Losing a war: that's debatable. The border with Lebanon is the quietest it has been since Israel's creation. Nasrallah admitted himself that had he known Israel's response, he would not have started that war (deterrence). Not to mention, any time body count, economic and infrastructure damage, captured combatants, and loss of territory are higher on your side, I consider it a pretty poor victory. Also, UN is on LEBANESE territory meant to monitor Hezbollah. Furthermore, I tend to believe that as long as Israel is still existing, the Arabs have not won a single war, since that has always been their main objective. 2. International quarantine: nothing new. Arab boycott, Islamic countries not recognizing Israel. They are a HUGE part of the UN, and with their vast oil resources, populations, and territory, they sway other countries to adopt anti-Israel positions. Factor in old-fashioned anti-Semitism (2000 years of deep-seeded hatred doesn't just vanish) and Israel basically IS the world's scapegoat. 3. Obscene Museum of Tolerance project: since Bradley gives no explanation of why this project is "obscene" I won't bother debating it. 4. Israel is at war with Hamas and other groups that explicitly call for it's destruction. As such, don't expect Israel to treat territories under their control as any other neighbors. I doubt the Soviet Union let too much supplies into Nazi Germany. Negotiations are key. Yet it is the Palestinian side refusing to negotiate for the moment, and everyone knows they have been offered peace deals in the past (it's their right to decline, but face the consequences). 5. Lawlessness is a problem in almost any society. Not necessarily characteristic of fascist ones. 6. So thinking that Israel is not fascist is characteristic of it being fascist? Hmmm..... 7. Yes. But there are millions and millions of people around you that dedicate their lives to your destruction. "Death to Israel" is chanted after Friday prayers in Iran by tens of thousands of people. 9. Who says that Israel allows anyone to do what they want? 10. I believe that organizations should be allowed to choose whom they fund. So if, the Jewish federation doesn't want to give money to people that don't have the same beliefs, then that should be their choice. To deny them that-now that would be fascist...
A country at war for more than sixty years can't be its real self ! Blaming Israel is not any part of the story ! The blame should be upon Israel enemies who don't want her to live in peace. Blaming Israel & not its enemies is travesty of truth & justice !
Oh no, someone hostile to a country was denied entry!!! That must make Israel a fascist state! Give me a break. I completely disagree with the refusal to admit (which has been rescinded I believe) in addition to a number of other actions of the state of Israel, but does anyone else see the ridiculousness of these conclusions? Riot police overstepping their bounds to contain a protest? Please tell me a single country in which this has not happened. Maybe Bradley should take a good hard look at all of his neighboring states to truly understand what fascism is. Go to Saudi Arabia. Oh wait, Jews aren't allowed there. Maybe he could lie and say he's one of the 1.5 million Israeli Arabs that have more civil rights and a higher standard of living that Arabs in any other Arab country...
There is nothing unique about this in history. It is now PC to attack Israel as a substitute for hating Jews. It's like saying Africa is a cesspool instead of saying one hates blacks.
Looks like you have run out of interesting topics. Next !
You are doing what you accuse many of your readers of doing. And that is to paint to generalized a picture. When the left wing tends towards ineffective genuflection there tends to be a reaction toward the right. When the action of the right is equally ineffective due to centrist half measures there will tend to be a gravitation to whoever appears to have a resolution. This tends to result in polarization in society That there are National Chauvinistic leaning in Israeli society (which can easily and rightly be equated to fascism and the curbing of Democratic Rights) can easily be attributed to frustration stemming from the lack of progress on the Peace Track (enough blame on all sides of this debate to go around). That this gets translated into actions on the ground one needs to look no further than who is the Minister of Internal Security and who is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and to which party they are affiliated. Personally, on matters of national security, I tend to fall center right. I tend to agree that organizations or individuals calling for the destruction of Israel should not be granted favor by our Government. However, the suppression of genuinely peaceful descent is a fundamental right of democracy and must be protected under and that protection enforced by law. Unfortunately our current electoral system makes it extremely difficult for any one party to form a majority government And as such any government is held hostage to fringe ideologies in order to maintain any semblance of stability. And unfortunately the fringes that are the power brokers in Israel today are the fascists. The only way this is going to change is if the electoral system changes. And there are too many fringe political elements that gain from the status quo. As such forming rational governments will continue to be difficult.
Israel has taken a turn toward becoming a fascist, ultra-nationalist country reminiscent of European countries of old (that coincidentally, oppressed their Jewish minorities). I have been witnessing it for some time--fascism has taken hold in Israeli society. It is an ugly thing.
It was when I first started hearing that phrase that a shiver went down my spine. Fascism views the people as a collective, and it's straightfoward fasicsm to call a political opponent, or a critic of Israel, an Enemy of the Jewish People. Goldstone was called an Enemy of the Jewish People, so was Chomsky. It's total fascist delegitimizing of critics.
There is a malaise that has infected Israelis. Its foundations are a fear about security. In response, many arereaffirming the demand for a homogenous population of Jews. Unfortunately a significant number believe in having a population of like-minded Jews to the exclusion of all other Jews that do not share their more radical beliefs. Israeli leadership exploits the fears for security and helps galvanize the power of a radical zealotry that thrives on intolerance. The settler movement has become the source of zealots committed to taking free Palestinian land. They have Israeli leadership blind support; create and inflame the very conditions that result in security threats; express disdain for any rational thought that supports the greater needs of Israel for reconciliation with the Arab world. It is this zealotry that will assist the Netanyahu-Lieberman-Ultra Orthodox alliance move increasingly towards a facist state and ultimately the destruction of Israel.
withdraw from the west bank, like the withdrawal from lebanon and gaza, will bring only terrorism. israel's lurch to the right is a response to its situation. the vast majority of the population is not right wing, but sits on its hands, waiting, and votes for the people who are not likely to create another lebanon. the question is which is worse -- to conintue to occupy the west bank and suffer a moral decline, or to withdraw from the west bank and suffer terrorism. it would be an easy answer if qalqilya was not on the outskirts of tel aviv, but like some chechnya or tibet -- far from the population centers. just remember america's resposne to 9/11 -- to go to a far away country and invade. israel has been under this stress for generations, and still retains some of its humanity.
Israel today constantly reminds me of minitrue, miniluv, minipax and newspeak. The Museum of Tolerance is a name that could have been invented by Orwell.
Just to be clear, their is a famous "museum of tolerance" in Los Angeles. I can almost guarantee Israel got the idea from them. So it's not like Israel came up with the name.
Definition: "a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition" Bradley, you went to UC Berkeley and you can't even properly apply simple definitions to concepts? The autocratic centralized government of Israel was elected and can easily be voted out of office. And what about the forcible suppression of opposition? Is anyone knocking on your door and forcing you to shut your mouth? How regimented is Israel socially? Isn't it quite an open society? Your ignorance is astounding. Is it more important to whine about Israel and spread misconceptions because you have an innate sense of guilt? Will you ever grow out of this compulsive drive for whiny self-flagellation?
SDHD: Burston did not say Israel IS a fascist state, just heading that way. So you should not be looking at definitions of fascism but conditions in states that subsequently became fascist. You may be frightened.
Thankyou for sharing.
The "argument by dictionary definition" is about the most useless argument that can be attempted. The implication is that unless the term used in the argument exactly corresponds, in all respects, to the given definition then the gist of the argument is bogus.
that "we [Israel] may actually be turning that way." I wold contend that Burston is in fact claiming that Israel is currently a fascist state, and reasons 1-10 above support that claim. I think the fascist claim is truly repulsive, and 100% disgusting. Freely take issue with how Israel handles scenario x, y, or, z; that's democracy, not fascism.
SDHD will only hurl insults at you if you disagree with him.
Nice article. When even Bradley can see the truth, then it's time for the Israeli street to worry.
luckily the Israeli street does not read haaretz and especially the english version its a small left paper cater to small nnumber of leftists in world and israel the israeli street does not need any advice from a bradley it knows better
Eventually, it will affect travel & tourism, too. But then, just Like the PA elected Hamas, you all elected Likud & your right wingers, the people who bring you the policies of today. To change the policies, you probably have to change the people in power. Good Luck.
there are more tourists coming to israel then ever before and numbers are growing monthly direct foreign investments have risen in the billions those countries that publickly condem israel buy israel military hardware and hi tech products and services the israeli stock market real estate has almost doubled itself in 2 years what are you talking about ?
On much more based grounds you may find it much more justified to advocate boycotting the US , GB , the Russian Federation and not your tiny most menaced ancestor homeland.
If I kill 10 people and you kill a 100, should I not be prosecuted because your crime is worse than mine?
You're one of those voices that merits to be heard. And do not let fascist behavoir by the Israeli government and its supporters, and there are many of them, deter you from speaking the truth.
Isn't it funny that most Fascist regimes were "Left?"
"Isn't it funny that most Fascist regimes were "Left?"" - Bernie This curious 'fact' of your escaped both leftists and Fascists in the age of Fascism. ALL Fascist governments of the 20th century were bitterly opposed to 'leftists', 'socialists' and 'communists.' Anyone the least familiar with the age, the writings of Fascists, and of leftists is well aware that the Fascists defined themselves as right and leftists were opposed to them. I do not know where the insane idea that Fascists were leftists comes from. Ignorance and propaganda are the prime suspects. Were this 40 years ago we might have suspected a bad batch of LSD. I suggest you look into the Italian Fascists and their embrace of Revisionist Jews such as Irgun. Clearly Jabotinisky was not a Fascist, but he certainly was from the 'right'. And he was celebrated by Mussolini while he was opposed to, and by, Israeli 'leftists' such as Ben Gurion. If Fascist were 'leftist' then it is a reality which totally escaped both the 'left' and the 'right' in the period between 1920 and World War II.
Israel today is acting in a fashion many would deem 'fascist' but it is not classic Fascism as there is no regimentation of society, labor and industry. Israel is merely engaged in massive and repulsively right-wing behavior. The religious right riots with impunity, Settlers commit any crime they desire against Palestinians, while peaceful demonstrators are clubbed. Such behavior is not the result of a government pulling the strings, but rather a government which cannot even restrain the most virulent, violent and puerile elements of the societies ultra-right. Israel is not turning 'Fascist'. Rather it is a society which has acquiesced to it's most depraved and degenerate elements. Israel has become an asylum run by it's inmates because no one else can or will run it.
well said mate.
It is funny that you name ten reasons for Israel to "become Fascist" while ignoring the main reason why it already is. i.e. Zionism (the only surviving national movement of the mid and late 19th Century Europe from which Fascism and Nazism were born). You see these are no reasons these are consequences: big difference. As for this comment, I don't think it will be published (eleventh consequence : censorship). Surprise Me Haaretz.
"Zionism (the only surviving national movement of the mid and late 19th Century Europe from which Fascism and Nazism were born)." - Mordichai While I will agree that Zionism was a product of the Nationalism of the late 19th century, I cannot accept the argument that either Fascism or Nazism were a product. Fascism was a product of WWI. It was 'nationalistic' but it was much more than that. it was a rejection of the aristocratic regimes which started and prosecuted the war. Fascism was rooted in the inability of the soldiers who fought in the trenches to trust in anyone and anything which had not shared their experiences. Fascism believed in strong leadership, regimentation, militarism and team sports. Fascism believed in the 'future' which it was to dominate through superior regimentation. Zionism was quite a different expression of human desire. Zionism was dedicated to the perceived need for a Jewish Homeland where Jews could be safe from persecution. True, there were Jewish Fascist, and even Zionist Fascists. Zionism was overwhelmingly NOT a creation of the right, or, with the exception of some Jews who had served in WW I, aligned with Fascism at either an ideological or fundamental level.
It is very unlikely that Israel could become a fascist country. I do not see any signs for such concern. Chomsky does not deserve to touch Israel soil - he made unregretable damage to State of Israel. His criticism goes beyond of acceptable criticism in democratic societies. He acts against Israel with fanatical obcession. He thinks that his view is a libaral and in frame of democracy - but he is viewed as he is in opposite side.
You seem to confuse the differences between fascistic and democratic states so let me que you in.In a free society,you have the right to freely state you opinion ,however,others have the right to label you an idiot.In a fascistic state,the GOVERNMENT is the entity that regulates peoples speech and deems whether or not it is apporpriate,thats the difference.For a group of Isreali's to protest chomsky and label him with whatever they want is the freedom of expression,the government doing it is the freedom of opression.
The author has reason to critic the oppressive zionist regime but calling it fascist is an historical mistake because it is having very different caracteristics of a fascist regime which do not prevent from being irrespectful of human rights, democracy and international law. Some historical reading would be appropriate before uing the word fascism.
You assert that there is no war going on... How terribly naive and ignorant.
Please enligthen us.
I agree, Israel is in a landslide. Grasping straws to find again her true identity. What Bradley fails to mention though is that as the right may be pushing hard so is the left and articles like this that have watered down the definitions of facism, apartheid, genocide, words that once held power are now nothing more than cliche. For years this has been the objective of extremists, break down the power of wrong and make it commonplace. I too fear the extremist right but I also fear the apologist attitudes of the left, I fear most that Jewish identity is being forever tainted. But this publication pushes so hard left that others must push right and where are moderates to turn. You claim you fear. You claim you care. But all you do is write with words that no longer hold their meaning. You dig your own hole, now live in it or claw your way out say this isn't the world I choose to be a part of and I shall fight for it to be.
One of the best talkbacks I've ever read. Thanks Thom.
Why? Because you clearly condemn BOTH, the extremist Right and the apologists of the Left. The former is indeed execrable beyond description, and rules, but the latter are so terribly blind to anything that is not "pure" Left that they even laud spying on the army, stealing away with thousands of pages marked Secret. Not to speak of that "honest" Goldstone and his horrible employer...Indeed, where are moderates to turn to. So, again, more power to you Thom!
thanks again for another depressivley insightful article Bradley...
Much of this is true, but the author fails to explain why Israel acts in the ways he describes. There is no mention of rocket attacks, terrorism, the anti-Israel bias in the UN and other world bodies, the growing questioning of the need for a Jewish state, the intimidation of pro-Israel students on college campuses, the takeovers of Gaza and Lebanon by well-armed radical Islamic groups that are bent on Israel's destruction, the overly harsh anti-Israel rhetoric in Arab school systems and state-sponsored media, the use of Israel as a vehicle through which to vent anti-Semitism, etc. It's good to be sensitive to police-state like characteristics in Israel, but it is wrong to ignore the legitimate threats to Israel that have led to certain policies. Such articles can lead those who are uninformed to draw ov erly-simplistic conclusions.
Aren't you mixing cause and effect? Why are UN and other international bodies "anti-Israel"? They created Israel in 1947. There must be a reason that they become critical of their own creation.
by the time you know you have it, it is often too late
The fact is that Fascism was quite popular in Europe during the 1920s and 30s. It was even popular in the United States. 'Mussolini made the trains run on time' was the myth advanced by American conservatives in the 1930s. Both Hitler and Mussolini were columnists for the Hearst papers. (guess which had his columns in on time and which didn't.) Fascism was as welcome in nations like italy and Germany - and many others - as it's moral and ideological equivalents have been in the USA and Israel in the last 40 years. Germans were not caught unawares by the rise of the Nazis. The left was bitterly opposed from the beginning, and the majority quietly approved or acquiesced.
Really, at what point in time was this whole idea of destroying the Palestinians in favor of the Zionist to have been considered kosher?
Looking to the Gaza incursion first: That effort was a magnificent exercise in restraint doomed to failure not by the IDF but by the press. The idea that there can be successful responses to the rocket launchers without collateral damage is idiotic especially when it is well known that the Hamas gangsters use human shields on deliberately for propaganda purposes. The main failure of the Gaza incursion was not securing the border with Egypt so that effective interdiction of the tunnels could be made. The battle with Hezbollah produced mediocre results because of the constant,heavy infusion of fresh supplies by the Syrian/Iranian regimes. You should not expect to win a war/battle when you cannot/will not shut off the enemies supply lines. If you want victory in the north, you will have to engage the Syrians and defeat them early on in the engagement so the supply line to Hezbollah can be stopped. You should consider using an EMP device to neutralize the Syrians military machine next time you have to deal with Hezbollah. Nothing will interdict their resupply operation like the total lack of functioning electronic gadgets.
that there are alternatives to total military destruction of neighboring states and peoples? Catch your breath for a second and consider benefits of reaching agreements that might make war a remote possibility.
One 'wins' when one achieves it's goals in a war. One 'loses' when the other side achieves it's goals. In both cases the purpose of the war was to destroy the enemy. In both cases the enemy survived and even prospered as a result of the war. When one side is able to bring to bear the overwhelming amount of firepower and fails totally to achieve it's goals it has lost. In each case Israel lost the Second Lebanon War and Cast Lead. in each case it was the choice of Israel. in BOTH cases the government was waging a war of choice. A war for internal political purposes and not a war for strategic gain. In EACH case the government chose to avoid casualties by refusing to pursue the destruction of the enemy. In BOTH cases the government chose to punish the civilians of Lebanon and Gaza instead of closing with and destroying the enemy. In BOTH cases pictures of immense destruction were to convey to Israelis the idea that victory had been achieved because civilians had been punished. Only those with no sense of reality fell for it. Hamas and Hisbollah are more powerful today than they were at the beginning of operations against them. That is why rational people comprehend that both Hisbollah and Hamas 'won' and Israel, which failed to achieve it's goals, 'lost.' In neither case did Olmert dare to take the casualties necessary to achieve the destruction of the enemy. In both cases the enemy was hardly harmed and was strengthened in it's strategic position. The Second Lebanon War failed to establish deterrence and Cast Lead failed to win the election for Kadima. Not only did they both fail to achieve external strategic goals, they failed to even achieve the political goals which were the motive for pursuing them.
but a decline in compassion, empathy and humanitarianism. Combine this with fear mongering, the lack of rule of law, hate politics and chauvinism and you have clear signs of a slide towards fascism.
I've read enough of your comments to know you haven't, couldn't, won't ever feel guilt about anything. You need a moral compass to experience that emotion, and a sense of humanity.
The good doctor manages uncharacteristic restraint by not pointing out the irrational murdurous bloodthirsty characteristics of all arabs and similar sub-humans. Must be on major doses of prozac, or perhaps a bit intimidated by the subject matter, eh mr phd?? Ask yourself if you honstly believe his hippocratic oath applies to treating arabs. I rather doubt it. If I were an arab, I certainly would not trust him with my health, this on the basis of his posts...