Do You Really Support Israel?
BY LPJ
There are a number of excellent comments to my last post, but this one deserves mention (because it says exactly what I'm trying to say).Dirk ( 1 Aug 2:34am) argues: "there are a lot of people here who clearly feel very strongly about Israel. Sorry, but to me supporting Israel means more than just chanting "IDF, IDF" like you are cheering on a team at the World Cup."It means thinking about the long term consequences about its actions and accepting that it can and does sometimes get it wrong - this being a spectacular case in point."The Israelis and Americans who believe Israel doesn't need to be loved as long as they have superior fire power and regimes too weak to fight them are completely ignorant. These are the very same Israelis who are in love with Assad's Syria.Syria doesn't fight Israel. In fact, one of the most peaceful borders in the world is that between Syria and Israel. The Israelis and Syrians allow infrequent transit for the Druze in the Golan. Israeli Druze attend university in Damascus. The UN monitors the border, but there's not much to keep track of. In 2003, Israel fired a missile into a Palestinian refugee camp outside of Damascus, but nothing else of significance has occurred since 1973.Yet, where is Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal based? From whom does Hamas receive training, weapons, tactical support, intelligence, financing, a connection with Iran?And where does Hezbollah get its weapons from? Who empowered Hezbollah and strengthened their position while weakening that of the Lebanese Army from 2000-2005? Who supports the Palestinian militias in Lebanon?Who assassinates Lebanese politicians who support an armistice with Israel and don't view Israel as the enemy? Who works to limit free speech and keep the Lebanese people from evening thinking about Israelis as humans?Who supports the insurgency in Iraq, an insurgency that targets Israel's allies, the Kurds?Who actively endorses toppling the Jordanian regime, a regime closely tied to Israel?You see, with the Lebanese people, you actually had the chance of having a normal neighbor. The Jordanian and Egyptian governments may have treaties signed with Israel, but the people are quite a different bunch.Let's look at Lebanon, a country noted for intellectuals, musicians, classical music concerts, raves, major publishing houses, incredible nightlife, beach parties, excellent local beer and wine, a diverse population of incredibly secular and incredibly religious people, leftists and libertarians, budding film directors. This is a country that has tremendous problems with all its neighbors. A country that feels oppressed by its neighbors. A country that has been greatly harmed by its neighbors.Sound like any other country on the Mediterranean south of Syria, north of Egypt?The big differences are that Lebanon doesn't have desert, and we're not nearly as socialist, thank God. Oh, by the way, in Lebanon, Hezbollah pushes socialism. You've got that in common, eh?You see, we Lebanese don't believe in a strong state. We like a loose confederation. We hate taxes and government power. We like our guns, liquor, religion, family, parties, television, advertising, etc. uninhibited.The problem is that Hezbollah hijacked the system. We've been trying to reign them in, but that's really, really hard in a weak government system. Add to that the hatreds left over from the civil war and the hatreds left over from the internal Byzantine battles that created so many variations of Christianity, the original spread of Islam, internal Islamic battles, internal Shia battles that created other sects, internal Sunni battles over Quranic interpretation, regional battles, and more, and you've got a system that best handled with kid gloves.Sadly, the Syrians use this system to their benefit. So do the Iranians. One would think with Israelis being so culturally similar to Lebanese, and, like Lebanese, with so many highly educated people, they would be able to figure out the Lebanese system. One would think the Israelis would learn to play the game.Sadly, because Israel can't get over itself long enough to truly understand anyone but themselves, they've fallen on their face over and over and over again when dealing with Lebanon.Your strategy doesn't work. Start over. Bossing around Lebanese is like herding cats. We're a bunch of prima donnas who refuse to cooperate with ourselves, let alone others. We hear you're the same. Why can't you understand us? I guess Socialists always think they're smarter than everyone else.
When is Israel Wrong?
A Rant. As I've said, what does Israel realistically hope to accomplish?I'm serious in asking this question. If Israel isn't wrong right now, when will the US, the international community, the rest of the world, and Israelis ever admit that Israel does horribly atrocious things?This is hyperbole. I know there are many Israelis who question their government, etc., etc., so on and so forth.Most of the Israelis seem to say, "We don't want civilians killed, but we think that what our government is doing is good. It is decreasing the power of Hezbollah." Well, that government is killing civilians and increasing Hezbollah's power. Never before has Hezbollah experienced the amount of support it has after the Qana massacre. Not even during Israel's occupation.The Lebanese government is powerless. The Lebanese people are powerless (quite literally, in fact).Don't try and tell me that the Lebanese government was powerless before. Oh, yes, it was weak. But powerless? Definitely not. If it was powerless before, then what is it now? A black hole?Israel is asking Lebanese to turn against Hezbollah. You know, we were already against Hezbollah. Anybody who's read a Lebanese newspaper in the last two years would know that. We were even more vocal in our opposition to Hezbollah during the first two days of the conflict. Many Hezbollah supporters considered turning against their party then. No one is talking like that any more. Hezbollah has already declared that it's won this battle. In fact, it has. Because Israel is not going to stick around to clean up the damage. Hezbollah comes out of this more powerful than ever before. They've effectively mounted a coup using Israel to assassinate the government, since Syria was so ineffective in doing so. They're so sure they've won that they've already threatened every Lebanese who spoke out against them during the first few days of this conflict.You see, it's really simple. Israel kills Lebanese. Hezbollah doesn't. In fact, Hezbollah didn't kill that many Israelis before this conflict started. Was it all that much more than an existential threat? We're in all out war, and look what Hezbollah can do. Nothing compared to what Israel is inflicting on Lebanon.If one asks most Lebanese today what they think should be done, they don't want a cease fire. They want proportional response, but not in the way you may be thinking. If Israel gets to destroy Lebanon, Lebanon should get to do the same to Israel. Olmert's apologies appeal to very few. Lebanese are currently thinking in Ariel Sharon's terms, the man who said, "Blood for blood; soul for soul."Israelis bring themselves down every time they try to play their trump card. Lebanese don't want genocide. They don't want the destruction of the Israeli state. They merely want to do the same thing to Israel that Israel has done to Lebanon. That's the Lebanese mind. If he slaps you, you get to slap him. If you're going to put to death a Maronite, you must also kill a Sunni and Shia. That's the way people think., andMost Lebanese were angrier at Syria than Israel before this conflict. Most thought it was a joke that politicians kept saying, "We agree that Israel is the enemy."Israel made itself Lebanon's enemy. Not the other way around.Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. Why didn't they stop? Why?As I said before, nothing good will come of this. Little did I know that things could get even worse. Israel was just making headway with Arabs. Peace truly was closer than ever (and if you haven't visited the Middle East, talked with the people and regimes seen the dynamics, you shouldn't even think about commenting on this point). Arabs had united against Iran and Syria.Who's scarier now?Civilian deaths are horrible. Sometimes innocent people must die for a greater good. But what makes them even worse is when nothing is accomplished. What did they die for? Most likely, they will have died for the overthrow of the democratically elected Lebanese government. Thanks, Israel. Hezbollah now runs Lebanon. You committed their coup for them.We're tired of hating. We hated Syria for a long time. We thought that you, Israel, were going to leave us alone. You were in a different category.Now, you're hated more than Syria. Has Syria ever done anything this bad?So, how can we hate Syria with such vigor any more? We can't.Everyone else hates you. I can't. I want to, but I can't. I want to understand you. I really, really do. I don't want to hate you. I've met far too many good Israelis online. In the back of my mind there is a question: Does Israel really want peace?