PIOTR - out of the literally thousands of words I have read over recent years regarding the fast deteriorating position in Israel, in actuality, and in the eyes of the world - the evocative points you have posted are extraordinarily perceptive - in an otherwise sea of invective and plain Hasbara propaganda. They are worth repeating.

"The last little dirty war was basically high-tech hunting expedition --- Gaza seems to have a status of a game reserve. So we got some lectures how IDF makes "utmost efforts" to avoid civilian casualties (something like shooting deer of proper age and sex during buck season; the opening salvo was a massacre of police cadets duly determined to be hostile combatants as they had graduation ceremony, still, sex, age, and even uniform was correct). American Reform Rabbis were talking about "unprecedented measures". Never in the history of wars white phosphorus was used to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties, you see."

"In some places settlements are mere land grab (or water grab). But in many they are so much more. They are daily spectator sports. Hundreds little or not so little ways of humiliating Palestinians. Several thousands armed civilians engages in that sport, supervised by the military, so most of the young people can join the fun. Fun punctuated by moments of "hopelessness" that "concessions will make no difference".

"Righteous sadism is deeply addictive. We know a recent American edition. We are somewhat less aware of our traditional American edition like surprising tolerance of rape in prisons in a society otherwise obsessed with sexual crimes. Once a group gets the tag "bad people" then doing bad things to them does not have negative moral value. While doing something good to them either borders with criminal, or is outright criminal."

"Israeli Jews are much superior to Arabs who are backward, homophobic, lack Western logic, lack regard for life, anti-feminist, breed to fast, sympathize with Hitler and what not. And it is not the case that all of that is groundless. But once you internalize all of that as a justification that no shit done to people so vile is morally bad, you are in a trap. Basically, you are incapable of making rational policy choices."

If it were possible, I would print the above and send it to every senator, every congressman and every politician around the world who thinks it is still a good, sound, moral, effective, practical strategy to destabilize the world to satisfy the aims of a tiny minority of religious and political zealots who live in a 20,000 sq m enclave on the eastern Mediterranean. To stand 'outside the box' and observe how all our everyday lives are circumscribed and influenced directly or indirectly by the Sharons, Olmerts and Netanyahus of this tiny enclave, is to stand in utter amazement at such a surreal situation - virtually the entire globe dependent on the whim of a few dozen local politicians belonging to something called Likud. As I write, I cannot actually believe it.

Posted by COLINDALE London 
March 23, 2009 3:30 AM |