Dear Mr. Kerry:
In case you have forgotten who the bad guys are in the Middle East, maybe you should read this story:
In my mind, that is a little worse than building a wall, or allowing the construction of some suburbs in Jerusalem. But then what do I know? Maybe it is Israel's responsibility to make a "peace treaty" with Hamas, which remains committed to the extermination of all Jews worldwide. Maybe wanting to live is apartheid, at least if you are a Jew.
But like I say, what do I know?
"Beirut (AFP) - The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant announced it had executed seven prisoners in its bastion in northeastern Syria on Tuesday, two of them by crucifixion."
In my mind, that is a little worse than building a wall, or allowing the construction of some suburbs in Jerusalem. But then what do I know? Maybe it is Israel's responsibility to make a "peace treaty" with Hamas, which remains committed to the extermination of all Jews worldwide. Maybe wanting to live is apartheid, at least if you are a Jew.
But like I say, what do I know?
Comments
As for Hamas, I like to ask people to imagine how the Israelis would negotiate peaceful coexistence with this guy.
Or would it make you feel better if a sniper shot them, like an Israeli soldier did to altar boy Johnny Thaljieh in Bethlehem's Manger Square after he left a service at the Church of the Holy Nativity?
What about that nation which attacked a civilian convoy from our NATO ally Turkey in international waters, killing nine people, including one American? That was Israel, so I guess it doesn't matter.
I agree -- we should remember who the bad guys are. Where Green Eagle and I differ is that I see Israel as one of the bad guys, whereas he sees the nation that honored the terrorists who blew up the King David Hotel, killing 17 Jews in the process, as one of the good guys.
The bulldozer that Rachel Corrie sat in front of had been fixed up with metal plates to protect the driver from Palestinian snipers. He couldn't see this woman, who was stupid enough to sit in front of him. It was not a deliberate act.
The "civilian convoy" from Turkey was an attempt to violate an Israeli blockade which was aimed at Hamas, an organization that calls for the death of all Jews worldwide. If they had not resorted to violence in an effort to interfere in a war zone, they would not have been harmed.
Israel did not "honor" the people who blew up the King David Hotel, which happened before Israel existed. Furthermore, at the time, the King David Hotel was occupied by the British military. It was therefore not a civilian target, and the attackers were not terrorists.
There is no evidence that I can find that Johnny Thaljieh was actually killed by an Israeli soldier, despite the inevitable accusations from Palestinians. His death was tragic, but it happened more than a decade ago. How does that compare to the 130,000 slaughtered in sectarian violence in the last two years in Syria, or the constant bombings in Iraq and Pakistan, or the slaughter of Islamists by Egypt's government? I could go on here all day, but when one or two deaths becomes more important to you than hundreds of thousands, there is something really wrong with your thought process.
By the way, Sam 240, if you are still reading the comments here, how do you rate the deaths of Rachel Corrie and Johnny Thaljieh over a decade ago against the recent Islamist kdnapping of over a hundred school girls in Nigeria, and selling them into slavery?
"Israel did not "honor" the people who blew up the King David Hotel, which happened before Israel existed. Furthermore, at the time, the King David Hotel was occupied by the British military. It was therefore not a civilian target, and the attackers were not terrorists." -- Anti-Palestinian Bigot Green Eagle
From the London Times, July 20, 2006: "The commemoration of Israeli bombings that killing [sic] 92 people has caused offence. As Israel wages war against Hezbollah "terrorists" in Lebanon, Britain has protested about the celebration by right-wing Israelis of a Jewish "act of terrorism" against British rule 60 years ago this week." The article is titled, "British anger at terror celebration."
(The entire article is behind a paywall.)
Here's one that's free: "Israel celebrates Irgun hotel bombers."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1524552/Israel-celebrates-Irgun-hotel-bombers.html
[quote]
Simon Macdonald, the British ambassador to Israel, and consul general John Jenkins, wrote to the mayor of Jerusalem protesting at the plaque. "We don't think it's right for an act of terrorism to be commemorated," their letter read.
The embassy said: "There is no credible evidence that any warning reached the British authorities."
[/quote]
Furthermore, only part of the hotel was used by the British Military; the rest was used by civilians. The Irgun terrorists placed the bombs in the La Regence Cafe, which was a civilian institution.
As for warnings:
[quote]
The bombers claim that warnings were given but terrorist warnings are worthless and hoaxes were common occurrences. Terrorists often want a building to be evacuated so that people are killed by another bomb planted outside. Many were killed in Julian's Way which is where even more people would have been in an evacuation and so making the death toll much higher. [/quote]
From http://www.britishforcesinpalestine.org/attacks/kingdavid.html
Note that Menachem Begin, who was head of the Irgun terrorist organization that carried out the bombing, later became prime minister of Israel. Furthermore, as noted above, in 2006, Israel honored the terrorists who carried out the bombings. Current Israeli PM Netanyahu praised the bombers.
If Israel hadn't elected the head terrorist to the position of Prime Minister, and if Netanyahu hadn't praised the terrorists several years ago -- if Israel had condemned the bombers instead of embracing them -- then it would have been unfair to use the King David Hotel bombing to condemn Israel. But Israel honored the terrorists, so Israel demands condemnation for that.
What does the action of Iraqis in Syria have to do with the Israel's behavior? How, for that matter, is a mass murder committed by ethnic Somalis in Kenya more relevant to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than, say, the Israeli government letting someone who openly wants to destroy the Dome of the Rock lead tours of the area?
Meanwhile, here are some of Tom Segev's reflections on Israel's commemoration of the King David Hotel bombing:
"The historic truth is different: In the 60 years since the attack at the King David Hotel, Israel has hurt some two million civilians, including 750,000 who lost their homes in 1948, another quarter million Palestinians who were forced to leave the West Bank in the Six-Day War and hundreds of thousands of Egyptian civilians who were expelled from the cities along the Suez Canal during the War of Attrition. And now tens of thousands of Lebanese villagers are being forced to abandon their homes, and air force pilots are once again bombing Beirut and other cities. Hundreds of civilians have been killed. Regrettably. It's all in the spirit of the King David Hotel. One can always say there was a mishap."
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-spirit-of-the-king-david-hotel-1.193571
Then Green Eagle comes up with a truly offensive remark: "Maybe wanting to live is apartheid, at least if you are a Jew." How does wanting to live justify the widespread ethnic cleansing that Segev referred to?
There is a significant difference between Kiryas Joel, New York, and illegal suburbs in Jerusalem. The residents of Kiryas Joel bought the land through a legal process, and obeyed the law at all points in the process of building and expanding the village. On the other hand, it is illegal under international law to expel civilians from land occupied as a result of war, and it is illegal for a nation to settle its civilians on such occupied land. The Jerusalem suburbs in the West Bank are therefore illegal.
http://www.csmonitor.com/1989/1012/ekri.html
"How do you rate the deaths of Rachel Corrie and Johnny Thaljieh over a decade ago against the recent Islamist kdnapping of over a hundred school girls in Nigeria, and selling them into slavery?" - Green Eagle
Well, Israel is still killing civilians, and kidnapping and slavery are crimes.
"WHILE the violation of human rights is the norm rather than the exception in most of Africa's 42 black-ruled states, the spotlight remains on South Africa." -- Anne-Marie Kriek
"Arab Israelis enjoy a higher standard of living than Arabs anywhere else" -- Green Eagle
"Blacks possess one of the highest living standards in all of Africa. Although black living conditions in South Africa (as in America) cover a wide spectrum, the housing is unequalled anywhere on the continent. Soweto is a proper city complete with schools, stores, theaters, sport stadiums and tennis courts. In some areas, blacks drive their children to private schools in German cars. Few states in black Africa can boast such a range of features." -- Kriek
"How does that compare to the 130,000 slaughtered in sectarian violence in the last two years in Syria, or the constant bombings in Iraq and Pakistan, or the slaughter of Islamists by Egypt's government?" -- Green Eagle
"There are endless lists of human rights violations - mounting atrocities of black against black. Political prisoners are tortured in Zimbabwe. There are 200,000 to 300,000 people behind barbed wire in Mozambique. Escaped SWAPO detainees tell of torture - in some cases until death. The list goes on and on, and yet it never seems to get the attention of the media or the anti-apartheid campaigns." -- Kriek
There is no difference between Green Eagle's position on Israel and Kriek's position on Apartheid South Africa. If Green Eagle is using the same rhetoric on Israel that right-wing defenders of apartheid were using about South Africa, then Green Eagle must be the right-winger here.