Thursday 3 July 2014

A free society : we should be proud

Hi All 

Despite the focus of the non-Jewish media on the recent Israeli anti-Arab violence in Jerusalem, undertaken by zealots within the community, this is of course undertaken by a tiny minority of Israelis and Jewish people. I agree that anti-Arab extremist postings or beliefs by Israelis is wrong & needs to be condemned in the strongest terms. As we've said before, on this blog and elsewhere, the focus for Israel is to punished the perpetrators of the murder of 3 boys and to also punish the 'brains' behind these terrorists activities - i.e. Hamas. The war is with these terrorists; the response may be limited to arresting the people responsible and limited action against Hamas. The decision is of course the Israeli government's to make. We should note, however, that in the longer term this matter will keep coming up, until Hamas is defeated in battle or they renounce terrorism and lay down their arms. 

Another fab thing : Israel does have a vibrant and free civil society, there will always be those ready to tackle anti-Arab or Palestinian rhetoric or violence, even if this is not matched by the other side to this conflict. Israelis are by and large a peaceful people who would, given the opportunity of peace, be content to be left alone to contribute to this world and for the benefit of the whole of humanity, as are  Jews of the diaspora. That Israelis and Jews must be forever vigilant and be prepared to defend  themselves is a sad reflection, not on Jew or Judaism or Israel, but on the world in which we live. What was has been noticeable was that every single prayer rally and demo, during the days when the boys were missing, were all peaceful, spiritual and moving events. Last night over 1,000 Israelis attended a rally yesterday for tolerance and peace. Copied and pasted from the times of Israel 'live feed':

"Hundreds of people gather in the center of town in Jerusalem for a pro-tolerance protest, organized by Tag Meir. MKs, including Nitzan Horowitz and Isaac Herzog, are in attendance.The event is “a dam against hatred,” Herzog says.“We will not let the forces of darkness overtake our life,” he adds.Rabbi Benny Lau, a human rights activist, reads Psalms and asks the crowd not to applaud out of respect for the teenagers.“No to Violence! No to Racism! No to Revenge! That is NOT the Jewish way,” the organization posts on its Facebook description of the event."
  

19 comments:

  1. Kick ass and crush Hamas!

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  2. Oh and yes, I do agree that this is a war against terrorists and not a particular people (as if this needs to be said!).

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  3. Hi Rachel,


    Alas in these testing times it does need to be said (:

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  4. When will the Zionists and their apologists accept the real truth that it is the OCCUPATION that is the cause of violence and not resistance conducted by the occupied?


    The shameless and mercenary media in the USA that operates like a cheap whore does not even mention the detaining, torture and killing of Palestinian kids and yet unleashes a torrent of venomous and disgusting demonization campaign to justify the collective punishment and humiliation of a great people who have been living under the boots of a fascist colonial power for the last 60 years.

    The thugs and criminals imported from new York, Miami and other areas are ideologically, ethnically and racially trained to inflict as much pain and suffering on their intended victims . So where is the outage?It is about time that the Zionist terror be exposed for what it is.

    Hay Zionists. END the OCCUPATION and abolish APARTHEID.

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  5. Mancurian Womble4 July 2014 at 13:09

    There are no excuses for cold blooded murder, if it transpires that it is an Israeli/Jewish murderer, he/she has brought shame on Israel and the Jewish people.... and when caught deserve to have the same jail time as Yigal Amier, the man who shot Yitzhak Rabin

    The murderers of the 3 Israeli boys, they have bought shame on the Palestinians who, sadly compounded that shame by the 3 finger, the 3 Shlait salute, the one they taught their children to pose with, gleefully.

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  6. Atheist Shrugged4 July 2014 at 13:12

    You should worry about the ugly mindset of Israeli leaders. The calls for revenge, the calls for the commission of more war crimes against the Palestinians, the actual implementation of collective punishment.

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  7. Atheist Shrugged4 July 2014 at 13:14

    It always surprises me how much understanding people show for Israeli anger, and how little for Palestinian anger. A violent, repressive, stifling, racist occupation during almost 50 years is of course hard to imagine for most people, but if you read a little about what ordinary Palestinians are subjected to on a daily basis, no matter if they are peaceful people or not, then you might understand why they do not give up the struggle against the extreme injustice which has befallen them, and to which most of the world continues to turn a blind eye

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  8. The Arabs have more human rights under Israel than under any other Sunni regime, including that of abbas. The situation in the west bank is this: in areas which are under Israeli control Arabs and Jews are working, shopping, studying in university and driving together. But the areas in the west bank under the control of the Palestinians are nothing like that.

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  9. Atheist Shrugged4 July 2014 at 13:18

    The Palestinians are very clear. They were driven off on their lands by Jews during the building of Israel and not allowed to return. Israel continues to steal Palestinian lands even to this day.

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  10. Er, no. The Palestinians and their Arab brethren refused to accept the UN decision to partition the territory of the Palestine Mandate and went to war. They hoped to win the lot and drive the Jews into the sea, but they lost instead. They have spent the following sixty odd years alternating between plaintive cries of victimhood and bloodcurdling exhortations to total victory.

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  11. Are you not aware of the ongoing bombardment of Israel from Gaza? A few days ago 57 missiles fell on Israel's Negev desert and its civilian populations within a few short hours. That is what the ''on-going retaliation is in reaction to and it is indeed a casus belli. Or is it your opinion that Israel should sit quietly and take what Hamas throws at her?

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  12. They could do what they could have done 70 years ago and agreed to their own state alongside a Jewish one. They could have stayed in their homes instead of running from the destruction of the Jews they thought was imminent. They could have halted their eternal belligerence and threats against Jewish survival,their interminable murder of Jewish innocents, and their complete inability to recognise that most of the blame for their predicament rests with them. That should help.

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  13. If I were President of the US,

    Hmmm. Well, the first thing I'd do is to start putting serious pressure on Israel to abandon their settlements program. I'd cut off the $3.1B we provide in primarily military aid, cut off all arms sales and military technology transfers, and start trade sanctions of the kind that we used against South Africa until Israel stops the settlements program and dismantles all existing settlements. The only exceptions would be settlements involved in an adjusting of borders that would require the approval of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

    The second thing I'd do is increase economic aid to the Palestinians - now around $450M - but make it conditional on them asserting control over their respective territories - Gaza and the West Bank - and halting all attacks on Israel by any and all groups in their territory. Any attack on Israel would result in US aid being shut off to the territory it came from.

    Thirdly, I would start pushing for a three-state solution. A one-state solution is not going to happen. A two-state solution isn't viable as Gaza and the West Bank are physically separated and cannot form a single functional state. Also, the political reality is that Fatah controls the West Bank and Hamas controls Gaza. The better long term solution is to simply try to make them separate economically viable states by building up their separate economies.

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  14. ISIS is crucifying people 'Game of Thrones' style in Syria and Iraq, but by all means, lets' shift all our attention and energy onto the cry-baby Palestinians who seems increasingly like the instigators of their own misfortunes

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  15. ISIS no longer exists. It is now the Islamic State and their leader is the new caliph to whom all moslems supposedly owe allegiance. If the Palestinians join him then they are giving up on their own narrative, you know the bit about being a separate nation. Mind you, Hamas, is already halfway there in that respect.

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  16. The whole peace process was based on the principle of two states for two people, but the Palestinians don't want this. There are two schools of thought:-

    1. Hamas - one Islamic state from the river Jordan to the sea.
    2. PA - a purely Arab state on the West Bank and Gaza, but one in which Palestinian refugees (including those currently living in those territories) will have no rights. Refugees have to go to Israel so they will swamp the Jews.

    Under option 1 you end up with two Palestinian states - Palestine and Jordan (which already has a Palestinian majority).

    Under Option 3 you end up with three Palestinian states - Palestine, Jordan and Israel.

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  17. Atheist Shrugged5 July 2014 at 12:25

    Nonsense, complete lies. The Palestinians have agreed to surrender a great deal of the land that was stolen from them since 1948 in return for peace - they have offered everything, even with no violence the expansion of the settlements continues.

    To those who studied the history of America, Australia, places like that it is crystal clear what is going on and the process of demonization of the native that is used as a cover for the theft is an echo from history.

    The problem for Israel is the existence of Palestinians on lands they covet - even though they have already stolen nearly it all from the already. Did the American settler suddenly stop and look around and say ' we stole half of what these people have, let's stop' - no they kept going until all the natives had were a few reservations. Study history to know what is.

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  18. Atheist Shrugged5 July 2014 at 12:26

    Why is Israel continuing to build illegal settlements?

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  19. Jews accepted the partition plan of 1948, the Arabs refused this offer because they didn't want to share or compromise. There was never any "no violence"; multiple wars against Israel from day one and ethnic cleansing of Sephardi Jews from Arab lands. So don't give us your propaganda.

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