Here is a most brilliant Israeli gentleman that deserves to be heard by the entire world. He is an anthropologist and peace activist who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.
No Arab or Israeli person, that I am aware of, has ever uttered such good sense in the history of the 100-year Middle East conflict. His name is Jeff Halper. His wisdom and foresight cannot but penetrate the most rigid minds. Just watch the short video here and judge for yourself (15 minutes).
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8 comments:
You have found one of the many Israelis who prove one single point (not the one you intend). That Israel is better than its enemies because they do not take a self-destructive, pompous fool like this out to the street and shoot him. The so-called Palestinians make a practice of murdering their dissidents and peace activists. Thank God your dream of Syria ruling the world will NEVER happen. Israel could do to Gaza what Syria did to HAMA in ten minutes- but we don't because we are better and more moral. Grow up, this humiliation theme you always carp about is getting on the world's nerves.
Thanks for the comment.
I just started on that book of his, so now im just looking more forward to read it through.. :)
kamil
Meir Kahane used to decry the self-righteous Jews who didn't want to "sink to the level of the Arabs," and so continue to get sunk six feet beneath them.
Israel's Only Way Out: Follow Kahane!
Kamil, you're welcome - enjoy the book.
David Ben-Ariel
Your religion is between you and your God. Please keep it that way. An Orthodox Jew is to me indistinguishable from a Muslim fanatic or a Christian fundamentalist. So it's pointless hurling insults at people like me or invoking verses in the Torah, Quran or Bible to prove a point.
The message in the video clip is simple; stop abusing the Palestinians and the relentless creep of your illegal settlements and open your mind to coexistence and equitable land sharing.
An Orthodox Jew is to me indistinguishable from a Muslim fanatic or a Christian fundamentalist.
Ah...that you for clarifying where you are coming from: Muslim fanatics who commit acts of terrorism around the world are equivalent to Orthodox Jews and Christian fundamentalists.
Then again, the fact that the demolition of Palestinian homes is not given in the context of the reason for it also explains much.
Daled Amos
Muslim fanatics are not the same as Muslim fanatics who blow up innocent civilians. Orthodox Jews are not the same as Orthodox Jews who go round committing massacres against Palestinian refugees. Christian fundamentalists are not the same as those who advocate ethnic cleansing.
The distinction is clear but it is usually a small step from religious zealotry to the indoctrination of the young and onto political rigidity and violence. In this sense, religious zealots potentially fuel conflicts and pose a threat to peaceful coexistence. That is where I am coming from.
I thought I'd better keep quiet about the reasons for the demolition of homes. But since you ask, Israel has destroyed 18,147 Palestinian homes since 1967:
1) It is a cruel form of collective punishment for the violent and desperate acts of the few, and
2) It makes it easier for new immigrant Israeli settlers to move in and establish new communities on Palestinian land in the West Bank. Then the state has to "protect the settlers" by widening the security cordon around them and effectively annexing the land. It is curious how the "separation wall" has conveniently swallowed up swathes of land whose Palestinian inhabitants have been evicted by the Israeli military "for security reasons".
Philip I agree with your comments. I have watched a brief documentary made by an Englishman who went to help with the olive harvest, it was astonishing, I had not realised the extent of the prison conditions which apply to Palestinians in their own land.
It was also perfectly clear in this man's documentary that it is quite acceptable (in the Israeli eyes) for so-called Israeli settlers to take potshots at Palestinian children or at the water tanks which supply their homes, from "settler" homes which have been illegally built on land which they have cleared the olive groves from (100s of acres in that one place alone|) but let a palestinian launch a home made rocket in the direction of Israel and the outcry is heard around the World.
The western media does not give us the full picture of what goes on in the area, the deprivation, the seige conditions, the boasting of "putting Palestinians on a diet", the suffering of ordinary men and women every day - and for what?
Because Israel doesn't want Peace, Israel wants to dominate.
Of course, this doesn't apply to all Israeli citizens, only an extremist group which happens to wield the power and controls who comes and who goes, who lives and who dies.
You cannot compare the weapons used by Palestinians with the overwhelmingly destructive power of the IDF.
To have declared a unilateral ceasfire last night saying its aims were more than achieved, Israel has proved beyond doubt that there was no aim to their attacks and they have effectively handed Hamas a huge victory.
Katy, thank you for the vivid description of conditions on the ground and your comments.
The typical Israeli response is that the Palestinians have brought this misery upon themselves!
We can play "who started it" until we are blue in the face. The facts on the ground speak for themselves; since 1947, regardless of how a war was sparked, it has generally ended with Israel winning (with US complicity) more Palestinian and other Arab territory. If Israeli political strategists were merely interested in security, they would not have ignored 65 UN resolutions, annexed these territories and established 223 permanent settlements on them.
They want to keep these nice settlements while Palestinians live on rubbish tips. They demand peace and security on their own humiliating terms but continue to raise the stakes by needling and provoking desperate Palestinians into acts of violence.
If history teaches us anything, Israel will implode before the Palestinians give up on their rights.
All credit to these Israeli organisations for their humanity and adherence to true Jewish values:
B'Tselem - the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights
Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement
Hamoked - Center for the Defense of the Individual
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
Public Committee Against Torture in Israel
Rabbis for Human Rights
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Yesh Din - Volunteers for Human Rights
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