Israel Sets Itself on Fire

Despite the repeated blithering on the evening news by our non-reporters, what started this was NOT that Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel. Rather, it began with two simultaneous events, the failure of Israelis to complete an agreed-upon prisoner release, and that Israel shelled a Palestinian family having a previously nice vacation day at the beach. That was when both Hamas and Hezbollah fired up again. Then when two Israeli soldiers "wandered" across the border into Lebanese territory like chum bait for the sharks, it was on.

The hardliners in Israel were pushing for a reaction, and Hezbollah was stupid enough to bite.

But according to our media, the Israelis are weak, helpless victims in all this. Firstly, one subtle fact should be remembered. The Israelis have nukes. We know, we gave them to the Israelis, just like we're sending them rush shipments of "precision" 500 lb. bunker-buster bombs via Fedex right now. The Israelis could turn all those big scary Muslim countries from sand to glass in a 3000 degree instant. That makes them not quite as tiny and helpless as some would seem to imply.

We're also all aware that Israelis face the daily, obscene prospect of getting blown up for riding a bus or going to coffee in the morning, but they ALSO bulldoze Palestinian homes, and bulldoze American peace volunteers in between them and the homes they wish to bulldoze, rape and beat Palestinian women and dump their bodies on the other side of that stupid wall, and subject Palestinian civilians to blockades.

And now Israelis have weakened the Lebanese government which was just getting on it's feet after the PREVIOUS round of Israeli destruction, have destroyed vital infrastructure for the entire country including bridges, airports, power generators, and water treatment plants, killed hundreds of Lebanese civilians (who have nothing to do with Hezbollah except perhaps that they accept medical care and other social services from them), and made HALF A MILLION other Lebanese civilians homeless with "precision" bombing like this:

All supposedly to "rescue" two SOLDIERS captured by Hezbollah, not the Lebanese.

Not a couple of kidnapped civilians, but two soldiers who presumably understood the risk involved in wearing the uniform and it's potential consequences.

This monumental destruction is not a way to make friends, or even serve your OWN cause.

You don't reduce the violence by hurting a bunch of people who have NOTHING to do with your problem. All you do then, is make more enemies, and consequently more violence.

Before Israel can receive my sympathy, before the Palestinians can receive my sympathy, and certainly before Hamas or Hezbollah can receive ANY sympathy, they have to first take responsibilty for EACH of their roles in perpetuating the cycle of violence.

There's enough sin to go around on ALL sides here.

I simply ask, is THIS really what Israelis want their children to be doing?

Someone has to have the COURAGE to say no to it, even if it costs them their own lives. Someone has to have the Gandhian courage to say, "There are many causes for which I am prepared to die, but none for which I am prepared to kill. If you kill me, then you have my dead body. NOT my obedience."

THIS is how you resist oppression. And that is how the Indians brought the mighty British Empire to it's knees - with a pinch of salt.

Not that our own American media is reporting this in any sort of responsible way. As usual, if you want to find out about anything but the Israeli perspective, you must read the European and other foreign press.

All topics reported out of Israel itself, are subject to review by Israel's chief military censor, who has - in her own words - "extraordinary power.'' She can silence a broadcaster, block information and put journalists in jail. "I can, for example, publish an order that no material can be published. I can close a newspaper or shut down a station. I can do almost anything,'' Col. Sima Vaknin said.

This is the Israeli "democracy" we're defending?

The Associated Press, being corporate weenies, has agreed, like other organizations, to abide by the rules of the censor, which is a condition for receiving permission to operate as a media organization in Israel.

According to the AP, "Reporters are expected to censor themselves and not report any of the forbidden material. When in doubt, they can submit a story to the censor who will hand it back, possibly with deletions. The AP will note in a story if any deletions have been made. If a reporter violates the rules, he or she suffers the consequences."

And this one-sided press bias is mimicked in our "diplomacy" too. These are the nations rationally calling for a cease-fire, and the ones who've refused to call for one:

Against Cease-fire? United States, Britain, Israel.
For Cease-fire? Everyone else.

Everyone else seems to recognize that you can't talk and shoot at the same time.

But Secretary of State Condi Rice didn't even want to begin TALKING about a cease-fire, because in her words, she "didn't know what she'd be doing it for." Said Rice:

"I don't want to go all the way over there to get a cease fire I know won't last, only to have to come back six, or nine months, or several years later."

Well, that's... your... JOB! To go back, again and again, repeatedly if necessary, and WORK to construct the peace! You know, "hard work!" If you'd rather be out shopping for Ferragamos like you were during Hurricane Katrina, may I suggest you get the Hell out of the way, and let someone in there who CAN handle it?

And for Neocons like her, Dick and George, what is all this REALLY about?

Why on earth were even the hardliners in Israel pushing for this foolishness to happen? Well they were "inspired" by our own batch of wingnuts.

The Neocon's old Project for a New American Century having now been revealed to a horrified public, and executed disasterously in Iraq, have stealthily renamed their "think tank" and called it the "Institute for Advanced Strategic and Political Studies". Their new wargasm report, entitled "A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm," is the main substantive idea to emerge from a discussion in which nitwits like Richard Perle, Douglas Feith, and David Wurmser have participated since that last disaster, PNAC.

From the report:

"Israel has a large problem. Labor Zionism, which for 70 years has dominated the Zionist movement, has generated a stalled and shackled economy. Efforts to salvage Israel’s socialist institutions.... undermine the legitimacy of the nation and lead Israel into strategic paralysis. Israel can become self-reliant only by.... cutting taxes, relegislating a free-processing zone, and selling-off public lands and enterprises."

That's hysterically funny. The Neocons are apparently not satisfied with nuking physical peace in the region, they now want Israel to throw it's economy and it's workers on the pyre too, with their attrocious (truly non)-free market economic foolishness too. "Let's sell off those kibbutzim and get some ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND corporate farming goin' up in here!"

Oh yeah. They're the "friend of Israel"....... Seriously, that would be a real knee-slapper if it wasn't so damn transparently TRAGIC.

"Strategic paralysis" = fat and happy workers who have no desire for war. Why, those people would probably just want to llive, and raise their families! Make 'em nice and desperate, and they'll surely be willing to kill something. This has no more to do with "Israel becoming self-reliant", than invading Iraq had to do with "spreading democracy."

This is all about putting this guy in power:

"Benjamin Netanyahu’s government comes in with a new set of ideas."

And if you think Sharon was an evil piece of work, you ain't seen nothin' yet.... Netanyahu is the Israeli version of this jerk: