Discussion for article #246993
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SUPERB, important, brilliant piece. Frightening as hell. But accurate and informative. Many thanks to Professor Avishai for writing it and to TPM for publishing it.
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This is NOT a âcoincidenceâ.
It is a Plan. It is being executed, and it is WORKING!
Have you read Jeff Sharlettâs âThe Familyâ? One has to wonder about the C-Street gang, Bohemian Grove and other rich, powerful secret societies.
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Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke and was comatose for 8 years.
The two have nothing to do with one another. Begin rode to power on the support of a minorityâ Mizrachimâ who were generally teated lousily by the ruling left wing elites. The right wing clung to power with the support of a population that faced bombs exploding in cafes and buses and discos. Every time Israel retreated for someplace (except Sinai and parts of the Golan, which were taken over by an existing country) its population faced violence form terrorists insisting on undoing progress. There is blame enough to go around, but it is error to conflate the anger of white Americans at what they see as the undeserved ascendency of minorities of color and Eastern religions with the actual insidious violence faced by Israelis. They, for whatever reasons, had a true and fact based security concern.
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Well said. Israel has an existential crisis, we in the US do notâŚdespite what some may think. The US is still a very strong country that would be even better off - if the Republicans hadnât tried to destroy the President without regard to the state of our Union.
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Their tentacles run deep and long. (Ever know anyone in Young Life at your high school? Campus Crusade for Christ in college?) Scarlettâs C St gang so deep in Republican ranks. And Coe, out to break unions since the 30âs. The abstinence movement, the kill gays in Uganda, the secret meetings, plotting on a grand scale. All doing godsworkâ˘,
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I think you might have missed the point of the piece if this was your takeaway. Professor Avishai was decrying the authoritarian tactics and contempt for the democratic process Sharon held in his rise to power, and Beginâs complicity in enabling him for short term partisan gain. He was pointing out the parallels to what republicans have done in their constant obstructionism, exploiting racist fears and hatred of the âotherâ, dishonesty, and complete disregard for the democratic process in order to get elected and maintain an engaged activist base.
He wasnât conflating anything at all. In fact, he drew the distinction that the crises exploited in the name of political opportunism were very different. But thatâs really immaterial to the point he was making. Sharonâs authoritarianism and Begin enabling him for the benefit of Likud is as inexcusable as when republicans in congress do it. Beginâs ultimate lament resembles the soul searching republicans are facing now with their existential crises of facing Trump as their new party leader.
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However the settlement program so aggressively (and often illegally) pushed by Sharon and his enablers had nothing at all to do with security.
Placing settlements among the Palestinians, making separation more difficult and the Palestinians angrier made Israelis less secure.
(I say this, BTW, as a lifelong Zionist who has always supported the State of Israel. I once met Menachem Begin while attending a Womenâs International Zionist Organization conference in Jerusalem. I am what I describe as a âHerzelian Zionistâ, who adheres to the vision and principles of Theodor Herzl.)
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yes, the perfect crime â fuck it up, then complain, lie and exploit to suit the situation. Nothing more than treason against G-d and man. 9th ring, I tell ya but, there are a million examples at this stage. Integrity? Screw it.
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@mattinglyconner
âŚor drunk on GawdSwill.
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Israel was founded by vicious racist terrorists. Many of their political leadership has been vicious racist terrorists. The country of Israel has devolved into what its founders nature was and has and is.
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A country founded on racism, that actively practices state-sponsored racism and is well armed - most definitely should be having an existential crisis.
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All of the âsettlement programâ is illegal.
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Would we have so much tolerance for anger at Hispanic immigrants, say,
if the party of âWashington is brokenâ had not broken Washington?
I think the Republicans broke Washington intentionally. In fact, I suspect many of the worst of them are really Keynesians. I think they blocked federal spending on infrastructure because they knew it would create jobs, for which Obama would have gotten most of the credit, and they demanded steep budget cuts because they knew it would impede the economic recovery from the 2008 recession, for which Obama would get the blame.
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Even with the realm of Israeli government policy lots of his activities were illegal.
But yes, generally speaking nearly all of the settlement activity was illegal.
I supported reclaiming Jewish areas of Jerusalem seized by Jordan, and Gush Etzion (where Jewish inhabitants were massacred by the Jordanian Army), but that is all - not many hectares (or dunnams).
Excellent article! Very informative and nothing remotely snarkworthy, just thought provoking. This has all taken place over my lifetime and Iâve gone from being an ardent supporter of Israel during the time of the Seven Day War to finding them loathsome and boorish with their damn settlements and treatment of Palestinians.
I fervently hope that our country does not venture any further down this slope that we already have. But the fear, hate and lies that America is currently awash with are deeply troubling.All the screaming and shouting serves to drown out and disillusion those desirous of reasonable discourse.
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RE: âAfter the Sabra and Shatilla massacres, Begin justifiably feared he himself go down in history, not as a peacemaker, but a war criminal.â ~ Avishai
ALSO SEE: âHow Many Violations of US Arms Laws are Too Many?â ~ by Franklin Lamb, Counterpunch, 3/16/12
[EXCERPTS] . . . Alarm centered on whether or not Israel had used U.S.-supplied antipersonnel cluster bombs against civilian targets during its carpet bombing West Beirut during the nearly three month siege.ENTIRE ARTICLE â http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/03/16/how-many-violations-of-us-arms-laws-are-too-m
The House Foreign Affairs Committee held hearings on this issue in July and August 1982. On July 19, 1982, the Reagan Administration announced that it would prohibit new exports of cluster bombs to Israel. . .
. . . During a late June 1982 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Begin, Reagan was handed a note from George Shultz. Based on the information he had in hand, Reagan directly told Begin that the US had reliable information than Israel was using American weapons against civilians in Lebanon. At this point according to Reagan, Begin became very agitated. He lowered his glasses and while glaring at Reagan and shaking his index finger said, âMr. President, Israel has never and would never use American weapons against civilians and to claim otherwise is a blood libel against every Jew, everywhere.â Following their meeting Reagan told Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger, as reported by Weinberger and by various biographers of Reagan that âI did not know what the term âblood libelâ meant, but I know that the man looked me straight in the eyes and lied to me.â . . .
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