Discussion for article #223546
Israel is not interested in peace and it is time we faced that fact and stopped making believe that they are. And we really need to stop believing they are our allies.
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“…using the formation of a Palestinian unity government backed by the Islamic militant group Hamas as a cynical, but convenient, excuse.”
FIFY
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Yo, Obama. It’s cojones time.
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I’ve never understood the reasoning behind the notion that Israel is “our friend and ally.”
Is it because their soldiers have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with ours in military conflicts? Well, no, since they never have.
Is it because they allow us to maintain bases on their territory, in the heart of a volatile region? Well, no, since they don’t.
Is it because they allow us to fly over their territory on our way to other hotspots? Well, no, since they don’t.
Is it because they’re supplying us with raw materials or manufactured goods that are vital to our nation security? Well, no, since they don’t.
Is it because they’re a source of valuable intelligence? Probably not - I suspect they feed us what they want to feed us, as long as it serves their goals.
What you end up with is a circular argument. We have long supported Israel, even when it has behaved atrociously. As a result, many of its Arab neighbors hate us. Therefore, Israel is a valuable ally because other nations in the region hate us.
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There are 6 million Jews in Israel. There are about 5 million in the US. The #3 country comes in at less than 500,000 (France). That alone should answer all your questions about why they are treated as a “friend and ally”.
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Its a tradition. Every second term President engages in some mission for peace in the Middle East and invariably fails. But not before resources are squandered and rest of the world is basically put on the back burner for a couple of years.
Seems that Netenyahu could hardly wait to resume the unending territorial struggle. By a sane doctrine, now would be the time for talks not aggression. This only further alienates the fundamentalist factions in Israel. It is certainly not magnanimous only more bellicosity from the wingnuts and likely to cause more painful reactions. Actions speak louder than words and the hard right fundamentalist lizard brains have Bibi by the balls.
That’ll teach us to treat any party other than Israel as a valid participant!
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Exactly right.
Juan Cole at Informed Comment has the rest of the story:
Headline please…housing units, not settlements…
And it still stinks…
“Israel Advances 1,500 New Settlements In West Bank And East Jerusalem”
No.
Untrue.
1,500 new housing UNITS.
As much as I’m angered by Israel’s move here, hyperbole by TPM in its headlines doesn’t help things.
Israel Advances 1,500 New Settlements In West Bank And East Jerusalem
In other words, the Merkavas of Zionism roll on.
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There will be no progress in the Middle East until American politicians of all persuasions quit kissing Israel’s knish-fed tuchas. They are NOT “Gawd’s Chosen People” and we will NOT be “blessed” for helping their neofascist expansion.
It is patently ridiculous to base a major foreign policy on a phuggin’ fairy tale written by a bunch of nomadic herdsmen 2500 years ago!
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Jews taking something not theirs, I’m shocked. Did god tell them it’s OK? Why does Israel have nukes? We have let them in using our system that looks the other way.
I got no problem with this. Arafat could’ve signed an agreement 40 years ago that would have rendered all this moot. Israel, with Washington twisting its arm, has sat at the table time and again only to have the Palestinian side walk away because they don’t get 100% of what they want.
Palestinian leaders do not want peace except through the complete destruction of Israel. Any leader that signs an agreement with Israel would be called a traitor and probably assassinated.
I’m sorry Israel is the main impediment to peace in the region. The Palestinians have just as much of a right to a homeland as do the Jewish people and Israel has no right to unilaterally steal that from the Palestinian people. Again this is what happens when you put right wingers in control. We here in America are seeing this same thing being instituted by right wing Republicans on a state wide basis as well.
I will never understand the disconnect when it comes to middle east politics.
Hard left progressive liberals backing a Palestinian government made up of such extreme religious fundamentalists they make Mike Huckabee look atheist. A group of people who will literally hang homosexuals in the public square and send women to jail for being raped.
While on the other side you have right wing conservatives backing a government that has allowed gays to serve openly in the military for decades and women serve in combat roles and be elected to government office at the highest levels.
I have to back Israel on this. I think for decades they have tried to work this out and settle things down.
Hamas still shoots rocket over the border on a daily basis.
When you start spouting anti-Semitism, you’ve surrendered all credibility on the subject of the Israeli state, and the legitimacy of its policies. Fail.
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Yeah, well, about those rockets:
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