Well, this is the first post in the new ME section of the new IAP 2.0 site.

As an opening, I wanted to put a sensible, worthy post for a change.

So I take this chance to remind a few truths that too often get distorted in the noise made by bigotries of all color.

- Israel does exist. It's a sovereign country and its citizens have every right that every citizen haves in a country. This rights are reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

- Although Israel is intended to be the home of the whole Jewish ethnia, this is matherially impossible. It's a land too small and poor in resources to harbor the entire jewish population in the world. In the future, most Jewish people will keep living outside of Israel, as part of different harboring societies.

- Jewish people are largely a non-issue in what Western countries are officialy concerned. Although the degree fo sensitivenes to Jewish issues varies, today Western countries are more neutral than they have ever been before towards the Jewsih minorities living in them.

- Israel as a state was founded by a legal mean, but its survival was threateend from the very start due to a complete lack of agreement and understanding with its neighbors. Although efforts have been made and some neighbors officially tolerate Israel, for the most part Israel has got no friends in its neighborhood.

- Israel is a very convenient topic for domestic policy in about every Arab country in the ME. Israel is used as scapegoat to focus wrath and anger that otherwise would be directed to the usually poor and corrupt rulers of these countries.

- Israel is also a focus point for Jewophobes. Although jewophoby today has lost all meaning, it still is alive as a disgrace being carried from fathers to sons. The irrational hate agaisnt Jewish people, more than ever before, has lost all emaning. It shields in Israel's actions as an excuse to not face its own lack of a reason to exist. Jewophoy, more than ever before, exists merely for the sake of existing.

- Israel has provided endless ammunition to jewophobes. Israel's actions, domestic and international, often are tainted by a lack of respect to human rights. In some cases, Israel's unilateral actions are self-defeating and alienate itself from tolerant countries like the Western countries, and contribute to spread problems rather than resolve them.

- Israel's problems can not be fixed through violence. But currently nobody empowered in Middle East is willing to renounce to violence. Actually violence is a convenient thing to do instead of not doing aything or doing thigns that could lead to peace.

- But all in all, israel's problems don't stem from its population being Jewish or not -but from the usefulness of keep using Jewish people as a convenient excuse to avoid doing what should be done.

Thee main tragedy in Middle East is not that it's a tragicla situation -but that all forces play to keep the tragedy working in their favor rather than sacrifice for peace. And this is, definitvely, NOT Israel's sole fault.

Israel does have a right to exist. As haves every state and population in the ME area. But this right is being continuously abused by everyone who profits from violence. It's a collective sin of which noones is innocent -power and influence in ME are used to some degree for violence, and often for violence alone.

And nothing will ever change until this profiting from violence ends or, better, stops being useful conveneint or profitable.

Peace haves no friends in ME. Is then time to make sure that violence has got enemies at least?

I have to applaud you peis for finding this place...I like how this thread MZL jumps right into the deep end.

way to open up the forum.

Oh, welcome, houm, I guess.

.

I agree with both Major Lee and Abraxas, and Israel deserves the right to live in peace with its neighbors, as long as THEY are peaceful.

Terry

.

Maybe so, but that is way too simplistic for the Mid-East, kactus mate!


Kind regards
Terry


...

So you don't entirely disagree with how the US arms Israel?

I think part of why we do it is cause now we have a fall guy in the Middle East. Consider this.

Israel attacks Syria. Syria responds. Iran begins to fund Hezbolah more heavily again. US begins the active defense of Israel and in the ensuing fight an American plane is shot down or an American soldier is killed. Defacto, the US has valid reasoning to attack Syria and/or Iran.

And thus, American expansion into the Middle East continues for another decade.

Am I a "konspirasist" kook? 


I'm sorry... but am if I say "unlikely", is it cause I'm a pascimist?

...


I like Crypto's analysis, but Abraxus is probably more realistic. I believe what will actually happen falls between those two views.


...

...


Maybe it is that the arming and the use of those arms is the key issue here. I would like to think that there is control over Israel vis-a-vis the U.S.