I hate to say it, and I could be wrong, but right now I am afraid this may be true…even though there are other problems in the world as well.

Israel – democracy

How does one have a theocracy professing itself to be a democracy?

If democracy in its Western form is deemed to be a representation of the will of the people, the majority of the people, it seems a rather difficult task for Israel objectively to establish credibility and maintain wide international sympathy against the background of its origins, policies and tactics towards the Palestinian people:-

i) Interposing a “Jewish state” in an Arab region.

ii) Invading and occupying the land from which those who previously lived for centuries have been shifted, now daily brutalised in the name of “self-defence” and “anti-terrorism” as “legitimate” acts in defence of a free and democratic Israel.

iii) Ensuring that a viable Palestinian state never emerges in the vicinity of the new state, Israel, and building apartheid walls to undermine and frustrate the legitimate aspirations for statehood of the Palestinian people, while causing same to live in a “state” of perpetual misery.

If this brand of “democracy” is the prescription as paid for with blood, brutalisation and bold denial of statehood for the Palestinian people and is the price for preserving Israeli “democracy” – the price tag may have to be re-valued quite soon. But the motivational factors for Israel’s brutal actions aside, just one quite important consideration – that of the demographics of the region as must invite disbelief about the nature of the continued rule by the minority. How does a “chosen people” in perpetuity ensure that a particular “ethnic” cum religious grouping remains dominant in a region where the majority is not of that ethnicity nor of that religious disposition while themselves procreating slower than the surrounding majority they exclude from citizenship? Does one resolve this conundrum with an all-out genocidal attack upon this or that other group, or do Washington and Tel Aviv quite honestly, realistically and humanely recoil from the barbarism that US foreign policy has permitted Israeli state actions to descend into? The dislocation of the Palestinian people in a land grab followed by illegal occupation in contravention of international law must inevitably stir resentments. If legitimate Palestinian resistance is to be subdued or destroyed then onwards with Israeli led genocide. The quite serious difficulty here is that when one sincerely starts with more than a small measure of sympathetic understanding for the initial plight of the Jewish people and their global wanderings, then how – pray tell – have the oppressed so rapidly and decidedly transformed themselves into the “enemy” as dispossessors of another people? Israel has now become an official instigator of state terrorism.

It would be tremendously helpful, beyond the genuflect allegations of “anti-semitism” on every occasion that Israel’s actions are questioned, if the American public and world opinion would unapologetically, seriously and fairly engage on the issue of Israel’s influence on US foreign policy and its wider impact on the Middle East.

Compliance with international law and Israel’s credible actions in the international community is required when, itself a nuclear power, it has declined to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. What if the Middle East were by treaty to become a nuclear free zone- would this provide a step towards peace in the Middle East? In response to the impending crisis with Iran, Israel, free of international accountability for its nuclear arsenal, insists that Iran should be stopped from acquiring what Israel already has, and contemplates a pre-emptive strike on Iran. Article 51 of the UN Charter confers a right of self-defence on any nation that is attacked. This principle applies equally to Israel as it does to Iran.

Unilaterally declared borders, disregard for international law, a hermetic closure of Palestinian areas, denial of bi-national polity, the West Bank and Gaza as Bantustans, as all realities of the Palestinian/Israeli issue brings considerations of national survival if not democracy to the fore. If one is not advocating either genocide of the Jews, or brutalisation of the Palestinians in perpetuity then it does seem in Israel’s best interest that they change their attitude, policies and tactics towards the Palestinian people. Maintain Israeli military occupation – for how long? Afford a two-state solution? Embrace a one-state solution – but how so with the ethno-nationalist assumptions that underpin ‘democracy’ in Israel? In ‘democratic’ governments, as known in the West, there is recognition of property rights, with a civil justice system and equal protection under the law for the rights of all who are within the jurisdiction of the democratic state – alas! not so for Palestinians. Who knows – maybe with additional American arms and money, despite the embedded issues as relate to Israeli denial of Palestinian rights, the ‘democracy’ ( without consideration for the rights of the Palestinians) can be prolonged with force, more American money, and with the world’s fourth largest military budget, last in present form for some time yet

dont follow that line, they’ve warned for a year about freeing lebanese prisoners or they’ll capture soldiers…
plus its not like they went into israel, it was a border outpost in shebaa, which is lebanese land…

and one cant deny the saudi funding for palestine, thats true, but the funding to israel is more via america…

anyways, heres to war and its victims

Da Man,
u have already said that the Gulf countries are USA’s bitches, come up with a new argument dude. Hizballah, attacked first, thats it.
Saudi Arabia is the biggest contributor to Palestine, who do u think comes up with the money to run their government, pay their bills, etc. What the fuck do u want us to do, give you our armies and let them fight with you.

first, yazeez your right, arabs lack the military capabilities to defeat israel in a fight. They are the fourth strongest army in the world, with approximately 200 nukes aimed at all of us, with the best intelligence agencies in the world, the mossad.

second, to say that israel is here to stay and we should accept it is quite problematic. Israel as a state is a neo-colonial project that is justified under a zionist mask. The reason, i aruge that true peace can not be achieved, is simply because it is not in the interest of the israelis to have peace. If one looks at the history of the conflict, reading the amount of resoultions and peace offers that have come from the arab camp
its been consistentaly rejected by the israeli camp…look war justifies the existance of israel, they are a spartan like colony that is fueled by the fear of the external enemy, without that they would have to deal with the issues in their own country like economics (1 in 4 israeli childern are under the poverty line), politics (they lack a constitution, they do not know if they should apply the talmud laws, jewish nation or israeli democracy…etc)…in fact in my opinion they would crumble just like sparta…

so excuse my ramblings, but even if we tried peace again and again, it shall not work. war shall not work.
so in the end we are stuck in the cycle, waiting and watching…

and yazeez, a dream is a dream, dont knock it because dreams can be unrealistic, but they offer hope. for the zionist, they dreamt about “jerusalem, next year” and it happened…who knows…

but until then lebanon is in flames, iraq is in dissary, palestine is caged, and the rest of the arab countries are stuck in perpetual dictatorships through various means…

one can only dream these days