Exactly. Obama get’s it right on Israel.
He says it all right here. There is a difference between supporting the country of Israel, a friend and ally, or the aggressive Likud party. We can have mature relationships with many countries, even if the particular party in power is irritating.
But there has been too much lock step support of the Likud. And to make any criticism is to bring down the accusation of being anti semitic by hysteric Likud American supporters. There is much more honest debate inside Israel itself than in the United States.
Since blind support of aggressive Israeli policies has caused so much blow back upon America, it is time that we rethink that blind support.
Come on, let’s be real folks. There is no danger of Israel being pushed into the sea by waves of Arab armies. Whatever thoughts the Arabs may have had of doing that in the past, they have given that one up. But now it time for Israel to craft a fair solution for the Palestinian people who live among them. If South Africa could do it, Israel can.
Posted: February 27th, 2008 under Do The Right Thing, Obama.
Comments: 2
Comments
Comment from JerryA
Time: March 1, 2008, 6:34 pm
Max, what is it about Americans and Israel? No one seems to want to even comment. Is the memory of the holacost still so vivid that Israel is above critcism? The aparthied practiced by the Israelis is no differant than than that practiced by the nazis. They have banished the Palistinians from their own homeland and should be thusly charged in the Hauge.
Comment from Max
Time: March 3, 2008, 1:21 pm
Jerry, this is a very big thing. Anyone of any stature in the US who says something truthful about Israel, faces extreme attacks. From a minority of hysterical Americans. Professor Juan Cole, at the University of Michigan, was prevented from accepting a position at Yale by these extremists.
But he tells the truth. I never said that Israel should cease to exist. I do not believe so. But the fact is, that this Jewish nation, in order to correct a horrific wrong done to the Jewish people, then the new Jewish nation itself went and committed a horrific wrong to cleanse the present area of Israel/Palestine of it’s Moslem and Christian Palestinian inhabitants. Everyone in America is pretending that this did not happen, but it did. And it is ongoing, pick up a non US newspaper and read about Gaza. And whatever the US tries to do in the Middle East, the American relationship with Israel lies at the center of it.
The fact is, Israeli military power has been broken. The 2006 war in Lebanon was an absolute failure. American aggressive wars in the Middle East have also failed. It would not take much for Israel to disappear. America cannot afford to support Israel with weaponry if the US economy collapses. This is now a real possibility thanks to the Bush administrations two wars, climate change, and peak oil. America will just no longer have the deep pockets to support Israel. No other nation can afford to give the support, or have the desire. Also, with the continuing troubles with the Palestine people, we might see a massive brain drain away from Israel of the best qualified engineers and technocrats. Who wants to raise their kids under continuous bombings and missile strikes. The best qualified people will be the best able to leave and find a job elsewhere. This could cripple the country.
So it would be wise for Israel to try to craft a political solution while they can.
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