Middle East and New York
Okay, one more before we go back to reporting, you know, news:
Anna Schneider-Mayerson and John Koblin write about the surface unity of the New York delegation on the Middle East, while noting the real differences between, say, Charlie Rangel and Anthony Weiner on Israel's use of force, or between Joe Crowley and Pete King on how the politics of the whole thing are going to play out.
(Ben, as our hyper-informed audience probably knows, had an excellent, not-unrelated item on the subject.)
We've got a dispatch from Tel Aviv about the perception there that the international community is being more supportive of Israel than anytime in recent years. And another from Damascus about how the locals are welcoming the arrival of a war they think could be the "final battle".
Grim.
-- Josh Benson
Translation: instead of going it alone, Israel has gathered an international lynch mob for its semi-annual killing spree.
I wonder how the "woe-is-me" bullshit AIPAC et al. pump out about how Israel is so oppressed stands up to this latest instance of the international community doing nothing to stop its rape of the Middle East.
How convenient for the Super liberal NY politicians. Lets bash US policy in the middle east and the War on Terror one week and then unabashedly declare our support for Israel the next.
Could these people be MORE hypocritical?
Absolute garbage. And we wonder why the Democratic party is worthless.
Why does NY and US so support Israel now? How angry are you that there isn't an outcry against Israeli agression? Will you now boycott Jerry Nadler's favorite stomach surgeon? What is your definition of the concept "representative"?
Oh, cut the crap. Israel was attacked and is defending itself. End of story.
jdawg,
there hasn't been much bashing of Americas ME policy by our local 'progressives'. they march in lockstep with the hardliners. their little war dance on Monday was typical. they are not hypocritical. look at the roll call of HR 4681 (Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act) which was opposed even by the White House as being too inflexible.
Rangel, Nadler, Weiner, Engel, Maloney etc. all voted for this AIPAC drafted resolution.
Jdawg: Sincere supporters of Israel are on both extremes of the Iran debate, and at every gradation between (as are many who are far less supportive). One can support Israel and still find fault with the war in Iraq. Why? A couple of examples:
1) We've accomplished the Iranian goal of a Shiite state in Iraq, thus freeing them up for other mischief.
2) We've bogged oursleves down to the extent we've forestalled the use of ground troops where they might prove more necessary (Iran might very well prove an example)
I could go one and on. Yes, there are arguments on the other side as well. My point is not to state who is right or wrong on Iraq (although I believe the war is a mistake), but to make clear that pro-Israel liberal pols are not necessarily victims of either cynicism or cognitve dissonace.
If you were a real freind of Israel, you would welcome such support and save the gotcha games for a time when Israel was not fighting fo its life.
maybe jdawg is a real friend of Lebanon. there are probably quite a number of Lebanese- Americans in this city. according to a census conducted in 2002 or 2003 by the UJA (i think), the percentage of Jews is around 12 - 13% in NYC.
and it seems to me (neither Jew nor Arab), that right now it's Lebanon that is fighting for its life.
7:16: I am truly saddened by the death and devastation being sufferred by both Lebanese and Israelis, but there is no evidence that Lebanon (meaning the country's government) has done anything to fight for its life. If the government of Lebanon were truly interested in fighting for its life, it would have complied with UN resolutions and disarmed Hezbollah. Instead, it has behaved like Typhoid Mary who kept refusing to wash her hands before going to work in the City's kitchens. The consequences of this inaction have cost countless lives on both sides of the border.
Contrast this to that sad but stirring day on 1948 when David Ben-Gurion ordered Yitzhak Rabin to open fire on the ship full of weapons under Menachem Begin's command which Begin intended to use for his own private terrorist army. As Abba Eban pointed out, the sinking of the Altalena was the day on which Israel truly became a nation. When will the Arab world grow up and show the same maturity?
You're kidding, Gatemouth, right? Even the vaunted Israeli military machine was unable to disarm Hezbollah during a long occupation. Maybe we should have diverted some of the billions we poured into Israel for military purposes into Lebanon and helped them shore up their army. Yeah right...
After another 2-3 weeks of Israeli bombardment there won't be much of Lebanon left.
Hezbollah may well emerge as the sole beneficiary of this onslaught.