14 July 2006

Up In Smoke


The Middle East has flirted with disaster for almost 60 years. Maybe the British made mistakes with the mandate. Maybe the U.N. made mistakes in the way Israel was established. Maybe the major Arab powers made mistakes in encouraging Palatinians to flee Israel and then not giving them a permanent home. Maybe both sides made mistakes in the 1948 war, in the 1963 war. Maybe the deluded perpetrated the on going series of kidnappings and suicide bombings while rage simmered in the hearts of the young.

It really no longer matters who did what to whom when. Only those without power are suffering ... a mother with her infant, a child in a playground at school, teenagers going dancing on a Saturday night and riders taking a bus to work. Take any of them out of the area where they are not forced to hate and fear, they become gentle with each other. Whether a woman's head is bare or covered by a hijab, they still tickle a baby's toes. Children playing tag don't ask for a nationality before laughing and calling "You're it". Teenagers will dance with each other or not touching in a folk dance, and all the worker wants is to bring home a paycheck to their family.


Who calls on these people to hate and fear? Who leads them into war and suffering?

The small men with a need for great power.

  1. Thank you Bush for fouling up Iraq for the sake of your ego.
  2. Thank you Khamenei for funding those who maim and kill.
  3. Thank you Olmert for being so quick on the trigger.
  4. Thank you Nasrallah, Assad, Al-zaher, and Abbas for the hatred you spew that cripples all those who simply want to live in peace with their fellow man.
  5. Thank you Cheney and Rummy for all the tears that will be shed for the men and women who have died on your orders.

This world is yours in your pact with the devil.

15 comments:

eProf2 said...

Well done, Jamie.

Durward Discussion said...

I'm well aware that Israel has suffered from everything you say they have. I know that they have negotiated in good faith with their neighbors.

I also know that no one's hands are totally clean, that Palestinian children have died at the hands of Israelis just as Israeli children have died at the hands of Palestinians.

I know there is a heirarchy within Israeli society with Ashkanazic being more likely to have power than Sephardic. No society is perfect.

I do not believe the guilt is equal, but guilt there is for all of the participants.

Anonymous said...

ahhhh sour cherries....the usual "if you say anything against Israel you are anit-Semetic" screech.....thanks for such original thinking...

Jamie..this is why I usually avoid this topic altogether....one side screams "you hate Jews"...the other side screams "you stole our land"...and it just keeps on going and going...just like the Energizer bunny...

I agree with you....a pox on both their houses....

Anonymous said...

A loss of innocent life as a result of collateral damage is woefully different than intending to kill innocent people. Collateral damage is regrettable and still renders the normal beings heart with heavy saddness, but to intend to kill as in suicide bombings in buses, cafes, subways, youths in night clubs, old people playing chess in parks, and indiscriminately lobing thousands of rockets into civilian areas is insidious and without any iota of moral parity.

Again, I ask, would you be so inclined to equate moral parity if terrorists were operating in your backyard without regard to the loss of innocent life or otherwise?

Israel could be at the precipice of another holocaust. The only difference from previous holocausts, pogroms and Inquisitions, is this time they will die fighting for their lives and the continuing existence of a United Nations sanctioned democratic Nation State.

If you have a problem supporting Israel's right to defend herself, by inference you do not care about the lives of Jewish people there. This qualifies as a cloaked form of anti-semetism, no matter how you try and convince yourself otherwise.

The conventional wisdom and UN and USA consensus of two nation states, living peacefully side by side, addresses the "LAND" issue; but the intention of terrorist Palestinians, Jihadists and the leaders of Iran and Syria is to "wipe Israel off the map." This again, by logical inference, means it is not just a "land" issue.

As to original thinking or lack of it, watching Jewish people possibly being eradicated in genocidal numbers while you sit pontificating moral parity in your comfortable pew safe and faraway, is certainly NOT ORIGINAL.

Anonymous said...

sour cherries....I don't sit in a pew....religion is what this mess is really all about...how sad...

I agree with John Lennon...
Imagine there's no countries...nothing to kill or die for....and no religion too...

Now watch out....before someone drops a house on you....

Anonymous said...

Jewish people are a culture, with a language and history dating over 5,800 years. Judaism is a religion, which is optional and has very little to do with the mindset of most Jewish people. The Israeli nation is NOT a theocracy dear rebellious renee, it is a democracy. Your contention is ludicrous, ill-informed and without merit. There are many Christian, Muslim, Bahai, and other non-Jews that comprise the Israeli nation.

A world without borders would be nice, but again you are not dealing with the reality that we all currently live in. John Lennon was on LSD when he wrote that song!

Durward Discussion said...

Sour Cherries,

If you will reread my post, you will note that I placed most of the fault on the Arab nations. I am well aware of the history of Israel. I even faulted our government for stirring up the current hornets nest.

Just for you info, I am non practicing but I am a Jewish convert of more than 30 years. Don't make assumptions about people you don't know.

My whole point in this column is that someone at sometime has to say STOP. If you constantly play the tit for tat blame game in either personal or global matters, there will never be peace and understanding.

Anonymous said...

Jamie, you have it backwards. Our government did not stir up the current hornet's nest, Iran did! How about 800 Qassam rockets fired into Israel from Gaza and Southern Lebanon by Hamas and Hezzbellah terrorists, and incursions into Israel killing soldiers and kidnapping others? How you can blame Bush and our government for this conflict is beyond reason.

Durward Discussion said...

SC,

Iran never would have done so if Saddam, evil as he was, was still sitting on their border and if the US didn't appear weakened by spreading itself too thin all over the war and fatigued from this deadend.

I'm not saying Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran didn't want to do what they have now done, but rather that the current US position in the world gave them the room to do it.

Anonymous said...

sour cherries....
my post about John Lennon was a joke...all I ever hear is anger on both sides of this issue...
hey...I'm sure THAT will solve everything...

in case you didn't get it...the reference to the house dropping on you was from the Wizard of Oz....
nothing is ever as it appears to be....peace to you and your loved ones.....

Anonymous said...

HEZBOLLAH terrorists, operating with impunity in southern Lebanon, [on Wednesday] unleashed a sudden and unprovoked attack into Israeli territory. Scores of Katyusha rockets rained down on Israeli towns and villages , causing many civilian casualties. In the midst of this horrific assault, Hezbollah terrorists infiltrated Israel, killing a number of soldiers and kidnapping two more, who were taken deep into the terrorist stronghold of Lebanon.

Israel had no choice but to react, as would any other responsible democratic government. Having shown unparalleled restraint for six years while bearing the brunt of countless attacks, Israel had to respond to this absolutely unprovoked assault whose scale and depth was unprecedented in recent years.

Let me emphasize this indisputable fact: Israel's actions were in direct response to an act of war from Lebanon.

Although Israel holds the government of Lebanon responsible, it is concentrating its response carefully, mainly on Hezbollah strongholds, positions and infrastructure.

The hundreds of Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon in the last few days demonstrate the magnitude of the immense arsenal of rockets and weapons that Hezbollah has amassed over the last few years, a danger we have repeatedly warned against.

Many of the long-range missiles that have hit Israeli towns - including Nahariya, Zefat, Rosh Pina and the port city of Haifa - were launched from private homes with families residing inside, where a special room was designated as a launching pad, with the family playing host to the missile. This is yet another example of the cynical and brutal way the Hezbollah organization uses civilians as human shields, with complete disregard for human life. . . .

Over the last 48 hours, more than 500 Katyushas and mortar shells were fired into the northern part of Israel, killing 2 civilians and wounding hundreds more, among them, women and children. Israeli civilians and eight Israeli soldiers have been killed. Hundreds have been wounded.

It is very important for the international community to understand that while Hezbollah executes this vicious terrorism, it is only the finger on the bloodstained, long-reaching arms of Syria and Iran. Hezbollah, together with Hamas, Syria and Iran, comprise the world's new and ominous Axis of Terror, an infamous club, the entry fee to which is the blood of innocents and the terrorizing of the entire world.

Membership to this club requires an unfathomable capacity for evil. The president of Iran has repeatedly denied the Holocaust, while gleefully preparing the next one. Many of the long-range missiles fired into Israel in recent days were Iranian missiles, made by the same regime that is now trying to possess nuclear weapons - this same regime that is funding Hezbollah to the sum of 100 million dollars a year.

Syria, another member of this club, is a well-known protector and financier of terrorist organizations, playing host to them in its capital, Damascus. The Syrian government, which still regards Lebanon as southern Syria, works ceaselessly to undermine all efforts toward a peaceful future in the region.

Lebanon is today occupied by terror, whether in the south, where it is directed at Israel, or in Beirut, where it kills opponents of Syria and former prime ministers. The real occupying power in Lebanon is terror - terror instigated by Hezbollah but initiated, funded and perpetrated by Syria and Iran.

The Lebanese government, having missed so many chances in the past, at such a horrendous cost to its people, today has another chance to free itself from the stranglehold of terror. Another chance to release itself from the evil control of Syria and the deadly influence of Iran, and deploy its forces in the south, exercising its sovereignty over a free Lebanon.

There are words that speak far louder and clearer than anything I can voice today. These are voices of Lebanese - brave, patriotic Lebanese parliamentarians and ministers - who just over the last two days have cried out to all of us from the brink of the abyss in their beloved country. Let me quote some of these courageous statements. The words of Lebanon's communication minister, Maruan Hammuda, saying that "Damascus gives the orders, Iran supplies the equipment, Israel reacts, Lebanon is the victim."

Or the words of Elias Attallah, a Lebanese politician representing a majority of its parliament members: "We welcome any Arab and international support but strongly oppose any enforced involvement of Lebanon by regional players' considerations [a reference to Syria and Iran] that are not within the interests of the Lebanese people for the sole attempt to achieving opportunistic benefits at the expense of the Lebanese people . . . The Syrian regime indulges itself in teaching Lebanon and Palestine lessons according to its own interests through these peoples. Why do those who always protect this regime express understanding of its reasons and preferences and do not express any understanding of Lebanon's reasons and preferences?"

Or the words of an unnamed Lebanese minister, who said, "The Hezbollah has not only kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, it has taken the whole of Lebanon hostage ."

Anonymous said...

rebellious renee: You speak in tongues and metaphors. Yeah... and peace be with you. When you find it, tell the rest of the world your secret.

Sam said...

Well said Jamie, I agree with your post.

Anonymous said...

Jamie: Not only is your hypothesis regarding the current Mideast conflict untestable, because it is based on a what if in the past, but it is absurd given the fact that Iran has been a theocratic terrorist state since Khohimeni took power during the Carter presidency.

In your blind zealotry to bash Bush at every political turn of events, you become ridiculous with your baseless and illogical conjectures.

The current leader of Iran is a holocaust denier who has publically stated and reiterated that he wants to wipe Israel off the map. He hates Jews and that's why Iran is supporting Hezzaballah with money, arms and a contingent of elite soldiers in the current conflict. This engrained hatred has nothing to do with GWB.

I like you Jamie, but you don't know what the hell you are talking about half the time, because you have a "Hate-On" for President Bush cast in granite stone. It most always bends your arguments into foolhardy assertions, casting him as some demonic God responsible for every negative political occurrence on Earth. BTW, where did your ridiculous Bobble-heads go? I guess Corporate America and Capitalism is our enemy, too!

Durward Discussion said...

Capitalism no. Corporate America yes. We will be lucky if the world doesn't end up in a remake of "Rollerball".