It appears the Israelis are experiencing much the same bullying from their extremist, war-mongering government as we are from our extremist, warmongering Administration.....except they are dangerously close to the wrath of their government and surrounding countries.
We will be greeted with such responses from our own government and others as well, if we don't stop the steamrolling of the Neocons.
Israelis See Their Own Nation As "Neighborhood Bully" by Ira Chernus
You can see Lebanon from my sister’s backyard. She and her family and thousands of others in northern Israel live with a constant roar of gunfire -- mostly from Israeli cannons aiming to kill Lebanese, occasionally from a Hezbollah shell that might land on them.
But the real threat to Israel doesn’t come from Lebanese rockets. The real threat comes from the Israelis themselves -- and the rest of the world -- forgetting how and why this war started.
(snip)
For the Israeli government, another Ha’aretz columnist wrote, “it is best that the Palestinians remain extremists because then no one will ask the government of Israel to negotiate with them. How do we ensure that the Palestinians remain radical? We simply strike at them, over and over.” So Israel responded to the Palestinian offer of negotiated peace with an allout assault on Gaza. That’s how and why it all began.
Now words from Jewish writers in Ha’aretz in the past week:
“The Israel Defense Forces once again looks like the neighborhood bully. … One and only one language is spoken by Israel, the language of force. The IDF absorbed two painful blows, which were particularly humiliating, and in their wake went into a war that is all about restoring its lost dignity.”
“The camouflage concealing the war's real goals was ripped off by this defense minister
, who says what he means: ‘ Nasrallah is going to get it so bad that he will never forget the name Amir Peretz,’ he bragged, like a typical bully.”
“ Olmert's cocktail of remarks has included threats (‘We'll grit our teeth and knock them silly,’ and ‘We'll have these Hamas leaders weeping and wailing. No one who messes with us is going to get off scot free.’")
“Lior Horev, Olmert's strategic adviser, says: ‘Such fundamental issues as self-image and standing in the international arena are critically challenged.’”
(snip)
“While we're in no hurry to get to the negotiating table, we're eager to get to the battlefield and the killing without delay, without taking any time to think. That deepens suspicions that we need a war every few years, with terrifying repetition, even if afterward we end up back in exactly the same position.”
(snip)
The idea of Israel as a tiny victim fighting for its life may be comforting for Israelis, but it is an illusion. My sister and her family are obviously scared, with good reason. Some Israelis have died, and every life is precious. But she goes to work every day as usual. It sounds like her biggest immediate problem is her dog, who trembles and whimpers at the continual sound of Israeli gunfire. “Massive wave of Katyushas strikes northern Israel; No injuries reported,” she reads in the latest Ha’aretz headline.
On the other side of the border, my brother-in-law writes, “most of the Shi'ite villages and towns that have been pounded are destroyed. … The Israelis have continually pounded the Shi'ite Dahia neighborhood , a Hezbollah stronghold, into rubble. The entire population, numbering perhaps up to two hundred thousand people were compelled to abandon their homes.” Well over 200 civilians have already died, and the Israeli Air Force talks about weeks more of the same.
(snip)
Ha’aretz readers have been told the bottom line truth. The cause of this war -- and all of Israel’s problems -- is its refusal to negotiate an end to the occupation of Palestine. “On the southern front we have continued waging a dubious war with no clear objective, wrapped up with intercessions and excuses that do not manage to hide our refusal to speak with the Palestinians.” “There is no basic justice in adhering to occupied territory.” “The siege on the Hamas government is not weakening it. On the contrary, it is boosting support for it.”
(snip)
Ira Chernus is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder and author of the forthcoming book "Monsters to Destroy: The Neoconservative War on Terror and Sin." Email to: chernus@colorado.edu
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