[lit-ideas] Re: are we not talking anymore?
- From: "Stan Spiegel" <writeforu2@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2006 17:46:45 -0400
What Israel (and I mean the government, not every
Israeli) has been and is doing to undermine any Palestinian efforts at
economic or political self-sustainability is condemned by everyone except
the US.
Ursula -
It's very nice of you to support the underdog. And the Palestinians make for
a very nice underdog, don't they? There's a lot to feel for them about.
They're suffering. It's easy to let your feelings get in the way.
Israel is attacked, but the Palestinians are the victims. That's an
interesting equation. That's the equation that I've grown up with in my
lifetime. Arafat was good at that, and now Hamas is trying to do that too.
The problem here is that Hamas was elected by the people. Hamas --
heretofore a terrorist organization -- is now in charge. As the government
(not a terrorist organization), they're in charge of making life and the
economy work for the Palestinians. See that the roads are safe, that trains
get there on time.But as a terrorist organization that's not their purpose.
After all, Hamas has sabotaged all the effort Madmoud Abbas has put into
negotiating with Israel. They were talking until this attack took place.
Rabbi Lerner is concerned because of Israel's disproportionate response to
Hamas' attack. If I recall Powell's doctrine correctly, a disproportionate
response is recommended as a way to discourage future attacks. When X is
attacked, if you respond in proportion to the attack, I would expect the
give-and-take to go on and on. Responding disproportionately shows the
attacker you mean business.
Regarding your comment on Israel's undermining of the self-determination of
the Palestinians, who left the Gaza strip asking for nothing in return? If
self-determination was really something the Palestinians were motivated by,
why would they provoke their neighbor into a fury when they were so close to
developing workable relations? Peaceful relations were within reach.
Hamas is not interested in peaceful relations. And it's only with peaceful
relations between the two that the Palestinian state can evolve and
flourish. Don't tell me that Israel doesn't want that to happen. Shalom
isn't just a word meaning "peace." It's used at every turn. When greeting
and saying good bye. It's the golden thread that binds all Jewish and
Israeli dreams. Peace is what Israel wants, not a crippled Palestinian state
but a flourishing one.
Peace is also very possible -- and very achievable. But not with Hamas
promoting terrorism -- with Hezbollah and Iran and Syria in the background.
Stan Spiegel
Portland, ME
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ursula Stange" <Ursula@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 4:02 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: are we not talking anymore?
The Palestinians aren't any more subsumable under a single 'they' than any
other people. The 'they' who kidnapped the young Israeli soldier (and
wouldn't 'captured' be a more appropriate word in a theatre of war?) are
surely not the same 'they' who dream of the end of their long nightmare
and just want (as do we all) to raise their families in peace and
prosperity. What Israel (and I mean the government, not every Israeli)
has been and is doing to undermine any Palestinian efforts at economic or
political self-sustainability is condemned by everyone except the US.
Ursula
Hot and tired in North Bay
Stan Spiegel wrote:
Their first priority is to destroy Israel. Otherwise they wouldn't have
been so provocative.
Stan Spiegel
Portland, ME
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