[lbo-talk] The collective jew?

[Jon Johanning]

On Aug 1, 2004, at 6:30 AM, Bill Bartlett wrote:

> It is very difficult to be even-handed in one's criticism of the 
> respective parties in such a war. Both use repulsive methods, but one 
> uses repulsive methods in pursuit of openly repulsive ends. The 
> permanent domination (or ethnic cleansing) of the other side. If the 
> world is forced to take sides, then there is only one moral choice. 
> Nothing anti-semitic about that.

Not exactly taking sides, but the Palestinian choice of method was 
probably needlessly alienating to potential supporters outside the 
Islamic world. They seem to have gotten caught up in the idea that 
making what they call "martyrs" of themselves would make them heroes in 
the eyes of the world in general, not only the Islamic part of it. 
This, unfortunately, was a great miscalculation.

OTOH, the Israelis don't seem to give a s**t about what the rest of the 
world thinks about them, and their way of fighting, either. One gets 
the impression of a tragic conflict between two solipsists, each 
concentrated on its own feelings of rage and hurt, completely oblivious 
to anyone outside themselves. Rather than the world being forced to 
take sides, I think the world is increasingly washing its hands of this 
interminable blood-bath and turning its back on both of them, except of 
course for a few dead-end supporters in the U.S. government (funneling 
more and more cash to Israel) and in the Islamic world, on Palestine's 
side.


Jon Johanning // jjohanning at igc.org
__________________________________
Had I been present at the Creation, I would have given some useful 
hints for the better ordering of the universe. -- Attr. to Alfonso the 
Wise, King of Castile