[Nice column by Clyde Haberman in the NY Times today:]
July 18, 2006
At Israel Rally, a Word Fails Them
By CLYDE HABERMAN
On the streets of New York yesterday, there was some talk of peace in the Middle East, but not a whole lot. Peace is never much more than an illusory concept to begin with in that troubled region. Yesterday, it barely received even lip service.
Almost by definition, any international crisis reverberates in this city of immigrants. When the fates of Israel and its Arab neighbors are at stake, the echoes can reach ear-pounding levels. Yesterday was no different.
Thousands of Israels supporters, including the inevitable long line of politicians, rallied on East 42nd Street, not far from the United Nations. Peace was not a word uttered by many speakers, not even by a past winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Elie Wiesel.
The emphasis was instead on putting an end to Hamas and Hezbollah, the Islamist groups that have preferred firing rockets at Israel to the more mundane task of trying to bring order and dignity to the ever-sorry Gaza Strip and ever-shaky Lebanon. How those groups would be put out of business, given the degree of popular support they can claim, was not made clear. Nonetheless, the talk was all about delivering knockout blows.
Let us finish the job, Dan Gillerman, Israels ambassador to the United Nations, told the crowd. His language was anything but pacific. We will excise the cancer in Lebanon and cut off the fingers of Hezbollah, Mr. Gillerman said. Lebanon, he said, has been raped by Hezbollah and its patron, Syria.
To countries that have protested that Israel is using disproportionate force in bombarding Lebanon, his response was unapologetic: Youre damn right we are. ...
One after another, elected officials followed Mr. Gillermans lead.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton denounced Hamas and Hezbollah as the new totalitarians of the 21st century, believing in neither human rights nor democracy. ...
The fervor was at such a pitch that President Bush, who has defended Israels actions, received praise from a lineup of politicians that was almost 100 percent Democratic. ...
<http://select.nytimes.com/2006/07/18/nyregion/18nyc.html>
Carl