--- "Michael J. Smith" <mjs at smithbowen.net> wrote: At the risk of incurring execration from both sides here, may I timidly suggest that categories like aggression versus resistance, and domination versus insurrection, perhaps apply more cogently to the Israel/Palestine conflict (and Israel/Lebanon too) than categories like exploitation and oppression? The latter categories certainly have their uses but perhaps they're not quite on the money in this case. To speak of national groups "oppressing" or "exploiting" each other does raise some sticky questions, discussed earlier in this thread. But even if you're not particularly a Lefty you can surely figure out who's doing the aggressing and domineering in the Middle East, as long as you're halfway informed and fair-minded.
--
Agreed here.
My beef with the Leninist-type "oppressor nations vs. oppressed nations" notion is that, IMO, it arose out of a poor understanding on the part of the Bolsheviks of conditions in the Russian Empire. A "nation" is not a state, in this context. It is an _ethnicity._ And it's pretty silly to talk about Russian peasants oppressing Polish nobles.
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com