On Jul 25, 2006, at 3:26 AM, Tahir Wood wrote:
> What does "take up violent revolution" mean to you, Doug?
Fucked if I know. Makes no sense in the context of a country like the US anyway.
> As for
> anger, you are much too mature and level headed ever to show that, I'm
> sure. What I had in mind was opposition to the notion of Israel, an
> exclusively Jewish state, which discriminates violently on the
> basis of
> (a) religion, (b) anti-Arab racism, (c) a mumbo-jumbo mystical
> notion of
> identity, which you retain even if you aren't religious. I was anti
> the
> South African regime in just this way.
Ok, that all makes sense to me.
> It is impossible to be anti-South
> African per se though, because the term "South Africa" does not
> have the
> same associations as "Israel", which is forever linked in my mind
> anyway
> to a, b and c above. Same goes for "America"; it's relatively neutral.
> See, it's all quite logical when you have someone like me to spell it
> out for you, isn't it? Anyway you can remain neutral on the
> question of
> Israel if it pleases you.
Here's my opinion in a nutshell, not that it matters: Israel, as a predominantly Jewish state, is likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future. I'd prefer it drop the religious identification, but that's not going to happen any time soon. So, it'd be best for all if it withdrew to the pre-67 borders, accepted them as official boundaries, as should its neighbors. They should drop the talk of pushing Israel into the sea. A truly independent Palestine should be created, not as a bantustan or semi-colony, but as a real state. The US should stop sending big gobs of money and arms to Israel. Everyone should try to get along. Etc.
Doug