<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Israel = fascism equation is pretty daft, in my
view.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Israeli policies are certainly racially
discriminatory, and lead to mass killings, but a check-list approach to
definitions won't help.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What is missing in the equation is that Israel,
unlike Nazi Germany, is not author if its destiny, but a dependent state, that
would be incapable of acting without US, and yes, European
sponsorship.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Certainly today the characterisation of Israel as
totalitarian dictatorship misses the point that Zionism has been in retreat for
the last decade - retreating from Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank. Granted that
the retreat is a vicious one (even a scorched earth one, though I don't want to
kick up a whole new load of bad comparisons). Still there it is Israel has
failed to hold control the occupied territories and now to subdue Lebanon. For
the Israeli governing class, who have only ever managed to organise their state
on the basis of a permanent cycle of victories and advances, this is very bad
news.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, the best
solution is to take the politics out of the relationship between the
communities, if that is possible. Both Palestinians and Jews have been made
surrogates for other goals - Arab nationalism, and Western imperialism. Better
for both if they can learn to relate on another basis altogether, though right
now the Israeli state can only tend towards more and more hysterical actions,
especially as the US support is not as solid as it
appears.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>