Upchuck reflex
I know I said I would write a long post about the horrors of last semester, but I won't now. After having some time to think about it, I realize that I was just really pissed off. And although I still am, my former roommate and his.... issues are his own business, and it's not my job to go around telling everybody. Oh well, if you know me I'm sure you've already heard the story like 3408329053583 times. And writing about it would probably just attract thousands more gay porn hits.
Anyways, rest assured that this blog is not dead. In fact, I think I'll do a little ranting right now...
The Middle East sure is a friggin mess right now. People getting kidnapped and blown up all over the place. If we're not careful in handling the situation, it could turn into World War III, and nobody wants that. It's not even about religion anymre. Whenever I hear someone from back home talk about how much they hate "Jews", it has nothing to do with Yaweh or the Torah at all. They just happen to be the people who are in Israel now, and according to them, have no right to be there.
Its a really unfortunate situation... hundreds of people are dying because of the overreactions of a few people. On the one hand, you have the Palestinians, without a country to call home and fighting to reagain it. Although they're obviously outnumbered, many of them are too proud to accept defeat and lay down their arms, even at the cost of civilian lives. On the other hand, you have the Israelis, who when attacked, as a people cannot sit by and do nothing. They have a leader in Olmert, long accused of not being as tough as his predecessor Sharon, who is eager to show that he is not afraid to use force. Both sides overreact whenever one side is attacked by the other, and because of this, tensions between the two countries has been continually rising.
Then you have arseholes like Hezbollah, in a separate country altogether, who have their own land to call home and have not really been being provoked by Israel, who have to go and kidnap two Israeli soldiers. When Hezbollah stepped in, they effectively dragged three countries into the conflict: Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. One of which was just beginning to rebuild its tourist industry after war, and the other two on the shitlist of Israel's biggest ally, the USA. Honestly, what were they thinking? By involving themselves in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, Hezbollah did exactly what every single terrorist hates most about the US: they stuck their noses in somebody elses business. And what did they think Israel would do? Bend over??? Fucking assholes.
Everyone's at fault here, but if I had to choose a side to place most of the blame on, if I had to crown a king super-asshole to rule all lesser mortal assholes, it would have to be Israel. Whenever one Israeli dies, they launch new offensives deeper and deeper into the crap land that they gave to the Palestinians in the first place and kill ten! When one of their soldiers gets kidnapped, they arrest 40 cabinet members of the democracy they worked so hard to put there in the first place??? Of every "nation" that is involved in the Middle East conflict, the side which has killed the most civilians is Israel. Yet they claim to want peace. Now how can you run a country like that?
For now, there's nothing anybody can really do. Unless the US, they only person Israel will really listen to, tells them to ease up, or both Hezbollah and the Palestinians miraculously realize that there will never be any end to violence, there is nothing anybody can do except pray that Israel doesn't attack Syria, thus pulling in Iran which would in turn pull in the US, causing World War III. Knock on wood.
Anyways, rest assured that this blog is not dead. In fact, I think I'll do a little ranting right now...
The Middle East sure is a friggin mess right now. People getting kidnapped and blown up all over the place. If we're not careful in handling the situation, it could turn into World War III, and nobody wants that. It's not even about religion anymre. Whenever I hear someone from back home talk about how much they hate "Jews", it has nothing to do with Yaweh or the Torah at all. They just happen to be the people who are in Israel now, and according to them, have no right to be there.
Its a really unfortunate situation... hundreds of people are dying because of the overreactions of a few people. On the one hand, you have the Palestinians, without a country to call home and fighting to reagain it. Although they're obviously outnumbered, many of them are too proud to accept defeat and lay down their arms, even at the cost of civilian lives. On the other hand, you have the Israelis, who when attacked, as a people cannot sit by and do nothing. They have a leader in Olmert, long accused of not being as tough as his predecessor Sharon, who is eager to show that he is not afraid to use force. Both sides overreact whenever one side is attacked by the other, and because of this, tensions between the two countries has been continually rising.
Then you have arseholes like Hezbollah, in a separate country altogether, who have their own land to call home and have not really been being provoked by Israel, who have to go and kidnap two Israeli soldiers. When Hezbollah stepped in, they effectively dragged three countries into the conflict: Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. One of which was just beginning to rebuild its tourist industry after war, and the other two on the shitlist of Israel's biggest ally, the USA. Honestly, what were they thinking? By involving themselves in the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, Hezbollah did exactly what every single terrorist hates most about the US: they stuck their noses in somebody elses business. And what did they think Israel would do? Bend over??? Fucking assholes.
Everyone's at fault here, but if I had to choose a side to place most of the blame on, if I had to crown a king super-asshole to rule all lesser mortal assholes, it would have to be Israel. Whenever one Israeli dies, they launch new offensives deeper and deeper into the crap land that they gave to the Palestinians in the first place and kill ten! When one of their soldiers gets kidnapped, they arrest 40 cabinet members of the democracy they worked so hard to put there in the first place??? Of every "nation" that is involved in the Middle East conflict, the side which has killed the most civilians is Israel. Yet they claim to want peace. Now how can you run a country like that?
For now, there's nothing anybody can really do. Unless the US, they only person Israel will really listen to, tells them to ease up, or both Hezbollah and the Palestinians miraculously realize that there will never be any end to violence, there is nothing anybody can do except pray that Israel doesn't attack Syria, thus pulling in Iran which would in turn pull in the US, causing World War III. Knock on wood.
posted by Chris at 10:54 PM
4 Comments:
It might be a whole lot more complicated, but I totally agree with the sentiment. Especially the bit about people here not being anti-Jew, but rather anti-Zionist.
Great post.
Chris, sorry it has taken me so long to respond to this post but my Mom and brother just left Ottawa, they had been staying with me for the past little while. I think you totally hit the nail on the head with the whole Middle East situation. Hezbollah is retarded, what do they think is going to happen launching the rockets at Israel? But I think they are getting exactly what they want. These are the same kind of guys that bomb Iraqi soccer fields, police stations, and hospitals. It doesn’t matter to them whether they ruin the lives of everyone around them. I their twisted minds they think they are doing the right thing by fighting off those evil Zionists, westerners, or people that don’t follow their twisted version of Islam. To them it doesn’t matter if they – but more tragically actual innocent people that get stuck in the cross fire – die as they will just end going to heaven as Allah wills it.
The whole situation is fucked, and it is even getting messed up here in Canada. Because of all the death threats against the leader of the Islamic congress of Canada resigned. Get this though, virtually all of the death threats came from Muslim extremists not from racist crackers as some might imagine. The extremists in Canada want him dead because he is too “left wing”. The scary part is that he is too left wing for opposing Sharia law in Canada, not forcing women to cover up, and condoning homosexuality. It is horrible; these extremists shouldn’t have come to Canada if they wanted to enforce their twisted version of Islam. The most tragic thing about this entire situation is that there is no easy fix.
Sorry for the late response - it's like April now. Anyway, not that I'm pro Israel or whatever, but you also have to consider that Israel is surrounded by countries that have wanted to destroy it since before it was founded. Whatever Israel does, it does out of fear. Palestinians had their own country for over 25 years, but they sided with the Arabs in 1967 when the Egypt made plans to attack Israel. What happened to Palestinian nationhood after that is tragic, but they gambled on Israel's destruction, and they lost. Everybody needs to realize that Israel is not going anywhere - once that happens, they will also realize that engaging in dialogue rather than bloodshed is the best way for everyone to get what they want (which, according to Palestinians other than Hamas, is a withdrawal to pre-1967 borders.)
Consider also that whenever a prisoner exchange takes place between Israel and militant groups, it is almost always very lopsided in favor of the militants. Usually, it is something like two or three soldiers in return for two or three hundred prisoners. It is true that Israel holds prisoners without trial, this is true, but consider the fact that the majority of Palestinians also believe that suicide bombers are heroes.
Palestine, as a political entity, does not exist. There is no autonomous central government, no judiciary. Parliament and the presidency are controlled by opposing factions that, as often as not, rely on roving gangs of gunmen to settle their disputes on the streets. They are economically bankrupt - they do not have the money to pay their civil employees, which means that not only does 65% of the workforce not get paid, but also basic services like electricity and water fail a lot of the time. Ceasefire agreements made with the Palestinian authority and Israel often fail because the Palestinian authority cannot halt attacks made by small groups. And the Palestinians blame Israel?
In 1995 Israel offered Arafat 95% of what he wanted - removal of all settlements in the West Bank and Gaza, withdrawal of all military checkpoints and forces, and remission of all taxes collected on Arabs IN ISRAEL to the Palestinian Authority. The only thing he didn't get was East Jerusalem as the capital, though Arabs would retain the Noble Sanctuary/ Temple Mount. Arafat refused - the biggest blow to Palestinian nationhood since 1967 - in favor of continuing attacks. Palestinians, or rather their elected leader, chose violence instead. Land for peace has never worked - what option do the Israelis have when everyone around them wants to kill them?
I think we can agree that a two state solution is the goal - whether that's good enough for the Palestinians is the real question.
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