tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342454496014200176.post4957056204925707333..comments2023-05-05T06:38:34.592-04:00Comments on IMHO: Helen Thomas, Conservtaives and IsraelNiceguy Eddiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03896896323840121445noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342454496014200176.post-29257322091952608192010-06-16T11:42:38.332-04:002010-06-16T11:42:38.332-04:00Kevin,
Yes she DID have a point. Overly simplist...Kevin,<br /><br />Yes she DID have a point. Overly simplistic? Yes, absolutely. But it was a LEGITIMATELY DEBATABLE POINT. 10-20 years ago? She probably would have fought it out. But she's 89 years old. Christ, when I'm 89 I not only hope to 25 years retired - AT LEAST - I'll probably take up smoking as well.<br /><br />And you're right: RW'ers can disparage Muslims all they want (not to mention Jews, Gays, Blacks and anyone else) but if a Liberal says "boo" about ISRAEL? (Not JEWS mind you - ISRAEL) Oh, boy, Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of punditry.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment.<br /><br />(You too, TCM, Thanks!)Niceguy Eddiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03896896323840121445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342454496014200176.post-44866249884897541032010-06-15T19:25:08.867-04:002010-06-15T19:25:08.867-04:00"What right do we have, at this point to dema..."What right do we have, at this point to demand that Israel return the land to it's native people, when our country was built on us doing the exact opposite?"<br /><br />I was also thinking that Thomas' comments are strikingly similar to statements made by the right-wing regarding Muslims in America - they should go back to where they came from. <br /><br />I for one support Thomas. She made a simple statement to a complex situation, but she had a point. Considering 32% of Israeli Jews come from somewhere outside of Israel, to call her racist or an anti-Semite for such statements would be wrong. I would have loved to have heard Thomas elaborate rather then offer her resignation and apologize...Kevinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13492761988793782893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342454496014200176.post-77623685600043977262010-06-15T10:02:35.156-04:002010-06-15T10:02:35.156-04:00Well said, Eddie.Well said, Eddie.Tincanmanhttp://www.tincantabloid.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342454496014200176.post-14093667728216932152010-06-11T12:09:02.370-04:002010-06-11T12:09:02.370-04:00Classic,
I hear you. And while some small part o...Classic,<br /><br />I hear you. And while some small part of me thinks the best way to deal with this would be to inform Israel that in 6 moths time (for example) we are cutting off all economic aid and military aid unless there's a humane sustainable solution. And I'd put the onus on Israel because (1) they're the ones in power and (2) the Palistinians DO have a legitimate claim. But I am also forced to recognize that at this point many of the people living in the region today are 2nd, 3rd, 4th Generation Israli's. They could no more "give the land back" that we could have given ours beck to the Indians. It human nature. So really it IS a big complicated mess, with no realy good, or at least not any SIMPLE, solutions. <br /><br />Which brings me to...<br /><br />Duta,<br /><br />You've touched on another part of the hypocrisy of America trying to act as a good faith negotiator in these matters. What right do we have, at this point to demand that Israel return the land to it's native people, when our country was built on us doing the exact opposite? On the other hand, 'supporting Israel' means, effectively, allowing the same mistake to happen twice. Again, difficult situtaion in which no one (including the U.S.) can clearly claim the moral high ground anymore.<br /><br />Also... I always thought that the "Golden Rule" was: The one who has the Gold makes the Rules! ;)<br /><br />Thanks for your comments.Niceguy Eddiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03896896323840121445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342454496014200176.post-87079072925960753962010-06-11T11:53:53.116-04:002010-06-11T11:53:53.116-04:00Helen Thomas should say whatever she wants. So, sh...Helen Thomas should say whatever she wants. So, should any other person - without being called names such as racist, fascist, hater, etc..I'm for complete freedom of speech, and "putting the cards on the table", so that we know exactly where we stand.<br /><br />What puzzles me about her is that despite her advanced age she has still been employed at a time when there are so many unemployed people in the USA!!<br /><br />Secondly, as a lebanese-born, living not in Lebanon, but in America, a country<br />which has robbed its native indians of their land, taken people from Africa as slaves, and not returning them back after the abolition of slavery - may be, just maybe, she should have followed the golden rule: 'think before you speak'. Her grandchildren will sure live to hear: Go home! to Lebanon, (to Germany, to Poland, etc..). I have no doubt about it.DUTAhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12979375799258978432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7342454496014200176.post-54233793248970410132010-06-10T22:10:27.191-04:002010-06-10T22:10:27.191-04:00It's almost impossible, in the corporate press...It's almost impossible, in the corporate press in the U.S., to criticize anything the Israeli right does. Such criticism is simply not allowed to be aired in major outlets; anything that even smacks of such criticism that manages to leak out is targeted and shut down by the Israeli lobby in this country. It usually gets one labeled an anti-Semite. When the critic is Jewish, like Noam Chomsky, he is dismissed as a "self-hating Jew" by the same corner. And in government, you have to look to Big Oil to find a parallel for the sort of near-absolute power the lobby wields. You find MUCH more criticism of Israeli government policy within Israel than in the U.S.<br /><br />Gaza is under an illegal blockade by the Israelis, who have publicly announced they're trying to starve the region out (a war crime). A civilian relief effort bringing much-needed food and supplies to area was just subject to a murderous attack by the Israeli military--in international waters, an unarmed ship was attacked, boarded, and several people murdered by Israeli commandos, including a 19-year-old kid from the U.S., who was shot in the heart, then four more times in the head. And within days, nearly the whole of the U.S. corporate elite was parroting the lies of the Israeli government, that this measure was "defensive" and that this civilian ship--entirely unarmed--had fired first. Even killing a U.S. citizen isn't enough to ruffle the feathers of anyone in D.C. (presumably because the kid was living in Turkey and had an Turkish-sounding name). When the U.S. allows a foreign government to murder innocent American teenagers with impunity, that's a government with WAY too much pull in the U.S.<br /><br />A sidenote: Zionism is chalked up to a phenomenon of the right (and often equated with racism) because that's what has become the dominant strain, but there are many various strains of left or liberal Zionism. At its most basic, the left Zionists argue for a Jewish homeland that is a modern liberal democracy (such as the United States), while the dominant right Zionism argues for one in which Jews are a legally privileged elite, which is what exists in Israel now.<br /><br />I don't have much use for the idea of Israeli Jews returning to Europe, but they're going to have to get their jackboot off the throat of those they've been oppressing and come to a peace. The writing is on the wall. Jews are going to be outnumbered in Israel in a matter of years. Instead of dealing with this reality, the Israeli government had been doing things like putting up walls, and even adopting anti-miscegenation laws! And all the while, continuing to oppress those whose land they occupy.classicliberal2http://lefthooktheblog.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com