Dan W: "Israel"

“Why is Israel doing this? Why have over 1,000 Palestinians died in the last month? Why did Israel bomb the U.N. headquarters and adjoining food warehouse today?? I'll tell you why: because frankly Scarlett, they don't give a damn. Now, as I've said before, I am Jewish by birth. I went to Brandeis University. I have friends living in Israel. I'm also a Leftist, a Unitarian Universalist, and an anti-Imperialist. So, hear me out. Israel doesn't give a damn because they know that whatever they do, or don't do, they're still the object of deep and abiding hatred. Whether it's anti-Jewish bigotry, or anti-Zionist sentiment, or anti-Imperial liberalism is of little import. Some people hate Israel because they carry out Apartheid-like policies in Gaza and The West Bank---and in Israel itself. Some people hate Israel because they hate Jews. Some people hate Israel because their land and homes were confiscated by Israeli settlement and they have lived as refugees for generations. But truth is, when it comes right down to it, how many people actually like Israel? Very few. If the Israelis chose to open Gaza and The West Bank, if they abandoned settlements, if they turned East Jerusalem over Hamas, what would happen? Would peace break out? Of course not. Palestinian nationalists would take the battle another step. And I'm not saying here that they would be wrong in doing so. You see, regardless of what they do, Israel is isolated. In the eyes of billions of people and tens of governments, they are a pariah state simply by virtue of their very existence. And, right or wrong, they have made a conscious decision to survive as a state. And so in the eyes of the Israelis, any threat to the survival of the nation is the enemy. Period. You can argue back and forth all you'd like about Israel's justification for invading Gaza, or it's justification for usurping Palestinian lands, or who's right and who's wrong, or whatever you want to argue about. But three realities persist: (1) Israel exists, (2) Israel will "defend" (Not my word choice. Israel's word choice.) it's existence to the last man or woman (and I mean last, as in like last on Earth last) and (3) Billions of people hate Jews. How do I feel about it? Sick to my stomach. The whole thing stinks.

And now I have a question for you: Were you able to read this post and actually understand that I am neither defending nor justifying Israel's actions? I'm simply pointing out certain truths about Israel and about the world. And it is these truths that lead me to believe that in what has to be the greatest tragic irony of all time, on the holiest of holy land for three of the world's major religions, that we will eventually witness the most horrific conflagration in history.”

- Dan W, http://ashizashiz.blogspot.com/