Hello Gerhard, Rasheed, Maggie and all,
Gerhard, I understand that you didn't mean to attack me personally, and
appeciate the private message that you sent, but I still consider your
attack hurtful. I don't think that the government Israel acted against
terrorist cells in Jenin out of any disrespect to you or the WTC victims. On
the contrary, I think it is you who are being disrespectful. Just to remind
you about what we are up against, the radio just reported another shooting;
a woman civilian was shot dead in her car while on her way to work. To me,
that is just as tragic as each of the >5000 individuals killed in the USA.
Actually, I think that the WTC attack has little connection to what Israel
does or does not do. I wonder why you, Gerhard, chose to direct the
discussion in this direction, sitting as you do in nice, quiet, comfortable
Norway. Then again, why should I expect anything different from a Norway
that behaved as it did in 1942 (see
http://www.wjc.org.il/communities/jewish_communities_of_the_world/western_eu
rope/norway.html).
Of course, this also has nothing to do with the WTC. The point is to
convince Gerhard that he needs to learn some history before throwing more
stones.
Rasheed is another person who may need a history lesson.
RASHEED
>While i understand the Jewish struggle for a homeland, i still believe that
it was a huge mistake to >simply give them part of the Palestinian's land
[snip]
Rasheed, it is no longer a question of whether or not it was right to create
a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This is something that has already happened,
sometimes with the support of the nations of the world, sometimes without
it. The question of Israel's legitimacy can no longer be allowed on the
agenda. This would be akin to putting the legitimacy of the entire USA on
the agenda. Why was it less of a mistake to move millions of Europeans to
America and disposses America's native population?
>[snip] Arafat might have been assassinated by his own people if he did
accept the
> Sharon i can safely say is a step down from Barak. This is the guy that
ordered
> the entire massacre of specifically the women and children of a
Palestinian village years ago.
Rasheed, I am no supporter of Sharon, at least not in an electoral sense.
However, he is behaving much more rationally that many of us expected, and
is perhaps safer to have as a leader than Barak, who seemed to be steadily
losing his rationality. But your libellous charge of murder is beyond
belief, and way beyond what anyone else has publicly accused him of. Are you
sure you know what you are talking about? (I suggest that you take that
history lesson before you answer).
Incidently Rasheed, you mentioned Bob Dylan as one of the socially conscious
musicians of the 60s/70s. What did you think of his poem that I posted
yesterday? (It is also available at www.farbrengen.com.)
Finally on Maggie and her plea for nonviolence,
HETTINGER
> The task of the US and every nation that
> supports freedom and democracy is that with all of the resources(except
> military!), an atmosphere must be created of mutual
> understanding and respect. This offensive will take years and years, and
> maybe not solved in our lifetimes. But it is in my opinion the one and
only
> way to achieve structural world safety. The offensive is not an offensive
that
> seperates nations and cultures, but unites them.
Maggie, I deeply respect your sentiments and your conviction, but believe
that time is your enemy. I don't think that we can afford to 'tolerate'
terrorism for years, or even days. That will not bring back the woman who
was shot to death this morning (see above), nor console her family. Neither
will it help the victims who I will sadly hear about in coming days (though
I pray to the contrary). It is all very well to turn the other cheek, but
you can only do that if you are sure that you can bear the blow. NY Mayor
Giuliani said it very poignantly when he said that the human cost of the WTC
tragedy was "more than any of us can bear". Ultimately though, New York will
bear the blow, simply because it has no other choice. However, the thought
of turing the other cheek and just waiting makes me shudder. Maggie, how
much of a blow do you think we can risk? What do we do when Saddam Hussein
builds another nuclear reactor at Osirak? What do we do when Bin Laden is
found to have received shipments of nuclear materials or smallpox virus?
Maggie, I strongly support the call for a far-sighted, unifying, enriching
approach to combatting terrorism. Without this, terrorism will be with us
forever. But I think that you are wrong to rule out the use of military
force, just as Gandhi was wrong to oppose the use of military force against
Hitler.
Like other crimes, terrorism is something that we are doomed to face from
time to time whatever we do. There will always be a need for the military
and there will be times to use it. The current situation looks like it may
be one of them
Jonathan
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