Rhian

When Singer referred to Israelis as Jews did you nitpick?

Why not?

thanks Ali, top thread; pity the apologists for the terrorist Israeli government blither on

Good on you, Ali. Thanks for bringing some truth to the current slaughter of the Palestinians by Israelis who use American arms.

It is interesting that your essay took place at a time when the U.S. is in Australia being given anything it wants by our brain-dead politicians who it seems are incapable of seeing the danger that the imperial U.S. poses to us and the whole world.

Birds of a feather flock together!

Hark,

The Middle East and indeed the entire region from north-west Africa right across to India, has always been multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, all more or less living near each other in more or less uneasy peace.

Simple question: does Israel have the right to exist and not be pushed into the sea, and its population not exterminated ? Yes ? No ?

If no, then expect them to never stop fighting for their very lives.

If yes, then there should be no surprises, and a fair rationale, for their fighting for their very lives.

If Hamas recognised that right to exist, then both sides could sit down together and start talking. they're going to be a long time living side by side :)

Having said that, I must say that I don't support the extension of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Until a two-state solution, or even a secular one-state solution, is proposed and agreed to, and the dust settles after that, Israel shouldn't initiate any more settlements, and only by agreement.

Joe

imajulianutter
I seldom read Singer’s pieces – they are somewhat repetitive. When I do, any comments I make are more often critical than supportive. If Singer has claimed that Israel represents and has the support of all Jews past and present then I’d disagree as much as I disagree with Ali.

Unlike Singer, I support a two-state solution. For that to work, Israel has to make compromises, cede territory and deal genuinely with the Palestinians’ representatives. What Israel has done in the past few weeks is immoral, excessive, counter-productive and quite possibly illegal. It plays into the hands of Hamas. But it is not one of “the most heinous crimes in contemporary history”.

Ali is trying to imply that the guilt of modern Israel negates the innocence of the Holocaust victims. The argument is both absurd and despicable.

Correction - in my earlier post, jury should of course read Jewry

Mr Omidi laments the impotency of international courts and tribunals, yet according to his piece there really is no need for such archaic bodies, as he has already pronounced his judgement. According to him there could be no doubt as to the guilt of the Israeli state, variations of the word "criminal" in relation to Israel are used some 20 times throughout his text. He even informs us that the Israeli crimes are "the most heinous crimes in contemporary history" (it would be fascinating to learn how he reached this conclusion). Since the guilty verdict has already been determined by Mr Omidi, it is difficult to see why he has any need for international courts or tribunals, the only thing he now needs appears to be the executioner to carry out his sentence.

It is interesting to see that while much of his writing is devoted to alleged Israeli crimes in Gaza, citing incidents of Palestinian deaths, he seems to be completely oblivious to the actions of Hamas and their responsibility for the continuous suffering of citizens on both sides of the conflict, failing to mention it even once. Many of the incidents involving the death of civilians in Gaza during the past month are still in dispute, with no independent verification as to who was responsible for the deaths – whether it was IDF bombing, Hamas rockets, whether the dead were indeed civilians or Hamas fighters, or whether the number reported was accurate. On the other hand there is no doubt about the long list of crimes Hamas are responsible for, including the exclusive targeting of Israeli civilians with rockets, the use of its own citizens as human shields, the violent elimination of any opposition, execution of suspected collaborators without any trial, persecution of homosexuals – the list goes on and on. Strangely, Mr Omidi seems to have missed this point entirely.