grn, Israel certainly is entrepreneurial. I've already mentioned its willingness to sell arms to any buyer regardless of their human rights abuses or anti-semitism. But it is also the biggest sponger off the US taxpayer:

http://www.hotpolitics.com/tax4israel.htm

It would probably fall apart at the seams without outside financial assistance. In effect, it's a defacto military base for the US. Which is hardly a surprise given its strategic value. And Israeli governments know this which is why they are in a position to blackmail Democratic and Republican administrations alike for more handouts.

As for the comment about "Jews" living there, most Jewish people live outside Israel and in places like Australia, Canada and so on, have greater freedom and human rights than they do in Israel.

So DavidJS, based on your own criteria, you must be far, far more critical of France, which has sold countless more arms to despotic regimes than Israel has.

Thanks for proving my point about the Left and Jews.

GRN.. the Left hates Israel for all those reasons you gave plus some more.

The Left is up to its elbows in collusion with Islamists, thus, what Islamists say is all good to the Trade Unionists who are in bed with them. I think in particular of the ETU and Dean Mighall.

They ran an 'anti racism' rally in Coburb last year, which was based on the brother of one of the accused in the terrorism trial being an ETU shop steward.

The Left would have us believe that they do such things out of the goodness of their hearts, rather than using the Muslim community to further their own socialist ends, but fortunately for us, we are not that stupid.

What I find strange in all this, is that given the track record of humanity, how can anyone point to the idea of a 'good bloke' in all these conflicts. We just tend to support the kelpie on the bottom, getting its leg ripped off by the Mastiff on top.

Problem is, given the same pressures and circumstances, we might just BE the Mastiff.. err.. lets say Aboriginals become radicalized, and start to blow up icons of Melbourne and Sydney in the name of "give us back our land"... why of course TRTL and various others would simply do it, "Good grief.. you mean we STOLE it...shock shock.. we must give it back immediately." But then, TRTL goes home and tells his 3 small children.. "sorry kids, as of today we have nowhere to live because I gave our place to some angry young men".

Yes, I know.. colorful language, and I for one have considered finding some way for Indigenous Aussies to use my own land in some kind of shared access way, but the point is, I need somewhere to live.
Should I expect sympathy from those who have been fed a propoganda diet of "The evil white christian devils"?

We are all 'sinners' directly or indirectly or both. To think otherwise is to kid ourselves.

Sorry to disagree with some of you but I think this article is rubbish. I know plenty of Human Rights Activists who are constantly going on about Darfur. Amnesty International Australia is often asking for people to help their campaign against the violence in Darfur. In any case why on earth should criticism of Israel or any other country stop people from complaining about Darfur. Anyway as someone else pointed out you just have to look at who wrote the article and it's obvious it's a biased account.

grn asks if I am critical of France because of its arming of murderous despots. Damn straight I am. French governments have an appalling track record of arming authoritarian regimes in the former French colonies of Africa (Chad, for example) for strategic gain. And interestingly, according to Seymour Hersh, France played a role in assisting Israel develop its nuclear program. As I said, an appalling track record.

In terms of supporting despots, the US (not surprisingly) also has a shameful record. Reagan, for instance, sent US warships into the Persian Gulf as part of the strategy to support Saddam Hussein when it looked like Iraq would lose to Iran in the First Gulf War. Iraq was in the unusual position of having the Soviet Union AND the US on its side. But then Iran was the main enemy for both the Russians and the Americans.

The point is, self-styled democracies such as Israel try to take the moral high ground and get defensive when their own human rights record is questioned. It leaves them particularly vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy.

Btw grn's comment about what "the left" (who's "the left"?) and "Jews" (I prefer "Jewish people") was a non-sequitur. He/she may need to explain further.

Boaz: "why of course TRTL and various others would simply do it, "Good grief.. you mean we STOLE it...shock shock.. we must give it back immediately." But then, TRTL goes home and tells his 3 small children.. "sorry kids, as of today we have nowhere to live because I gave our place to some angry young men".

Y'know Boaz, attributing arguments to people you simply disagree with is a very poor platform for debate.

For starters - on the indigenous, whilst I support measures to assist indigenous communities, I am not in favour of redistributing land in the manner you suggest. I've seen problems with this kind of approach emerge in countries such as New Zealand, and I believe we need to focus on the present and the future - which isn't to say you should deny, or ever attempt to gloss over what has happened in the past. You can be proud of a nation at present while still acknowledging the nasty deeds of the past. You don't even have to like or agree with the government's decisions to be proud of the people.

So of course, feel free to dissect and debate statements I've made - but don't go constructing a point of view for me, especially when it's wrong.