So pornographer and Canada’s person-of-interest Michael Lucas is in Israel filming his next flick. And local media are eating it up! Time Out Tel Aviv wants to know why Lucas is in the Jewish motherland to videotape men plowing each other. And they want answers!
As a Jewish man, I keep a special place in my heart for Israel (as every Jew should, but unfortunately many do not). I am very well aware how badly Israel is represented in the global liberal media. (And by the way, the liberal media of Israel doesn’t always help the situation either.) The country of Israel is always portrayed as a war zone. The images and all the reports from Israel always come at the time of disasters — suicide bombings, terrorist attacks, and necessary Israeli retaliations. Those who have not traveled to Israel do not have even the slightest idea of how beautiful Israel is.
I have two agendas here: One is to show that Israel has a beautiful gay community; that Israel is an open, liberal, democratic society where gay people enjoy all the freedoms they have in the Western world. Also, that Israel is one of the most amazing and fascinating places on the globe. It’s not a desert with concrete houses, as everyone pictures when they think of Israel. But it’s a blooming garden with amazing landscapes and breathtaking architecture. I’ll show the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, and of course, open-minded, secular Tel Aviv. I would also like to film gay pride in Tel Aviv and the gay festival in Eilat, because even when it comes to gay pride, the only footage you see in Western media is a highly controversial gay pride in Jerusalem. From this footage everyone gets the thought that Israeli gay pride is dangerous and an act of rebellion by the gay community against government oppression. Due to this, I actually believe that the gay parade in Jerusalem is counterproductive for the cause. All we see in the media is high security to protect the LGBT community against opposition from the religious right (Hassidic Jews, Muslims, and Christians).
Oh, and then there’s this about the hot factor of Israeli dudes (something we can attest to): “Israeli men are incredibly underrated. They’re sexual, sensual, and exotic. It’s a blend of people that came to Israel from over 90 countries around the world. I would love to show the diversity of Israeli men. They are strong men who can take care of themselves and protect their country and that is undeniably sexy.”
Zakakaka
I´ve heard that most of Israeli men are aggressive bottoms….
Ronson
Yes, yes ,yes. Where can we pre order?? I just had an Israeli for lunch and I want seconds…
Zac Efron
LOVE Israel- went to Tel Aviv last year. The men are unbelievable, and yes ran into some aggressive bottoms and tops…mmm flash back.
Joshuaxxx
fucking love that lucas is doing this, take me with u next time man
luvrly
I want to go to Eilat. I hear that its a gorgeous southern Israeli city. And of course all the gorgeous Israeli men in tiny little speedos and swim suites. Yummy!!!
Broomstick
nice. Way to go for celebrating Israeli murderers and for embracing the Israeli Apartheid. “Never Again,” my arse.
Toby
Yeah israel is a “blooming garden” because they stole the land from palestinians and then take all the water in the surrounding region to support their apartheid occupation.
Bashar
Might as well call the porn Murder and Occupation, thats what zionists do best.
Sam
Yes, I find israeli-army murderers very sexy!!!
I mean, how can you not? Especially when fully armed – I get turned on when I see them shouting/shooting at weak unarmed struggling Palestinians.
LOL
How pathetic is this pariah State.
They butcher a virtually defenseless population after stealing their land and WATER (check out the water distribution between the Nazi Jewish-Fascist settlers and the indigenous Palestinians in the OT).
Just goes to show you what immoral freaks Zionists are. Scum of the Earth.
farleft
I’ve never understood how liberals across the globe who fight for justice and equality on topics ranging from gay rights, women’s rights, racial equality, torture, etc…why do these very same “liberals” support with great enthusiasm Israel’s continued acts of terror, racism, and discrimination against the Palestinians. It makes absolutely no sense.
The title of this article is completely offensive. Sorry, but murder is NOT sexy. Perhaps this author and all those who support the article should take a little trip to Gaza to see first hand the consequences of those killer Israelis you so casually characterize as sexy.
kevin (not that one)
I also believe the title of this post is incredibly offensive to both Israelis and Palestinians. The actual context of the post has nothing to do with acts of violence and is actually the person interviewed wishing to convey the image that is opposite to how many people view Israel.
I agree that Israel’s occupation must end and that there should be either a 2-state solution or a 1 state in which everyone is free. Of course, let’s not also forget that there are fundamentalists on all sides who would sabotage either of these proposals.
It’s taken me a long time to learn to see things from the side of the Israelis, since I’ve been incredibly angry over their treatment of the Palestianians for many years. But one thing is undeniable: Jewish and Arab LGBTs actually do have it better in Israel than they do the surrounding countries (including Egypt and Lebannon), which Jerusalem being the one exception.
TANK
Yes, antisemitism is alive and well. I hope you jew hating nazis get aids and die. About irrigation, amazing israeli engineering has enabled fauna to flourish.
Anyway, most of you haven’t any understanding of the history of the territory, nor the conflict and are just belching up whatever you heard from virulently antisemitic pomo idiots who defend the most crude and revolting failed programmes in cultural relativity vomited up by the unnecessary departments in which they are employed.
TANK
@TANK:
The stealing water accusation is about as transparently antisemitic as the “poisoning the well” epithet that caused many jews to be murdered by you scumbags. No water was stolen…it’s called engineering that has enabled the vegetation to flourish in so inhospitable an environment…engineering that palestinians didn’t really use..or innovate…or understand…and in many cases, still don’t.
TANK
And it’s beyond poor taste that antisemitism of this magnitude shows up in so trivial a post. This is a queer porno star…he has about as much understanding and relevant input about the palestinian israeli conflict and the state of israel as any other tourist. Revolting. Ah, community.
Alec
@TANK: My understanding is that the West Bank settlers consume an inordinate proportion of the water in the West Bank for their own use. I’m not up on all of the issues these days, but I don’t think all of the criticism can simply be attributed to antisemitism.
Alec
@TANK:
True. On the other hand, I believe he is applying for Israeli citizenship and he injects himself into the debate fairly often.
strumpetwindsock
@farleft:
..why do the very same “liberals” support with great enthusiasm Israel’s continued acts of terror, racism, and discrimination against the Palestinians?
For one thing, it’s complicated.
For another, we also have no problem turning a blind eye to the murder, war, slavery and theft that goes into just about everything supporting our way of life – the energy that runs our houses to the food we eat.
The Israeli/Palestinian situation is no better, but it is a little easier to point fingers at because it’s not sitting in our coffee cup every morning (in the beans AND the sugar).
farleft
TANK,
Criticism of Israel’s government, military, and their actions (which have been deemed illegal under international law) is not Antisemetic. Sorry, but simply labeling people ‘antisemitic’ because they do not share your views does not eliminate or distinguish our voices. It just exposes your conservative political bias and undermines your efforts to justify the motives for Israeli occupation (which, regardless of your argument in favor of Israel, remains illegal and unjustified).
TANK
http://www.btselem.org/english/water/2008070_acute_water_shortage_in_the_west_bank.asp
TANK
Stolen, though? That’s a bit much.
strumpetwindsock
@TANK:
Are you so surprised?
Pouncing on any indiscretion or even association with anyone who goes against dogma seems to be the norm around here.
Allowing someone to hold a complex or nuanced opinion, or to build bridges is after all just another way of going soft on our enemies, no?
TANK
Criticism of Israel’s government, military, and their actions (which have been deemed illegal under international law) is not Antisemetic.
As have the terrorist actions of the palestinians and hamas. Don’t think for a second that this is a one way street, or that israeli jews haven’t lived in the region since before the israeli state, and were picked off by muslims before organizing. Now how about some substance behind your criticism instead of empty accusation?
Sorry, but simply labeling people ‘antisemitic’ because they do not share your views does not eliminate or distinguish our voices.
But you are. It’s always one sided. You don’t criticize, say, arafat encouraging young girls to be suicide bombers for the glory of islam and the palestinian people. Nor do you criticize acts of terrorism committed by the palestinians. Instead, you blame it all the israelis, which you have no right to do.
It just exposes your conservative political bias and undermines your efforts to justify the motives for Israeli occupation (which, regardless of your argument in favor of Israel, remains illegal and unjustified).
Israel isn’t going anywhere ever. You can get off your soap box and pack it in if you think for a second that aligning yourself with Iran in demanding that the isreali state (Which is perfectly LEGALLY justified in existing) dissolve and go away. You are a part of the problem.
ANd to the other person who oversimplified and failed to comprehend, the 2 state solution is dead…and it wasn’t the israelis who killed it.
TANK
@strumpetwindsock:
Making excuses for religious bigots and coddling hate filled fundamentalists, sexist animals, etc, as you have and continue to do while offering no solution other than a tsk tsk isn’t just going soft on the enemies (which you don’t think exist…no there aren’t enemies to say, lgbt people according to you), it’s nowhere…which you generally do.
farleft
There are a lot of Pro-Israeli’s on this moard who don’t seem to read the news.
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090428/BUSINESS/704289954
By the way, just because this post is on a queer forum does not mean there are no other political overtones relevant to the article. The title of this article clearly makes this article political, and worthy of criticism.
TANK
This is nothing new. Similar articles have been circulating since 2005.
TANK
@TANK:
In fact, you exist in a moral gutter if your reinterpretation of history to cleanse (whitewash) society and men (which you don’t like to mention as the perpetrators of sexism…apparently) of sexism is to be believed beyond your usual contrarian ravings.
strumpetwindsock
@TANK:
Carry on with your middle east discussion; my issue is not with that.
I just think it is funny you are complaining about “poor taste”, arguing that some threads should be off limits from criticism, and that someone should be cut some slack because they were not familiar with the situation.
When you are the one doing the attacking (a you don’t give one inch of consideration for any of those factors.
Remember that next time you are trying to nail someone to the wall
kevin (not that one)
“ANd to the other person who oversimplified and failed to comprehend, the 2 state solution is dead…and it wasn’t the israelis who killed it.”
It might not be feasible since there are currently 500,000 illegal aliens settled in the Occupied Territories. Almost without exception, they are rabid and extremely violent religious fundamentalists/racists.
The way the settlements are spread throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a one-state solution may be the only way to move forward…but then that would mean that there would be no Jewish majority. Someone has to make a sacrifice for peace.
And by the way, archaeologists and historians now believe that the ancestors of the biblical Israel were Canaanites all along. The majority of Jews in the last remaining tribe (Judah) were expelled to Babylon long before the Roman Occupation and after the Roman Occupation the majority of the diaspora was spread across the Mediterranean, while Jerusalem was left a ghost town.
Modern-day Israel is actually a colony of the West (GB/FR/USA).
TANK
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v29/n13/croo01_.html
Farleft
Tank,
In your response to my post, you made quite a few assumptions about me and my beliefs. When did I ever discuss Jewish inhabitance of the area? When did I ever discuss Arafat (Who, incidentally, is completely irrelevant right now)? When did I ever align myself (or even mention) Iran? When did I ever say the state of Israel should be dissolved?
You are grasping for straws, trying so hard to be right. But making all these assumptions about my beliefs, which exposes exactly what you believe a Pro-Palestinian thesis would sound like, discredits your entire argument. It’s like you’re arguing against yourself…because your comments address comments never made by me.
And with that, I say goodbye. No need to have discussions with another Pro-Israeli who fabricates arguments. You are the product of Zionist propaganda, and I have no desire to open dialogue with you.
Zserilyn
I don’t understand. The article wants to point out that Israel is a different sort of Boom-Boom-Pow.
And there’s a wonderful LGBT society.
Horrible title, thought
But the antisemitic fervor running through this shouldn’t extend to a porno ad. >.> I mean, the U.S. has many things to answer for but our porn industry is still bringing in billions.
Farleft
By the way, linking to articles by pro-israeli collaborators (like alastair brooke) exposes the fact that your news is gathered from sources partial to Israel and is not a neutral news source.
TANK
In your response to my post, you made quite a few assumptions about me and my beliefs.
From your silence on the complicity of palestinians and other muslim states surrounding israel in fomenting the conflict, I feel justified. Deafening.
When did I ever discuss Jewish inhabitance of the area? When did I ever discuss Arafat (Who, incidentally, is completely irrelevant right now)? When did I ever align myself (or even mention) Iran? When did I ever say the state of Israel should be dissolved?
That seems to be the implication of your rhetoric (illegal occupation, for example)…that’s the official of iran, which doesn’t even acknowledge its status as a state.
But making all these assumptions about my beliefs, which exposes exactly what you believe a Pro-Palestinian thesis would sound like, discredits your entire argument. It’s like you’re arguing against yourself…because your comments address comments never made by me.
Yeah, unfortunately you don’t have plausible deniability here like many of your craven peers.
And with that, I say goodbye. No need to have discussions with another Pro-Israeli who fabricates arguments. You are the product of Zionist propaganda, and I have no desire to open dialogue with you.
Zionist propaganda? Like a book your ancestors probably and disseminated? The learned elders? LOL!
TANK
@Farleft:
Yes, I didn’t link to some deeply antisemitic academic journal based upon a priori analysis rather than on the ground facts.
Farleft
Fine…Is this more relevant?
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1079589.html
TANK
@TANK:
Some journal capitalizing on the popularity of anti isreali sentiment amongst the far left to increase circulation, I’d like to add.
TANK
Yeah, the rights and freedoms enjoyed by israeli lgbt people is just a massive PR scam to recruit international gays against poor poor iran…and palestine…and just about every other muslim state in the middle east… More crackpot nonsense.
TANK
@TANK:
and by every other muslim state, I’m referring to the widespread persecution of lgbt peoples throughout those states.
Farleft
“That seems to be the implication of your rhetoric (illegal occupation, for example)…that’s the official of iran, which doesn’t even acknowledge its status as a state.”
Netanyahu doesn’t even recognize the Palestinian right to have a state. Palestinians have already recognized Israel (including Hamas)! You have a lot of nerve bringing Iran into this debate. Where is your criticism of Israel? Hypocrite.
Farleft
“Yeah, the rights and freedoms enjoyed by israeli lgbt people is just a massive PR scam”
You don’t think spending 8 million shekels is a campaign?
farleft
By the way, that article wasn’t about branding Israel a supporter of LGBT. I think that’s your problem. You don’t read closely enough.
TANK
@Farleft:
Who cares? They should promote their record on lgbt rights (greater than in the u.s. on paper, anyway) and contrast it against the muslim theocracies primitive and evil persecution. The fact is, that’s not what motivated the rights (open military service, for example), and international lgbt’s don’t have to be sold on the horrors that lgbt people in those backward islamic hellholes experience.
farleft
“backward islamic hellholes ”
You’re quite a progressive thinker.
TANK
@farleft:
It’s hard to lie merely for the sake of being “progressive” (i.e., cowardly) and politically correct.
luvrly
Who would have thought that an article talking about gay porn would be this popular?
Poor jokes aside, lets talk a little about Israel.
One, yes, the title is in incredibly poor taste, but you have to think about the subject. Israel, a nation of Jews surrounded on all sides by Muslim nations that have wanted to see it wiped out since its inception after WW2. As such, they have a CONSCRIPT Army. For those unfamiliar with that concept, everyone serves. I think it’s a 2 yr service. And everyone is everyone. Gay or straight. Out or closeted. So, technically, yes. The Israeli gays and lesbians know how to screw and kill. Bad taste, yes. Accurate, yes.
Two, is there blame to go around for everyone? Yes. Where is there a time there isn’t? But, the Palestinians are NOT the completely innocent victims here as so many claim. Does Israel make some bad decisions, yes. No ones perfect. But the Palestinians have done as much evil as Israel. Suicide bombings of public transportation, restaurants at the busiest time of the day, rocket attacks from Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon. Kidnappings. Murder. Assassination. The list of atrocities committed by both sides is extensive.
Three, it can be argued that both sides are ‘defending themselves.’ That this group or that group was there first. Who cares what the region looked like 2000 yrs ago. Hell, even 60 yrs ago. This is the way the place is today. Concessions need to be made by both sides if any lasting peace is going to work. Look at the Camp David Accords. Hailed by one and all as the final peace deal. And within months Arafat had issued a new fawtah and Palestinians were out ‘sacrificing’ themselves for nothing. Which Israel then responds too, which results in more bombings which Israel responds too…………………………. And we are in the cycle again.
AND THIS WAS ABOUT PORN FOR FUCKS SAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Buy it if you like Israeli men, don’t if you want to try to make some political statement. BUT ITS PORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
farleft
Surely if the actor in question was Palestinian this title wouldn’t exist. A Palestinian killing an Israeli = not sexy…in fact, that’s terrorism. A Israeli killing a Palestinian = Sexy. Sorry, it is a political article, and it is not “just porn.”
luvrly
@farleft:
Where, oh where did I say that killing was sexy? Prey tell?
I don’t like this title. And I don’t find killing sexy in the slightest. I was just pointing out the facts. If you don’t like them, I can’t help that.
And yes, it is terrorism when someone detonates a bomb strapped to their torso in the middle of a street. And it is terrorism when a bulldozer comes through the neighborhood and destroys entire houses just because they are suspected of being associated with known INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST organizations.
But you really seemed to miss the point of what I was saying. There’s blame to go all around. Not all on one side or the other. For you, Israel is all to blame for the situation. For that Tank person, Palestinian. For me, I think there’s blame to go around for everyone. The US, the UN, the EU, the UK, Israel, the entire Muslim world. But that doesn’t seem to matter for you, Israel is guilty of everything no matter what.
farleft
LUVRLY.
i never said you said it was sexy. That’s the whole point of this debate! The title is “Michael Lucas Films Porn In Israel To Show Its Men Kill And Screw” and in the article it says, “They are strong men who can take care of themselves and protect their country and that is undeniably sexy.” They are linking killing and sexiness.
I really have no issue with anything you said. My comment was really not directed towards you.
luvrly
@farleft:
Then in that case, I apologize. I misunderstood where that was directed.
antizionist
Gay people do not support Israel.
Why would we support a religious state like Israel that is as much a Jewish religious state as Iran is a Muslim religious state. Much less an occupying, murderous, pariah state like Israel?
Go back to Canada, Mr. Porno star, and stop supporting the oppression of Palestinians.
abraham
I love it how horny fags can’t look beyond the tip of their cock to see the truth. The Truth is that Israel is a product of a Western conspiracy of Western Jews, in cooperation with Nazi Germany, to colonize Palestine to create a “Jewish State”.
Read here about the Haavara Agreement whereby zionists in Germany colluded with the Nazi regime to create a genocide to promote emmigration to Palestine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haavara_Agreement
Israel is a fraud and a cancer upon humanity. The only cure for cancer is to excise it completely. To eradicate it by any means necessary. Otherwise, you die.
So the choice is clear: excise the cancer of Israel from the body of Earth, or else we all perish.
Israel gone by 2025.
Alec
@abraham: That was hardly a conspiracy to create a genocide to promote emigration to Palestine. It was an agreement to save 50,000 Jews from certain death. They had to give up all their possessions and repurchase them from the German government. Some “deal” that was.
abraham
If you took the time to do the research you’d find that it was collusion between zionists and Nazis. The zionists wanted to colonize Palestine. To colonize, you need people. They used the holocaust as a source of bodies for their colonization project.
Do the research. I’m just the messenger.
Queers have a proud tradition of defending the rights of Palestinians. Check out QUIT (Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism):
http://www.quitpalestine.org/
This article is anathema to gay rights, because it celebrates and applauds the same discrimination and human rights abuses against the Palestinians that gays have traditionally suffered, if only in a different manner with different means.
Fie.
TANK
@abraham:
Get cancer and die, please.
antizionist
@TANK:
First of all, what part of Abraham’s post do you find so contentious? The history of Nazi collaboration with Zionists? If it is indeed this point, I challenge you to attempt to refute it because Zionist collusion with the Nazis is universally acknowledged and well-known.
Otherwise, he’s completely right on the following points: Israel is a pariah state, a lunatic state, and Israel needs to suffer a major defeat. If you ask me what kind of defeat, well, I’ll give you a simple answer. You read Martin Van Creveld, one of Israel’s leading military authorities, he says Israel is a more militarized state than Germany was between 1871 (that’s under the era of Bismark) until 1945 (that’s through the Nazi era). And mind you, Israel needs to suffer a defeat just like the Japanese and the Germans suffered during WWII to finally shake it up and bring it back to its senses. It is carrying on like a marauding state, a vandal state, these are not words. It is not rhetoric. Look yourself at the record. the other year the National Intelligence Estimate came out with a conclusion that Iran was no longer involved in a program to develop nuclear weapons. The people of the world, and every country in the world, sighed a breath of relief that there wouldn’t be a war with Iran. Every country in the world, except Israel where both the government, and overwhelming the population, were pushing for a war with Iran. That’s a problem. It’s become a lunatic state. It’s a very odd thing but it’s probably true that the best thing that happened to Germany was the defeat it suffered in 1945, it became a normal country. The most peace-loving of all Europeans are clearly the Germans, it shook up the society, I think it was frankly a good thing. And in the same vain, I think it would be a good thing for Israel too.
abraham
Tank, get AIDS and suffer. Please.
strumpetwindsock
@antizionist:
The situation is a little bit more complex than you make out, actually.
I agree that Israel is over-militarized, aggressive and out of control, and that they should by rights be brought up on human rights and war crimes charges.
And I also think they have a devil’s alliance with the U.S. and other western governments (You forget they aren’t the only nation that has been pushing for war with Iran).
On the other hand, you can’t ignore the fact many of the nations around them do not recognize their right to exist. Nor should we ignore the deplorable human rights records in those countries while we condemn Israel. Iran and Syria are also aggressive, and have no more regard for the Lebanese and Palestinians than the Israelis do.
What do you imagine would happen if Israel put down their arms?
antizionist
@strumpetwindsock:
“What do you imagine would happen if Israel put down their arms?”
First of all, nobody is asking Israel to put down their arms. And secondly, are you fucking kidding me with your implication here? Israel has air and armored forces that are larger and more advanced than any NATO power (US excluded), as well as 100s of nuclear weapons, and the backing of the global superpower. Palestine wouldn’t pose a threat to Ireland, were it located beside Ireland, let alone a militarily advanced and sophisticated state like Israel.
If Israel would pull out the Palestinian territories they have been illegally occupying for over 40 years in a brutal military occupation, you think they wouldn’t still be able to protect their citizenry? No peace will ever succeed if Israel continues to deny the Palestinians the liberty to which all people are entitled. A just solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict will only be achieved if Israeli policy is based upon moral principles and a adherence to international law, which run counter to the continued Israeli occupation of Arab territory and the denial of basic rights and freedoms to Palestinians under Israeli military rule.
strumpetwindsock
@antizionist:
I agree with your second post entirely. Read again what I said about Israel, please.
What I took issue with is your insistence on a “major defeat” to resolve things, and your implication that Iran is an aggrieved, innocent bystander.
Given the level of militarization on both sides, you know any such “defeat” would involve Israel using those nuclear arms and inflicting unthinkable damage – hardly a result that will lead to peace.
No escalation of the war is ever going to lead to peace in that conflict. The only way for it to happen is for them to somehow back away from the brink
TANK
@antizionist:
Well, I find the suggestion that the nazis orchestrated the holocaust in collaboration with “zionists” to get jews out of europe and into israel. Because six million were murdered. I think you’re a despicable piece of shit, too, and anyone who would agree your characterization of why I’d be offended by those deeply antiemistic remarks is an antisemitic piece of shit, too. You’re a loser…a real loser.
TANK
@abraham:
Go get shot, you antisemitic scum.
TANK
because Zionist collusion with the Nazis is universally acknowledged and well-known.
Prove this with historical facts right now, and not some link to a skinhead org you belong, you diseased cunt.
TANK
I defy you to prove “nazi collaboration” with “zionists” (as you define them) in the orchestration and implementation of the holocaust.
TANK
Otherwise, he’s completely right on the following points: Israel is a pariah state,
Surrounded by islamic extremism, of course it’s a pariah. Primitive muslim theocracies that condone all sorts of human rights violations across the board hate israel…they always, and jews…even before the israeli state was even a prospect.
a lunatic state,
A lunatic state? By your lights, antisemite? Why don’t i Just refer to you as habeeb? Does that sound about right to you? I don’t think you’re in any position to be lecturing anyone on lunacy. I am sick of you muslim antisemites or the pomo radical left facsimile manufacturing holocaust denialism and implicating jews in its implementation and planning…you’re simply descpicable…you’re no better than a skinhead using a megaphone to scream kike outside of a synagogue.
and Israel needs to suffer a major defeat.
LOL! Why is that? This is a judgment call of yours.
If you ask me what kind of defeat, well, I’ll give you a simple answer. You read Martin Van Creveld, one of Israel’s leading military authorities, he says Israel is a more militarized state than Germany was between 1871 (that’s under the era of Bismark) until 1945 (that’s through the Nazi era).
When surrounded by insane religious extremists who want to destroy you passionately, it is good to be able to defend yourself.
And mind you, Israel needs to suffer a defeat just like the Japanese and the Germans suffered during WWII to finally shake it up and bring it back to its senses.
Are you comparing israel to nazi germany now? You’re a crackpot. AN insane, antisemitic foaming at the mouth crackpot.
TANK
@strumpetwindsock:
You agree with that second post entirely? How about nuclear ambiguity? This crackpot antisemite doesn’t know how many nuclear weapons isreal has because no one does…or if they have any, for that matter. I’d expect this kind of “nuanced” bullshit from you, strumpet, as you have about as much backbone and integrity as a lump of jello.
TANK
That wasn’t me. That was probably the same crank who used getreal’s name to type out the n word. Probably lex.
TANK
The comment above the comment I just made wasn’t me…
TANK
@TANK:
Not me…
getreal
I think it is bill perdue he is racist and no ones reads his inane posts.
TANK
You’re a coward, lex.
TANK
It could be bill…he spends most of his day shredding newspaper in his room…I wouldn’t put this past him.
Alec
@TANK: Isn’t he too busy mobilizing for the revolution?
TANK
When did the palestinians have an historical “claim” to the land themselves? Last time I checked, the ottoman empire ended with world war I. And the ottoman empire certainly didn’t acknowledge an independent nation free from its control…
Now, as far as israel’s human rights abuses against palestinians, that’s simply inexcusable. Making people’s lives miserable by settng up checkpoints that rob them of their dignity and ability to make a living and see family is abhorrent. I make no excuses for that. Similarly, I make no excuses for suicide bombings that are inspired by islam and hatred of jews more than oppression. I have nothing but extreme contempt for the outside forces which seek to destroy israel by arming terrorists who blow up buses, murder children, kill old women and kids at malls…fire surface to air missiles into residential neighborhoods or israeli territory.
strumpetwindsock
@TANK:
Jesus Christ TANK. If I was your defense attourney trying to save you from the gallows you’d bitch about the colour of tie I was wearing.
It is common knowledge they have the bomb…. remember Mordechai Vanunu? Does it matter if they have one or 100? How many do you think they need?
He may be off by degrees, but he is right about the militarism. I disagreed with him on the points on which I thought he was way off base.
strumpetwindsock
@TANK:
The people who still have deeds to the land they were kicked off of have a historical claim. It’s a shitty situation on both sides, but it doesn’t help things to ignore that they have been living there for a very long time.
TANK
@strumpetwindsock:
Well, it’s commonly assumed, anyway. They do maintain a strict nuclear ambiguity policy. And as it is, they’re surrounded by states that want to destroy them. They require a strong military to fend off the attacks which are always waiting to occur…and have occurred in the past.
TANK
@strumpetwindsock:
Right, some do. And so do israelis who were relocated recently, too. Deeds to the land issued by defunct states don’t exactly entail “historical entitlement” as an autonomous state.
TANK
@strumpetwindsock:
Jews have been living there for a very long time, too…long before the israeli state was founded.
strumpetwindsock
@TANK:
I know. I’m not the one denying the right of the state of Israel to exist. I know I don’t agree with you on parts of this issue, but I WAS arguing that Israel is not the only one to blame in this tragedy.
strumpetwindsock
I’ve caught shit on this forum before because I said I think they should keep the Golan Heights because they won it in war (though mainly because of its strategic position WRT Syria.
antizionist
@TANK:
Oh yes, the baseless anti-Semite card, the last refuge of a desperate fool with no argument. How many times did you just call me “crackpot anti-Semite?” At least ten? Is that the entirety of your intellectual capacity and ability to engage in dialogue? Flailing your arms wildly while screeching anti-Semite? Just because I’m not an ignorant, intellectually bankrupt Zionist like yourself, who does nothing but resort to personal attacks and tarring and feathering anyone who doesn’t believe anything-and-everything-Israel-does-is-always-right doesn’t make me an ‘anti-Semite.’
And buddy, Abraham didn’t say the Zionists were manning the observation towers at Auschwitz or turning on the gas levers. A little reading comprehension is in order. He said that Zionists collaborated with the Nazi regime to facilitate European Jewish immigration to Palestine to colonize Palestine and steal it from the Palestinians, which is true. If you even bothered to read the link about the Haavara Agremeent, you wouldn’t be in the foolish position of having to now account for such a exaggerated lie. And no, Wikipedia for all its faults is definitely not a “skinhead, anti-Semite” website as you suggested, so allow me to correct you. How’s PBS? Is that a Nazi “skinhead” website for you too?
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/heritage/episode8/documents/documents_11.html
Read the truth and weep, you Zionist stooge.
Oh yeah, and “Anti-Semitic apes, Go back to Africa?” Excuse me? Then you try to claim it was somebody else? If you look at the post time of that particular comment, it was posted the exact same minute in between your flurry of idiotic posts you just made. You really think we’re going to believe someone was sitting here, refreshing the website all day long, waiting for you to post so they could pretend to be you the exact same minute of your flurry of postings? LOL, it was obviously you TANK, stop trying to backpedal away from it you pathetic bigot.
Lex
@antizionist: Hi Bill
strumpetwindsock
@antizionist:
Actually no. It wasn’t him.
Check out the shit that is going on in other threads if you don’t believe it.
TANK
Oh yes, the baseless anti-Semite card,
It’s not baseless. You defended a position which blamed the jews for the holocaust. You are an antisemite. NO one but antisemites says things like that…you’re right up there with holocaust deniers.
the last refuge of a desperate fool with no argument. How many times did you just call me “crackpot anti-Semite?” At least ten?
And they’re all accurate. You are an antisemite crackpot.
Is that the entirety of your intellectual capacity and ability to engage in dialogue? Flailing your arms wildly while screeching anti-Semite? Just because I’m not an ignorant, intellectually bankrupt Zionist like yourself, who does nothing but resort to personal attacks and tarring and feathering anyone who doesn’t believe anything-and-everything-Israel-does-is-always-right doesn’t make me an ‘anti-Semite.’
Well, I react pretty harshly to people defend claims that the jews are repsonsible for the holocaust. You’re piece of shit. I stand by that.
And buddy, Abraham didn’t say the Zionists were manning the observation towers at Auschwitz or turning on the gas levers. A little reading comprehension is in order. He said that Zionists collaborated with the Nazi regime to facilitate European Jewish immigration to Palestine to colonize Palestine and steal it from the Palestinians, which is true.
To colonize, you need people. They used the holocaust as a source of bodies for their colonization project.
These were his words, you despicable sack of shit. You will not get out of defending this claim, basically, that the source of bodies of their colonization project came from the holocaust, making them complicit in the holocaust itself. You are a disgrace. You’re a skinhead neo nazi holocaust rehistorian.
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/herita…..ts_11.html
Read the truth and weep, you Zionist stooge.
Yes, it was zionist conspiracy to save jewish lives from the gas chambers and torture. Jews who had to give up most if not all of their property to the nazis to buy their lives. A zionist conspiracy…if anything, the jews were forced into this as the barrel of a gun. How dare you suggest that the jews were complicit in the holocaust (the contention you defend), you despicable ahistorical cunt.
Oh yeah, and “Anti-Semitic apes, Go back to Africa?” Excuse
me?
That wasn’t me, you jew baiting/hating malignant tumor.
TANK
So according to you, they used the holocaust to get jewish settlers into the region…according to me, and the facts of the matter (some of the people who brokered the deal had family who would have been murdered the nazis, asshole), they brokered a deal to get jews out of germany to save those lives. You and your kind are a disgrace to the truth.
TANK
Read here about the Haavara Agreement whereby zionists in Germany colluded with the Nazi regime to create a genocide to promote emmigration to Palestine:
And this, too, is the claim you defend from abraham…that the jews “created” the holocaust… You are insane. Absolutely insane. YOu are harmful, immoral son of a bitch…words can’t convey how despicable and repugnant you are…this isn’t about zionism, this is about your rampant antisemitism at this point, and your willingness to defend antisemitic memes and blisteringly clear hate speech…you’ve been discredited. Both of you.
antizionist
@TANK:
What the hell are you babbling meaninglessly about now? Accusing me of defending the notion of Jewish culpability for the Holocaust? Your reading comprehension skills fail yet again. Lets go back and review the text, quoting my original post:
Me: “First of all, what part of Abraham’s post do you find so contentious? The history of Nazi collaboration with Zionists? If it is indeed this point, I challenge you to attempt to refute it because Zionist collusion with the Nazis is universally acknowledged and well-known.”
Notice I specifically asked which point you find controversial, and I specifically restricted myself to the topic of Zionist collaboration with the Nazi regime. I qualified my defense of Abraham quite clearly that I was explicitly restricting myself to this and ONLY this point. It would be comical if it wasn’t so pathetic that I have to break it down and explain to you as if you’re mentally deficient, which I’m now beginning to seriously consider.
You can prattle on all you want, I have been very clear from the beginning. I merely argued the Haavara Agreement document demonstrates rather clearly Zionist collaboration with the Nazi regime to facilitate the emigration of European Jews to Palestine. Throw up as many red herrings as you like, that’s your modus operandi; ad-hominem attacks, dodging the substance of the issue at hand, oh and don’t forget to constantly raise the specter of anti-Semitism on anyone who doesn’t have a 2-foot boner for Israel’s brutal oppression of Palestinians.
There’s an abundance of other evidence of Zionist collaboration with the Nazi regime, but I’ll stop there, since it is clear that you hear only what you want to hear, to back up your own twisted and dishonest worldview on Israel.
luvrly
I was not going to add more to this story, but I can no longer stand idly by without adding my two cents. Again.
The Haavara Document: The deal with the Devil.
Claiming that this document was an agreement negotiated on EQUAL terms IS completely and utterly reprehensible. This agreement was negotiated out of desperation concerning the facts of Germany at the time. And those facts about Germany, well; people seem to be ignoring them.
By the time the document had come into being Germany the National German Worker’s Party, or Nazi’s; were in power and were working on consolidating it. And all the time while they were running for power , they used the Jews as scape goats for all of the ills of Germany, creating a nation that was hostile and completely horrid to the Jewish people. So, yes. The Jewish Agency in Palestine came up with this agreement. That was NOT negotiated on EQUAL terms or giving any type of respect to the Jewish people. If a German Jew decided to move to Palestine they had to sign over all of THEIR BELONGINGS to the German state. And then if they wanted them back, they would have to export them as German goods. Which only gave support to the very government and people that wanted to see them gone and dead. So claiming that this document was collaboration between the Nazis and ‘Zionist’ Jews is absolutely horrid and reprehensible. It was a deal with the Devil to try to save lives. Claiming otherwise is an attempt at rewriting history and ignoring the facts of the time.
‘Israel has the bomb’
Israel’s nuclear policy is that it doesn’t have a nuclear policy. Do I believe this, not really. But you can be assured of two things regarding nuclear weapons. One, leaving the question of whether they do or don’t makes all of the neighboring Muslim nations (that REFUSE their right to exist) caution regarding major military action. And two, if Iran gets the bomb, their will be no question of whether Israel has it or not.
IDF: Israeli Defense Force
When your surrounded on all sides by countries that refuse to recognize the right of Israel to exist. Hell, they even refuse to recognize the right for Jews to live. You would have a large and very powerful military too. And comparing there military to any military force in Europe, is retarded. Ever since the end of the Cold War, the European nations have constantly cut funding to their armed forces. Their standing armed forces have decreased in size for the past 20 yrs to be amongst the smallest in the world. But anyways, Israel maintains a massive, modern military to defend and protect its self from a group of nations that want to destroy it.
Palestinians
I agree with what most have said. And as I’ve said previously, there is blame to go around to everyone. Israel needs to make concessions and so do the Muslim states and the Palestinians. But claiming that the only nation that is guilty and that needs to change is Israel is shortsighted and completely biased.
And no one in these comments have claimed that they support the oppression of the Palestinians by Israel. Everyone has AGREED that Israel MUST change its policy towards Palestine. Claiming otherwise is more revisionist history in work.
TANK
I challenge you to attempt to refute it because Zionist collusion with the Nazis is universally acknowledged and well-known.”
COllusion? This was done at the barrel of gun. That doesn’t seem like “zionist collusion” to me. As I said, some of the jewish agency’s members had family members would have been exterminated in camps if this didn’t go through. I suppose you’d have preferred the 50,000 plus lives saved to have died in camps rather than this “collusion” occur, as you put it. Once again, I renew the charge that you’re an antisemitic crackpot. But you defended abraham’s hate speech where he also goes as far as to say that the jews are responsible for their own extermination. You are a sad man…a sad man full of antisemitism.
antizionist
@luvrly:
Let me see if I understand this correctly. Your fallacious claim that the Havaara Agreement was not negotiated on equal terms somehow qualifies it as a Zionist collaboration with the Third Reich? Uh.. do you even understand the definition of collaboration? Your argument is invalid. Rationalize it all you want, it doesn’t change the long historical tradition of Zionist collaboration with anti-Semitic forces. It is an official contract between the Third Reich and a Zionist organization to settle a large number of German Jews to colonized Palestine. Do you understand what a contract is? Done at the barrel of a gun? So you’re claiming the Jewish Agency, IN PALESTINE, were forced, at gunpoint, to draft an entirely elective contract which just coincidentally happened to serve their own Zionist interests of the colonization of Palestine? Seriously… Are you an idiot? Answer: Yes.
There’s such a large surplus of evidence of Zionist collaboration with the Nazi regime. Just one example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lehi_(group)#Contact_with_Nazi_authorities
Zionism served the interests of both the Nazi regime, who wanted to expel European Jews, and Zionists, who wanted to colonize Palestine. The Havaara Agreement is one manifestation of that. Goebbels wrote high praises of Zionism. Just read Goebbel’s twelve-part report in Der Angriff (The Assault) in 1934 praising Zionism. Goebbels even ordered a medallion with a Swastika on one side, and on the other, the Star of David. Go read Brenner’s Zionism, it accounts for Zionist collaboration with Nazis and other anti-Semites in great detail.
Zionist leaders have never had any problem collaborating with anti-Semitic movements. Theodor Herzl himself, the founder of Zionism, offered to help the Tsar fight Europe’s “noxious and subversive Anarcho-Bolshevik Jews” (as he called them). Zionist leaders LOVED collaborating, supporting, or making all sorts of deals with the fascist and anti-Semitic forces instead of fighting them. And trust me, they were not all at the barrel of a gun.
antizionist
^ Correction: “..somehow DISqualifies it as a Zionist collaboration with the Third Reich?”
TANK
It’s that antisemite bill perdue. There’s no doubt about it. This man is scum. Apparently this asshole thinks that “collaboration” and “zionist collusion” amounts to saving lives…but they’re jewish, so they’re not worth saving according this puddle of snot.
TANK
Done at the barrel of a gun? So you’re claiming the Jewish Agency, IN PALESTINE, were forced, at gunpoint, to draft an entirely elective contract which just coincidentally happened to serve their own Zionist interests of the colonization of Palestine?
Need I say more? This proves it. You’re an antisemitic puddle of snot, and I seriously hope you and abraham contract so deadly incurable disease and die slowly and painfully…with a total lack of dignity you’ve already forfeited. Lives on the line=at the barrel of a gun.
I suppose if I were to hold a knife to your mother’s throat and demand that you sign over your property to me, you’d be engaging in an open negotiation. You cunt.
TANK
This asshole probably read the protocols of the elders of zion as historical truth, too.
Zionist leaders have never had any problem collaborating with anti-Semitic movements. Theodor Herzl himself, the founder of Zionism, offered to help the Tsar fight Europe’s “noxious and subversive Anarcho-Bolshevik Jews” (as he called them). Zionist leaders LOVED collaborating, supporting, or making all sorts of deals with the fascist and anti-Semitic forces instead of fighting them. And trust me, they were not all at the barrel of a gun.
This is all antisemitic hate speech and false.
TANK
ANd I’m done, because this rabid antisemite is not going to stop. Bill perdue stops when he’s ignored because people are no longer going to refute his nonsense or deal with his lies. He’s a rabid antisemitic dog no better than a skinhead screaming the ‘n’ word at the top of his lungs.
TANK
For those who don’t think antisemitism is a tremendous problem in this country, read this thread. It is.
antizionist
@TANK:
Delusional fool, you battle against figments of your feverish imagination, not real adversaries, desperately projecting anti-Semitism into your political opponents where it doesn’t exist. Of course, it’s obvious why you do this, in order to rationalize your incapability to reconcile the truth about Zionism.
The historical truth remains for all to see that Zionist leaders have a rich history of collusion with the Third Reich. There are so many examples I have offered to you, but you refuse to address them directly. You can’t argue against them on a historical basis, so you resort to childish anti-Semitite name calling. When you want to have a real discussion and actually attempt to refute the history I presented to you instead of acting like a child, let me know.
“I suppose if I were to hold a knife to your mother’s throat and demand that you sign over your property to me, you’d be engaging in an open negotiation.”
Hmm.. Sounds familiar, kind of like what Zionist terror gangs specifically did to the Palestinians when they forcibly expelled them out of their homes in numerous incidents of ethnic cleansing? But I don’t support you would be receptive to their right to resist, in that case. Ha!
IloveIsrael
@antizionist: I’m gay–I support Israel. But it doesn’t matter what any intellect on here has to say to these delusional Palestinian supporters…they will just try to blow us up if we disagree with their horrific propaganda. Why dont you fiends try match.com or something then you wont have to murder everyone being a martyr to get laid by your 72 virgins.
Anthony Miguel Averroes De Spinoza Garringer
you people are nuts Isreal is the only country to have Gays in Parliment, regonize gay Marriage, allow Gays to adopt, or allow GLBT people to serve in the Army. I don’t know of any muslim country that is as toleriant. Also Arabs are have the right to serve in the Kennesset like any other Isreali. Some Serve on New Movement-Meretz, or on the Labour List or the Kadima List Or Balad, Hadasha, or the United Arab List. Prominet Knesset members include Hussniya Jabara the first arab female MK. There is also Arabon the Isreali Supreme Court Salim Joubran. Granted I dont agree with everything Isreal dose Such as Settlments in West Bank, Gaza, and, EJ. I still think its better then the altertive of Shari’a Law and death because the PA is no secular Turky and GLBT are subject to arbitrary arrest, extra-judical exacutions and honor killings all the times, don’t believe me try to have a PRIDE PARADE in Janyn or Gaza city.
Alec
@Anthony Miguel Averroes De Spinoza Garringer: Of course Israel is the most gay friendly country in the region (just avoid Jerusalem). That doesn’t have any impact on whether they are appropriately criticized for their policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The US provides the most protection from government regulation of speech compared to virtually every other nation in the world, a fact noted by one of its leading critics, Noam Chomsky. But it is immaterial when evaluating other human rights abuses. This isn’t cap and trade.
strumpetwindsock
@Alec:
Not to get off topic, but…
The U.S. is very free (your libel laws are a less restrictive than ours), but I wouldn’t say you are have the greatest freedom of expression in the world.
…Certainly not since the implementation of the Patriot Act, the era of overzealous copyright threats, and even the simple act of your former president refusing to allow publication of pictures of soldiers’ caskets.
As long as those things remain on the books, it means trouble for you guys.
But I do get your point, and I agree entirely. It’s good, but it doesn’t absolve one from criticism
vernonvanderbilt
I have nothing of value to add to this.
Oh, wait, maybe I do.
The Jews and the Palestinians, they keep fighting over a two-bit chunk of scrubland in the middle of nowhere with no natural resources of value to speak of. Why? Because it’s a special place.
When my two adorable nephews (5 and 7 years old, great kids) refuse to stop fighting over a toy and simply share it, I do what any reasonable, rational person would do. I take it away from them.
Here’s the solution to the Israel problem, then. Start counting to ten. If they haven’t worked out an agreement to share before the countdown stops, we simply nuke the shit out of the place. when they start crying and asking why, we tell them:
“If you can’t share like mature, responsible people, then none of you can have it.”
Works on the kids. Maybe it’ll work on the childish as well.
Alec
@strumpetwindsock: Even with those areas, I think that the US remains the country where the legal right and guarantee of free speech is the best. I don’t even really think there is a close second in this regard.
Copyright falls into a separate category, being commercial in nature (we also have regulations for other forms of commercial speech).
Gag orders for national security letters=unconstitutional. Self-censorship is another matter (with respect to the Patriot Act) and in any event is a major problem in the US, but that’s not the fault of our First Amendment guarantees.
We also permit non-content based time place and manner restrictions. That’s to be expected.
Regardless, though, I still think it is at the top of any list. Very few countries permit the wide range of expression that is tolerated within the US.
TANK
But is there any sense of priority in that criticism? I don’t see it in the above. Of course you can criticize most anything, and the health of the republic depends upon its citizens criticizing just about anything, but there’s no compromise when precious dogma is at stake. So while it is true that israel’s official and unofficial reponsive treatment of palestinians has been bad and, in some cases, an overreaction to terrorist acts and threats which have claimed considerable lives on both sides (but not more than, say, the feud between the bloods and the crips in south central la), it is a separate issue from it being the most progressive nation in the middle east in terms of the recognition of human rights and enshrining it in law. But it is also true that islam’s treatment of homosexuals and women across the globe is something which discredits its adherents. As far as its legal authority to be there, the logic which seeks to undermine it undermines the existence of just about every nation on earth.
strumpetwindsock
@Alec:
The U.S. does have guarantees on paper. It’s in the practical application that things slip:
Check out the press freedom index:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reporters_Without_Borders
(and go check out the data behind it)
And your copyright laws are VERY significant when an organization or government can force or bully the suppression of criticism through copyright claims:
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/04/15/oregon-our-laws-are.html
Don’t think I am trying to put down your country; This happens in one form or another EVERYWHERE, including where I live. I’m just trying to tell you there is a danger in assuming you are living in the most free and democratic place on earth.
There is no such place.
strumpetwindsock
Note:
Israel and the Palestinian Authority are both on that list as well.
abraham
Israelis live on stolen land. Palestinians live in refugee camps because their land was stolen from them.
1 + 1 = 2
Israel gone by 2025.
strumpetwindsock
@abraham:
Do you live in North America?
Is your heritage anything other than aboriginal?
We are all living on stolen land, baby.
Kindergarten math and naivete are not going to solve this difficult problem.
what the f?
Wasn’t this post about gay porn?…
god, you went really far with it.
Issey
@Toby:
You gays should be a shame of your self, being pro terrorist who would gladly kill homosexuals in every chance they have is disgusting to read some of your stupid comments on here. Go to Gaza and say you are gay and see what they’ll do to you, those people are animals and have no problem in killing you for the name of hate rate, go a head and travel to Gaza and see if you will come out a live from there, keep your stupid opinions to your self, it sure does not make you look smarter. if you want to learn more than travel to Israel and stay there for a while, learn from close of what is the problem and than maybe I’ll be ready to hear your voice, until than just shot up. I am a shame to have gays like you as part of our community.
me
shit is hot! highly recommended!
Marc
The problem is that Israel has done too good a job in subduing its enemies within the past 20 years! During the 1990’s, suicide bombers routinely invaded Israel from the West Bank and Gaza. In response, to protect its citizens from the terror invoked by such arbitrary mayhem, the Wall went up. And the suicide bombers stopped. You forget. I don’t. You forget, that Israel pulled out of Gaza unilaterally, hoping that the PA would control it, and then create an economic revival there. You forget that Jericho was supposed to become a business Mecca. You forget that billions of US dollars have been poured into Palestine without any long term economic gain. You forget that the only things that are produced and exported into Israel from Palestine are missiles with bombs. You forget that Hamas continues to swear and pledge the destruction of Israel. You forget that Syria is still at war with Israel. You forget that Southern Lebanon, which is controlled by Hezbollah and Iran, is at war with Israel. You forget that Israel spends 40% of its GDP on its military defenses because it is surrounded by enemies. You forget that Israel is a country besieged, at war with its immediate neighbors, and must control its enemies because to allow them access to weapons has proven time and time again to be suicidal. When the Palestinians stop killing Jews that is when Israel can stop killing and interfering with Palestinians. Until then, Palestinians force Israel to cause their regions to suffer misery, hardship and the terror of war. And, finally, the oil rich Arab-Muslim world gives their Muslim- Palestinian relatives a pittance of what they earn, making the Palestinians live in dire poverty because it suits their very cynical, political endgame against Israel. And that has gone on since 1948. Pathetic.
Marc
Refugee camps were established in 1948 after the Arabs fled their homes and were denied the right of return. That is still a huge issue that is on the table. If 4 or 5 million Muslim-Palestinians are permitted to enter Israel, then Israel will no longer have a majority of its population being Jewish. And that is not acceptable to the country of Israel. Hence, this has been an impasse that has not been able to be resolved for the past 60 years. The Palestinians want to control Israel. The Jews want to control Israel. It is a zero sum game. Until the Palestinians give up the Right of Return, there will be no peace treaty. So far, they have not given up this right.
However, refugee camps are hardly “camps.” They are slums, for the most part. They exist in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza. They are densely populated high rises that are supported by the UN. In many cases, the people have limited rights. They are not allowed to vote, to work outside the camps, to move outside the camps, or enjoy other normal freedoms. They have limited status within their host countries. And they are very very poor. And this situation has continued for the past 60 years in large part because it has been expedient for oil rich Arab countries to use the plight of the Palestinians as a means of reducing internal tension within their own countries.
But most of Israel was purchased from Arabs during the period of 1880 to 1948. Only a small portion was taken during the 1948 War of Independence. Furthermore, many Israelis left homes in the West Bank because it wasn’t safe for them to live in Jordan before the War ended, and they moved to Israel, leaving their real property and giving up their Right of Return.
Finally, the Settlements on the West Bank didn’t begin until after the 1967 War. Jordan attacked Israel, and Israel in response, retaliated. Jordan lost control of the West Bank including East Jerusalem. After that, for security reasons as well as religious reasons, the Government of Israel encouraged Jewish settlors to move into strategic areas in the West Bank. It was to make certain that Jerusalem would never again be a divided city, and that it would always remain the Jewish capital. Second, it was to make sure that it was impossible for war to be waged against Israel from Jordan and Syria and Egypt. Third, it was to establish Greater Israel, as a Divine Right. For those three reasons, the West Bank has Jewish Settlors.
In short, the Palestinians are Arabs and they have sided more or less with Jordan in the past, which sided with Egypt and Syria, which were the major enemies of Israel. The Palestinians are still the major enemies of Israel, despite their weakened condition. If ever they decide to make peace with Israel, as Egypt and Jordan did, then many, but not all, of the issues that are outstanding, such as the Settlements, the Wall, East Jerusalem, Water, and De-Military Zone will become non-entities, because they must acknowledge that Israel must feel secure first and foremost. And to do that, they must prove that they are never going to engage in wars such as those that engulfed Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, 1999, 2006, and 2008.
Marc
Jews have been saying “Next year in Jerusalem” for thousands of years. The Koran has not one reference to Jerusalem. The Old Testament, starting with David in 3000 B.C., and the New Testament are totally about the Jews experience in and around Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the spiritual capital, (the Mecca), for Jews. It is by the Grace of God that the Jews allow the Muslims to control the most sacred and holy place of Judaism, the Temple Mount. In the history of the world, this has never been done. Conquering countries do not allow the conquered to control their most precious religious sites. But, that is just one example of the magnanimous nature of the Jews of Israel.
Marc
There has been a lot of talk about the racist policies of Israel. This is not true. Israel supports Western European Jews, Eastern European Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Russian Jews, North African Jews, Iranian Jews, Yemenic Jews, American Jews, and one fifth of the country is composed of Arab Palestinian Muslims.
In fact, 10 out of 120 members of the Israeli Parliment are Israeli-Arab/Palestinian Muslims. In general, the israeli-Arab/ Palestinian Muslims do not receive the same proportion of funds per capita as the ruling classes, but that is because they have not been effective in making alliances within the parlimentary system of amalgamating the many political parties to create a government.
Finally, what should happen to those Israeli-Arab/Palestinian Muslims if there becomes a Jewish state and a Palestinian State. Recent polls show that they have an allegiance to the Palestinian State, yet they may prefer for economic or other reasons to continue living in Israel.
For parity reasons, should Israeli Jews be allowed to live in Palestine? With full legal safeguards? Just as the Israeli-Arab/Palestinians Muslims do in Israel? If so, could the settlors on the West Bank become citizens of Palestine? It’s an interesting question that no one has yet considered? And probably too far from reality. I cannot imagine any Jewish Israeli ever deciding to become a citizen of Palestine. It would be too crazy. But crazier things have happened.
Ross
I would love it if any of the anti-Israelis here would walk into Gaza City and announce publicly they were gay – not that I necessarily want to see them tortured and killed in some horrific ways, as would almost certainly happen, but just to see how they would react when faced with the truth. Israel may oppress Palestinians, but Palestinians oppress women, gays, Christians, Jews, atheists, blacks, Americans, Europeans, children, pacifists, other Palestinians for belonging to a different political party, and so on.