A grim future for Israel

The politics of appeasement in its many forms are utterly intolerable in our 21st century world. No longer can we support countries on the basis of ideology or overthrow dictators only to establish another, more cruel one. Neither can we support and acquiesce to those irrational leaders that demand only more and more in order to be calmed. All this were policies of the 20th century, failed in all respects. So why repeat it? Why play the same game?

I've been relatively quiet about Israel and Palestine since the Israeli offensive ended. I waited, hoping for the results of the election, hoping perhaps that the Israeli people would choose logic over fear. But their choices of rational and honorable leaders and parties are few. Israel seems to me like the perfect facist state in the making. For even the so declared "centrist-left" , Kadima would make good friends with Dick Chaney, our most decrepit vice-president.

In the recent election the votes were split very evenly. Kadima, perhaps the lesser of two evils (or three considering the other far right Yisrael Beiteinu) , did not achieve enough seats to properly command a government by itself. A coalition with a party from the right is very likely. Or even worse, Netanyahu could return by forming a coalition and Israel would certainly see more days where innocent lives are killed on both sides. But let us analyze the peace initiatives of both rival parties, perhaps we could find a sensible option:

Palestinian sovereignty, but not at Israel's expense. . That is the dogma of Likud leader and blind man, Benjamin Netanyahu. American Jews, the bastion of liberalism and with the black demographic the most affiliated with the left-leaning Democratic party in the U.S. . You'd think the leader of a party in Israel would be more cautious in speaking of such a touchy subject. In fact the opposite happens, he explains how the Palestinians "should govern themselves, but they shouldn't have certain powers that would threaten the state of Israel" . Those "powers"? Their borders, airspace and even internet!

This is where my tempers flare. Do you Mr. Netanyahu really think a PEOPLE will stand for this? Do you feel threatened by their numbers, or perhaps because they haven't given up yet on being free? Any rational human being can see that this is ludicrous. I'm utterly speechless to continue, so I will leave this matter up to you, the reader.

Israel must give up land to remain Jewish and democratic . The article above features the Israeli option for liberalism, as most parties more left than Kadima are barely significant (except Labor perhaps). How does Ms. Tzipi Livni court the "American Jewry"? By invoking the long promoted "Israel fighting for existence" line. That it's the "only" jewish state and thus fighting for its existence should be halted right there. What makes having a Jewish state any different than having an Islamic state in Iran? Yet we condemn one and support the other? There is no way for Israel to be "Jewish" state as their jewish leaders so desire; they must conform with the fact that they share a land with a people that were actually there first and that their rights are not to be infringed. Secondly, her statement about being the only democracy in the Middle East is false. Hamas was elected too, to Israel's grief.

Livni went on in her address to have the gall, the audacity to urge the American government not to send diplmats to Durban II, an anti-racism conference to be held in Geneva sponsored by the UN. Who does she think she is suggesting to a sovereign government what it should or should not do? It is more than clear why she wouldn't like that. Durban II will be the evaluation and scrutinizing of Israel's blatantly racist and genocidal acts.

I'm sorry, Israel but you're screwed either way. Kadima or Likud, whoever leads the coalition government, will just be more of the same. This reflects on a people that live on fear and not understanding, of excess and not moderation. Even more importantly, it reflects that the Israeli people are short sighted and do not know their own good. Their well being depends on being liked by their neighbors and the world, and not just the U.S. as some figure. Sure, the Gaza Offensive of 2008-09 will keep down insurgencies (or maybe they won't) for a year, maybe more. It will certainly limit Gaza's growth. But for how long? How long does it take a child of 7 or 8 to realize that the loss of his mechanic father and housewife mother was caused by the racist excess of a nation who voted for these leaders? How long will it take for this child to be lured by radicals and those who hate just as much as the other side? I say to you that it doesn't take long in the despair and poverty that confront the Palestinians today. And thus the cycle continues, on towards another 2,000 years of plight?

But if you love Israel, if you want its well being. Hate racism, hate fear, hate the lies and bias.

-Jonathan Rodrigues