samboct
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Joined: 1/17/2007
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I must admit, I think it's only a matter of time before the nuclear firecrackers get pulled out of the basement and dropped on some cities. I wouldn't be surprised if Israel lobs the first one, they don't have enough land to absorb much punishment and still be a viable country (it's only about the size of New Jersey.)
I think what's interesting is the NYT doesn't have the comment that Hamas's threat to resume lobbing rockets was in response to an Israeli blockade which was in the Toronto Sun (or I missed it in the NYT.) Shades of WWII when Japan attacked the US for the same reason.
I'm not surprised by the Israeli response though. Lady E, I'm Jewish (not practicing) and I can fill you in on a little of the emotion that starts to build at this point-
The history of Jewish persecution is based on Jews being seen as less than human in the eyes of their tormentors. Often uncited are the religious beliefs on the Jews part that cause them to be singled out- such as non-Jewish women are unclean and shouldn't be touched by Jewish men. Dealing with somebody keeping Kosher is guaranteed to raise the hackles of any reasonable non-Jewish host, so there's clearly a lot of provocation through the ages. Perhaps not surprising, it becomes acceptable to view Jews as less than human. A lot of Jewish literature shows how steeped this idea is in the culture. Example (I'm paraphrasing, but you'll get the idea.) The Cossacks rode into town today. They had not done well on the battlefield, so they kill a few Jews to show how unhappy they are. Jewish humor is full of these references where Jews are seen as less than human.
The Israelis are on a hair trigger, because the Muslims/Arabs/towelheads language often implies such a dichotomy between Jews and humans. Let's face it, Hamas sworn goal is to wipe Israel off the map, the Iranian pres has said the same thing and these are popular elected or representative groups. Hence, the Israelis tend to feel that they haven't got many friends in the Muslim/Arab world, although there have been a number of successful business and academic collaborations. On a personal level, relationships can work.
Your call that Israel's reaction is not proportionate I suspect would rate a chuckle from an Israeli, given England's role in setting up the current situation.
A little history may help explain things. The Jews who founded Israel were not fond of the English, since England was closed to large numbers of the Jewish refugees. Well, truth be told, England was broke and lots of people were starving in postwar Europe. It took awhile for the Marshall plan to catch hold in this country and during that time, Europe wasn't doing so hot. Lots of people starved to death in the Netherlands in the winter of 1945, and there were lots of deaths from disease which should be laid at the door of malnutrition. Nor should one forget the Swiss who refused to allow the heirs of the Jews who'd gone up in smoke in Nazi ovens to collect on their bank accounts. Had they released that money, Europe, Israel, and the Arab world would probably look very different today. The end result was that postwar this bunch of refugees (Jews) were penniless, starving, and dispossessed of their homes and businesses since the lawyers of the victors decided that judgements in Nazi courts were valid. Either way it was a nightmare- there wasn't enough housing in Europe- somebody was going to be out in the cold. Most of the European Jews that survived would have preferred to stay in Europe, but were forced to emigrate. A bunch went to the US and a bunch went to Palestine while there were still people in dp camps as late as 1948.
The massive influx of Jewish refugees into Palestine upset the applecart that had been relatively peaceful before between the Jews in Palestine and the Arabs in surrounding lands. One of the dirty little secrets was that the military arms in the region were left in Arab hands by the English while the Israelis scrounged whatever they could beg, borrow or steal. Given the tight ties between England and the Arabs (T.E. Lawrence- I've never quite understood this.) the hand off wasn't surprising, but the outcome of the '48 war certainly was. Everybody expected the Arabs to finish the job the Nazis started- it's just that these survivors were smarter (natural selection- all the dumb ones went up in smoke) and incredibly motivated. Some of this history is a little personal for me- my grandpop was part of a group that hijacked a Liberty ship out of Baltimore harbor to run guns to the Jews in Israel.
So basically the situation in Israel is as follows- the towelheads want to kill all the Jews, and the Jews are tired of listening to anybody that suggests that they turn the other cheek. The Jewish experience has been that if you allow them to start killing Jews, it just continues. But I wouldn't be surprised if Teheran gets nuked before Tel Aviv- nobody's going to tell these guys to take the first punch.
Sam
< Message edited by samboct -- 12/29/2008 6:33:57 PM >
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disproportionate, much? - 
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