From: jeremy@castle.ed.ac.uk (Jeremy Henderson)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.mideast
Subject: Re: News from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Date: 12 Jan 93 11:55:33 GMT
Organization: Edinburgh University

In article <1993Jan11.201156.25289@cs.brown.edu> dzk@cs.brown.edu (Danny Keren) writes:
~jeremy@castle.ed.ac.uk (Jeremy Henderson) writes:
~
~#But to respond to your substantive (I use the word loosely) point, you claim
~#that Makowsky's kahanist views are considered a minority, but I note that the
~#deportation was supported by ALL parties in the Knesset, and by 91% of the
~#Israeli public. In the "spectrum" of views held in the Knesset apparently
~#NO-ONE considers the Geneva Convention worthy of observing. Some spectrum!
~
~1) Supporting the deportation does not imply equivalence with Khana
~   like opinions. When he ran to the Knesset, he had 1 out of 120
~   seats.

How is one supposed to tell the difference between, say, Makowsky, who
supports the deportation, and you, who support the deportation. You may
give different labels to your views, but the end result is the same for
the deportees. If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . .
 
~2) Most countries violate and have violated the Geneva convention
~   in a much more flagrant manner when their existance and the
~   security of their citizens is at stake. NO-ONE (tm) protested
~   when Britain methodicly killed as many German civilians as it
~   could during WW2, even when it served no purpose whatsoever.

You are obviously ignorant of the debate which has raged concerning, for
example, the bombing of Dresden. Let me repeat, for the zillionth time in
the hope that it will finally sink in: I freely acknowledge that British
behaviour has been outrageous; I refuse to be cast in the role of apologist
for that behaviour; poor behaviour on the part of other states is no excuse
for poor behaviour by Israel
 
~#I also note that, in the matter of the shooting of the 10-year old girl by
~#Israeli soldiers, a great many people on this forum have leapt to justify
~#the soldier's action, and NO-ONE has expressed regret at the child'd death.
~
~Not only is this a complete lie,

I will happily acknowledge that this is a ``complete lie'' when you show
me evidence of the regret shown by posters at the death of the little girl.

~ but I think that, in general, it
~is the Israeli bashing side that shows more disregard for human
~life, by justifying murder of Israelis as a "natural" phenomena,
~even if they are just civilians that happen to be living, or passing,
~through the territories.
~
~#You claim that Makowsky represents a minority, but in fact he appears to
~#represent a substantial majority of Israelis and their apologists who wish
~#to impose a cruel despotism on the land they occupy using any methods at their
~#disposal, no matter how despicable.
~
~That is your intrpretation, but many of them see it differently; they
~want to raise their chances of survival in a very hostile environment.
~Of course, they could be wrong, but their motives are different than
~those you speculate.

Their motives may be different, but the end result is that they support the
hard-line policy that has prevailed without interuption in Israel, and shows
no sign of ending with the election of ``Break their bones'' Rabin. This
policy has brough the peace process to a halt, and has given new heart to
the people on both sides who see armed struggle as the only way forward. The
only thing that has been satisfied is the Israeli thirst for vengeance.




-- 
===Jeremy Henderson===jeremy@castle.ed.ac.uk=          

This message cost the net hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Bloody good value if you ask me.