Israel's strategy of "de-escalation through escalation" in Gaza and Lebanon will only bring about more death, insecurity and radicalism at the expense of civilian lives and Palestinian freedom.
world peace by having a strong military and strong military alliances is the same thing as de-escalation by escalation. How I wish people would love peace more than war. War is madness and barbaric...will we ever live in a world without it? Well not in my lifetime. It's hard not to be apathetic.
How does Biden get it so right about Putin and helping Ukraine and the threat to Europe... but gets it so WRONG about Bibi, Gaza, the ongoing genocide and now the predictable push into the West Bank and the attack on Lebanon? ☹️
You do have me smiling with the Kubrick references. 😎🙂 I always toggle b/w 2001 and Strangelove being my all-time favourites. I'm also thinking about how much I miss "Hitch" - Christopher Hitchens.
Thank you. I believe Biden and the peopel close to him in his nat sec circle - such as Blinken, McGurk, Sullivan and Kirby - have an ideological blind spot. I think they cant evolve on this issue. They just don't see Palestinians as fully human.
Sadly I must agree. I do think despite what many Israelis believe, that staying out of the territories would bring the temperature down dramatically, perhaps to a level that could be maintained. I do not know how peace can be ensured when Israel is located where it is. Certainly pushing for the River to the Sea will just cause outrage and hatred everywhere.
I do not know how great the hostility was from Gaza as a whole before October 7. Of course every resident now has a fresh, stark reason to hate Israel. The Hamas attack was grotesque, unthinkable. Was that just Hamas? Others know better than I. I cannot view Netanyahu’s actions with regard to the hostages, the West Bank or Lebanon as being justifiable. We know he was effectively sponsoring Hamas financially to prevent a two-state solution. Why should I now think he is not vile in his decision making. And he, like Trump, must face probable jail time.
What are less radical Israeli foreign affairs people suggesting is the best way to handle the current situation? Soon it will be far too late, if it isn’t already to pursue a different path.
Tragically Gaza was suffering from a humanitarian crisis and considered a catastrophe by nearly every single human rights organization EVEN BEFORE the war.
So what reasonable courses are left open? Gaza has had its infrastructure wiped out. Lebanon and a wider war can still be dealt with. How stupid of Netanyahu to turn every resident of Gaza into a would-be terrorist. And I still wonder what he did and didn’t know about the Oct. 7 attack. That knowledge might dislodge him from his position of power.
Obviously, Netanyahu wants perpetual war against Palestinians so he can stay in power to avoid any judicial accountability. The larger picture is he, and his extreme cabinet members, want all of Gaza and the West Bank as Israel territory. They want all Palestinians banished to some other country, or dead. Preferably dead, apparently. The IDF targets hospitals and schools because they do not want the children growing up - they may become Hamas. Israel already believes all Palestinians are Hamas. Netanyahu does not care if all the hostages are released; he would still continue the destruction and deaths. Israel is not convincing surrounding Arab nations that Israel should be left alone in peace. If Netanyahu has his way, Iran would be nuked into oblivion. He rivals Assad in Syria.
Israel wants more water. They already control the water from the Golan Heights (which is occupied Syrian land) and "northern Israel" is occupied Lebanese land. Netanyahu has manipulated the Knesset so that 80% of their budget for arms acquisitions (which is way more than the US gives) by law cannot be bought from Israeli firms and Netanyahu makes sure it is bought from American arms dealers. Thereby ensuring Netanyahu's support in the Congress as they rely on arms manufacturers' donations for re-election. Israel is paying ever-increasing interest on revolving loans they cannot repay, as a result of Netanyahu's bribery of their banks to pay back the loans on these arms. To add insult to injury, he refuses to listen to the IDF and buys arms that they can't even use. The banks still respond to the bribe of ever-increasing interest rates on loans the Israeli government already cannot pay back--bribery by Netanyahu. This is partly why he's facing criminal charges. Their economy is in free-fall. Inevitably, as with anyone with a spending addiction knows, the chickens come home to roost. None of this is sustainable. Netanyahu is completely bonkers. And he will probably get the US taxpayer to pay these ballooning debts. (Or die trying.)
Shut off the water to Israel and they'll all run to their home countries. Better yet, turn off their electricity and they'll SWIM to Cyprus.
Why appear with those two women? I think the one with the permed hair is an "Iranian" poseur who is purportedly the "Lawyer" daughter of an Imam from Qom, Iran. Bullshit. She is a shill for the Zionist project. If you're going to debate Zionists with Piers, who won't even let you answer his questions, demand some intellectual equals on the other side.
world peace by having a strong military and strong military alliances is the same thing as de-escalation by escalation. How I wish people would love peace more than war. War is madness and barbaric...will we ever live in a world without it? Well not in my lifetime. It's hard not to be apathetic.
If only indeed, Waj.
How does Biden get it so right about Putin and helping Ukraine and the threat to Europe... but gets it so WRONG about Bibi, Gaza, the ongoing genocide and now the predictable push into the West Bank and the attack on Lebanon? ☹️
You do have me smiling with the Kubrick references. 😎🙂 I always toggle b/w 2001 and Strangelove being my all-time favourites. I'm also thinking about how much I miss "Hitch" - Christopher Hitchens.
Keep writing Waj. Appreciate you. ✊🏼👏🏼💪🏼🙂
Thank you. I believe Biden and the peopel close to him in his nat sec circle - such as Blinken, McGurk, Sullivan and Kirby - have an ideological blind spot. I think they cant evolve on this issue. They just don't see Palestinians as fully human.
Sadly I must agree. I do think despite what many Israelis believe, that staying out of the territories would bring the temperature down dramatically, perhaps to a level that could be maintained. I do not know how peace can be ensured when Israel is located where it is. Certainly pushing for the River to the Sea will just cause outrage and hatred everywhere.
I do not know how great the hostility was from Gaza as a whole before October 7. Of course every resident now has a fresh, stark reason to hate Israel. The Hamas attack was grotesque, unthinkable. Was that just Hamas? Others know better than I. I cannot view Netanyahu’s actions with regard to the hostages, the West Bank or Lebanon as being justifiable. We know he was effectively sponsoring Hamas financially to prevent a two-state solution. Why should I now think he is not vile in his decision making. And he, like Trump, must face probable jail time.
What are less radical Israeli foreign affairs people suggesting is the best way to handle the current situation? Soon it will be far too late, if it isn’t already to pursue a different path.
Tragically Gaza was suffering from a humanitarian crisis and considered a catastrophe by nearly every single human rights organization EVEN BEFORE the war.
So what reasonable courses are left open? Gaza has had its infrastructure wiped out. Lebanon and a wider war can still be dealt with. How stupid of Netanyahu to turn every resident of Gaza into a would-be terrorist. And I still wonder what he did and didn’t know about the Oct. 7 attack. That knowledge might dislodge him from his position of power.
Obviously, Netanyahu wants perpetual war against Palestinians so he can stay in power to avoid any judicial accountability. The larger picture is he, and his extreme cabinet members, want all of Gaza and the West Bank as Israel territory. They want all Palestinians banished to some other country, or dead. Preferably dead, apparently. The IDF targets hospitals and schools because they do not want the children growing up - they may become Hamas. Israel already believes all Palestinians are Hamas. Netanyahu does not care if all the hostages are released; he would still continue the destruction and deaths. Israel is not convincing surrounding Arab nations that Israel should be left alone in peace. If Netanyahu has his way, Iran would be nuked into oblivion. He rivals Assad in Syria.
There was nothing civil about that panel discussion.
Israel wants more water. They already control the water from the Golan Heights (which is occupied Syrian land) and "northern Israel" is occupied Lebanese land. Netanyahu has manipulated the Knesset so that 80% of their budget for arms acquisitions (which is way more than the US gives) by law cannot be bought from Israeli firms and Netanyahu makes sure it is bought from American arms dealers. Thereby ensuring Netanyahu's support in the Congress as they rely on arms manufacturers' donations for re-election. Israel is paying ever-increasing interest on revolving loans they cannot repay, as a result of Netanyahu's bribery of their banks to pay back the loans on these arms. To add insult to injury, he refuses to listen to the IDF and buys arms that they can't even use. The banks still respond to the bribe of ever-increasing interest rates on loans the Israeli government already cannot pay back--bribery by Netanyahu. This is partly why he's facing criminal charges. Their economy is in free-fall. Inevitably, as with anyone with a spending addiction knows, the chickens come home to roost. None of this is sustainable. Netanyahu is completely bonkers. And he will probably get the US taxpayer to pay these ballooning debts. (Or die trying.)
Shut off the water to Israel and they'll all run to their home countries. Better yet, turn off their electricity and they'll SWIM to Cyprus.
Why appear with those two women? I think the one with the permed hair is an "Iranian" poseur who is purportedly the "Lawyer" daughter of an Imam from Qom, Iran. Bullshit. She is a shill for the Zionist project. If you're going to debate Zionists with Piers, who won't even let you answer his questions, demand some intellectual equals on the other side.