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The Golda Wars
Those who are to blame for everything have been found: the "Goldstoners." Not the occupation, the settlements, Israeli aggressiveness or brutality; just Goldstone. According to Ari Shavit (Haaretz, October 8), the spirit of Judge Richard Goldstone will bring the next war upon us, and it will be called the Goldstone War.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week reiterated that sentiment in amazingly similar terms this week in his speech to the Knesset. Not since Golda Meir said she would never forgive the Arabs for making us kill their children have such self-righteous, infuriating and damaging statements been made.
It is fairly certain that the next war will break out at a time and place of Israel's choosing. That is the way it has been in all the wars since 1973. We have embarked on three unnecessary wars on Israel's initiative because of the "Golda spirit" of Shavit and those like him, who see war as a legitimate and even desirable weapon.
The next war will also be a "Golda war," like that accursed war in 1973, which could also have been avoided if not for the spirit of Golda. Shavit and the other Goldas, busy with self-deception and moral blindness, who incite, repress and lie, who reject every possibility of a just solution - they are the ones who will bring it, just like its predecessors.
The Goldas are doing everything possible to avoid a peace agreement. They whine and self-victimize.
"Israel is incessantly subjected to terror attacks," Shavit laments. Terror halted almost completely long ago, but that does not end the claim that it is continuing "incessantly."
David fired Qassams at Goliath, Goliath responded fiercely. You can also call a match between Mike Tyson and a 5-year-old boxing, but the proportions, oh the proportions.
They also ignore the siege on Gaza, the Goldas, as if that were not the main motive for the Qassams. And they are self-righteous.
"To prevent the region's deterioration into complete chaos, Israel must exercise force once every few years," Shavit writes, willfully concealing the fact that these wars are no more than maintenance wars of the occupation, wars for real estate. Yes, to maintain it one must go to war every few years.
Operation Cast Lead did not weaken Hamas, as Shavit states deceptively, it strengthened it. The temporary stability attained in its wake could have been achieved by a cease-fire agreement, without the terrible bloodshed.
But the hearts of the Goldas are hard when it comes to agreements. They want blood, fire and billowing smoke, preferably from white phosphorus bombs.
And who is it that is damaging the imaginary achievements of Cast Lead? The Goldstoners, of course. He is only an internationally esteemed judge, a courageous liberal and a fighter for human rights, a man of conscience who dared do here what he did in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.
There, they cheered him, while here, they accuse him of causing the next war. Slobodan Milosevic could not have said it better than Shavit. The president of Serbia also did not recognize the authority of the The Hague tribunal. He also had security and patriotic justifications, and he also blamed the Goldstoners for everything. But the Goldstoners are the real patriots, and the Goldstone spirit reflects Jewish history better than the Golda spirit.
The Goldstoners recognize the Jewish tragedy, and precisely because of it they believe Israel is committed to moral conduct. It is not Israel they want to isolate, denounce and undermine, but rather its path and its policy, which are leading it to the abyss.
Cast Lead is what is bringing down Israel's standing, not the reports written in its wake. Those are intended to prevent another Cast Lead, of the kind that the Goldas monstrously characterize as creating "an infrastructure of stability."
Nearly 1,400 were killed and tens of thousands were maimed and left homeless for an "infrastructure of stability," which is neither an infrastructure nor stable.
To the Goldas we say: Every shell that lands on a house in Gaza causes more damage than any report. Those who have isolated Isael are the government, the Israel Defense Forces and their demagogic cheerleaders.
Yes, we Goldstoners want a different Israel. One where war is its last option, one that puts an end to the occupation, that wants to be a source of pride to its citizens and not of terrible shame. If only there were more Goldstoners here and less Goldas, it could be possible.
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17 Comments so far
Show AllAbsolutely right, Gideon Levy. Astute, passionate, concise. Painfully obvious, however, is the reality that the United States and Israel are a package deal when it comes to occupation, brutality, torture, land grabs, war crimes, fanatic racism, suppressing critics, and the cutting edge subversion of the truth, and the spinning of lies, deception and false flag operations. It seems clear that the most dangerous people in the world are the leaders of the U.S. and Israel, if they can be separated. The more important question is when will the decent people of the world rise up and destroy this corrupt, decaying power structure? Between the U.S. and Israel, there are nuclear warheads in the thousands. I can see no way for the world to move forward, in the true humanistic, evolutionary sense, so long as the U.S. and Israel exist in their current power configurations. And, the Banks behind them must go, too. They must go. How, is becoming less important than, how soon. We know these lying madmen will not go easily. They have bombs and a brainwashed military lined up with guns, grenades and poisoned minds standing in zombied attention beside them.
Sometimes I do the simple, amoral math. On one side we have hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, most of them who actually produce something useful to mankind. On the other side, the few thousand Zionist criminals and U.S. politicians who produce hate, lies, suffering and death. One group must die. Not my choice, but I have to choose. I've always sided with the underdogs, the people who produce things useful to society, who are always undervalued, abused, enslaved, mistreated. I've just never resonated with the bully's false and insecure arrogance. That's what the governments of the U.S. and Israel represent to me. Adolescent, egotistical arrogance. We are right, fuck you all. And we got guns. That is so Israeli, so American. The governments of Israel and the United States pose the greatest threat to the peace, prosperity, and moral integrity of the world. All reasonable people worldwide, for the sake of future generations, our fellow inhabitants on the earth, and the hope for a just human future, must work together the bring these twin cancers to a fitting, rapid end.
Wayout: Great post on the conjoined twins (US-Israel)!
Well stated, Wayout!
· Yr Obd't Servant
Considering that there was nary a peep of protest from the establishment in the US during the assault on Gaza (and the Obama administration's subsequent criticism of the Goldstone report) it is not any longer hyperbole to say that there is no difference between US and Israeli policy. An attack on one is an attack on the other; and attack by one is an attack by the other.
A tribute to the power of the malign AIPAC.
I applaud any Jew who opposses the zionist monstrosity.
Obama is the Spirit of Irguns puppet through Rahm Emmanuel
//They want blood, fire and billowing smoke, preferably from white phosphorus bombs.//
This reminds me of the name, Gehenna. From Wikipedia:
//
"Gehenna" is the Christian rendering of "Ge Hinnom," literally "Valley of Hinnom," known in the Old Testament as Gai Ben-Hinnom, literally the "Valley of the son of Hinnom", and in the Talmud as Gehinnam (גהנם) or Gehinnom. In the Qur'an, gehenna (Gehennem, Jahannam) is a place of torment for sinners or the Islamic equivalent of hell.
In the Hebrew Bible, Gai Ben-Hinnom does not refer to hell but rather to a real valley in Jerusalem [...]. Garbage from the walled city was burned there.
[...]
The southwestern gate of Jerusalem, overlooking the valley, came to be known as "The Gate of the Valley" (Hebrew: שער הגיא). The Book of Jeremiah speaks of residents worshipping Moloch and committing abominations, foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem. It is not described as a spiritual hell but as a literal valley in Jerusalem [...].
In ancient times, it is believed that children were sacrificed to the pagan god Molech in Gehenna, a practice that was outlawed by King Josiah [...]. Biblical commentator Rashi explains that priests would bang on drums (Hebrew: tof, tupim) so fathers would not hear the groans of children being sacrificed. Hence the name Topheth. Fires were kept burning and the valley became the garbage dump of the city. The dead bodies of criminals, and the carcasses of animals were also thrown there.
//
I hope you don't mind this long, copy/pasted stuff.
===
While Christian scripture refers to the same Gehanna as in the Old Testament, plenty of Christians also use the term with the meaning as the Muslims. It can be figuratively treated or used that way, while for Christians educated on the literal meaning know it's the garbage dump.
Why Does Middle East feel the need for blood sacrifice?
Is it evoked by the cultural-social-psychological drama of self victimization?
toophat for you!
Are you saying muslims or zionists are victimizing themselves?
That question should, instead, be asked of the U.S. and Britain, f.e. Right now, and for a long time already, it's been the U.S., Britain, Israel, backed by other European countries, that have sought "blood sacrifice"; not the Arabs and Persians.
Toophat. I agree.
And. Israel is the golden calf. After the Holocaust.
Everyone knows better. Deep down. It is self destructive. Obviously. Insanity.
Indeed. A very primitive belief system (and not the only one's of course). That believe in victim/victimizer roles as the only option in human discourse and drama.
Time for a 'thematic' change in the human psyche. We created the 'human condition' as we know it. Time for something more sustainable. Isn't it?
Not to worry. This is a short term problem. Even now, our country is crumbling under the weight of late stage capitalism. Once the petro-dollar system is moved to the petro-euro system, the American house of cards will collapse. Israel has survived, and been able to engage in relentless warmongering because US muscle was standing behind it. The US will likely go bankrupt in the next 15 years, or at a minimum have to retrench and abandon its warmongering. After that, Israel will find itself in the position of having to go it alone. Maybe they can go an extra 10 years or so without us . . . maybe not. Hopefully, their many admiring neighbors will treat them with the same level of human decency and kindness that they have showered on the Palestinians. In fact, I'm sure they will.
Golda was one twisted sister! When asked about the '73 war she replied, "I will never forgive the Arabs for forcing us to kill them". Joel Kovel (author of the book "Overcoming Zionism") tells the story at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7781027522490937279#
The exact quote occurs between 8 and 10 minutes of the video.
The entire 2 part video is well worth watching.
Poet
I am amazed that Haaretz printed this article because it is so clear and obvious as to the comparative sins of the Israelis v. Gazans in Operation Cast Lead. Mike Tyson v. a 5 year old kid is a very apt analogy.
When will the majority of Israelis show an iota of common sense?
RE: "the comparative sins of the Israelis v. Gazans in Operation Cast Lead"
A RELATED FACEBOOK GROUP - "Richard J. Goldstone: Integrity Personified"
> Name - Richard J. Goldstone: Integrity Personified
> Category - Common Interest, Beliefs & Causes
> Description - A group for individuals who admire and respect Justice Goldstone. (In 2009 Justice Goldstone led an independent fact-finding mission created by the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations related to the Gaza War.)
> LINK - http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=152832719154