Bibi's Back!
The St. Patrick's Day gift to the world this year was the re-election of Bibi Netanyahu as Prime Minister of Israel. What better reason to drink yourself stupid than the prospect of another Bibi term. He's a darling of the Crazy Right in the US, so no explanation of his positions is required. Like that pathetic lot, he is racist, warmongering and elitist. Set your war clock forward an hour and your peace clock - just throw that thing away.
The election results are far from surprising, however. The Israeli people do not elect their government. The Islamic world calls the shots. In a world where there is raging conflict in Syria, conflict and a failed state in Iraq, a Saudi Arabia that funds all kinds of extremism while staying out of conflict, and Iran just being Iran, the right wing will run Israel.
Israel is a tiny country in a constant state of war. In their 67 years they've been forced to repeatedly fight for their lives. Not just for their right to exist as a country or their form of government as most countries do. Israel's enemies have continuously and explicitly stated that they will commit genocide and wipe out the Jewish citizens of the Jewish state.
They've done remarkably well against long odds. For much of their existence no country - not even the US - would sell them arms. They fought for their existence with smuggled bullets. When the US did start arming them, the Soviet Union doubled down on arming their enemies. Egyptian and Syrian forces were repeatedly rebuilt and re-equipped after being defeated, shortening the cycle to the next conflict and adding to the Arab chances of victory.
A form of peace has come as the Soviet Union collapsed and the Arab world came to realize that war was too expensive to pay for by themselves. First Jordan, then Egypt signed peace agreements. Syria, in no shape to cause trouble with the loss of their sponsor, has maintained a quiescence if not a formal cessation of hostilities.
At the bottom of the lull, Israelis tried to get an agreement with the Palestinian population. The Oslo accords nearly got there, but the odious and unmourned Yasser Arafat was a terrorist at heart and spurned the best deal his people will ever be offered in favor of more blood and more treasure for his personal coffers.
When the violence returned, the right wing Likud party came with it. The peaceniks were discredited. Really, you can't sign a unilateral peace agreement. The other side has to agree to stop as well.
So Israel went from peace with Yitzak Rabin and Shimon Peres to war with the likes of Ariel Sharon and Bibi. If it's to be a fight, elect a fighter.
Look: Israel has defeated it's external enemies for the time being and has to figure out what to do with a Palestinian population that continues to hate and attack them. Palestinians are raised to believe in a 'right to return' that will never exist and never take place. They are raised to be terrorists - literally. Summer camps for children are named for suicide bombers.
The existence of Israel and her people are always at risk. They are surrounded by a billion Arabs who would rejoice at their death. We can't sit secure in Washington and Ottawa and understand their existence - nobody is firing rockets at us and no mass of people has sworn our genocide.
If we want another Rabin to make another attempt at peace, we have to work toward setting the conditions for that peace. That means America has to clean up the mess we made in Iraq. The failed state that we created has to be overhauled. ISIS - a product of that failure - has to be crushed. ISIS is our fault. Syria has to find a peaceful resolution to their civil war. And Iran has to be dealt with.
It's a tall order, but the first step is to recognize that we will never have a planet at peace until we find a peaceful way to deal with conflict in the Islamic world.
The election results are far from surprising, however. The Israeli people do not elect their government. The Islamic world calls the shots. In a world where there is raging conflict in Syria, conflict and a failed state in Iraq, a Saudi Arabia that funds all kinds of extremism while staying out of conflict, and Iran just being Iran, the right wing will run Israel.
Israel is a tiny country in a constant state of war. In their 67 years they've been forced to repeatedly fight for their lives. Not just for their right to exist as a country or their form of government as most countries do. Israel's enemies have continuously and explicitly stated that they will commit genocide and wipe out the Jewish citizens of the Jewish state.
They've done remarkably well against long odds. For much of their existence no country - not even the US - would sell them arms. They fought for their existence with smuggled bullets. When the US did start arming them, the Soviet Union doubled down on arming their enemies. Egyptian and Syrian forces were repeatedly rebuilt and re-equipped after being defeated, shortening the cycle to the next conflict and adding to the Arab chances of victory.
A form of peace has come as the Soviet Union collapsed and the Arab world came to realize that war was too expensive to pay for by themselves. First Jordan, then Egypt signed peace agreements. Syria, in no shape to cause trouble with the loss of their sponsor, has maintained a quiescence if not a formal cessation of hostilities.
At the bottom of the lull, Israelis tried to get an agreement with the Palestinian population. The Oslo accords nearly got there, but the odious and unmourned Yasser Arafat was a terrorist at heart and spurned the best deal his people will ever be offered in favor of more blood and more treasure for his personal coffers.
When the violence returned, the right wing Likud party came with it. The peaceniks were discredited. Really, you can't sign a unilateral peace agreement. The other side has to agree to stop as well.
So Israel went from peace with Yitzak Rabin and Shimon Peres to war with the likes of Ariel Sharon and Bibi. If it's to be a fight, elect a fighter.
Look: Israel has defeated it's external enemies for the time being and has to figure out what to do with a Palestinian population that continues to hate and attack them. Palestinians are raised to believe in a 'right to return' that will never exist and never take place. They are raised to be terrorists - literally. Summer camps for children are named for suicide bombers.
The existence of Israel and her people are always at risk. They are surrounded by a billion Arabs who would rejoice at their death. We can't sit secure in Washington and Ottawa and understand their existence - nobody is firing rockets at us and no mass of people has sworn our genocide.
If we want another Rabin to make another attempt at peace, we have to work toward setting the conditions for that peace. That means America has to clean up the mess we made in Iraq. The failed state that we created has to be overhauled. ISIS - a product of that failure - has to be crushed. ISIS is our fault. Syria has to find a peaceful resolution to their civil war. And Iran has to be dealt with.
It's a tall order, but the first step is to recognize that we will never have a planet at peace until we find a peaceful way to deal with conflict in the Islamic world.
posted by fiduciary at 9:30 AM
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