Actually, democracies only work when there is diversity to marginalize the extreme. Free elections do not mean much if the country is homogenous and think in the same terms. In states such as Israel, to rely on the democratic process as a check against oppression does not work because of the Jewish paranoia that the Palestinians are somehow a threat to their very existence. Despite the token Arab, Israel is not a diverse state, as the United States, for example, where there are competing voices. 9 of 10 Israelis (and American Jews for that matter) will tell you that Israel's use of excessive force is justified because the Palestinians somehow threaten the very existence of Israel.
And since an extremist like Sharon is able to gain the popular mandate, then by your own logic, tenuous as it is, you should be suspicious of Israeli motives in the "peace" process.
And as for the rock throwing, actually, I think all Palestinians are throwing rock; it just seems as if the Israeli Army is found of shooting the easy targets like the women and children. And arguendo (for the sake of argument - in case you have to look it up), even if only children were out there throwing rocks, I suppose it's still okay to roll tanks and infantry against them. Yep, that's an act of bravery if I have ever seen one.
While you may or may not be Jewish, you seem to have been brainwashed by the media, who for obvious reasons are pro-Israeli (i.e. Jews in the media), into thinking that the Israeli position is the correct one. It is a shame that people these days can't seem to reason for themselves and will believe whatever the New York Times (there's an unbiased source) tells them. |
