CB - well, that's your choice.
If you think that it is better for Israel not to be held to the higher Western standards, standards WE WOULD FEEL DISHONORED IN NOT FOLLOWING OURSELVES, then fine, you can hold them to the Arab standards or one of Nadine's Bibi-The-Great multiple-choice, mix-and-match menu standards replete with secret codes. If you think it is too much to ask of Israel, in having a desire to be part of Western culture, to follow the admittedly and PROUDLY higher standard, then just say so. If you don't think Israel should follow the higher standard YOU yourself would follow, fine.
It is not for me to say - let the Israeli's decide. You don't see me holding Arabs up to some "rarified" Western standard - I let them tell ME what their standards are. Same with the Israelis - I let them tell ME what standards do they prefer to be judge on, and I'll accept that. I know what standards I hold up MY country to, and MY culture. But as I've said repeatedly - I don't feel we have the right to impose our culture on others - so with Arabs, so with Israelis. I welcome the people with open arms, but I don't force myself in.
As to:
Everybody "understands" the Palestinian side, but few "understand" the Israeli side.
I direct you to the latter part of the post you are responding to:
Message 18148511
"But here is the second problem and this is at the root of this. Simple - an oppressed people, victims, in general are given more lattitude than the oppressors. Now, regardless of how you feel about it, that is exactly how most of the world sees it: Israelis as oppressors, Palestinians as victims. Nobody recognizes the settlements. Nobody. The occupation is not seen as a noble Israeli burden by anyone in the world. The internationally recognized borders are the pre-67 ones. There's your problem. Now, a victim is seen as justifiably enraged, and people tend to forgive excess there. But they'll come down like a ton of bricks on any excess by the victimizer. Which really is the explanation of the phenomenon you are seeing. |
