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Politics : Middle East Politics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (4266)	9/10/2003 12:55:11 PM
From: Thomas M.	Respond to of 6945

Self-haters? -g- The present rabbi, although formally continuing the teachings of his uncle, has the most amicable relations with the Israeli government." Might as well hop on board the gravy train. -g- Tom

To: Elmer Flugum who wrote (4266)	9/10/2003 1:03:58 PM
From: Thomas M.	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 6945

Dean tosses us a bone, but with an AIPAC official managing his campaign financing, who knows how far this goes? billmon.org For what it's worth (which probably isn't much) Howard Dean now has Whiskey Bar's endorsement for the Democratic presidential nomination. Why? Because the good doctor has dared to utter the unmentionable truth: That the United States simply cannot afford to continue its current policy of absolute, unqualified support of the state of Israel. And boy, is he taking heat for it: Rivals Criticize Dean For Mideast Comment Howard Dean came under fire yesterday from two rivals for the Democratic nomination for saying the United States should not "take sides" in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Five days after Dean told supporters in New Mexico that "it's not our place to take sides" in the conflict, Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (Conn.) accused him of advocating a "major break" from the United States' long-standing policy of explicitly siding with Israel in the Middle East. Sen. John F. Kerry (Mass.) said: "It is either because he lacks the foreign policy experience or simply because he is wrong that governor Dean has proposed a radical shift in United States policy towards the Middle East. If the president were to make a remark such as this it would throw an already volatile region into even more turmoil." Dean's response? So far, at least, he's standing his ground: In an interview, Dean sought to clarify his statement but did not back down from his belief that the United State cannot negotiate peace unless it is seen as a neutral party in the region. "Israel has always been a longtime ally with a special relationship with the United States, but if we are going to bargain by being in the middle of the negotiations then we are going to have to take an evenhanded role," he said. This is exactly right, although in my opinion it still doesn't go far enough towards reforming the incestuous relationship between Israel, the U.S. government (particularly Congress), and the pro-Israel lobby, a camp that increasingly includes the most reactionary elements within the Republican Party. But it's a reasonable position -- particularly given the current climate of hysterical hatred and despair on both sides of the Israeli-Arab divide. Just as the United States can never condone the butchering of innocent civilians by suicide bombers, it cannot and should not condone the stupid and yes, evil, policies of the Sharon government. For the United States government to watch (and indirectly subsidize) the conversion of the West Bank and Gaza into the world's largest minimum-security prison camps (complete with walls and barbed wire) is disgraceful, and mocks every word America utters when it claims to represent the side of civilization in the war against terrorism. But it goes deeper than that. Virtually every Israeli (and American) government since 1967 -- if not 1948 -- is culpable for the enormous tragedy that now threatens not only the Palestinians, but the Jewish state as well. By encouraging and subsidizing the settler movement, by using tax and trade policies to turn the West Bank and Gaza into economic colonies, by systematically expropriating the land and water resources of the occupied territories, and not least by encouraging -- or at least turning a blind eye -- to the initial rise of Hamas, Israel has virtually destroyed the prospects for a credible two-state solution.