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AVIVIM, Israel – As Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to a crowd of cheering Hezbollah supporters Thursday in a Lebanese village near Israel, a group of reporters gathered on this side of the border were calm, but alert.
From our long camera lens, we could see the Hezbollah forces looking straight at us with their binoculars. It was a peaceful scene, but the air felt like it could explode at any moment.
The press corps had gathered at the hillside village of Avivim, bordering the Lebanese town of Maroun Er Ras, Thursday to see how Ahmadinejad’s visit – which the U.S. and Israel called intentionally provocative – would play out.
Ahmadinejad was speaking at a stadium in Bint Jbei, Lebanon, just a couple of miles from the Israeli border. The location of the speech was significant because the village was among the hardest-hit areas during the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, and oil-rich Iran invested heavily to help rebuild it.
The stadium, which we could not see from the border, was packed with thousands of cheering Hezbollah supporters waving Lebanese, Iranian and Hezbollah flags, according to the Associated Press.
ANWAR AMRO/AFP/Getty Images
Lebanese supporters of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wave Lebanese and Iranian flags during a mass rally he attended Thursday in the southern Lebanese village of Qana.
Residents of southern Lebanon have reason to cheer Ahmadinejad – Iran has contributed an estimated $1 billion in aid to southern Lebanon since the 2006 Israeli-Hezbollah war, according to officials close to Hezbollah.
From our perch, we could see a large physical example of Iran’s financial contribution to southern Lebanon. A copy of one of Islam’s holiest sites – the al-Aqsa mosque, considered to be Islam’s third holiest site that sits on the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem and is often a flashpoint of violent conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians – had been built, with Iranian funding, on the Lebanese border with Israel.
We could see the golden dome shining across the valley split by a barbed wire fence and a U.N. observation post.
Amid the media throng, some Israelis holding blue and white balloons symbolizing the Israeli flag had gathered. Ayoub Kara, a member of the Israeli Knesset, held a makeshift press conference and said, "We’re not afraid, we need peace.”
Then they released the balloons with the hope the wind would carry them across the border in a sign of peace. But the weather didn’t cooperate and an amused, but disappointed press corps only had pictures of the balloons flying back into Israel.
Two ultra-religious Jews held up posters on the border for Hezbollah fighters to see. The posters read “Ahmadinejad, we’re not an occupying force, we are occupied ourselves.”
Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon is seen by many here as an attempt to further Iran’s control over Lebanon and to signal to Israel that any attempt to hit Iran's nuclear plants would result in the unleashing of hundreds of missiles by the Iranian backed Hezbollah fighters who control southern Lebanon.
Israeli jets and choppers flew above the border around the time Ahmadinejad arrived at the stadium. A longtime local resident told me that military jets and chopper rarely fly overhead. He took it as an indication that the Israelis wanted the president to know they were up there watching him.
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Perhaps a report about keeping an eye on Netanyahu from Iran would give us a "fair and balanced" perspective.
It might, but I don't recall P.M. Netanyahu EVER saying Iran should be "wiped off the map." Can the "President" of Iran make that same claim about Israel?
"It might, but I don't recall P.M. Netanyahu EVER saying Iran should be "wiped off the map." Can the "President" of Iran make that same claim about Israel?"
Actually, yes. Apparently the 2005 Ahmanadinejad quote from an ealier Khomeini statement was mis-translated and actually called for regime change - not wiping Israel off the map. Look it up in Wikipedia.
"Mistranslated" sounds a lot like "misremembered" to me. Pretty weak (and convenient) excuse, and I have heard and read from other sources (no I don't recall which now) that it was NOT mistranslated.
are you kidding Tampon? he has made that threat multiple times publicly in numerous speeches. do you realize wikipedia can be edited by any common idiot who has the internet?
BULL$H*t on Ahmadirtyjacket not calling for "wiping Israel off the map". This wasn't a one time statement,he has made it at least a half-dozen times. He has repeatedly denied the Holocaust,denies the existence of homosexuals and has added blaming 9/11 on the U.S. and Israel to his stand up routines.
Any support from Ahmamembersonlyjacket and his Mullah handlers towards Hezbollah should be closely monitored since it will undoubtedly lead to further attacks on Israel.
Tompom, obviously you don't have college experience, Wikipedia is not a viable source for research, to get a general idea on a topic maybe, but it's not a trusted source because it lacks academic review.
I don't see any end to these Middle East tensions any time soon, it the same thing over and over again.
So 250 lawyers and politicians that oppose Hezbollah sent him this letter? Doesn't the anti-Israel crowd keep repeating that Amadinejad never said that we would wipe Israel off the map?
How do the millions of Iranians, his own citizens, who are getting screwed by him every day, both politically and economically, feel about his malevolent and expensive adventure into Lebanon?
As to southern Lebanon, these people are once again being used as pawns, but I don't feel sorry for them. The next time, Israel will not use the same restraint in attempting to protect Lebanese civilians behind whom the Hezzies attack. It can no longer afford to do so.
I am not a fan of Ahmadinejad or a speaker of Farsee. But let's have the citations for the other quotes (the quote cited was actually a repeat of a quote from Khomeini). Wikipedia is not an unimpeachabe source but does get critical review - unlike many of the claims on these blogs. Here is a portion of what Wikipedia says about the statement: If you guys want to support your group think war mongering - let's have your sources of other statements that he says Iran will destroy Israel (don't bother repeating the stuff about hollaucost denial etc - irrelevant to the question.
"
Many news sources repeated the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting statement by Ahmadinejad that "Israel must be wiped off the map",[5][6] an English idiom which means to "cause a place to stop existing",[7] or to "obliterate totally",[8] or "destroy completely".[9] News sources currently continue to repeat this claim.[10]
Ahmadinejad's phrase was " بايد از صفحه روزگار محو شود " according to the text published on the President's Office's website, and was a quote of Ayatollah Khomeini.[11]
The translation presented by the official Iranian Government press Islamic Republic News Agency translated the statement as "wiped off the map" this was challenged by Arash Norouzi, who says the statement "wiped off the map" was never made and that Ahmadinejad did not refer to the nation or land mass of Israel, but to the "regime occupying Jerusalem". Norouzi translated the original Persian to English, word for word, with the result, "the Imam said this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time."[12] Juan Cole, a University of Michigan Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History, agrees that Ahmadinejad's statement should be translated as, "the Imam said that this regime occupying Jerusalem (een rezhim-e eshghalgar-e qods) must [vanish from] the page of time (bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad).[13]
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translates the phrase similarly, as "be eliminated from the pages of history."[14]
According to Cole, "Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to 'wipe Israel off the map' because no such idiom exists in Persian". Instead, "He did say he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem, would collapse."[15]
On June 2, 2006 The Guardian columnist and foreign correspondent Jonathan Steele published an article based on this line of reasoning.[16]
Sources within the Iranian government have also denied that Ahmadinejad issued any sort of threat.[17][18][19][20] On 20 February 2006, Iran's foreign minister denied that Tehran wanted to see Israel "wiped off the map," saying Ahmadinejad had been misunderstood. "Nobody can remove a country from the map. This is a misunderstanding in Europe of what our president mentioned," Manouchehr Mottaki told a news conference, speaking in English, after addressing the European Parliament. "How is it possible to remove a country from the map? He is talking about the regime. We do not recognize legally this regime," he said.[21][22][23]
Shiraz Dossa, a professor of Political Science at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Canada who presented a paper at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust conference in Iran, believes the text is a mistranslation.[24]
In a June 11, 2006 analysis of the translation controversy, New York Times deputy foreign editor Ethan Bronner argued that Ahmadinejad had called for Israel to be wiped off the map. After noting the objections of critics such as Cole and Steele, Bronner stated:
Bronner continued: "..it is hard to argue that, from Israel's point of view, Mr. Ahmadinejad poses no threat. Still, it is true that he has never specifically threatened war against Israel. So did Iran's president call for Israel to be 'wiped off the map'? It certainly seems so. Did that amount to a call for war? That remains an open question."[15] This elicited a further response from Jonathan Steele, who noted that all agreed that "map" or any place noun had not been used and criticized this Wikipedia entry (as it was on June 14, 2006) for misrepresenting Ethan Bronner.[28]
[edit] Clarifying comments by Ahmadinejad
President Ahmadinejad has been asked to explain his comments at subsequent press conferences. At a later news conference on January 14, 2006, Ahmadinejad stated his speech had been exaggerated and misinterpreted.[29] "There is no new policy, they created a lot of hue and cry over that. It is clear what we say: Let the Palestinians participate in free elections and they will say what they want."
Speaking at a D-8 summit meeting in July 2008, when asked to comment on whether he has called for the destruction of Israel he denied that his country would ever instigate military action, there being "no need for any measures by the Iranian people". Instead he claimed that "the Zionist regime" in Israel would eventually collapse on its own. "I assure you... there won't be any war in the future," both the BBC and AP quoted him as saying.[30][31]
In a September 2008 interview with Juan Gonzalez and Amy Goodman on the radio and television program Democracy Now!, Ahmadinejad was asked: "If the Palestinian leaders agree to a two-state solution, could Iran live with an Israeli state?" and replied
Interviewer Juan Gonzalez called the reply "a tiny opening".[32] Another observer however dubbed it an "astonishing" admission "that Iran might agree to the existence of the state of Israel," and a "softening" of Ahmadinejad's "long-standing, point-blank anti-Israeli stance". Australian-born British human rights activist Peter Tatchell also asked whether the statement reflected opportunism on Ahmadinejad's part, or an openness by Iran "to options more moderate than his reported remarks about wiping the Israeli state off the map."[33]"
Why is it that a clear and true translation of these comments never make it to the main stream media? Guess it doesn't garner enough Neilson points, or sell enough advertising.
The majority of the major news agencies in the US are controlled/influenced by Israel and its supporters, which explains why we would receive a slanted interpretation of anything coming out of Iran.
Wow. Sounds just like Rick Sanchez of the great/late CNN. You probably have a valid point about who controls the media in the US though. All you have to do is read the credits and figure out who sits on the boards of directors.
Your name really belies the lack of integrity in that comment. Even if you only see the Bible as a historical document there's a lesson or two in there.
The nation that turns its' back on Israel will soon be destroyed. That's from the Bible, there are more interesting comments on Israel in the Quran if you care to follow up on that with your unbiased approach.
Our alliance with Saudi Arabia is solely a matter of money and oil. Look at the deplorable treatment of human beings in that country yet nobody really complains about that. Here we have a trustworthy ally in Israel that is only attempting to carve out their piece and develop their land and all the anti-semites come running in droves.
Do you have any idea how much intelligence our government gleans from the Israeli intelligence services? Do you support all of the billions in aid to a country like Pakistan? Oddly enough all I hear is anti-semitism and not a cry of outrage over all the other criminally one sided alliances we have in the middle east. Do some research before you post your one liner comments about abandoning Israel or strengthening ties with corrupt regimes in this part of the world.
99% of the comments here are unfounded in nature and are quite humorous if you don't include the fact that they are provacative and dangerous. The Quran instructs followers of Islam to wage jihad on the infidel, that is to say everyone that's not of the muslim faith. What you see in Israel and Palestine is the raw form and you blindly support it. What you folks seem to be blind to is the other forms of jihad that are being waged here on US soil. Do some intelligent research, don't take my word for it.
Every time the minority, and it is a very small minority, of muslims that live here in the US manages to get the majority to give in and allow concessions toward their way of life they have won a victory in their jihad. Every time you give in and allow concessions to this politico religion you are surrendering more and more to sharia law. Too bad the people that realize it are mostly inept at passing the information along and come off as far righty nutjobs or more people would take the time to figure out what is really going on. As it stands now, by the time the liberals and lazy acknowlege what is actually going on it may be too late.
We may end up fighting like Israel here on our own soil. So before you turn your backs on Israel try to realize what the long term consequences of muslim expansion are and what the end state of affairs will look like if they accomplish their goals. It's up to you to make a difference, I'll be long gone before it happens but I sure feel concern for the young people of this nation and the world if things keep moving along as they are now.
Just a side note. The palestinians did not have a country...ever...they were nomadic and lived between the borders of other Arab nations. Not until the world powers that won WWII placed the Jewish nation back on traditional Jewish lands did the Palestinians show up to try and claim that land.
Maybe 5 minutes reading legitimate history articles would do some of you a lot of good and keep you from posting such nonsense in the future.
another very weak article by the Media..15,000 crazed hezbollah supporters in Lebanon might bring down the whole house on Leabanon.. if hezbollah isn`t destroyed soon .the Christians and Sunnis know this.. but they have to pick up arms to finish off hezbollah completely.. not easy. but with the Lebanese Airforce and army.. not impossible.. .if not Israel.. will justifiably destroy hezbollah.. as an imminent threat to their country.. hopefully Jordan ,Egypt. Saudia Arabia and others wil join in.. as behind these demon hezbollah is Iran ..the by far greatest threat to the region..and most of the mideast agrees on this..Iran ham and hez have to be defeated and soon. and Nbc ..NEwsweek ..why do I have to go to other publications to get a more complete view. ? good question hey ??.-..
callitlikeitis,
thank you for an intelligent, well written post.
i can only hope that your words will have some meaning to the posters here, perhaps cause them to actually research for themselves, instead of listening to the rhetoric of their socialist educators...
time will tell.
again, thanks
callitlikeitis wrote:
Of course when others views do not favor Israel, sudenly they are labelled anti-Semites. You keep speaking about reading and educating ourselves before posting non-sense, yet you label those who side for the Palestinians, who themselves are Semites, as anti-Semite. If you had taken the time to educate yourself maybe you would not label people who favor Semites as anti-Semites.
For the record, I have both Jewish and Arab friends and none consider me to be an anti-Semite. I do not favor the Palestinians over the Israelis or vis-a-versa. I do have an issue with the zionist controlled government of Israel.
Israel as our "trustworthy ally"? Hardly! They have been caught spying on us numerous times and continue to steal our technology. They sell this information to Russia, China and who ever else will pay. They attacked the USS Liberty, killing American service men. They corrupt our politicians, subverting our political system, subjecting our citizens to hatred and attacks for our unwavering support of their criminal apartheid ways. They are far more a burden on us than a friend or ally.
As for the Muslims...I do not agree with their religion, but it is theirs and they do not need my approval. I agree that there are many terrorists that are Muslim and they are a problem, for any government. Having said that, Israel was founded by terrorists who killed both British and Arabs. They used murder and terror to accomplish their goal of establishing a nation on land that was already occupied by Arabs. That's not to say that every inch of the land, called Palestine, was occupied by Arabs, but where there were Arabs the zionist terrorists struck. While many fled the violence those that resisted were tortured or killed or "resettled" elsewhere. Even many that did not resist were attacked and eventually removed from their lands.
To say that because Israelites once occupied those lands thousands of years ago they now have a right to take it again is ridiculous and one sided.
Really? Try reading about the rich history of that area and its people. It was occupied by Arabs when the zionists came along. Even the zionist founders admit this much in their memoirs. Educate yourself, don't be blind to the facts or just rely on your hatred of anything not Jewish. How can you deny they were there when those who founded Israel and were on scene state that they were there? This proves that you do not speak the truth or that you are not well educated on matters for which you speak of.
I am not worried about America becoming a Muslum nation or being taken over by them, it will never happen.
Really? Why haven't the many Arab nations been destroyed yet? They have "turned their backs" on Israel from day one, even before Israel became a nation. Are you saying that because a book, written by Hebrews thousands of years ago, says we should support Israel, that we (the US) should or we will be destroyed? Non-sense! Though our corrupt politicians currently commit treason by putting Israel's interests above our own, this will change and when it does Israel will be left to fend for themselves.
Call my comments anti-Semitic, Israel bashing, Jew hating, etc., all you want. The fact is Israel was founded by terrorists and is currently run by terrorists and the US needs to stop sending billions of tax payer dollars to these, or any other, terrorists.
marvalden
Just like America could never be attacked? Dream on there marv. You say it will never happen? I guess you looked into your crystal ball?
Lucy1...why yes, I did look into my crystal ball. Well, that and I just have a gut feeling that there are enough patriotic Americans that would not let it happen. What retard said America could never be attacked? We are now and have been, sitting ducks for every terrorist out there that wants to walk across our porous borders. Not only can we be attacked, but we will again soon. Our undying support of Israel has put a big target on our back side.
If you believe we are destined to be taken over by Muslim extremists feel free to move to another country. We will miss you...
Lucy, I feel very sad for you and all those who think like you. It is the absolute epitomy of McCarthyism to say "we are being taken over by Muslims." You remember Senator Joe McCarthy and his ability to spot "pinko commies" anywhere and everywhere in this country (if not, look him up). How did that end for him?
Fear mongering only works for so long before we, the huddled but intelligent masses, smell the dung for what it is, and decide to end the witch trials. Preaching "fear of God" worked when the Black Death was upon us, but it's been a few hundred years (regardless of how old you think the Earth is) and we have grown significantly since those dark days. Don't puke out what others tell you. Think for yourself, and turn OFF the political TV forever.
Wow, what a great place to drop a few cluster bombs.
I do not know why not a bullet through his ugly head.
Why not signs which read: AhMadInAJihad we are on to you sociopath!
Ahmandinejad is a puppet, and way too full of himself. It's the (12 at a time) religious nuts (council of Elders?) out of Qom that pull his strings. And they have never hesitated to swat him down when he strays from their "Islamic Republic" line of reasoning.
How about israel fighting their own wars?
Thank you Kiowa Kyle, good response. This Crap must stop, I agree! We can't even take care of our schools and health care system and now we're supplying israel with weapons to promote their inhumane battle of hatred (haven't we seen this somewhere else in the past few decades??)
israel pays us, you morons!! bigots!! Anti-semites!!
The only democracy in the middle east and all you want to do is see them destroyed???? Shame on you!!
Do any of you really even know the value of Israel? Of course that was rhetorical it is obvious you do not. Not only are they our greatest ally they have given us some of the greatest technology in history. I guess that did not make the discussion group. Who invented the microprocessors we are all using today? Who created cell phone technology?You look into it and get back to me.
Israel does, always, fight its own wars. The US has never sent troops to fight for Israel -- unlike the US with other allies.
And that figure of $30 billion a year that Kiowa said -- that is a pure made-up figure with not a shred of reality. Like much of the criticism of Israel.
There has never been a single US soldier fighting on Israeli soil - rather we have several cases of US army fighting on behalf of Muslims. Case in point; Bosnia and Kuwait being two of them.
Those who repeat statements to the contrary, are either truly ignorant or knowingly planting mis-information.
troy-2481380 OK I'll bite the microprocessor was invented by Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Stan Mazor (some also include Masatoshi Shima) U.S. Patent #3,821,715 in Nov 1971 and the connection to Isreal is???
That processor, micro though it was at the time was the size of a silver dollar. Israeli scientists created the process by which they truly became micro as in microscopic. If you wish when at work tomorrow and I have more time I will show you hundreds of cutting edge inventions or improvements they have contributed to us.
troy...Israel did NOT invent the microprocessor. Israel does steal our technology (this has been proven) and re-invent it as their own (usually selling it to the Russians and Chinese).
I'd sure like to see a list of "inventions" or "discoveries" that Israel is claiming to be their own.
Martin Cooper while will Motorola invented the cell phone (made his first call to Joel Engel, his rival at Bell Labs which is classic), so if your idea is that someone helped improve an existing invention, lots of people in lots of different countries do that.
Great idea! Let's just let our allies take care of themselves. Then when we need them, they can give us the finger. Then when we can't reach the bad guys because we have no bases, no way to get close from anywhere when we are attacked, we can wonder why. Brilliant idea! Not.
Actually, many of Intel's most sophisticated microprocessors were designed in Intel's design center in Israel. Intel also has a semiconductor fab there.
Peanut...we don't need Israel or their bases, we have super carriers that can launch weapons and aircraft capable of hitting any target is the Middle East.
Israel has killed Americans (USS Liberty) and have repeatedly snubbed their noses at our politicians who have respectfully asked them to hold off on building new settlements (which the international community has agreed are illegal settlements) for the sake of negotiating a peace deal with the Palestinians. I don't think a temporary freeze on settlement building is alot to agree to when it is from the only true ally (US) that Israel has, especially in light of the fact that we support them financially and with military aid at the cost of the American taxpayer and to the financial detriment of our own nation. The fact is the Israeli government is run by thugs and thieves who have no clue what a real ally is and who act like spoiled little brats. They are, and have been for many years, alienating most of the world powers with their criminal actions and will soon find themselves all alone.
AlexG...the work done in Israel may be done by Israeli citizens, for the most part, however the actual "designing" or technological science is done in the USA, at Intel's main lab, and exported to the labs in other nations. This work is done in secret and is heavily guarded until complete. Israel has been known in the past to reverse engineer our work and "re-design" or "re-invent" it as their own, then it is sold to Russia and China, among others, at great loss and expense to Intel. This is not just a problem unique to Intel, as Israel is known for having spies inside many major companies.
Let's hear a well founded and researched argument to justify turning our backs as a nation on one of our biggest allies.
Just an FYI, the claims in some of these posts that we spend billions of dollars on an alliance with Israel and that the US gets nothing of value in return are patently false. They sound curiously like muslim propaganda.
If you think you know enough to assert dollar amounts of the US monetary commitment to Israel maybe you would like to share with us your knowledge of the armament technology that Israel has helped provide US military scientists and engineers with over the past 3 decades and what that technology, that was provided free to the US, might be worth in terms of dollars and the lives the different technologies have saved.
I'm waiting.
callitlikeitis-2286312
Don't waste your breath on these know it all jerky left wing clones. They know everything. NOT!!
This country is being ruined by these same type. You are making very valid points, but they will never agree with you. They make their own truths, remember?? To satisfy their ideals.
Israel is at dead end
GI-2270033
Oh, I would count on that.
True, Israel is at a dead end, and sadly they can end apartheid and their inhumane actions and reverse the course of their inevitable path... But they won't. The long-term success and existence of Israel is doomed. Good arguers, but poor humanitarians.
One country calls for peace and the other calls for the destruction of ALL infidels. I know which side I support, you make up your own mind!
If Iran gets nukes then you will see an arms race in the middle east that will destabilize the entire region. We will go to war with Iran either way so I say let the blood spill in the land of those who want war not those who want peace!
No, as long as they keep taking land and blocking any progress. It doesn't matter what they say, we can see what they do.
Dave, I agree with you. Though Israel "talks" peace, they keep taking land and pissing off their neighbors. EACH side needs to be reigned in and the U.N. needs to establish FIRM, non-negotiable borders to end the mindless killing (or at least give them one less reason to kill each other over).
They are not "taking land", they are keeping the land their conquered in wars instigated by arabs - going back to 1948.
Antonio...I respectfully disagree. It was Israel who moved their people onto land previously owned and occupied by Arabs, not the other way around. THAT is what instigated the Arab/Israeli war.
The Pre-Israeli leaders were warned by the leaders of Egypt and Syria not to keep displacing the Arab occupants from their land or there would be a war, and Israel not only continued to do so, but increased their terrorist attacks on the current occupants.
While I am not a big fan of what I've seen of Islam I must say that the way the zionists went about trying to create Israel, with terrorist gangs attacking Arab civilians, was wrong. Their own cowardly criminal actions created the current situation. Israel was created by terrorist groups (even our own politicians and those of Israel have admitted as much), so why is it that they shun the current terrorist groups actions? Hamas is only doing what the creators of Israel did in their attempt to create a homeland. What is good for the goose (Israel) is good for the gander (Hamas). I think that may be why the old saying, "All's fair in love and war", is still so popular today.
I say the US has enough problems of it's own to deal with and we should stop all funding of ALL foreign nations. That money is better off used here to fix our schools, roads, and feed our homeless. We need to keep our noses out of other countries business and let them take care of their own.
Exactly. When did the spoils of war become such a " no no"? They (arabs) provoked the war, Israel fought back and invaded arab lands. It's theirs now. Get over it.
So the status quo must be maintained since what? 1948? What about the status quo from pre-zero BC until 1948 BCE? Having said that, I believe we have to maintain our relationships with Israel because they are a key part of our global "chess match." The resoning behind Bush/Cheney leading us into Iraq for no "apparent" reason is the same. We block in and surround Iran to keep the entire midddle east from becoming an "Islamic Republic." Iran is actually an Islamic Dictatorship, run by a bunch of Islamic "scholars" that want to apply Sharia Law to every day life. Translate that into "Keep the population ignorant ant uneducated, keep them hungry, and keep the young frustrated." Then they can channel all of that anger towards whomever they decide is the enemy. It's worked pretty good so far in Lebanon. And Gaza. And Syria. And Afghanistan. And it's worked so well in Pakistan that the Paki military has even adopted it as a tool state.
Its pretty interesting just how popular and easy Israel bashing has become. Are there serious problems that exist in Israel? Yes there are but nothing when compared to the rest of the middle east. Is the quality of life for Palestinians lower than for the Israelis? Yes to some degree, but by no means is there a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. People who say that Israel is the worst human rights violator need to look elsewhere. A humanitarian crisis is when people are starving, being killed indiscriminately etc. Last time i checked no one in Gaza is dying of hunger. Now look at places like Darfur and Sudan where you actually have genocide going on. Hundreds of thousands if not millions have died in recent years, but where is the attention. Seems to me that its not as hip of an issue to get behind when you can easily bash Israel. If you want to talk human rights how about looking at the treatment of women in Muslim nations. Saudi Arabia is a true apartheid nation for women and those that dont follow the wahabi brand of islam. Women in Saudi Arabia have virtually no rights. They are required by sharia law to cover themselves at all time or face severe punishment. A woman caught in public without male relative companions can receive lashes, and this is what happened a couple of years ago when a woman that was raped but without male relatives got punished. Women are literally second class citizens in Saudi Arabia, where is the outrage amongst human rights activists and feminists. There is no outrage because the majority of people concern themselves with Israel's "violations of human rights". The same goes for many more Muslim nations like Afghanistan. In some countries honor killings are common place. Where is the universal condemnation of these many travesties. The leaders of the middle east like to make people think that they are defenders of human rights by standing up for rights for the palestinians. In reality they have horrible atrocities that are being committed in their own countries. Im not saying the Israel is perfect and undeserving of criticism, but by comparison to countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt, etc., Israel is almost a beacon of human rights. My point is that there are more important pressing manners within the world that deserve the attention of the UN and human rights groups than Israel's treatment of Palestinians.
dmitry...Why must you try to label those who express their opinion of Israel as "Israel bashers"? Next you may as well label us all anti-Semites because our views put a spot light on Israel's abuses.
Many of us do decry the treatment and abuses in other countries, but on topic appropreate blogs and seeds. This seed is not about Sudan or any other country. It is about Israel.
Israel has mistreated the Palestinians for years and their actions have been considered by many to be criminal. They only continue to survive and get away with these acts because they have the mighty US backing their play. If the US turned off the support, as they should, Israel would soon be faced with the reality and consequences of their actions.
While you are correct that many Arab nations have deplorable treatment of their women, your own argument about how the UN and many human rights groups are focusing on Israel proves the point that Israel's treatment of the Palestinians IS seen by so many as wrong and criminal! Can the many millions of people world wide who condemn Israel's actions all be wrong? Unlikely. If so many people are focusing on Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, it's because Israel is deserving of that attention and condemnation.
You are actually quite wrong. Do some reading from a legitimate source, wikipedia is NOT a legitimate source of useful information.
When the victors of WWII established the Jewish state it was on land that no nation claimed, that was part of the deal. This land was lightly inhabited by nomadic people that did not even live there full time. The borders were set and agreed on by the Arab nations that shared said borders with the new Israel.
This land had been taken from the Jews long before any of us were alive and now they were being returned to their original homeland. The nomads (Palestinians) that did not have a country immediately decided that this new and improved land should be theirs and the fight was on. Too little too late. This is now Israels land.
You fail to realize that the Arab nations surrounding Israel initiated a war based on borders they had all agreed too several years earlier since they're just Jews and now there was an Arab population that wanted the land for themselves. Even though the Israelis continued to allow these nomadic Arabs to live within Israels borders...nope this wasn't enough for them. They wanted it all, even though they previously did not claim the land and did not do a single thing to develop anything on the land.
Once Isreal routed the Arab nations that attacked them they expanded in lands they had fought over during the war. The primary motive was national security NOT expansion into Arab lands. Take a good look at a map of the area and you will discover the truth of this fact. The land that is in contention now is NOT land that was gained during the Arab wars.
Having said all of that....who does the US and all these other countries that want Israel not to develop THEIR land think they are? Do you really think the US would stop building near the border of Mexico or Canada just because Mexico or Canada claimed they owned part of the land? No, we would build and nobody would raise a finger to stop us. Ridiculous double standards. Israel owns the land they can do w/e they want with it.
There are established borders. Anything Israel does within these borders is Israels business, not the worlds. That's part of the problem with the world these days. Every time an Arab cries injustice the entire world hurries to appease them despite the vast majority of their claims being fabricated and ridiculous.
I shouldn't be surprised though, Americans are becoming more and more like the rest of the world and only pretend to support anyone or anything. It sure has become easy for us to turn out backs on the people we have relied on and the ones that have relied on us over the years. Amazingly sad is what it is. Keep up the good work and we truly will have to stand alone sooner rather than later.
A lot of those Arab "nomads" had houses and land. In 1948 there 350,000 people living in what is now Jordan, 400 to 450,000 in the West Bank and many more in Israel. After Israeli statehood was declared and neighboring countries started war with Israel - 700,000 Arabs fled the fighting in Israel "voluntarily" under threat of death from Israeli terrorists (Irgun) and from Israeli troops. Arab countries also told them to leave, but the main reason they left seems to have been fear the Jews would kill them (as Irgun did to the peaceful Arab village of Deir Yassin and widely published it to scare others into leaving). Their land and houses were confiscated without compensation and they weren't allowed back. An Israeli commission controlled the properties for a number of years.
In 1948 at statehood there were 650,000 Jews in Palestine mostly recent immigrants from Europe (up from a population of 25,000 in 1882 and reportedly 4,200 in 1806 - though that 1806 census may not have been fully accurate). After the fighting, Israel began a massive recruitment campaign across the Middlle East and convinced many of the Jews whose families had lived peacefully for centuries in Arab countries to move to Israel. Some came under durress (Egypt) many (Tunisia, Iraq) came voluntarily. Today, 20 percent of Israel proper is Arab.
The Balfour Declaration of 1917, on which the UN resolution was based, said that Muslims should not be displaced. This idea that there werne't any Arabs there when the Arabs came is a lie. There will be no right of return, and not all the wrongs of the past can be corrected. Neighboring countries (particularly Egypt) and Palestinian leadership pursued foolish and belligerant policies and gave up earlier chances for peace. But many of the Palestinians are simply victims, very similar to the Jews who were displaced by Russian pograms.
Israel is there to stay, but essentially the Palestinians who lived there before them were displaced and made to suffer to attone for European crimes against the Jews. There is a chance for a realistic peace based on the proposals of Defense Minister Barak - supported by President Perez and the Kadima Party. This would give Israel the settlements along the border and in East Jerusalem, make the Temple mount autonomous, and give the Arab quarter of Jerusalem to Palestine.
Sensible Israelis realize that a two state solution is in their interest (Hamas would be co-opted by a realistic peace treaty and GAza would vote to join the West Bank in a referundum - with an inclosed road connecting the two - part of the land exchange - when they say yes). A compromise solution for Jerusalem and the West Bank would eliminate remaining threats to Israel and greatly reduce worldwide anti-US terrorism - which is based mostly on concerns about Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. Israeli made peace with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994 and in the 1994 peace Israeli indicated it would protect Muslim control of their holy sites on the temple mount.
The extremist Jews don't agree and have been launching attacks on West Bank mosques and muslims, hoping to promote violence that would convince the Israeli army to kill them, crush their houses, and expel their familiies. Hasn't worked so far and the Israeli army set up a special unit a couple of months ago to control the violence of Jewish extremists in the West Bank.
Defense Minister Barak has also proposed peace with Syria, saying that if Israel doesn't resume the stalled Syrian negotiations, there will be a regional war, and at the end Israel will be in the same negotiations to give Syria back its land. If it got its land back in a peace agreement (which Syria has been trying to negotiate for years and France has offered to mediate) it would like Egypt after the 1979 peace become a US ally. It would then help prevent Iranian arms shipments to Hiizbullah. Peace on Jerusalem and with Syria would lead to a chain of events that would bring peace to the entire region.
Hamas would change or lose popular support. Hizbullah will remain a powerful party in Lebanon but recently has not been attacking Israel - it opposed the Israeli occupation of Lebanon and would again if there were a war but a peace with Syria would also resolve the Lebanon/Israel border issue - due to a poorly drawn border in colonial times.
Iran has supported Hamas and Hizbullah, and has said outrageous things about the Hollaucaust and about 9/11, but has not actually threatened to attack Israel, itself. It would have to cross Iraq to attack Israel and would be faced with retaliation from Israel's huge nucelar arsenal and modern weapons - no way it could win - and the US would support Israel if attacked by Iran. War mongers claim otherwise, but Israel has not been in danger of elimination since it made peace with Egypt in 1979. The rest is just fluff to justify Israeli human rights abuses trying to take the land and water from West Bank Palestinians, with settlements heavily subsidized by the Israeli government. There is no reason to go to war with Iran and every reason to make peace with Fatah and Syria. Peace would isolate Hamas, Hizbullah and Iran, make their anti-Israel venom ridiculous, and bring peace to the region (not eliminating all domestic struggles but eliminating the residual danger to Israel and the worldwide danger of anti-US terrorism recruitment - eliminating the major incentive.)
marvalden, where did you read your middle east history, in the Tehran Times? I "respectfully" disagree with you spewing nonsense. The "displacements" began after the locals - pumped up by Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia - said "Hell, no" to the United nations partition plan of 1948. Those nations and some of the local non-Druze and non-Christian Arab population then attacked Israel. That's 5,000,000 people attacking 660,000. You can read about the early history of the area in a fine piece of completely objective journalism (as in, no dog in the fight) called "O, Jerusalem" by the French non-Jewish writers Dominique LaPierre and Larry Collins.
And it is Israeli-designed computer chips that power your cell phones.
http://www.zionism-israel.com/Israel.htm
Truthinator...First, Israel did not design anything in my cell phone. That's a myth easily debunked by visiting: http://www.tech-faq.com/who-invented-the-cell-phone.html. Israel is well known for stealing US Technology and "re-inventing" it as their own then selling it to Russia and China.
The "displacements" began LONG before the first Arab/Israeli war, which took place in 1948. The following are very good sources:
http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm
http://www.mideastweb.org/palpop.htm
http://www.palestinefacts.org/
http://www.palestinehistory.com/index.php
The web site you linked to is owned by the Israeli government and the information provided on that site is suspect and incorrect. Their claim that their computer chips power my cell phone is a lie. A battery powers my cell phone and no part of my phone was designed by Israel.
If you are going to ref a web site to support your claims/views at least link to one that is neutral.
marvalden, Motorola's Israel operation is the well-documented designer of the chip in your cell phone. I know that makes you want to choke. Throw it down and stomp on it.
http://www.iaesi.org.il/Eng/?CategoryID=163&ArticleID=207
A non-Israeli source. How about that? Read it and foam at the mouth.
Here's another good source:
http://www.iaesi.org.il/Eng/?CategoryID=163&ArticleID=207
Note the first acts of aggression were perpetrated by "palestinians" (actually one of several ethnic groups in land administered by ottoman turk rulers, including christian arabs, druze, and bedouins, but the only ones of the bunch to decide all jews must go) in 1920-1921, 1929, and 1936-1939.
That's right my friend, the Arab Muslims were the first aggressors in the region. I know you choke on facts like that, but let them sink in, because it's a reality that isn't going away. Every Arab Moslem setback in the region has resulted following Arab Moslem aggression. They're like Brer Rabbit hitting the tar-baby.
I grant you the one Israeli terrorist operation of the nascent years, Irgun, was a black mark on Israel's moral standing. Their militancy came well after the Arab Moslem militancy of the region and was an outgrowth of the wrong-headed belief that tit-for-tat was acceptable. But Israel hasn't made that mistake since. By far and away, 98% of all Israeli aggression has been a response, motivated by the sheer will and determination of a post-holocaust people to survive.
Anyone who wants peace in that region better give up on the "who was there first" or "who was aggressive first" game. It goes nowhere, and never will lead to peace.
Truthinator...The site you listed: http://www.iaesi.org.il/Eng/?CategoryID=163&ArticleID=207 IS an Israeli owned site belonging to the "Israel Association of Electronics & Software Industries", yet you lied in your post when you said,
Once again, you failed to supply a neutral source for your (Dis) information, because you know I am correct in my statement that Israel has no claim to designing any part of my cell phone. You assume that my cell phone was manufactured by Motorola and we know what happens when one assumes things.
Your entire post is based on claims without facts and without a shred of evidence or even one link to a neutral source. You clearly do not have much knowledge or education in the matter of Middle East issues.
I was hopping couple nice looking Jewish gals would have mooned him . Maybe he would toned down his speech.
God damned live and let live. life is too precious to play politics with it.
...Amadinablowhard better watch out! Israel has a habit of self-defense that's usually pretty effective..The mullahs in Qum think in the long run, they will rule the Mid-East under a Caliphat, but others may have a different spin on that objective.......
No israel has a habit of letting the US foot the bill.
Get out of the So. Cal. sun it is really starting to distort reality.
Reality is what you make it. I see you like to make your own.
Living in a dream world eh? Here's another one
Talk about being in the sun too long.
I said look into it not make a comment based on emotion.
dave - let's top aid to all of them. Arabs get almost 4 times as much as we give Israel. I know that you knew that.
Wow Antonio, that's interesting.
Now tell me, how many dollars per head do israelis(all 7 million of them) get ? How about the arabs ? (all 350 millions of them) ?
Oh yeah, per head, the arabs get a tiny tiny percentage of what israelis get, that's the reality
Per head? Is that how we disburse foreign aid? per head? do you count the pin heads as well?
Foreign aid is disbursed based on NEED and our strategic interest - not per head.
I am glad I could clear that up for you.
Oh, and you think that Israel's 7 million people, with a high standard of living, have a need for 3 billion $ but that the arab world's 350 million people mostly living in poverty are way lucky to get 12 billion $ ?
As for strategic interest, it's obvious there's absolutely none worth turning one billion people against you. The US interest over there is religious: to please the evangelical voters who dream of Armaggedon and the conservative jewish donors to those same political parties
Creators of cell phone technology...
Inventors: Martin Cooper, Richard W. Dronsuth, ; Albert J. Mikulski, Charles N. Lynk Jr., James J. Mikulski, John F. Mitchell, Roy A. Richardson, John H. Sangster
Dr Martin Cooper, a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, is considered the inventor of the first modern portable handset. Cooper made the first call on a portable cell phone in April 1973. He made the call to his rival, Joel Engel, Bell Labs head of research. Bell Laboratories introduced the idea of cellular communications in 1947 with the police car technology. However, Motorola was the first to incorporate the technology into portable device that was designed for outside of a automobile use. Cooper and his co-inventors are listed above.
Source: http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa070899.htm
American citizens it would seem. Sorry Israel, you don't get credit for stealing our technology and "re-inventing" it as your own.
For those of you symbolic people the peace balloons released that were inteded to flutter across the boarder and got blown abruptly back into israel is not a promising sign...
thats for sure, war will come, iran is bent on it and israel with the arabs know it, thats you they are hell bent on doing this peace deal
Nothing that Iran and Hezbollah would like more than war - it's only way for those in power to keep themselves in power. Shame about Iran if you think about it - reasonably educated population, rich cultural tradition pre-dating Islam by millenia, sitting on trillions of dollars of hydrocarbons. With competent leadership, a country that could actually be a real contributor to the world. Instead, governed by goons, it is a pariah state with high unemployment, shaky institutions, an unhappy populace. Blame America, blame Israel, blame the Jews - it's anyone's fault but our own.
actual interpritation by Ahmadinejad
"Imam ghoft een rezhim-e ishghalgar-e qods bayad az safheh-ye ruzgar mahv shavad."
Imam (Khomeini) ghoft (said) een (this) rezhim-e (regime) ishghalgar-e (occupying) qods (Jerusalem) bayad (must) az safheh-ye ruzgar (from page of time) mahv shavad (vanish from).
SB and GI when u got people like you with all those #s, just some Jew haters in disguise, they did not get any F-35 but they will , they need it to nuke iran stupid, and talk about "ONE WAY STREET" who gave the US all the info on Soviet T72 and the New MIGS and The SAMs with the AAA sams as well, u just a dork, spouting with no real meaning, no american soldiers died for israel, but they died for muslims
The info on T72s and MIGs ? They came from us spies way before Israel fought those in its wars
The relationship is clearly one way, when you look at what it costs the US, in money, in image, in attacks, ... and what the benefit is in return, it is absolutely cleary one way.
Michael - If the relationship was "one way" we would not have been enjoying the tremendous technological contribution Israeli scientists have given us. Let's not talk about your microprocessor in your computer or your smart phone.
By contrast, what is the contribution that your arab friends have made in lieu of all that billions we give them? Terrorism? Sharia law? repression? backwardness? name one. May be oil? the same oil you pay for at the pump? Why are we sendinh $$$$$$ to oil rich arabs anyway? You support that?
Sailor...you stated that "no American soldiers died for israel", and you may be right in that they were not soldiers but sailors and they did not die FOR Israel, but from Israeli military fire. If you are a sailor, you would know what I am talking about. USS Liberty.
However, because the US has so blindly supported the criminal state of Israel we have become targets for every Islamic terrorist out there. Israel as an ally is not worth the price the US has had to pay.
Marvalden, I totally agrre with your comment. Israel has been an albretross around our neck for over 60 years. The US has covered israel crimes of the methodical ethnic cleasing of Palestinians from their home land in front of the world.
I love it when the bloggers get so emotional that they loose control of grammer and spelling. When you read it, it makes you invision people shouting and screaming, with spittle flying from their lips and running down their chins. A vision of well-educated and well-versed academics having a scholarly discourse on the issues of the day.
Intended* and border* i apologize
Pictures of all these people waving flags. Over here, where would you even find Iranian or Iraqi flags to burn?
I should really go into the flag business.
It's a shame, really, because close to half of Israel's population is against what their ultra-conservative/ultra-nationalist leadership is up to. That leadership will ruin Israel's future, just like similar types in this country may do to America--even Planet Earth, for that matter.
don't worry about planet earth Capt. or the ultra, they don't put bombs on their kids and send them into crowded buses. worry about the arab ultra , they take over countries, and have the Imams tell lies, its one thing to lie to an infidel but another to lie to your own, they don't realize they break they own code of honor, oh yeah, they have no code, thats why they kill each other too
Are you scared? You better hide.
Point well taken, Sailor. Ahmedinejad and his ilk worry me a lot more than the Israeli leadership do.
so.cal, spent 3 months under ice, maybe u scared, i know those that, talk and then i know those that walk the talk, But you guys are to occupied with israel cause its a democracy, why don't u look more east to China, now that scary.
Capt. we've, seen this before, and it don't end good, then, what the hell, we all go some times, its just the way, that counts.
Talk about the FOX watching the CHICKEN house!
hey Cal Troy is right, the sun can get to you, put a latte on top and some weed, your fried,
Ahoy matey
Aww did I rile you guys up? Maybe a couple more insults will make you feel better.
It never ceases to amaze me how the radical left sides with terrorists, Mullahs, the theocratic radicals and dictators of the Muslim countries - against one democracy in the entire Middle East - because they are...........jews.
... And that's with the Jihadis OPENLY stating they'll slash their throats in the end.. Amazing how far blind Jew-hatred will take ya!!
"Zionists have no more intimidating weapon with which to discredit their opponents or silence their detractors than the allegation of anti-semitism".....Professor Cheryl Rubenberg, respected Jewish scholar.
Respected by numb-nuts. The most intimidating weapon Zionists have is their refusal to be bullied and cowed by the anti-semites and self-hating Jews of the world.
Tell me, how to do tell a radical Muslim from a radical Christian? Remove the specific references to God or Allah and all you are left with is:
drumroll please
"Death to those who don't believe in ____!"
Makes you think, or at least it really SHOULD make you think. The Founding Fathers were wise beyond ALL our years in plainly creating a "Separation of Church and State" during the founding of this Country. Religious dogma, fanaticism and persecution hurts (and kills) more than a 20 mile chunk of space rock slamming into our planet. We are ALL human beings, regardless of what is written on some dusty page.
Here is a link for a LEBANESE who escaped Lebanon (under intimidations by HizbolAh - the Iranisn puppets WHO ARE THERE TO UNDERMINE THE lEBANESE GOVERNMENT):
WWW.ACTFORAMERICA.ORG
That is a whacko site you put up.
Lloyd-727803 Get your head out of the sand! Please look at the facts, we do give Israel billions of dollars, we do give Israel fighter jets and this is every year, not a one time deal. Look into the USS Cole and what the sailors on board have to say not the spin you get from our government or theirs. Israel believes that God gave them the land and it is thiers no matter what, the sad part is they will bring America down with them. Does anyone believe they are right all the time, just look at the UN and how they vote on issues concerning Israel, its always every country against 3 Israel the US and some other nation that owes its existence to the US, are all the other countries around the world always wrong? I think not. One last point: I believe if you look into the facts we are holding an Israel spy in jail for spying for the state of Israel and they turned around and gave those stolen files to Russia for the release of Jews! some great friends.
It will continue as long as there are Christian people with a voice in this country.
Pat - It was most interesting that your first two lines included our help to Israel and the USS Cole.
Did you see the Irony in that? Your arab friends blew up the USS Cole and killed our sailors - while we give them billions in aid.
Israel on the other hand, has been an ally. Do you see the Irony? Thanks for bringing that up.
.....remember the USS Liberty!
'It will continue as long as there are Christian people with a voice in this country.'
This is actually something I find rather interesting as Jews aren't Christians, in fact they rejected and crucified the Christian's Messiah (the Christian's Son of God, rather serious stuff don't you think if your a Christian), so I don't understand the Christian connection. I would think that Christians would reject the Jewish claim to be 'chosen' people until Jews accept Christ as the Messiah, which essentially means when they become Christians and I don't think that is going to happen any time soon.
You are right we Christians should be silent so that hate mongering robots can rule.
Im sorry its the USS Liberty not the USS Cole my mistake.
Yeap - Your mistake . Oops. You really didn't mean to draw attention to USS Cole did you?
I wonder why, you insist to talk about a ship that was in the middle of a war zone about 40 years ago - but immediately correct yourself about USS Cole that was blasted by your terrorist friends, while re-fueling, ducked at a "freindly" country?
Are all your arab friends that friendly to us? Is "damn America" always a motto for the radical left?
Ummm, when they do, you squawk about them using 'disproportionate force'! Either way, the Jooos just never win with folks like you.
The United States has an annual foreign aid package of 10 billion dollars. Israel is the 16th smallest country in the world and it recieves 30% of that budget. The United States of America submitted a resolution to the United Nations in the spring of 1948 and the resolution was approved granting Israel the right to become a nation in May of 1948. Since that time the United States has provided the nation Israel over 84 billion dollars in foreign aid. God has blessed America and He is in control and it is His wish to bring His people back to the land that he promised to them- see Isaiah 66:8-9 written 750 b.c. Read your history books to determine how Israel has had to fight her neighbors attacks, Israel has not attacked anyone, they were invaded in several attempt by their Arab neighbors who are seeking to destroy them which they will not be allowed to do. Most of you are historically and biblically illiterate. You should see how this whole things end, it would blow your minds, the end has already been authored, and it will all come true at the proper time just like it has been written since the beginning of time. We are no longer the United States of America. We should now call ourselves the Divided States of America. The only thing that matters to people isvoicing their opion, and spewing hatred for those who do not see things that same way theydo. The "Greatest Generation" had one thing in common over today's America. They loved America and their fellow American's. Sadly the historical, and biblical illiteracy of this current generation of AMerican's will inevitable turn out to be our legacy. History will rightly call us the "least generation", becasue we deserve the title. Israel will be fine until halfway through the great Tribulation, and even in the last three years of world history God will be there to take good care of them. I mean you should read the book, and especially the ending, it's coming to a planet near you, and you won't beleive how things end, I guarantee you won't beleive the ending, it will blow your mind.
The only real reason why any Arab country has conflict with our country is due to our undying support for Israel's mad crusade in the Middle East. Americans must wake up and smell the bigotry being perpetrated by Israel and its supporters, which for some odd reason or another, seems to be dwindling more and more as the years and decades progress. The only way we will get extremist Arabs to stop hating our country is by stopping our support for Israel, if they want to fight their neighbors they should be doing it solely on their own with support from no one. You don't see Americans going to Israel to try and buy up West Bank settlement land. So why must we continue to support this type of self-destructive behavior by Israel?
I've never understood the need to continue to support Israel and I guess I never will. Don't get me wrong, I don't support Saudi Arabia either, for the only reason our country is in cahoots with that country has a lot to do with black gold and very little to do with anything else. But for us to take the side our crazed little brother (Israel), one who doesn't give a flying S**T about our country much less our people aside from our deep pockets and state-of-the-art war materials, is just asking for trouble in the middle east.
I ask you. No, I beg you to check this video out, simply search your favorite search engine's videos for: "where in the world is osama bin laden".
View it from start to finish. If you can't see the difference in behavior and personalities for both sides of the Middle Eastern conflict then I'd say you are biased or simply too stupid to understand what's really going on.
This here film really opened my eyes as to the kinds of people we are dealing with in the Middle East. Based on what I've seen from this limited yet highly educational video is that Israel has land-grab, hate and blood on its mind whilst everyone else in the Middle East must suffer cause of it. Yet, America is continuously reinforcing this behavior by continuing their unswerving support for the nuisance of a brother we call Israel.
For as long as our beloved United States of America continues to support the radical stance being taken by Israel, the safety of our countrymen will be in peril here on our soil, and most of all, abroad.
Your radical left ideology is so blinding you that you cannot come around and see the Jehad that is being waged against the world - not because of Israel - but because of radical Islam theocratic ideology. Admittedly, it is pretty much the same as the ideology of the left - that is why you always side with socialists, dictators of the Muslim world, and the fanatical terrorists.
Jews will never win with you - no matter what they do. So, they are right, they should not give a damn.
The only reason Islam has conflicts with the US is the same reason they have conflicts with anyone. We are infidels, and we need to be wiped from the face of the earth.
Dgstrat - When you say "Islam" then you must mean the radical islamists who just want to spreed terror because a guy tells them that some higher power want them to do it - and not all the other people who has Islam as their religion.
Do you really think that Muslims in egg. Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Great Britain, USA and other western countries wants to kill your so called "infidels"?