How thin is the veneer of civilization. How few layers of keratin separate humans from packs of animals. As another example of ethnicity justifying slaughter answers those questions, I can only wonder if it could happen here. Here's irony, if ever there was:
Aigulia said her house was destroyed by Uzbeks overnight and all her Kyrgyz neighbors had to run for their safety. She said the area was still unsafe, claiming Uzbek snipers were shooting at them.
A Kyrgyz man, Iskander, said he and others burned Uzbek property to avenge their attacks.
"Whatever you see over there - all the burnt restaurants and cafeterias - were owned by them and we destroyed them on purpose," he told APTN. "Why didn't they want to live in peace?"
Given the tenor of the times in the US, with death threats against legislators who voted for health care -- health care, ferchrissakes! -- with hatred and fear being stoked deliberately (and very effectively) by Fox "news" and the awful RWS™, can it really be much longer before such violence breaks out here? We're talking cafés and houses and schools in this latest example of human defectiveness; not hovels and caves.
A steady stream of propaganda, hard times with uncertainty about the future, deliberate pitting of "us" against "them," claims of threats to our very way of life, willingness to lie to a credulous people, the people unwilling and unable to separate fact from fiction, preferring easy (ie, like religious) answers: it's happened before to highly "civilized" people. We've seen what happens .
Interesting -- not to mention deeply frightening -- the similarities between the kind of regime to which those on the right compare our current government and behaviors they have taken upon themselves. While denying it. Coincidental, I suppose, that the party of deniers of evolution, of global warming, of birth certificates (can you extrapolate the other sign in the previous photo link?), of the causes of the current calamity, and of staking claim to the righteousness of the law of their god, also includes those that decorate their arms with swastikas and deny that the Holocaust ever happened.
I suppose I should say my goodbyes now, because I'll be among the first to be burned alive.
Not "IF."
WHEN.
Lebanese, actually.
ReplyDeleteAnd not all anti semites are Holocaust deniers, although the reverse is certainly true.
OMGosh Frank!
ReplyDeleteI almost choked on my drink when I saw that! She did say America too though ..to be fair.
I am sorry to see her career end ion that note. I actually thought maybe she got an attack of sudden onset dementia!
All anyone has to do is read through history to know that *IS* their homeland!
Prophetically speaking (not me) Israel will NEVER be forced out to sea..nor will she be destroyed. Even predicted that Russia will line up with Iran and forget other countries and attack and will be a brutal war ..but she will be victorious. Time will tell.
Why ..are the JEWS so persecuted over the centuries? What is wrong with people and this kind of ignorant hatred?!
The conservatives or no one I know would harm you Dr S.
There is no excuse ever by anyone, anywhere for that kind of hatred!
I don't want to disagree with anyone (trying to keep the zen going as much as possible :), and so I will agree where I can. :)
Funny (not HA Ha funny) "Rum" as the Brits say:
ReplyDeleteBeck, Limbaugh, and other RWS have made careers out of saying hideous things - the first two were rewarded with obscene wealth - the others get away with it every day.
But after a career of decades, asking the tough questions of Libs and Cons - she says one questionable thing and the Cons (and a lot of Libs) all go Oooooh! Did you hear what she said? and she is forced to resign.
WTF?
EugeneInSanDiego
Here is what Ben Gurion had to say about the Israel/Arab confrontation:
ReplyDeleteWhy should the Arabs make peace? If I was an Arab leader I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural: we have taken their country. Sure God promised it to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. [A patently false statement. --sr] We come from Israel, it's true, but two thousand years ago, and what is that to them? There has been antisemitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They only see one thing: we have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that? They may perhaps forget in one or two generations' time, but for the moment there is no chance. So, it's simple: we have to stay strong and maintain a powerful army. Our whole policy is there. Otherwise the Arabs will wipe us out. [Emphasis added. Nahum Goldmann, The Jewish Paradox, p. 99]
See it @:
http://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2010/06/helen-thomas-affair.html
EugeneInSanDiego
I can't disagree with ben Gurian's statement; however, I'd guess there's a certain context, ie, he means not that he believes Israel stole the land, but that that's how it is seen by the Arab in the region. Rightly or wrongly, the UN granted Israel statehood via international law.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that Jews should "go home" is certainly not unique to Helen Thomas (despite the fact that "home" was, shall we say, unfriendly a few decades ago). But, to the extent that there's such a thing as international law, they have a right to stay.
I happen to disagree with a lot that Israel is doing lately; but I don't disagree with their right to exist, and that, over the long haul, they've made far more serious concessions than most of their neighbors. Nor can we understand what it's like to have neighbors committed, in spoken policy, to their destruction.
Eugene ..it was an egregious thing to say. It wasn't like a talk show host, reporter, politicians targeting 1 person or a political party ..she insulted the entire Jewish population in that country.
ReplyDeleteThe Arabs will not rest until they are pushed out to sea. It will never happen tho. And Dr S ..you are right about the concessions and they can only make so many before putting themselves at grave risk for attack.
Israel is about the size of my state - NJ. I can't imagine what it must be like to think states surrounding us hate us and want to see us destroyed.
Why is there even antisemitism anywhere anyway? People are so IGNORANT!
Here is a comment I left in Sandman's (Israeli anesthesiologist)blog a couple days ago in response to an interview he did with someone.
"I have never heard of these letters, but they must be powerful to influence people so greatly.
I am curious to know your opinions on American culture.
I think it's awesome that you felt like you came home when you came to Israel to live.
You have a rich heritage in Israel. I'd love to see it someday. It must be so beautiful there. I am from NJ and I've heard your country is about the same size. I fully support Israel's existence and do not understand contrary opinions. Israel IS the original homeland for the Jews. We Americans are from all over ..but your heritage can be traced way back to that land. Maybe I am naive ..but I don't understand the dispute and why Iran, etc would push the Israeli nation out to see if it could. Except that it goes way back to Abrahan and Ishmael. I don't know if you would agree with the origin and is my interpretation of the scriptures. God calls Israel the apple of his eye. No doubt he watches over your country.
I respect your national wisdom and unwavering strength when it comes to defense. I pray that there would be peace in Israel and all the middle eastern countries.
I hope I wasn't offensive in any way and if I was ..don't post it or delete it if you wish."
And I was touched by this seemingly *amazed* response from another commenter. Also saddened to think she was *surprised* some people think like me.
"Wow. I wish I could know how many people in the US (and the world, for that matter) actually think and feel as does SeaSpray.
What a clear comment, filled with innocent acceptance of my people's right to exist and our right to our Homeland. There is even a hint in this note of the acceptance of leaving the Jewish people to serve G-d in our own way.
May you have many blessings, SeaSpray."
Dr S - you mat know Sandman through surgexperiences.
http://quietusleo.blogspot.com/
In his interview he said "a book called “Yoni’s Letters”, are what ultimately caused him to want to leave the US to live in Israel. I'm anxious to read his answer to me when he has time. I hope you don't mind I shared this here Dr S. Delete if you wish.
"It wasn't like a talk show host, reporter, politicians targeting 1 person or a political party"
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't???
What planet do you live on SS? Are you all deaf and blind there?
That's all the InsaneClownPosse, particularly on Faux Noose, ever does. They insult everyone and everything opposed to their Christofascist ideology.
On a lighter note; where did you get the notion that the states surrounding NJ "don't hate us and want to see us destroyed?"
EugeneInSanDiego