Israel's Day Of Light

NATO AIR

Senior Member
Jun 25, 2004
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I thought twice, let's be positive rather than negative or despair

excellent article from mr. cohen

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24755-2004Jul2.html

i want to celebrate what makes israel unique in the middle east so here it is

Israel's Day of Light

By Richard Cohen
Saturday, July 3, 2004; Page A27


Imagine that in Egypt, soldiers used the parliament building for a photo exhibit showing Egyptian soldiers abusing civilians. And that as usual in these matters, a great debate erupted in the newspapers and elsewhere, but the government did not move to censor the exhibit.

Imagine that in Syria, military reservists announced they would serve no more. They took this action, they said, because they felt their government was not only wrong, but immoral. And the government of strongman Bashir Assad, while it quickly dismissed the reservists, took no other action.

Imagine that in Jordan, huge crowds gathered in Amman to protest government policy. Speaker after speaker criticized King Abdullah, some of them in the most insulting manner. And yet the government did not move to break up the rally or arrest any of the speakers.

Imagine that in Saudi Arabia . . . enough!

These events actually took place in Israel. The photo exhibit was mounted in the Knesset. Some Israeli military reservists have said they will serve no more. Huge crowds have gathered in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square to pressure the government to quickly end its support of settlements.

Now comes yet another stunner: The Israeli Supreme Court has ordered the army to alter a section of the security fence that separates Jewish and Palestinian areas of the West Bank to make it less oppressive to the Palestinians. In the length of the fence involved, in the number of villages and people affected, the decision is hardly momentous. But as a statement of principle, it is head and shoulders above anything any other Middle East government would permit -- never mind implement. The Israeli government says it will obey the ruling.

As anyone who has read my column for the past 30 years can tell you, I am more than an occasional critic of Israel. But I hold it not to my standards -- okay, not only to my standards -- but to its own, which are almost unique in the world. Just consider what the Israeli Supreme Court said. It agreed that the security fence is necessary. It did not find it to be a mere land grab, as some critics of the fence have charged, nor did it find it a loopy idea, as others have. It found the fence a practical way of dealing with the reality of Palestinian terrorism.

"We are aware that this decision does not make it easier to deal with that reality," the three judges wrote. "This is the destiny of a democracy: She does not see all means as acceptable, and the ways of her enemies are not always open before her. A democracy must sometimes fight with one arm tied behind her back." The court then tied the arm.

I am writing this as we prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday, the text of the Declaration of Independence before me. It is a remarkable document, still radical -- what with its brazen assertion of God-given rights, "among" them being "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." I love that "among." It's not even the whole list.

The remarkable spirit of that remarkable document -- codified in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- animates the recent decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and its Israeli counterpart as well. The U.S. Supreme Court reminded the Bush administration that the war on terrorism is not also a war on civil liberties -- no matter that it makes it tougher to get the bad guys.

The Israeli Supreme Court did something similar, although with more explicit language. "There is no security without law," it wrote.

Bear this decision in mind, please, when next someone refers to the Israelis as "Nazis" or otherwise talks about the nation as if it were a thuggish dictatorship. Israel, in fact, is a complex and conflicted place, searching always for the correct balance between what is right and what is safe, sometimes -- maybe even often -- losing its way. But at its heart it still has a heart.

I welcome the court's decision on the security fence. I welcome it not because I oppose the fence -- I happen to think it's a good idea -- but because in places it does impose hardships on Palestinians. It cuts across farms, vineyards and olive groves, initially inflicting hardship, ultimately brewing the kind of madness that to some justifies terrorism. But the court never made that argument. It simply said that the "rule of law and individual liberties" required that the fence be moved -- and a hard-line Israeli government will reluctantly comply.

The early Zionists wanted Israel to be a light unto other nations. The other day, it was.

[email protected]


© 2004 The Washington Post Company
 
Originally posted by NATO AIR

I thought twice, let's be positive rather than negative or despair
excellent article from mr. cohen


Yes let's be positive rather than negative.

Israel government and the Lemming.

Yes, lemmings jump off cliffs. Why do they do this? No one really knows. Some scientists, having nothing better to do, have puzzled over this question for decades. Maybe this behavior is instinctual. Maybe it's culturally conditioned. Whatever the answer, thousands of lemmings the world over continue to march to the edges of cliffs and simply leap into the great unknown.

Among lemmings, this behavior is considered normal. Take, for example, the annual "Great Lemming JumpFest." Rarely witnessed by scientists, this eagerly anticipated event features dancing, barbecue, and Elvis impersonations, and culminates in the "Big Leap."

Lemmings never think about why they jump off cliffs. They just do it.

Following the great exodus of the Hebrew people from the Egyptian's pharoah, Moses led the people in a round about path which took them back to the edge of the Sea of Reeds with the Pharoah's army ready to kill the entire entourage of the former Hebrew slaves.

Israel again has backed itself up to the edge of the Mediterranian Sea with the Arab hoards salivating about the stupid Jews who act like the Lemmings and ready to be pushed into the sea.

Among the Israelis, this behavior is considered normal.
 
Originally posted by dilloduck

Get up on the wrong side of the bed AJ ? CMON it's the 4th !!!!

Nope....

It is the 4th of July, Independence day. A legal national holiday.

But also I was simply pointing out another seeming unbelievable incident in history that appears to be repeating itself right in our times.

Does today have only to do with firecrackers, barbecues and a very big mystery of the nature of how a small armed militia beat a world class army.

History is something that is also a part of this July 4th holiday.
 
Originally posted by ajwps
Get up on the wrong side of the bed AJ ? CMON it's the 4th !!!!

Nope....

It is the 4th of July, Independence day. A legal national holiday.

But also I was simply pointing out another seeming unbelievable incident in history that appears to be repeating itself right in our times.

Does today have only to do with firecrackers, barbecues and a very big mystery of the nature of how a small armed militia beat a world class army.

History is something that is also a part of this July 4th holiday.

and pray tell---what incident in history could you possibly be referring to?
 
Originally posted by dilloduck

and pray tell---what incident in history could you possibly be referring to?

America is again at war with an enemy intent on destroying our people and way of life.

The English King also forced the American colony into a war with England who was intent on keeping the colonies under a state of indentured subervience.

Different enemies but history is indeed repeating itself.

Many Americans believe that George Bush should never have taken this country into a war with those who attacked our shores. Just like the American tories who fought against the first militia who wanted to shed our country from England.

History always has a way of repeating itself and miracles seem to come along when they are needed.

We have unfortunately lost less than a 1000 American boys and girls in wars in Afghanastan and Iraq but many realize that avoiding this historical event would have resulted in Americans fighting and dying right here on our shores after 9/11.
 
Originally posted by ajwps
and pray tell---what incident in history could you possibly be referring to?

America is again at war with an enemy intent on destroying our people and way of life.

The English King also forced the American colony into a war with England who was intent on keeping the colonies under a state of indentured subervience.

Different enemies but history is indeed repeating itself.

Many Americans believe that George Bush should never have taken this country into a war with those who attacked our shores. Just like the American tories who fought against the first militia who wanted to shed our country from England.

History always has a way of repeating itself and miracles seem to come along when they are needed.

We have unfortunately lost less than a 1000 American boys and girls in wars in Afghanastan and Iraq but many realize that avoiding this historical event would have resulted in Americans fighting and dying right here on our shores after 9/11.


WOW DEEP
 

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