h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Based on these latest images coming from Israel concerning the Rafah refugee camp, I am getting more and more stupefied by the attitude of the current US administration in not condemning these, well, HUGE human rights violations on the behalf of the current Israeli government. I mean, what does Israel have to do before they will be roundly condemned by the US? Even though the Bush administration has no problem condemning and insulting large wealthy nations like Germany, Spain and France on a regular basis, why such softly softly approaches with Israel? Why is it, when the eventual answer to the Middle East situation is *patently* one of mutual dialogue between both Israel and the other Arab states, that the current adminstration continues to take such a partisan approach to its diplomatic relations with these countries? What kind of leverage does the tiny state of Israel have that no other country seems to have? Why is it that even though many Israelis are ashamed by the actions of their government, that the US administration can't stand up and say "enough"? It's not that this Israeli government are helping to resolve things in the Middle East. By their actions, they are just making matters worse and worse.

I don't know. I guess I am just completely confused by all of this.

Woodpigeon

I agree that the 'carte blanche' attitude regarding the US attitude towards Israeli actions is indefensible, even though the US abstained rather than vetoed tthe last UN motion. However, the self-righteous posturing of countried like Saudi Arabia is very hypocritical - particularly considering that the promises made regarding the financing of amenities in the Palestinian Authority, Saudi made a lot of promises which they failed to deliver.

As far as selfrighteous posturing goes did anyone see any of Bush's speech to the US proIsraeli lobby a day or two back?

And that's the first reason for America's supine position on Israeli war crimes.

The second is that many of the settlers who are responsible for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians are from the US, and effectively constitute a US colony in the Middle East.

The third is the promotion of terrorism to justify the War on Terror.

Without wishing to defend the Saudi government, which is a nasty despotism, there's little point in providing amenities for the Israelis to destroy, even if it was possible to get them built while the Israelis have effective control.

Noggin

Hi Woodpigeon.
Your post, asking questions that I've often wondered about, prompted me to follow a link I received just today

Although I've only skimmed the site so far, I thought it worth posting the link here
http://www.gush-shalom.org/english/index.html

It seems that there are many Israelis who are sickened by the actions of their so called democratically elected officials

I can recommend clicking the 'play' type button, below the heading 'The Only Democracy in the Middle East' and the 'star of David'

The 'Caterpillar Campaign' looks interesting - I have long suspected that the US administration is swayed by the corporate dollar

http://www.zaman.org/?bl=international&alt=&trh=20040519&hn=8721

"Israel has demolished 191 houses in the first half of May, leaving 2,197 Palestinians in Gaza homeless. A few days ago the number of homeless in the Rafah refugee camp was nearly 11,000. However, another 53,000 have been added to that number in just the past two days as Israel began razing homes in the Camp on a massive scale.

UNWRA remains largely unable to meet the needs of the Palestinian homeless as their numbers increase day by day."

Wouldn't Bush be calling this ethnic cleansing if it was happening anywhere else? I can't understand this blind spot either...

I think if people were willing to call a spade a spade it might focus people's minds a bit.

Noggin

http://www.ariga.com/

This is an excellent site, dedicated to Peace in the Middle East. I highly recommend it.

It is divided into two parts "Peace" and Pleasure"

"Peace also includes resources such as the comprehensive listing of the human rights and peace groups operating in Isral and Palestine, and a complete collection of significant treaties and historic documents relating to the peace process."

Robert Rosenberg is a writer and journalist in Israel.

It stark contrast is a report from the "Jewish Press", in which no mention of casualties is made. The article was written yesterday, and may have been written before the massacre occurred. However, since it is on the front page, we can only assume it is their latest article on the attack.

http://www.thejewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=3727

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/94812266-7218-4544-9DB2-A8E4D61FFB0E.htm

Interesting.... "The law of our Torah is to have mercy on our soldiers and to save them. This is the real moral behind Israel's Torah and we must not feel guilty due to foreign morals," the Ma'ariv Israeli newspaper quoted him [Rabbi Dov Lior, Chairman of the Jewish Rabbinical Council] as saying.

He added that Jewish lives were more important than non-Jewish lives."

Yes, but that doesn't tell us much - there are fanatics in every society (and they don't necessarily need to be religious either) and we shouldn't judge a people based on the words of a few demented loudmouths.

My question is not so much about people or religion. Its more about politics - why would such a huge superpower like the US seem to be so compliant, bidding and tolerant of a government of a very small nation that seems to be run at the current time by people who seem to have lost any sense of moral objectivity, and quite obviously have blood on their hands.

I'm from Ireland - roughly a similar sized country - and I'll be honest: for fairly obvious economic and political reasons our government will do anything to keep the US happy. The US tells us to skip, and we do the high jump. I'm sure many countries around the world are in the same situation. Look at Britain: even though a large section of people were against the war and remain against the war, the government still formed a close alliance with the US, despite the internal political risks involved. The US have serious power and influence, except, it seems, with one small country in the Middle East. And because it refuses to use this power in any constructive way, the current Israeli government continues to get bolder and more thuggish in its approach to the Palestinians. Razing hundreds of settlements at will and firing into crowds of unarmed protestors would not happen in any society unless the government in question felt that they could do anything they wanted and get away with it.

Conspiracy theories aside, I would just love to know what the heck is going on, and why the US feels that it is better leaving Israel alone, despite the fact that what is happening there will only bolster the ranks of the terrorists, lead to greater and worse outrages, threaten global economic stability, and make it harder and harder for the US to engage with the rest of the world in solving the big long-term problems of the world.

And no, I don't accept the idea that US settlers have any political influence - they don't vote in US elections and even if they did, it would be minimal. The same goes for the pro-Israeli lobby - they are still very small and not all American Jews support the position of the Sharon government. A sizable proportion of them are incensed by what is going on. The Caterpillar contract is a total non-sequitor -it's a drop in the ocean.

Woodpigeon

"Conspiracy theories aside"

Why?... Orwqell predicted 50 years ago that "constant War" would become part of the state's method of control...

The pro Israeli lobby in the US is mostly not Jewish. It's fundamentalist Christians who believe that the complete conquest of the holy land is necessary to bring on the end of the world.

Noggin

I feel the same way, Woodpigeon. The USA has always supported Israel, to the tune of billions of dollars in aid, and the fact that they abstained, rather than vetoing the UN criticism, was unusual. I don't really understand it myself, but a lot of what they have done in the "war on terror" was aimed at doing what Israel wants.
Does Sharon really not know that he is acheiving the oppoisite of the peace he claims to want?

<>

Incredible.

It is the same attitude that expresses disgust with the rest of the world for not being outraged at the death of one American when so many Iraqis are dying at the hands of the Americans, as though the American life is somehow more "valuable" than the the lives of Iraqis.

In a national magazine in NZ in 2002, a man wrote a letter in which he worked out the precise mathematics - how many other lives equalled one American one, based on news items he had seen. (I have the clipping somewhere). It was excellently sardonic.