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Monday March 10,
2008
Israel's Battle for the Mind
In
the beginning was the Word, which must be very different from "words"
which are too often used to instill false impressions.
When
"leaders" become capable of not needing to save face, when they lose
their fear of showing "weakness", when truth is more important than
the appearance of things, perhaps we'll have peace on this
poor, battered earth.
Today's politicians are trained in the art of
deception. I
don't know where they go to school; perhaps it's only an oral tradition
passed down from big politicos to little ones. It's easy to
imagine
the motto "Perception is everything" embroidered on their underwear.
Most often than not, "leaders" are impotent men who need to control
everyone and everything in order to feel safe themselves - a state they
can never achieve because their own methods increase the things by
which they feel threatened.
It's always, always best to imagine them in their underwear when
tempted to defer to them, or consider seriously the things they seem to
be saying.
Israeli politicians, including the military ones, are exceedingly
skilled in word games. They thump their chests and bellow, like
that B
movie actor Ronald Reagan, that they don't negotiate with "terrorists",
hoping this will be taken as a sign of bravery rather than fear of the
unknown, and downright petty intolerance.
Then Israel decides who is and who is not a terrorist.
So even if they wanted to get Hamas to agree to something, they would
have to do it on the QT. They would have to use a go-between so
as not
to compromise the image they feel suits them best.
AFP:
Israeli PM denies truce talks with Hamas
"There is an
unequivocal demand that hasn't changed, and if this demand is
fulfilled, there will be no need for a ceasefire"
I doubt Israel
cares
about feeble Qassam rockets beyond using them to reinforce the idea
that its pogroms are retaliation and not a planned and systematized
method of intimidation.
Israel has ceased action, for the moment, in Gaza because it is ready
to turn to other things. East Jerusalem, for instance, and how to
squeeze out the Arabs who live there:
IHT:
Israel plans to build 400 new homes in disputed east Jerusalem,
officials said Monday, in yet another construction project that could
hamper peace efforts.
Anyone who
criticizes
will be reminded of the yeshiva shooting tragedy. The term used
will
be "massacre" even though Israel does not countenance that term being
used in reference to Jenin, for
instance, nor the mass killing of a large extended family in Beit
Hanoun, Gaza, in November of 2006 - now
blamed on an extremely rare computer error - nor its recent
activities in Gaza where hundreds were killed in a few days.
When
Israel needs to raise
money through agencies such as, or affiliated with, the JNF which helps
to develop lands for Jewish use only, it turns to popular celebrities
to produce the required benign image. Turns
out Goldie Hawn really is as empty-headed as the roles she plays. (Scotsman)
Coincidentally, I came across a
JPost article that accuses everyone except
Israel of using these kinds of tactics. It seems eerily Freudian to
me. Methinks the author projects too much.
To
complement
the plans for East Jerusalem, more housing construction in the adjacent
West Bank is set to begin, in direct contravention of the US-led "road
map":
Xinhua:
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert approved an Israeli
Housing Ministry request to build 750 housing units in Givat Ze'ev in
the West Bank.
The
Age says "more than 1000 new Jewish housing
units in the occupied territories"
The
more I read of the Jerusalem slayings, the less it seems like a
Palestinian reaction to the brutal assault on Gaza and the more it
seems like a deliberate, pivotal catalyst in the US/Israeli overall
plan
for the region.
The news
outlets are just repeating gossip and hearsay. One minute we read
that Hamas
has claimed responsibility (Reuters), the next we read that no
one has owned up to it (Ha'aretz) and sometimes we're given
the impression
that both Hamas and Hezbollah did it.
And, of course, the inevitable: Israel
believes Iran is behind it (Telegraph)
Another
article at the Telegraph says this:
Significantly,
nobody in the family was willing to answer press questions about Abu
Idheim. Normally, the families of suicide bombers speak openly about
their dead family member and association with whichever militant group.
Nobody
in the Abu Idheim family or his neighbours was willing to speak which
suggested his was not a standard terrorist act commissioned by a
standard Palestinian militant group.
Not a
standard terrorist act. And nobody taking credit. And
the family of the alleged shooter is fearful of speaking.
And here's the kicker: The "seminary" won't allow
a visit from Olmert
to pay his condolences! They recognize Olmert's hypocrisy, and
don't
bother to hide their own hatred of any sign, however two-faced, of any
negotiation with Palestinians.
They've threatened civil war, and Olmert would be happy to see the back
of the most extreme among them.
As
I've said
before,
there is a possibility that aPalestinian, anguished over the Gazan
deaths, did the deed, but it's equally possible that it was a special
forces action designed to
produce exactly the scenario required to give Israel a reason to push
the
Arabs out of East Jerusalem.
In fact, the plan is to squeeze the Arab population of the West Bank
and Gaza as tight as possible up against Jordan and Egypt, and handing
over their care and control to those countries.
But most of Israel's devious methods have backfired over the
years. I
was surprised to find that the UK's Channel 4 has a nicely laid-out
history of how Israel encouraged Hamas in the beginning and then began
to fear their own creation. It's called "Inside
Hamas" and is well worth a read for anyone who knows only current
history.
The more we know, the less we can be manipulated with loaded words.
Other Stuff:
1)
Reader Jack C. from
Michigan has some questions about Canada's gun registration laws.
I
provided my own response of sorts, but If you have answers or opinions,
please
visit the Reader Comments
section of this site.
2) What's with all the sudden surfacing of dubious
documents and footage related
to JFK? Has the Britney
whatsername circus gone stale? What is the Amerian public being
distracted from? The fact that their next president will be war
monger
John McCain?
JFK
assassination documents released in Dallas
Transcript
could fuel JFK conspiracy theories
New
home movie of JFK's motorcade discovered
Worthington
says Kennedy claims ruined his life
yayacanada
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