ISRAEL!!!!!

It’s the name on the tip of everyone’s tongue, as it becomes the uncontrollable nation who’s lust for “security” ushers us into the third world war. In a stunning display of overcompensation, Israel has responded to the kidnapping of its soldiers with two lopsided revenge battleplans. The first is to continue to destroy the Palestinian infrastructure and thus deny a people of refugees any chance of a future. This is a cycle of behavior that has perpetuated itself for decades now. In response to a people that would stand up to the Jewish state and demand what is rightfully theirs, Israel says “Take that!” and simply blows up another school, or a manufacturing plant, or government offices. Advanced notice so as to allow for the evacuation of civilians is what passes for just and humane treatment by Israel. Never mind the fact that all citizens in the area are now left without a functioning school, or plant, or office. Now the same tactic will be applied in Lebanon for the same reasons, and an entire society will bear the brunt of Israel’s distemper.

As I check in at the Huffington Post, I see more and more castigation of my anti-war and anti-death stance, as it applies to Israel, being labeled outright anti-Semitism by one Alan Dershowitz. He makes his point in blogs like this one and this one, making it clear that to him, you’re either with Israel or against it. He even gets support in his hypocrisy from the United State’s UN Ambassador, John Bolton, who obviously thinks of Israelis as the new superior race. Wow, Alan, what a simple world you live in. How did you end up in such a stark realm of black and white? Because while Alan Dershowitz rants about policies like pre-emption and targeted killings being vital tools of democracy, Israel is continuing to exhibit some very un-democratic behavior. Imagine that, America’s Golden Child of the Middle East, the nation that is supposed to inspire the Arabs of the region to “embrace democracy”, well, it’s really not much better for freedom than Communist China. After all, by controlling what can and can’t be told, how exactly is Israel fostering the free and independent press that is the backbone of any free society or civilization?

I wish I wasn’t forced into a question of “Is Israel completely right or completely wrong?” by some of these pundits and opinionators. I absolutely respect a country’s right to safety for its citizens and peace of mind that an all-out assault by every power in the region isn’t going to occur at any minute. But those rights and securities come with the conditions that what you expect, you also exhibit, and what you put forth, returns upon you as well. So while Israel is bulldozing Palestinian houses, destroying offices and other facilities, and sending troops in to quell resistance, I can’t help but wonder how they can look at the international community with a straight face and say “We do this because we must, to protect ourselves.” My advice to Israel is that peace is best achieved through peace, not war. Perhaps if Israel sent construction workers and contractors into the Gaza Strip and West Bank instead of soldiers, tanks, and armed helicopters that shoot missiles at cars and houses with children in them, the response from the Palestinians might be a LOT different. In the meantime, until it stops showing signs of being like a kid who’s been bullied so much that he becomes a bully himself, I cannot and will not support Israel and it’s wars of vengeance. This is not a statement or post in favor of Hamas, or Hezbollah, or other Arab terror organizations instead of support for democracy. This is my post, about justice and accountability, and whether or not Israel is demonstrating enough of a commitment to true democracy and peaceful existence to warrant my support for it as a nation.