The Sixth Sense

A few years ago, a great movie came out called The Sixth Sense. The theme of the movie was that people see what they want to see, and hear what they want to hear. Without revealing any important details of the film, I can tell you that it was also the kind of movie that was especially enjoyable to watch again, keeping that theme in mind.

What theme could be more true or relevant when it comes to the world's view of Israel. The world sees what it wants to see, and hears what it wants to hear.

snip

“If the Arabs would lay down their arms, there would be no more war. If Israel would lay down her arms, there would be no more Israel.”

People can see what they want to see, and hear what they want to hear. The way the world views Israel, however, it does not utilize a sixth sense, it simply makes no sense at all.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=3082

I intentionally left out the "list" of issues, thinking some might read them before the knee jerk reactions follow.

The Palestinians have no country. No military. No money. Little food.

The Israels have all of those things in spades.

If the Palestinian terrorists stopped fighting, the entire Palestinian population believes that they would be dead. Sharon has already shown a willingness to wipe them out, as do many other prominent MKs and cabinet members. This, I should note, is NOT the will of the Israeli people as a whole, many of whom do not approve of the torture the Palestinians endure.

If the Israelis stopped fighting, at WORST, things would continue as they do now simply because the Palestinian terrorist groups have no capacity to wage a war or do anything beyond what they already do. And if that occurs, you could pretty much guarantee the entire international community would lose all sympathy for the Palestinians and the Israelis could then pretty much take any course of action wanted.

Let me reiterate something I made a note of in the post. Hamas, Al Aqsa, and the other terrorists do NOT speak for the entire Palestinian population, just as the Israeli hawks do not speak for all Israelis.

Finally, I'm sorry, but when numerous UN resolutions are passed condemning Israel by votes of 144-4 (with the US and Israel making up half the "no" vote"), it's not the international community you should be looking at and pointing fingers. Perhaps the Israeli government should take a hint and realize that maybe they're going about things in the wrong way.

Further, the article you post paints such a one-sided, biased, factually incorrect view of the way things are. Please, visit btselem.org. This organization was founded by former members of the Knesset who saw first had what was going on. There are statistics, names and pictures that do not lie or twist the truth. There you will see that for every 1 Israeli that is killed, 4 Palestinians are murdered. That 428 Palestinian and 104 Israeli children were needlessly killed. If you want to get into injuries caused by the violence, we're talking 24,099 Palestinians injured to 5,616 Israelis. Those aren't even close to equal numbers. That's a massacre.

BOTH sides need to stop the violence. The actions of each side are completely unacceptable and need to stop.

Prior to June of 1967, did anyone see or care that Jews were barred from the Old City of Jerusalem, from going to pray at the holy Kotel? (Never mind that it was used as a garbage dump.) That there was no "Palestinian People" or talk of a Palestinian state? That the PLO was already three years old, and had the expressed stated goal of destroying Israel? OK, I didn't mean to go back to ancient history (although we all know that that would prove our case, as well). Let’s stick with the world’s blindness of just the last few years.

And they too have thr right to live where they have lived for a long time...

The world told Israel to get out of southern Lebanon, because we were the obstacle to peace in the region. Well, we left. Anyone notice that Hizbollah filled the void, and the area is now more dangerous than ever? Anyone notice that the Syrians have been occupying and controlling Lebanon for the last how many years? (Oh yeah, their excuse is that they were "invited" to be there.)

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Would you like to respond for yourself instead of simply quoting the article? Please, advise us of your own opinions and information.

Is that a new rule in this forum that I missed? I think the article speaks for itself and is much more erudite than I would be. If there is a specific part that you read and would like to discuss it, feel free to place your comments and/or questions here. Either myself or another interested party will enter into a discussion with you.

That is usually how a discussion board works.

Welcome to DU

:hi:

I personally don't care that you have over 1000 posts here. The point of a discussion board is to discuss, not persistently quote someone else. You should be discussing your OWN opinions. If you want to start with the column, that's fine. But I gave a full rebuttal using my own words and I expect a counter in your own words.

Start with your claim:

"Further, the article you post paints such a one-sided, biased, factually incorrect view of the way things are."

What is factually incorrect? Pick one or two of the incidents mentioned in the article.

When you are finished with that, explain this one

"If the Israelis stopped fighting, at WORST, things would continue as they do now simply because the Palestinian terrorist groups have no capacity to wage a war or do anything beyond what they already do."

Do you mean at WORST we can continue to see terrorist bombings? Sorry, but you are just explaining why the PEACE FENCE is necessary and the Israelis can stop fighting.

1) That it is incorrect that there was no Palestinian people or state. Perhaps they weren't classified under those specific terms, but the land certainly wasn't barren before 1967. The Palestinian people had lived there centuries before Israel was formed and were merely brushed aside.
2) The world wasn't blind, but there wasn't exactly a consensus in 1967. A lot of people still felt that England was wrong for creating Israel and displacing people from their homes. Plus, it's very hard for someone to condemn the Palestinians for fighting to keep what's left of their home. It was a very tenuous situation, at best. Now, however, Israel is an established nation with a lot of power using unnecessary force injuring thousands of innocent people in their pursuit of small percentage of the population.
3) Syria and Lebanon ARE allies. They DO share the land. They ARE invited. Need proof? See the Lebanon-Syria Treaty of Cooperation.
4) The IDF makes no effort to keep collateral damage down, using illegal flechette rounds to intentionally harm ANYONE who might be near the SUSPECTED terrorists, whom I might add are not given trials - they are simply assassinated. Further, firing missiles into downtown Ramallah from fighter jets in the middle of the crowded daytime streets is hardly making an effor to keep innocent casualties down.
5) They filmed one incident where they gunned down a car full of ALLEGED terrorists, but did they film the execution for a 3 year old girl attending the funeral service of her mother who was killed the day before when the IDF tore her house down with her in it? Did it film Rachel Corrie's death? I can film myself volunteering at the local soup kitchen, but that doesn't mean I make that a usual practice. It only means it happened once.
6) A recent study by the group "If Americans Knew" shows the disparity in reporting the Israel/Palestine conflict. The San Jose Mercury News, for example, reports about 70% of all Israeli deaths on the front page, while only about 3% of Palestinian deaths get reported. When you consider that Palestinians are killed 4 times more often than Israelis are, the author is correct that the media needs to be alerted - just not for the reasons he believes.
7) The author claims security fences are common. However, most security fences are placed OUTSIDE the borders of one's country, not within. Even if Palestine were an independent state, the security fence turns the mythical state into swiss cheese. This is not about protection - it's about grabbing land.

If that's not enough I can continue at a later time, but I unfortunately have a job to do right now. And yes, I did mean AT WORST, meaning, in the worst case scenario, things aren't going to get any worse than they are now. This means Israel has absolutely nothing to lose but everything to gain if they actually try to be peaceful for a brief time. And no, this has not happened yet, because the IDF continued their assassination raids during the previous "cease fires", which inevitably got a response from the terrorist groups.

Where the author will wail about double standards and about people only seeing what they want to see, and in the process of doing so, commit the very same blunder that they're accusing people of committing....

Violet...