IPS piece on linkage between Iran and Israel-Palestine
What I didn't have room to explore there was the whole idea of positive linkage: that is, the idea that if the US can regularize its relationship with Iran to any significant degree then that might have considerable good effects on the Palestinian-Israeli, Syrian-Israeli, and Lebanon-Israeli peacemaking. It is not a trivial concept.
Been waiting for a week to see some thread on the 2.4 Million Pakistanis displaced, the offensive against the Taliban, the US taxpayer money going to rewards for Taliban leaders (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8074285.stm) but I guess that 2.4M refugees, the Pakistani army attack on civilians, the risk of nuclear weapons in the wrong hands, are not news worthy for JWN. Helena's obsession dominates thematic choices or maybe her handlers dictate and reward coverage.
More refugees in one week than the entire Gaza population. Finally a showdown in the lawless sharia land frontier, the press argues they are after 5000 militants. BS, 2.4 Million people can overcome 5.000 militant fighting with just a toothpick each. Somehow when both sides are moslems her game doesn't work. Shame...
What IS trivial is the idea that better relations with Iran MUST be difficult to achieve. No. It would be very, very easy to achieve. Just stop hyping the Iran 'threat'. If Obama and his cabal did that, relations would instantly improve tremendously. Second, stop funding covert operations against Iran. That would improve relations tremendously. None of this would creat Nirvana, but it would dramatically improve relations.
so yes, there is something very trivial about this whole arguement that if Obama tried super, super hard, just maybe he could normalize things some with Iran, and that would help with the Israel/Palestine situation.
What IS trivial is the idea that better relations with Iran MUST be difficult to achieve. No. It would be very, very easy to achieve. Just stop hyping the Iran 'threat'. If Obama and his cabal did that, relations would instantly improve tremendously. Second, stop funding covert operations against Iran. That would improve relations tremendously. None of this would creat Nirvana, but it would dramatically improve relations.
so yes, there is something very trivial about this whole arguement that if Obama tried super, super hard, just maybe he could normalize things some with Iran, and that would help with the Israel/Palestine situation.
Agree, Titus, that the fact bad things are happening elsewhere (remember, always mention Darfur) means that what is happening in Gaza and the WB doesn't really count.
And of course, we shouldn't forget that Israel's human rights record is unmistakably superior to that of the govts. of the Democratic Republic of Congo or Sudan. Moreover, the IDF shows a higher level of moral purity than the Lords Resistance Army.
And lest we forget, the DRC, Sudan and the LRA receive massive amounts of aid from the US and their powerful lobby has corrupted our political process and mass media so the American public doesn't understand all of this.
It is all nice and good whistling, we just have to spot an obsession when we see one, as obsessions are more dangerous for the obsessed than their objects. Look at her latest post, Isarel's candidate in Iran? Ludicrous. Is there anything that she cannot see through the Israeli lens? Did she get that disease from the Quakers, from the Arab ex-husband, from her years in Beirut, or some other psychological angle. Actually it would be recomforting if she were just another paid activist, at least it would rule out the mental angles.
Oh, it is a free country and she can write what she wants, just don't call it JWN.
Agree, Titus, the fact that you feel compelled to patrol this site leaving detailed personal comments criticizing Helena pretty much proves that Helena has an unhealthy obsession with Israel.
You've convinced me. If you had a blog I'm sure I would check it every day and spend hours composing withering comments.
More refugees in one week than the entire Gaza population.
What about Sri Lanka refugees and the disastrous killing of people who have fighting for their independence state.
In East Timor UN and US rushed and supported East Timor gave them independence but not so with Sri Lanka!!...
Hearts and Minds and Money
Salah, I would not say that the UN rushed and supported East Timor. On the contrary, they supported Suharto.
Most people familiar with the politics and society of these Arab communities challenge that assessment. They judge that Hamas, Hizbullah, and Syria’s current government are popular among their followers mainly for reasons other than the support they get from Iran.
I think that Helena (conveniently) forgets the other data point we have: the post 1991 collapse of the first intifada and the arrival from Tunis of Arafat and the PLO leadership. This was seen by many (I don't know how Helena justifies the statement that "most people familiar with....") as a direct result of the defeat of Saddam Hussein in Kuwait.
Further, I don't really think that it is the "people" that have a say in any of the three cases mentioned.
But Hussein was toppled, and the nationalist line among the Palestinians only got stronger - to the point that Hamas won the election in 2006.
Just a slight correction here. It was not the nationalist line that got stronger among the Palestinians. It was the Islamic line (which could be interpreted as the defeat of the last secularist hope having resulted in the a reactionary turn toward Islam and the shari'a).
Iam channeling Obama's mind..stand by.
O.K. it's coming through.
Ending Israel's occupation of Palestine and I-P will:
# give us a major step up in Iran and ME relations overall.
#so we're gonna tell the Israelis to halt settlements.
# the Israelis are gonna try to link it to Iran.
# so we're gonna let the Israeli labor under the delusion of that link for a while.
# we're gonna do nothing about Iran until the Israelis occupation issue is solved.
# and when and if it is, then we're gonna use that settlement peace offering as an example of the new US ME evenhandedness to bring Iran into the US and ME fold with out the Israeli hoped for WWIII in the ME.
Ending Israel's occupation of Palestine and I-P
That's an interesting concept you've got there. But it ain't original. The idea being that the Arabs get two states for the price of one: a Jew-free state (Palestine) and a Muslim Arab majority state (Israel-Palestine). I don't think that even the 'Bummer is going to go for that one!