See this page for links to articles on OpEdNEws that articulate both sides on the issues in the middle east. It is the goal of OpEdNews to air opinions from both sides to stretch the envelope of discussion and communication. Hate statements are not accepted. Discussions of issues and new ideas for solutions are encouraged. .
Eeyyeewww. This middle east business is very challenging. I get hatemail calling me an antisemite by one writer and the next calls me a zionist racist.
Did I already say that in a previous email? Well, I'm getting more of it. It is a bit upsetting, but I'm staying with my policy. I will publish articles from both sides-- articles which are not hateful, which talk about what is going on. I don't expect them to be warm and fuzzy. I expect them to be angry. This horrible situation inevitably drives people to passionate positions.
Sunday morning, I woke up at 5:30 AM, upset about one writer who accused me of being a Jew Hater. And another villified me as a zionist supporter of nazi murdering racists who kill women and children.
But I'm going to keep at this. I don't know of many places that are taking articles from Israelis and palestinians, Jews and Muslims. I expect to make some mistakes, to allow some articles that go too far in one direaction or the other. I'm hoping you, my readers, will help me to see any articles like that, that go too far in either direction. But as the publisher of a progressive site, I would be failing in my responsibility to my readers if I just backed off and allowed one side of this issue to dominate. There are other sites that do that very well. They are happy to only attack Israel. Yet, when we look at the Democratic-- the left side of the aisle in congress-- they are 99% supporting Israel.
I'm not unquestioningly supporting Israel. I have repeatedly said that Israel's leadership is of the same ilk and as bad as the leadership the US has. There's a mess over there and a lot of the problem is political and a lot is religious extremism.
We on the left MUST discuss how the problems in the middle east can be resolved. I'm sorry, but simple answers-- kill Hizbollah, take away all of Israel's funding-- the two most common answers, do not and will not work. Like it or not, ALL the politicians in congress, except a literal handful, are on board with strong support for Israel. I'm not advocating it, just observing that this is the reality. That's because failure to do so can cost a candidate dearly. Yes, sure, I know that Jews make up only two or three percent of the population. But they vote two or three times as much as others and they contribute to campaigns more and that small percentage has a disproportionally large influence on legislators.
Legislators are not going to suddenly write off Israel. This is not a complaint about Jewish voters and it's not a defense. It just IS that way. So, progressives, if they want to see change in the middle east, should stop WASTING their time saying how evil Israel is and should start talking about ways to help peace happen.
We need to talk about this a lot. When passions fire up, it sometimes takes a bit of cartharsis-- getting the anger out-- before a real conversation can begin. So I've been trying to communicate with a number of the people who send me hate mail, and sometimes we can start to have conversations that show promise. We need to do a lot more of that. I'd really like to see YOU posting blog diaries and posting comments on articles, getting involved in the conversation.
We need to find new ways to solve the problems in the middle east. I don't have any problem with the US weighing in much more heavily than it has. But I think that the Republicans are USING the middle east conflagration as a smokescreen that they hope will put Americans back into a fear of terrorism state of mind that also distracts them from the problems with domestic spying, Iraq, corruption, Valerie Plame, 9/11, etc..
I fear we will soon be seeing Syria entering the fray, and eventually, Iran. This is bad news. It is incredibly dangerous. It is highly likely because it is what Rumsfeld and his neocon allies have wanted to do, and Bush has generally LET THEM DO what they wanted to do.
In the scenario the Neocons envision, Israel is currently the frontline of the USA's fight against terrorism.
I repeat. The neocons are framing the middle east conflict of America's new front line in the battle defending the US and the world from terrorism. I'm just describing their frame, not buying it.
But I think many of those voters who shifted the polling numbers so BUsh's ratings dropped to 33% or 35% ARE buying it. And there is an expectation that Bush's poll ratings are going up. Surprise!!. This manipulation of the mideast pawns is working.
So, if you're not happy with what Israel is doing, read it as a chess move by Bush and his neocons. DOn't get mad at the pawn. Get mad at the player who is calling the moves. And remember, that pawns, the pawns on your side, are expendable. Israel is being "spent" and so are the hapless victims in Lebanon.
We see reports that Syria is raising the readiness level of its military.
And progressives are talking about bad Israel-- watching the pawn while Bush and the neocons are playing higher power games with framing for the Americans who will decide the election, playing higher power games with bishops and mullahs, horses and and castles-- nuclear brandishing and territorial and oil predation.
Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com and is a columnist with Northstarwriters.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump speeches and debates. He recently retired as organizer of several conferences, including StoryCon, the Summit Meeting on the Art, Science and Application of Story and The Winter Brain Meeting on neurofeedback, biofeedback, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology. See more of his articles here and, older ones, here.
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-While I'm registered as a Democrat, I consider myself to be a dynamic critic of the Democratic party, just as, well, not quite as much, but almost as much as I am a critic of republicans.
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Chin up, Rob; when you are getting it from all sides you must be getting through.
My favorite hate-mail began with the line, "Did your mother have any children that lived?"
Battle-scars are a way of life for those who fight the good fight.
The following quotation was taken from your piece.
That's because failure to do so (support Israel) can cost a candidate dearly. Yes, sure, I know that Jews make up only two or three percent of the population. But they vote two or three times as much as others and they contribute to campaigns more and that small percentage has a disproportionally large influence on legislators.
This analysis is fine as far as it goes, but it misses the huge and fanatical rank and file following Israel has among the Religious Right and it misses the nearly equally dedicated and even bigger following Israel, the only Democracy in the middle east, has among liberals and moderates.
The Jews may the most visible friends of Israel, but here in the land of red, white and blue WE ALL BACK ISRAEL and do so from well-informed and well-principled positions.
What the US and Israel both are missing is a strategic view of how peace can be won in the region.
The underlying problem is the weakness of the Arab states: their inability to police their internal territory is shown in the current conflict; but more fundamentally, they are unable, for the most part, to provide the basic requirements of life for most of their citizens.
Syria is unlikely to enter this, the sixth Arab-Israeli war, (famous last words) because they will surely be defeated and their current leadership will find that the government pension plan won't cover what would happen to them next.
Iran is deliberately and skillfully trying to change the balance of power in the region to their favor. So what is new about that? Does anybody remember Reza Pahlavi's unsheathing of the oil sword in the early seventies?
We might want to think of trying Nixon and Reagan's tried and true tactic of bribing the Iranians again.
I guess that last sentence will give everyone the heebie-jeebies.
Robert Chapman
Brooktondale, New York
by
Robert Chapman (28 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 556 comments)
on Monday, July 31, 2006 at 9:31:31 PM
the Palestinians and Lebanese. Iran is buying the loyalty of the southern Lebanese Shiites for $100 million a year. THat's less than what Haliburton loses count of in three months. We could do a better job of providing health care, education, etc. and build long term positive relationships.
by
Rob Kall (869 articles, 4016 quicklinks, 345 diaries, 1847 comments)
on Monday, July 31, 2006 at 9:47:16 PM
This present scenario would not have happened if the USSR was still going. Who would have thought the old monstrocity did any good? ( WW2 and the Bolshoi aside!)
by
Hamish (45 articles, 0 quicklinks, 68 diaries, 210 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 12:11:37 AM
Of course passions are ruling this debate, that is why we are in this mess in the first place. I personally do not expect either Syria or Iran to commit troops to this current situation. I believe that they understand, beneath the rhetoric designed to placate their citizenry, that this explosive series of events is being fomented by those who need to see a permanent American military presence in the middle east. With, unfortunately, the complicity of an Israeli government gone totally bonkers.
Lebanon has been struggling to free itself of the influence of both Syria and Hezbollah, now this effort is moot, destroyed by Israeli military actions. The two nations who most need permanent American presence in that region are the USA and Israel and the so-called progressive elements in this nation should really abandon the testosterone and do some careful thinking on this.
Rob, I returned to this site because of the courageous stances you are taking in impartiality. I applaud this most necesary step and will continue to do everything in my power to support you, even when we disagree.....
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 7:13:36 AM
I'll have to admit being more confused about current events in the middle east than I have been about any other issue in recent years. Much of the reason is that there are commentators whose opinions I have come to value and who I have grown to think are reasoning rational people who have suddenly started to sound as foolishly opinionated as the average right-wing talk-show host.
Your call for a rational debate on the issues is a very welcome one. I hope it will help me and others sort things out. However, I have a suggestion, put some emphasis on discussing the facts. Just what are the facts and how do we know they are in fact true? I am a bit tired of hearing different commentators state facts that contradicts the facts of other commentators.
The strong opinions about this particular situation in Lebanon and Palistine mirrors the difference between the right and the left generally. It is not so much that most people disagree on objectives, it is that people disagree on the facts. The problem is that they believe the facts as they hear them from a small minority of people who really do disagree on objectives.
by
PrMaine (11 articles, 9 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 395 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 7:29:10 AM
What I would like to see Rob are the reasons why Jews support Israel. What makes them tick? Why the insistence in staying in the region after all these years fighting this war? Nobody is winning. They are all losers...yet they still lob gernades instead of volleyballs.
For the love of me...I can not figure out the rational?
The Middle East is Arab, is Muslim, is Islamic, Sunni, Shiite, Kurds, is Palestinians, Hezbollah, Hamas, Fathad, etc. How do Jews get into the picture?
It is like a chick in a wolves den, a mouse in the cat house, a fish in a bears mouth. It is like a rabbit in a lions cage, a frog in a snakes coil, a pig in a butcher shop.
Israel can not exist in the Middle East. That is my point and analogy. I remember when growing up learning about girls and having a girlfriend. I just loved them so much..I wanted to control everything in the relationship. I was not able to develop trust in our jouney. But as I grew...I learned if you love something or someone alot..you have to let them go. This shows the greatest degree of trust. And if they return to you...then it is real love and the relationship grows.
I think this is like Israel. They love the country so much that they are strangling it to death. They can't seem to let it go...or trust that Israel will be Israel despite their illusions in trying to save it.
I learned that in order to bring good to your country you have to let it go. The fighting does not solve issues. It is not a question of power and might..it is a question of character and honor. Some would compare it to seeing a weak starving horse to a strong and radiant horse. Most people will choose the Strong radiant horse. But this comparison is idiotic because health or advocating war as strength is totally unfounded. In fact War in my conclusion shows how really weak you are. If you were so great you would not need weapons or force to get your way. But the real world according to Bush and others who embrace fear...have this unending reprisal syndrome...if they let their guard down. It signals death to them.
So the question is what are you fighting for? I still want to know why Israel hangs on to this losing idea of being the fly on the water of Fish Lake in the Middle East. It makes no sense.
Better to give it up in love...to find a new homeland and I think the sands will shift. The Arabs will understand how they have been trying to exterminate a rare occasion. How a rare Jewish Nation could rise in the midst of their world. How is that the sheep can lie down in the lions den?
I think Israel needs to make the first move...And they should not be relying on the United States. It would be something if the Arabs and Israelis joined together in a War against the United States. They will see that the USA where the sideline Jews live and are away from the action.. have given up Israel; but use people who live there now to fight this false war in order to become rich in another country. Israel's Olmert will become another Saddam Hussein who figured out the manipulation and bite the hand that has been feeding him.
I hope that Israel will let itself go...stop the fight..look for another homeland.. When the love light as been lit....I think Israel will find itself to remain in the Middle East. If not..then they have a safer, and freer, place to live. They certainly deserve better. And so do the Arabs and Palestinians.
Israel needs to take the step...
by
Dom Jermano (20 articles, 0 quicklinks, 40 diaries, 930 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 7:33:06 AM
shows plainly that jews have lived in the middle east for centuries. The old testament claims that the arab tribes were descendants of one of those jews. Both arab and jew are cousins and both have a right to a homeland.
by
ardee D. (6 articles, 4 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 2377 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 8:55:18 PM
Rob, a million thanks for not sitting this one out
As difficult as it is, we NEED this conversation. I'm disappointed in other progressives with readership for not trying to work through this. I think many liberals are unwilling to face long-held beliefs that may not seem quite so defensible anymore.
As a Christian of the Beatitudes-NOT of any Western church institution- in solidarity with peace seeking Israeli's and Palestinians I have learned that the Pain goes so very deep on both sides, that unless there is a Third partner a middle way will not be found.
This Administration has let We the People down, but I am convinced of the wisdom and insight of Margaret Mead who said:
"Never doubt that a few, thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
The following is from an email from an American Israeli Peace Activist and a thoughtful, committed citizen of the world:
In Jerusalem alone, 100 people turned up for a vigil on Sunday in a surge of anger, protest, and mourning following the killing of children and adults in Qana, Lebanon. Vigils erupted all over Israel, punctuated by the fury of passersby as they read our signs. I brought candles, but they did not stay lit in the cool evening breeze of Jerusalem. Others brought their own signs. Here are a few photos of the Jerusalem (left) and Haifa vigils (the 2 right photos are by Jacob Katriel in Haifa):
On Saturday, we held an extraordinary mass march of "Women Against War" in Tel Aviv. Women came from 17 sponsoring women's organizations*, and we estimate about 3,000 participants (including men). It was a dramatic sight marching through the streets dressed in black as a sign of mourning for the victims on both sides. While the tabloids ignored us, Ha'aretz published a photo and detailed caption, and NRG, one of Israel's biggest news portals, told the whole story. The Arabic press gave us front-page coverage, and some of the foreign press also captured the story. This was an important action in a society in which the voices of women are always marginalized - and entirely erased during times of war. Our gratitude to the Urgent Action Fund for helping make it possible.
For a real sense of the event, click into this 3.35 minute video done by "Social TV". It's in Hebrew, but you'll get the idea:
For chant collectors, here's a translation of a few of ours (in Hebrew they rhyme):
"Peace and security are not built on dead bodies"
"Money for the disadvantaged, not for war"
"Children in Beirut and Haifa ALL want to live"
It was an amazingly long procession (photo left), and we could see people hanging out of balconies to watch and sometimes curse - no surprise, with 90% of Israelis in support of this war. The anti-war movement in Israel seems to be inching forward, though the vast majority of Israelis continue to view us as traitors. The international anti-war movement is a great source of solidarity for us here.
Most disturbing is the overwhelming Israeli support for the Qana bombing based on the belief that the Hezbullah were using this building as a launching site for their missiles. And while all this is happening, dozens of Palestinians are being killed in Gaza by Israeli troops. A news (not op-ed) article in Ha'aretz noted, "The large number of fatalities suggests the IDF is engaged in indiscriminate killing under the cover of the war in the north" ("97 fatalities in Gaza, but all eyes are on Lebanon" by Avi Issacharoff, 30 July 2006).
It's more than those killed for whom we have to light candles - it's the breakdown of morality in Israeli society in general.
In sadness,
Gila Svirsky, Jerusalem
*The participating organizations: Women against War: Coalition of Women for Peace, Ahoti, Aswat, Bat Shalom, Women in Black, FORA (Russian-speaking women), TANDI, Women against Violence, Al-Tufula, New Profile, The Fifth Mother, WILPF, Neled, Feminist House, Ittihad el-Nissa el-Takdumi, and Kayan.
___________________
Gila Svirsky
Coalition of Women for Peace
www.coalitionofwomen.org
by
Eileen Fleming (154 articles, 55 quicklinks, 268 diaries, 588 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 8:47:59 AM
Rob, you mentioned that "Jews. . . better start seeing the bigger picture." Israel, too, is myopic, as well as short-sighted. Almost as insular as North Korea, it doesn't seem to realize or care about the impact its actions have on other nations. It's got to learn to be a world citizen or one day an American president will actually be elected without AIPAC's help and Israel will be left high and dry. Then it's just them and their -- let's never forget -- illicit nukes against the Arab world and Iran
by
Russ Wellen (58 articles, 1029 quicklinks, 66 diaries, 335 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 9:10:10 AM
that Israel is being spent as well as all the people in the Middle East. I also think that brotherly Civil War there is instigated deliberately. But that does not take away the responsibility of the individuals and that responsiblity is mounting. Israel is told to fulfill its role as an overseer and the plans of his neocon masters is clear- to forever impose chaos and death in the region. People of the region resist. They resist in all ways possible including the ways we do not like. But for goodness sake, we, the white, civilized people had installed monsters in charge who had killed millions and we now judge those who fight with whatever they got?! We cannot make a conclusion about those people. The warmongers are here, in our country. Their ethnic origin does not matter. If I say Condi is a murderous vampire I am not a racist. If I say Neocons and Dershowitz are mad I am not an antisemite. If say the David Irving who denies the Holocaust deserves his prison, I am not a zionist. Those labels are meaningless and stupid when it comes to real things. And real things are as such:
Arabs and Jews are brothers. What we see is Civil War.
There is no, absolutely no preference in that conflict and all the 'democracy vs tyranny' stuff is bogus. Israel is as much a democracy as US- both are screwed, big time.
Zionists and Radical fanatics are not friends of their people.
Our govt and other European govts paved a way for zionists and radical fanatics to dance macabre in the Middle East by deliberately and meticulously destroying anything independent and moderate. The 'Flat Earth' approach is the primary cause of this war.' The racism of our govt is the crime committed.
We have to stop them here. The wave will follow.
by
Mark Sashine (54 articles, 19 quicklinks, 252 diaries, 3605 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 10:12:25 AM
Gila Svirsky in her post has the correct answer for both sides. Dialog and peace activism in Israel is the key to peace. Anything Democrats can do to foster dialog in the Mid East will advance the cause. If you have friends in Israel, you should talk with them about ending the violence, and restarting the peace talks. Public discontent with government actions in Israel will force the leaders back to the negotiating table.
John
by
John R Moffett (83 articles, 17 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 650 comments)
on Tuesday, August 1, 2006 at 12:42:22 PM
Thank god you call a spade a spade. The main stream media are pumping this up for all it is worth, proving that this is part of the neo con agenda. This conflict sells ammo, while distracting us from 911, voting machines and Iraq. You can bet the oil companies will get something out of this, probably destruction of Iranian oil infrastructure, thus driving up the price oil pumped by Exxon-Mobile, et. al.
It also drives the anti Israeli American left away from the pro Israeli middle, allowing Bush to steal back votes. The cynicism is universal, total, prime. Bush is leading us off the cliff so his buddies can make money, even while overthrowing the Constitution and draining the Treasury.
I wish I could give you some money, but I'm a street musician volunteering for local Democratic candidates, and I don't have a dime or any time.
Chris Brudy, St. Pete, FL
by
GitarChris (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 124 comments)
on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 at 12:38:57 AM
Thank god you call a spade a spade. The main stream media are pumping this up for all it is worth, proving that this is part of the neo con agenda. This conflict sells ammo, while distracting us from 911, voting machines and Iraq. You can bet the oil companies will get something out of this, probably destruction of Iranian oil infrastructure, thus driving up the price oil pumped by Exxon-Mobile, et. al.
It also drives the anti Israeli American left away from the pro Israeli middle, allowing Bush to steal back votes. The cynicism is universal, total, prime. Bush is leading us off the cliff so his buddies can make money, even while overthrowing the Constitution and draining the Treasury.
I wish I could give you some money, but I'm a street musician volunteering for local Democratic candidates, and I don't have a dime or any time.
Chris Brudy, St. Pete, FL
by
GitarChris (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 124 comments)
on Wednesday, August 2, 2006 at 12:39:30 AM
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