Why write so often about Israel and Palestine?
It seems that lately I’ve been writing a great deal about three subjects: Israel/Palestine, the current Trump trial in New York, and the 2024 election. Plenty of other important things are happening – and I do write about them. But my focus has been on those three.
The latter two obviously affect us all. But what about Israel/Palestine? Why so much about that? I often see the sentiment from commenters on blogs on the right (not on this one, however) to the effect of: who cares? Let them duke it out. It doesn’t affect me at all.
My answer is a variation of the old “you may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” There’s plenty in the Middle East conflict that affects us all and will continue to affect us all: the clash between left and right, the transformation of our universities into indoctrination factories, the leftist bias of the press, lessons in history and propaganda, and the aims of Islamic radicals to take over the Western world (yes; it is their aim, and they state it quite clearly). In furtherance of that aim they are more than willing to kill not just the Israelis, not just the Jews, but anyone who gets in their way. There’s also the revelation of the foreign policy aims of the Obama/Biden coalition.
Then there are the moral issues. This is a war in which Israel our ally, and the most Western nation in the Middle East, was cruelly and barbarically attacked during a ceasefire by a group that states its desire to do it again and again and again until Israeli and the Israelis are destroyed. The Israelis are fighting a necessary defensive war. And it’s no accident that their enemies consider Israel to be the Little Satan and the US the Great Satan:
The epithet was coined by Iranian religious leader Ruhollah Khomeini, who used it in a speech on 5 November 1979, one day after the onset of the Iran hostage crisis. In the speech, he condemned the United States as an imperialist power that sponsored corruption throughout the world.
Note Khomeini’s clever use of terms that would appeal to Western leftists: the US as an “imperialist” power. Of course, in the familiar Orwellian inversion of language, Islam is a hugely imperialist movement and has been since its founding, and Iran has taken over many countries in the Middle East and influences and promotes the war against Israel and the spread of terrorism as well as anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-American, and anti-Western propaganda.
Note also that one of the first actions of the Islamic rulers of Iran after the 1979 revolution was to take Americans hostage.
#MeToo 😉 Tho for me, Ukraine’s survival has probably topped all three of those – at least up until the moment Trump stayed silent and let Johnson get that
aideaid bill through. Jeez, no wonder I hated English so much in school—aide vs aid ‘n etcetera.Both Ukraine & Israel are standing up against some major powers, and one misstep on their part could finish them. How could anyone ignore their plights?!
I wouldn’t blame you Neo, it’s the 800 pound Gorilla in the room, it’s hard not to notice. American Universities have taken Hamas to heart.
Were talking about civilizational evil the rearing up of the Old Gods of Egypt of Babylon of Phoenicia
How do so many not recognize it
Personally appreciate Israel war posts. Lacking in the usual sites.
I think the conflict with Hamas and radical Islam is a far more serious threat to the US and our way of life than is the Ukraine conflict (with apologies to those who think otherwise). Europe needs to begin fending for itself. Russia wants to be a regional empire. Radical Islam and China want to destroy us, and may have the ability to do it, working from within the US.
Israel == Trump
_______________________
They’re not after me; they’re after you. I’m just in their way.
–Donald Trump
_______________________
Well, they are after Israel, Trump and me and us. I don’t forget that.
I don’t like when things come down to taking sides, but sometimes they do. Sing it, Pete.
_______________________
Which side are you on, boys?
Which side are you on?
–Pete Seeger, “Which Side Are You On?”*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XEnTxlBuGo
_______________________
*Note irony. Great banjo.
Americans are the least Imperial world power in history. Were we imperialists, in the years after WWII we would have done what the Nazis and the Communists wanted to do, and subjugated the entire planet.
Americans are the least Imperial world power in history. Were we imperialists, in the years after WWII we would have done what the Nazis and the Communists wanted to do, and subjugated the entire planet.
Paul+Harmon:
Amen. There has been no imperial power in the history of the world that would have backed down from scooping up all the marbles had it been in the position of dominance the US enjoyed after WW2.
yes indeed
https://t.co/90suFp0lMb
I agree the events in the ME will have greater worldwide consequences than a European war.
I’m trying to understand what the Obama strategy of enabling Iran hegemony in the Middle East, other than to see Israel’s demise. I know secularists believe money/affluence can subjugate religious fervor but to choose the most fervent theocratic regime to assume that position seems incredulous.
From the time Obama took his victory lap in Egypt, is it possible he was hoping for Egypt to assume that position and only after the Brotherhood failed to maintain control did he shift to Iran?
Did they think the Ayatollahs would be more persuadable to western conventions than bin Laden?
It boggles the mind that supposedly “really smart people” could be so stupid. The only other explanation I see is Obama did really want to see Israel liquidated (to coin a Ukrainian phrase).
Israel is the only true ally we and the West have in the Middle East. Europe can’t be trusted to help Israel because of chronic anti-semitism. Insanely enough, the US might be coming down with the same illness.
Many years ago I saw some news report/show where an Arab man was asking why we supported the Jews and Israel. I remember thinking how stupid a question it was. Jews have been part of America before we were a country. Jewish men have bled for us in America’s wars. Jews have helped us become us. What have the Muslims done? Killed Americans and complained about us. I realized that most Arabs have no idea what Jews are in America, they are Americans.
As for Israel, I guess, we Satans have to stick together.
Brian E:
I believe that Obama was sympathetic to the Palestinian line from around his Columbia days. Edward Said was a star there back then, and Obama had spent a great deal of time in Muslim countries. I also believe his plan for Iran was there from the start of his presidency. Please see this post of mine on that topic.
I think Frank Marshall Davis, the Stalinist and premier anti colonialist, probably had the earliest imput, he had grown up in Indonesia, which still carried the Third World impulses of Sukarno although Lolo Soetero his step father was a relatively level headed person,
I probably didn’t investigate it as diligently as you are wont to, neo. But it was clear to me from early on that Obama’s political upbringing was marinated in Third-World leftism and that he hated both the US and Israel.
Obama is a Muslim. Once a Muslim, always a Muslim. Mohammed the “Prophet”, clearly said that, and said also “Kill the Christian, kill the Jew.” Those were the words he got straight from Allah. Mohammed was merely a scribe taking down dictation from his god, Allah.
The first thing he did was to mobilize his crummy village in Medina to attack Mecca, some 25 miles away.
It is past time to view Islam as a conquering ideology, not as a religion. Remember how Thos. Jefferson dealt with the marauding Muslim pirates in early 1800s?
Yes. I think of how the world has changed since 1979. Or since 1999. It seemed Islam was somewhat marginalised then. Now, the Islamic nations in the UN form enough of a strong and effective voting block, they’ve turned it into their cats-paw in too many respects…just consider how compromised the WHO is!
And these same corrupt authoritarian states exercise veto power in the UN, these days. Leaving us ever more alienated from a once respected institution.
But the 10 and then 20 years of GWOT have made Americans look inward and spurn foreign affairs. It’s quite natural for a people to be war weary.
The Biden machinations and rationalizations regarding the ME only make me hate FJB more.
I’m with Kate and huxley on Neo’s focus. It’s lacking in my alt reading and YT information sources. This beat is your pulse, and therefore I am glad you share it….even though I’m certainly among those commenting less, if at all, about it.
But speaking of the 800 pound gorilla and the Obama-Blinken blinded mice, the unfiltered and unconstrained open border immigration not withstanding, the US debate we never had because the Left-Media shut it down with the pre-woke “racism” rant since 2003: “Islamophobia!”
Why is Islam incompatible with Western freedom and open sicieties?
That gorilla. And this is why I will always take Israel’s fate and prospects seriously. They constitute our frontline nation, that even Europe is abandoning.
This last fact scares me. And I feel so helpless about it (another reality that generates or hardens my neglect, I must admit)….
Righting the wrongs of history? I’d believe that, since the CIA involvement is firmly established as fact.
I’d forgotten the controversy about the events leading to the return of the Shah.
Remembering a CIA Coup in Iran That Never Was
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/cia-coup-in-iran-that-never-was-mossadegh
yes amir taheri, and his nest of spies, was very helpful in painting the picture, a few years ago, Andrew Scott Palmer did a solid summing up, trying to cut through the black legend, that Mossadegh partisans like Bani Sadr had spread in the West, to Salinger, to Edward Randall in the Post, to Rouleau in Le Monde,
Were talking about civilizational evil the rearing up of the Old Gods of Egypt of Babylon of Phoenicia,
With a few obvious exceptions the old gods of the ancient Near East were relatively benign, being chiefly concerned, most of them, with fertility, reproduction, the ordering of the seasons, and the overall stable functioning of the cosmos. In terms of their capacity and predilection for immiserating humanity, they didn’t hold a candle to Allah, a truly violent, bloodthirsty, and — dare I say it? — evil deity.
Report: Senior US officials held indirect talks with Iran in Oman this week to avoid Mideast escalation: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/report-senior-us-officials-held-indirect-talks-with-iran-in-oman-this-week-to-avoid-mideast-escalation/
Pathetic.
In 1993 I was hopeful that the world would become more peaceful due to the end of the Cold War. Foolish me.
After 9/11 I even believed that the “Pentagon’s New Map” https://th.bing.com/th?id=OIP.CHhUqd-xTXWsnY36BeDDuQHaLM&w=203&h=307&c=8&rs=1&qlt=90&o=6&dpr=2.2&pid=3.1&rm=2 was a possible strategy to bring the lesser developed countries into the modern world. Foolish me.
What has transpired since 1993 is that the authoritarian regimes -China, Russia, North Korea,
Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and many smaller dictatorships – have become more aggressive, more willing to stand against the democracies. It’s clear that they view democracies as threats to their survival and/or ambitions.
They aren’t formally allied, but they do agree that they don’t like the U.S. and its main allies.
More of them are acting in concert against the West in whatever ways they can. Weakness and indecision are an invitation to these sorts of governments. IMO, if the leaders of the Free World don’t soon wake up to this and begin to rebuild the military and financial strengths of the democracies, major war lies ahead.
And that’s why I don’t mind reading a lot about Israel and Palestine because they are part of the big picture that needs to be understood.
Well Neo I too am obsessed with Israel vs Hamas if that is a fair characterization.
To me it has become something like a defining moment in the eternal moral tug of war.
Sadly, as is so often the case, those who think with moral clarity seem to be disengaged, while the morally corrupt (I mean that) are so vocal and visible.
I also feel strongly about Ukraine. I have noted that there are shifting themes that suggest that “maybe Russia was justified”, and “Ukraine is corrupt”, etc. I suppose the people who mouth such foolishness, are the same sort who said, “well, Hitler should be excused for annexing Austria”, and so on.
I can almost foresee the equivocation after China invades Taiwan.
There are, of course, plenty of worries about the breakdown of our own society. “Gradually, then suddenly” paraphrases an old adage about how transformative change occurs. We seem to be a step or two away from “suddenly”.
My view is Barky was a Muslim, but Marxism is his new religion. But he certainly has a soft spot in his heart for it.
My opinion of Ukraine is free or Russian doesn’t really make a bit of difference to us
The Israeli war against Iran and its proxies is the most important event of our time.
Israel is the vanguard of Western Civilization.
Hopefully, Biden will be flushed down the toilet bowl of history.
Warning: this comment is about ninety degrees off-topic. Worse yet, it’s going to encourage the same things from others.
In this post, Neo didn’t explicitly poll her readers, but I’m among those who appreciate both the quality and quantity of her posts on the war between Israel and Hamas/Iran.
Having said that, I’m going to pretend that Neo asked a different question, one that’s barely related. Is there a general topic that you wish Neo would write more about? This has to be a realistic suggestion. For example, I’m a long-time basketball fan. Except for the possibilty of naive comedy, I wouldn’t look to Neo for posts on basketball.
But what about asking for more posts on the social consequences of chatbots, AI, and LLM’s? Some people here are obviously interested, but it’s not Neo’s expertise. So what would be a realistic request? US relations with China? Illegal immigration? Political consequences of economic policy? Fashion and culture–high and low? Social psychology and politics? Population genetics and historical change?
Even more off-topic, if there’s something you like reading about, but it’s not a realistic topic for Neo, where do you read about it online?
Thanks.
P.S. If I’ve opened an unwelcome can of worms, I wouldn’t be offended if Neo deleted this comment. In fact, I’m very close to not clicking on the “post comment” button. Not sure this is a good idea, but I’m curious.
P.P.S. I probably won’t reply to anyone who takes the time to comment. I’d rather not start any wrangling. Just want to know what people think.