David, your Pirkei_Avot citations deal with intra-Jewish morality and even so are not very representative. You should present a fuller picture of Jewish Law, for example see:
Note that in Jewish Law terms like "your fellow", "Man" etc always refer to another Jew, never to a gentile. Reform Judaism may be different but here in Israel it's considered heretic by everyone except its very few practitioners who are usually immigrants from the US.
"If you make statements that are truly insane (think Charles Krauthammer), but which support any of the status quo’s delusions you are commended. But say something of which the status quo opposed, and it is eminently true, and you are vilified."
I'm not a historian but it seems to me Mr. Metzler describes an empire on the verge of collapse. Until this point the military superiority (half the planet's military expenditure!) and economic superiority (a very vulnerable service economy) could compensate for policies that benefited only the big lobbies and created enemies all around the globe. Now the structure is carrying more than it can bear and the political engineers know it's going to collapse but pretend everything is ok. The economy had already collapsed and left trillions in debts. The only way to pay the huge army is to print (i.e. counterfeit) money. Remember the USIC/NIC report saying the US is going to lose the status of sole superpower? My guess it's going to be like Russia today.
When the house is on the verge of collapse and people are absolutely quiet listening to every screech coming from the walls there comes Ms Octavia Nasr and in a cheerful voice asks: "Hi fellows, did you see the new palace built next door? They just finished another floor and are celebrating. I admire these people!". You see? it's a bit like the little child who couldn't see the invisible new royal garments and cried that the king is naked! If the only man Ms Nasr finds admirable is a Lebanese Ayatollah then either she is blind to our greatness or we are not great anymore and deep inside we know it's the second option.
Obama is a brave man and he is aware of the dire situation. He is trying to save the US with conventional political methods but the big lobbies don't let him. There is only one way he can succeed: start a full scale FBI investigation of the connection between Congress and the big lobbies. If done credibly most Congressmen will panic and distance themselves from the lobbies and allow rational legislation to pass quickly. The alternative is a painful decline.
I think that Nasr tweet: "one of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot" may be interpreted, if forced, as expressing respect for Hizbulla.
On this point it should be said that for years most Israelis have a lot of respect for Hassan Naserallah and the organization he heads. They consider him a strong and truthful leader unlike their own. Maybe CNN should fire the Israelis for not being patriotic enough to their country?
American tradition is supposed to cherish free speech and having respect for an enemy doesn't show you are not patriotic. It's not even clear if Fadlallah should be considered an enemy. I know the great USA is a client state of little Israel but hey aren't you taking your role too seriously? We don't give bonuses for extra zeal you know!
And if I may go off topic it seems an India-like nuclear deal is cooked with another country that doesn't like the NPT:
I think strangefriend is right. I thought of the same idea about a year ago, way before the Hamas spoekesperson confirmed it. They are not moving Shalit constantly, it's too much risk. Gaza is full with Abu-Mazen people and even Israeli spies. My opinion is that they have a very good hideout and keep the info on it compartmentalized very tightly.
Prof. Cole said: "The political culture of the Israeli elite, which tends to treat allies as patsies".
This is so accurate and true! Two striking examples are:
* The South Lebanese Army whose soldiers fought for years side by side of the Israeli army was not even warned when the IDF retreated overnight. SLA soldiers told me the IDF even shelled their outposts. When they came to Israel as refugees they were treated so badly (the officers was treated better) that almost all preferred to return to Lebanon and face trial and unpleasant jail. I was sent to be with them and was horrified to see the conditions of living, the open hostility of the Israelis and the General Security Service. They didn't get citizenship and absorption grant like any Jew gets not even the right to live and work in Israel and were constantly pushed to ask asylum in other countries.
* The Righteous among the Nations - these are non-Jews who saved Jews in the Holocaust, often at risk of death and torture to themselves. Some of them made the mistake of coming to live in Israel (when it was still easy to migrate). Many lived poorly until many years later when due to press outcry they got a tiny pension. There were very few left to get this pension and it was not given to those who stayed abroad.
The people involved in these two cases were non-Jews so I thought at first that the reason was anti-Gentile feelings but then it became known that the state stole the compensation money of Holocaust survivors and seized control of lands bought by Jews who died in the Holocaust on a huge scale. The oldest Israeli bank is still refusing to return the money of people who died in the Holocaust and their inheritors don't have account information.
The explanation I find unavoidable is that a kind of pirate ethics is in work here.
It always stinks to fire someone because he said the truth. We all know that Biden is a mopping rug of the Israeli lobby so what McChrystal said was just a polite understatement. I sometimes think that Russians criticize Putin more than Americans dare to criticize their tyrannical big lobbies. Washington is a byzantine court and the American President is helpless against the elite. Face it, American style democracy is a failure, that why it's no exception to the rule that democracies don't seek wars. Like us, you love to attack other countries and I guess we will go down together.
David, your Pirkei_Avot citations deal with intra-Jewish morality and even so are not very representative. You should present a fuller picture of Jewish Law, for example see:
http://www.talkreason.org/articles/gentiles.cfm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Hebrew/Heb9.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Hebrew/Heb10.htm
http://www.israelshamir.net/Hebrew/Heb11.htm
Note that in Jewish Law terms like "your fellow", "Man" etc always refer to another Jew, never to a gentile. Reform Judaism may be different but here in Israel it's considered heretic by everyone except its very few practitioners who are usually immigrants from the US.
A new genetic study by Avshalom Zoossmann-Diskin called:
The origin of Eastern European Jews revealed by autosomal, sex chromosomal and mtDNA polymorphisms
http://www.biology-direct.com/content/pdf/1745-6150-5-57.pdf
It says that Eastern European Jews, who are the largest Jewish ethnic division, are descended from converted gentiles.
Warren Metzler says:
"If you make statements that are truly insane (think Charles Krauthammer), but which support any of the status quo’s delusions you are commended. But say something of which the status quo opposed, and it is eminently true, and you are vilified."
I'm not a historian but it seems to me Mr. Metzler describes an empire on the verge of collapse. Until this point the military superiority (half the planet's military expenditure!) and economic superiority (a very vulnerable service economy) could compensate for policies that benefited only the big lobbies and created enemies all around the globe. Now the structure is carrying more than it can bear and the political engineers know it's going to collapse but pretend everything is ok. The economy had already collapsed and left trillions in debts. The only way to pay the huge army is to print (i.e. counterfeit) money. Remember the USIC/NIC report saying the US is going to lose the status of sole superpower? My guess it's going to be like Russia today.
When the house is on the verge of collapse and people are absolutely quiet listening to every screech coming from the walls there comes Ms Octavia Nasr and in a cheerful voice asks: "Hi fellows, did you see the new palace built next door? They just finished another floor and are celebrating. I admire these people!". You see? it's a bit like the little child who couldn't see the invisible new royal garments and cried that the king is naked! If the only man Ms Nasr finds admirable is a Lebanese Ayatollah then either she is blind to our greatness or we are not great anymore and deep inside we know it's the second option.
Obama is a brave man and he is aware of the dire situation. He is trying to save the US with conventional political methods but the big lobbies don't let him. There is only one way he can succeed: start a full scale FBI investigation of the connection between Congress and the big lobbies. If done credibly most Congressmen will panic and distance themselves from the lobbies and allow rational legislation to pass quickly. The alternative is a painful decline.
I think that Nasr tweet: "one of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot" may be interpreted, if forced, as expressing respect for Hizbulla.
On this point it should be said that for years most Israelis have a lot of respect for Hassan Naserallah and the organization he heads. They consider him a strong and truthful leader unlike their own. Maybe CNN should fire the Israelis for not being patriotic enough to their country?
American tradition is supposed to cherish free speech and having respect for an enemy doesn't show you are not patriotic. It's not even clear if Fadlallah should be considered an enemy. I know the great USA is a client state of little Israel but hey aren't you taking your role too seriously? We don't give bonuses for extra zeal you know!
And if I may go off topic it seems an India-like nuclear deal is cooked with another country that doesn't like the NPT:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-08/u-s-ready-to-cooperate-with-israel-on-civilian-nuclear-use-steinitz-says.html
I think strangefriend is right. I thought of the same idea about a year ago, way before the Hamas spoekesperson confirmed it. They are not moving Shalit constantly, it's too much risk. Gaza is full with Abu-Mazen people and even Israeli spies. My opinion is that they have a very good hideout and keep the info on it compartmentalized very tightly.
Prof. Cole said: "The political culture of the Israeli elite, which tends to treat allies as patsies".
This is so accurate and true! Two striking examples are:
* The South Lebanese Army whose soldiers fought for years side by side of the Israeli army was not even warned when the IDF retreated overnight. SLA soldiers told me the IDF even shelled their outposts. When they came to Israel as refugees they were treated so badly (the officers was treated better) that almost all preferred to return to Lebanon and face trial and unpleasant jail. I was sent to be with them and was horrified to see the conditions of living, the open hostility of the Israelis and the General Security Service. They didn't get citizenship and absorption grant like any Jew gets not even the right to live and work in Israel and were constantly pushed to ask asylum in other countries.
* The Righteous among the Nations - these are non-Jews who saved Jews in the Holocaust, often at risk of death and torture to themselves. Some of them made the mistake of coming to live in Israel (when it was still easy to migrate). Many lived poorly until many years later when due to press outcry they got a tiny pension. There were very few left to get this pension and it was not given to those who stayed abroad.
The people involved in these two cases were non-Jews so I thought at first that the reason was anti-Gentile feelings but then it became known that the state stole the compensation money of Holocaust survivors and seized control of lands bought by Jews who died in the Holocaust on a huge scale. The oldest Israeli bank is still refusing to return the money of people who died in the Holocaust and their inheritors don't have account information.
The explanation I find unavoidable is that a kind of pirate ethics is in work here.
It always stinks to fire someone because he said the truth. We all know that Biden is a mopping rug of the Israeli lobby so what McChrystal said was just a polite understatement. I sometimes think that Russians criticize Putin more than Americans dare to criticize their tyrannical big lobbies. Washington is a byzantine court and the American President is helpless against the elite. Face it, American style democracy is a failure, that why it's no exception to the rule that democracies don't seek wars. Like us, you love to attack other countries and I guess we will go down together.
The 9 activists killed last Monday were shot 30 Times
The soldiers carried and used pistols not automatic rifles or machine guns of any sort so I think Prof. Cole point is correct.