Israel isn't a nation. It's a state of mind. Israel is one of the few countries in history to put forward an image of almost exactly how she would have the world see her, and do it the least unsuccessfully for the non-shortest period of time. (2nd place goes to Rome circa 21 B.C.-15 A.D.)
I wonder why the Darfur refugees aren't clamoring to get into, say, Palestine, or Jordan. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Israel is the least scarily insane country in the region by half. And it's not like Zion is passing those psychological Rorschach tests with flying colors, especially here of late.
My point is that by virtue of the severity of The Holocaust, the European persuasion of most the persecuted Jews (i.e., well educated, civilized, a need for cultural and social diversions that allow us to participate in the divine, non-brown skin, good with money/vaudville, and a natural aptitude for producing blockbuster hits at the box office), and a nationalistic pride of self-determination that's injected into its citizenry in the womb practically at conception, it's not exactly a secret that Israel probably isn't going to have much trouble putting together a pretty popular and compelling ad campaign when it comes to defending its fickle attitude with regard to decency and morality.
I.e., your entire extended family having been baked in an oven in Poland mixed with an almost innate ability to "tell a story" has a pretty long-lived political shelf life, turns out. And it'll play just as well in Peoria as it will in Rwanda.
So, again: Why are they not breaking down the border fences of Lebanon or Syria? And why aren't Syria and Lebanon held to the same standards when it comes to political hypocrisy and moral duplicitousness?
Because Neither Palestine, Syria nor Lebanon have the testicular fortitude to back up their less-than-higher-road activities with some actual positive and ultimately end-justifies-the-means progress. (See Munich.)
I.e., Why is Israel always cast as the bad guy when it's 9 times out of 10 Israel conceding something, whether it be political capital, land, or the well-wishes of its opportunistic allies? (Hi, Washington, D.C.!)
Me? I'd like to unburden myself from the tyrannical region of America and flee to New Zealand. The problem is, New Zealand's immigration policy is stricter than Israel's in that you may only emigrate there if you can perform a useful function no native Kiwi can. But since I can hum our national anthem out of tune modulating no fewer than 11 times and still end up in the same key I started in, all while balancing on top of a basketball, I think I'm good to go, literally.
Action-Oriented Morality
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3 comments:
New Zealand, huh?
It's not all Hobbitown there, I'm told...
And how pleasant to read a bit of common sense about Israel--less than perfect, certainly. It's own brand of crazy fanatics, sure (though I think that anyone who spends their lives wearing clothes designed for a 19th century European winter in the desert heat might be pardoned for being crazy).
Y'know, I've always been a little proud of this post of mine. It seems to have been the final straw for the kossies among other things.
Anyway, I'm halfway convinced that Lebanon would have been a fine place without the constant (negative) intervention of Europe and its neighbors east and south. Got a fine and ancient history of cosmopolitanism, and seems to revert to that given half a chance. Which it's not given. Damn shame.
Anyway, I think the Excited Snakes had a good run too. Not a bad story with the liberty and individualism and such, if you're able to look askance at slavery, a long-term but slapdash genocide, awful diets, and the irritating holier-than-you Puritan types. Plus, we've had everything from Radio Free Europe to Sergio Leone to do our advertising for us for half a century.
Yeah.
Possibly I could fake my way into New Zealand.
K
"Excited Snakes" *snort*
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