Is it possible to encourage Israelis to move beyond Zionist Ideology and toward a more humane and democratic ?

Question

view of present realities and future possiblities??

http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0914/p09s01-coop.html?page=1

Or will they resist?

Answer 1

Yes it is. All it takes is an act of Congress (or possibly an executive order) here in the US to cut off military and monetary aid to the Israeli government (or at least a valid threat to do so) and maybe the state of Israel will change its hardline stance.

Answer 2

I agree.
I believe that what the territory of Palestine was illegally used to establish the Jewish state and that they used terrorism and ethnic cleansing in order to run a Jewish supremacist society.
Problem is, that happened a half century ago. The refugees had kids and the settlers had kids. It is time to move on.
Uri Avnery has an interesting take on the road to peace. From what i have read from him, the idea is that the refugee problem should be dealt with through an Arab-Israeli compromise so that Israel does not have to be any more than half Arab-Half Jew. All refugees need to be helped to adapt to their new societies.
Since the US established a precedent in Iraq, that violating UN resolutions is a casus belli justifying invasion by any country. I suggest the international community force Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders. The US will not be very strong in a decade, Israel should be looking out for itself.
Israel needs to annex the occupied territories and give Israeli citizenship to the populations. It should be put to vote what the name of Israel should be. If Israel cannot be a multinational state, it should not be at all. Germany was not allowed to be an Aryan state, why should Israel be allowed to be a Jewish state?

The problem is, Israel's intransigence is borne from the fact that the US will support it only if it buys US weapons. Weapons have to be used. The IDF plays target practice with Palestinian children and Lockheed gets to try out its weapons in "live battles".

The US must withdraw support from Israel and force it to comply international law. Otherwise, the anger Israel invites will result in dire consequences. I hope they choose democracy over apartheid.

Peace.

(I'm no anti semite, in fact, I am of Sephardi background... and I know how the ZIonists treat us "oriental jews") (well, half jew)

Answer 3

I very much doubt it considering Israel has the backing of the US giving it carte blanche to do as it pleases.

The US was in a similar position in 1812 when it declared war on Great Britain. Unfortunately their superpower ally, France, didn't back them up this time and consequently it got it's buttocks kicked and it's capital burned. However from that Canada was officially recognised by its southern neighbours.

Therefore the US needs to reel Israel in,regardless of what American Zionists say. Without it's backing Israel will tread a little more carefully and hopefully a recognition of a future state of Palestine.

Answer 4

Jimmy Carter attempted this earlier this year and was met with a tremendous outcry of antisemitism. Alan M. Dershowitz, the Harvard Law Professor (better known for the defense team for O J Simpson) published six lengthy articles on Gather.com aggressively attacking the president for "selling out to Arabs." He also challenged the elderly President to a debate to answer his attacks!

Who would want to attempt this feat again when the President who created the Camp David Accords (and has since been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize) is treated this way?

Answer 5

Absolutely. Public opinion polls in Israel consistently show a desire for a resolution, including a Palestinian state. The obstacle in Israel - not unlike in the US on various matters - is the government.

I disagree with Whitbeck.

Answer 6

I think Israel has made many mistakes, but if you look at the situation they are faced with (everbody around them is crazy) I have quite a bit of sympathy for them. If Mexico was firing rockets into US soil everyday, we'd have Warthogs over there carpet bombing them in 10 minutes.

Answer 7

The question is: The Arabs were not satisfied with the borders before 1967. How can we be sure that they will be satisfied with the 1967 borders now?

Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Besides You-Know-Who, I mean.

Answer 8

Er, excuse me.... but if the 'inhumane zionist' state is so terrible, why are the Sudanese refugees fleeing via Egypt, refusing to stay in Egypt and pleading to be allowed to stay in Israel???

They got shot at in Egypt - where you'd think that as Muslims they'd find kindness. Instead, they seek sanctuary in the Jewish state - because they know they will be treated fairly there! As are the some 2000 Sudanese Muslims that have been given new housing, jobs etc in Israel!

Why aren't they being helped by the Muslim world???

Zionist ideology hurts NOBODY. It states simply that the Jewish people need, and deserve, a tiny country of their own. Israel is smaller than New Jersey. What fair and rational person could possibly deny, given what history has shown us, that Jews must have their own state?

As for democratic - Israel is the only secular democracy in the Middle East.

And I'll repeat this fact yet again: OVER 20 PER CENT OF ISRAELI CITIZENS ARE NOT JEWISH - they have the same rights and freedoms as their Jewish friends and peers.

Now name me one Muslim country where you will find people given the same religious freedoms, for example!

Your question is absurd!

Answer 9

I believe most Israeli's are aught between Zionist pressure from their politicians and the threat of militant factions. They got upset over the invasion of Lebanon last summer.

Answer 10

Maybe we'd need to entice them with a bone - a Kosher bone, of course...

But given the rather inhumane slaughtering process of Kosher meats, I reckon we would merely be displacing even more cruelty towards our animal friends, instead..

truthfully, we have the power (economic & military support) in our grasp to do so, but the desire is absent. You and I both know why this is.