3 Responses to “Question”

1. NachoMan Says:
   July 28th, 2004 at 10:24 AM

   as far as the wall is concerned, the wall is being used as a tool to solidify the claims on lands that the UN is asking Israel to return. The UN is consistent in that regard, because the wall IS offensive.

   See this article about the way the wall is being built that is causing the concern: http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=2119356

   As for the situation in Iraq, what exactly do you want them to do? In other words, should the UN have done something when Timothy McVeigh blew up the federal building in OK city?

2. Jishman Says:
   July 28th, 2004 at 10:54 AM

   Quite frankly, you’re focusing on the wrong piece of the question. People are blowing themselves up to accomplish goals that NO ONE agrees with nor will concede, and Europe turns a blind eye.

   Opinions on the wall not-withstanding (obviously that was a poor choice of argument), where is the same level of outrage that we see against American actions or Israeli actions? As I said above, I’m obviously biased, but I’m just curious about it.

3. fake-redhead Says:
   July 28th, 2004 at 4:30 PM

   I can’t speak for Europeans, but I can speak for my own reaction. The Iraqi insurgents and Palestinian suicide bombers are recognized as terrorists, actors outside of the law. Nations like the U.S. and Israel are supposed to represent the rule of law, not the concept of vigilante justice. Are the suicide bombers reprehensible? Yes, of course. But at the same time, they don’t really have any type of legitimacy on the world stage. Israel and the U.S. do. (This is the same reason that I can’t stand the line of reasoning that says our torture of Iraqi citizens wasn’t as bad as Hussein’s, so there’s a net benefit there. It simply ignores the fact that we’re comparing ourselves to *a dictator*, and then claiming some sort of superiority based on the fact that we aren’t as bad.)

   And yes, some of it is just practical - when a state acts, there’s an identifiable actor that you can condemn, sanction, what have you. How do you identify the Iraqi insurgents? And aren’t we already implicitly condemning them by fighting them? I think the outrage is there, but there isn’t a clear target at which it can be directed.

   While I’m on it, I’ll tell you one of my other areas of frustration with Israel. They want security, and I believe that they’re entitled to it. But at the same time, many of their actions seem designed to stoke the fires of hatred and retribution (bulldozing the homes of innocent people just because a suicide bomber came from the neighborhood? imagine how people would respond if we used that line of reasoning to bulldoze Timothy McVeigh’s home town). Violence begets violence. While I don’t think that Israel should roll over and play dead, I do believe that some of their actions are in fact counter-productive. There’s a balance to be struck, and I’m not sure it has been reached yet.

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