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Entry: To Hell with Joe Klein! Link: http://www.takimag.com/blogs/article/to_hell_with_joe_klein#32682 Post contents: Dr. Gottfried, I'm with you. Some rightists seem to forget that Israel is on the side of the West. As a matter of fact, Israel and the Israelis are part of the same Western culture. Why only bash that country? Why not bash the human right record of Libya? Or the oppression of Christians by the Saudis? Or whatever evil all those dictatorship from around there still cultivate, female mutilation, stoning, beheadings, et al? Why is the vote on Israel split between Sobran-paleos who believe Israel/Jews to be always wrong and bad intentioned and Little Green Footballs-like hawks who declare any discussion on Jewish verboten, paranoia and/or anti-Semitic? I don't get that. But, then again, I'm not an American living in the US. So, I don't feel like I'm brainwashed into a philo-semitic position all the time. Quite the contrary, actually. I believe, I'm generally well informed by both Israel critics and apologists. After careful reading and thinking, I've decided that I'm still pro-Israel and I don't think the Jewish state should disappear or give up its identity. For the same reason why I think Thailand should be Thai and never give in to the separatists on their South border, who are, ofcourse, muslim fundamentalists as well -- What else? Israel should create two states, give the Palestinians their own, defend their wall and just leave it at that. No more settling et all. Keep the radicals from both sides under close controle. Also, Phillip Weiss said on Anti-War Radio that the Clash of Civilizations could be related to the Palestinian conflict or similar words. He's wrong. Islam(ism) is not a reaction to Zionism or Jewish presence. Islamism is an autonomous menace, it's self-sustaining and growing and it will not stop if Israel ceased to exist. To believe otherwise will be a mistake. The West should stop being so childish and eurocentric about foreign bred threats. We're not the sole cause of all good in the world, neither do we cause all bad. Islamism is not caused by the US or Israel, it's the ressentiment ideology of millions of unemployed young men who feel shut out from power, wealth and a deserving reputation. How is that our fault? (Yes I know, we support the dictatorships who keep those men intentionally poor and stupid, but what choice do we have? They've got the oil! We need it, so we kneel for the Sheikhs.) Sent at: 2008 12 01