Please give me a source that says Israel no longer claims the Shaaba farms.

Israel never “claimed” Shebaa Farms. It acknowledges it conquered this territory from Syria:

Israel is of the view that the land was Syrian at the time that Israel conquered it during the Six Day War.

& recognizes that it will be transferred back to Syria when a peace agreement is finalized:

The status of these territories can ultimately be finalized in direct peace negotiations between Israel and Syria.

Syria however has at times acknowledged that the territory should not be considered Syrian, but rather Lebanese. The question isn’t whether the territory is Israeli or not, but whether, when there is peace Israel will return it to one country or the other.

You make a number of very valid observations.

All of the world’s major religions, at one time or another, have each been suborned by those seeking to promote their own and very often violent agenda. God’s allegiance has all too frequently been claimed by clergy, politicians and combatants alike in the quest for some final ‘victory.’ Quite why God should favour one section of His children over another is a question rarely asked. In God’s own interaction with Man, the relationship has always been based more on the individual rather than the group.

Attempts to polarise Christianity, Islam and Judaism have hardly helped matters in the Middle East. Whether such polarisation can be reversed is a moot point. That it exists is certainly evident. To counteract the situation, a depolarisation might be the only remedy, heralding a less sanguine, more human dimension in the outcome of events there.

I’m reminded of that old sci-fi film ‘The day the Earth stood still.’ This is the one where, at the very end, the choice for mankind comes down to an abandonment of all major conflict on Earth or face the wrath of ‘Gort,’ an eight foot tall robot capable of dealing out death and destruction on a planetary scale. Though it’s well over fifty years since his first appearance, ‘Gort’ still sends a chill into my bones whenever the film is shown, even on the small screen. It could be that we need something just as cold and impersonal - and as devastating - to control what’s going on in so many theatres of war. Since it’s most unlikely some passing alien will shortly oblige us with anything like the original, we may have to create our very own version of ‘Gort.’

In this context, all of us get to become ‘Gort, ‘ who might then be considered the first truly global policeman. I think there is a pressing need for such a creature.

http://yorketowers.blogspot.com

JY

[ed., The purpose of my blog is not to promote groups like the Free Muslim Coalition. My blog is not a free billboard for yr political views. I urge you to promote this group on sites more conducive to yr views. If you'd used a valid e mail address in publishing this comment I could've communicated personally my reasons for deleting this comment to you.]

In any event is kidnapping, murder and rocket attacks the best way to resolve the matter?

Don’t get on yr high horse. Do a little reading on this site & you will discover my views of Hezbollah’s tactics. Just because Finkelstein is enamored of Hezbollah doesn’t mean I am. Pls. don’t make the mistake that most right-wingers make here of lumping my views in w. whoever you happen to dislike most among progressive Jews.

The UN ruled that when Barak unilaterally pulled Israeli forces out of southern Lebanon that the withdrawal had been complete to the recognized international border.

You are forgetting Shebaa Farms, which even Israel concedes it has no claim to. The territory is either Lebanese or Syrian (depending who you speak to) & the conflict can only be fully resolved when this territory is returned.

Plaut’s defence was lame

Someone quite involved with this case also told me that Plaut’s defense was extremely poor.

Compare the 2 cases of which you speak: in one case Gordon wrote a review of a book & was called a Judenrat for his troubles. In the case you mention, an Israeli officer committed a human rights violation possibly involving death (you don’t provide the particulars so I can’t say precisely what happened) which Gordon judged worthy of being considered a war crime. Admittedly, no court has yet found the officer guilty of such a crime. But is it your contention that such a charge and conviction are so beyond the realm of possibility that no reasonable person or court could ever draw such a conclusion? In the Plaut case, no reasonable person could ever construe Gordon as a Judenrat or Jew for Nazis. Only a lunatic like Plaut could believe such a thing.