17 thoughts on “The Moral Obfuscation of the Gaza War Crimes Case – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. Harel deserves a Pulitzer for the work he has done even though the reports are enough to make any decent human being sick.

    I wonder if you have read “The Deserter’s Tale” by Joshua Key though. The story is the same, just replace ‘arabs’ with ‘sand niggers” in Fallujah and the story is the same.

  2. I agree that this Bronner report was almost totally one-sided and cheats us- almost bringing to mind Judith Miller (taking dictation).

    1. That said, I think the public editor of the NYTimes would ask that you view Bronner’s articles collectively. He ( Bronner) is trying to walk a fine line playing “even Steven” somewhat but with a Jewish readership that may be substantial that is perennially complaining about the NYT being anti- Israel (if you can believe that). In a way this is a form of intimidation and it may be working. The public editor may say what was said the last time this subject was covered: ie that the PE gets equal complaints from both sides so they must be okay.

      This has nothing to do with telling the whole story, even doing some original investigation.

      The US pubic is not on this subject this week either.

      1. Suzanne–

        I think that’s exactly what the public editor would say. They get criticism from both sides, so they’re being balanced–it’s the perennial excuse of the MSM. By that logic, if we had enough pro-Hamas people writing the NYT they’d have to hedge on whether or not that group was ever guilty of terrorism.

        Though I do have a teensy bit of sympathy for the NYT–as you say, they do get complaints of anti-Israel bias and I suspect those complaints are numerous and loud.

  3. Now how jerky is that, you post a photo that can’t be dragged or copied.
    Do you want this information posted elsewhere to spread the news, or do you want exclusivity?
    Not in keeping with peace and spreading the news about the Israel’s outrageous behavior.
    Also, it is really tacky to ask for money on your site, I could use some money myself but I would never stoop to begging.
    It’s one think to have a store on your site, it’s another thing to ask for donations.
    In the end, it only gives the WRONG impression that Jews always want money, they don’t do anything for the good of others freely.
    Please don’t do this to good Jews, my husband is Jewish and he hates this aspect of your excellent website.
    There is too much anti-Semitism already, please don’t add to it by stereotypical behaviors that make Jews look greedy, since most Jews like my husband, are hard working and are not the anti-Semitic portrayal of the greedy Jew.
    Please don’t publish this, I am telling you this because your site is very good and I would like to see it improved by the above submissions.

    1. You have asked me not to publish this comment, but I’m not going to honor your request for several reasons, chief among them that I find it so deeply offensive as I also find your avatar and nickname.

      I see no reason why a blogger has to write in penury and not be compensated by readers who appreciate his work. I am grateful for readers who support my work in this way just as any journalist or writer is happy to be paid for what they do. The idea that asking for support would somehow fuel anti-Semitic attitudes among my readers is a disgusting idea in your head, but in no others.

      My earlier career was as a non profit fundraiser and my attitude toward money is far different than yours I’m happy to say. And my attitude is in deep accord with Jewish notions that money should be used to make the world a better place. There is never any shame in money. That’s a notion you’ve inherited from your possibly Christian background. We Jews reject this notion wholeheartedly.

      So I’d gladly invite you to decamp from this site & ply your trade elsewhere. Whether your husband is Jewish or not is immaterial to the fact that you are either an ignorant person who doesn’t understand that her attitudes are anti-Semitic, or that you just plain don’t give a shit how your opinions are perceived by others including Jews.

  4. *RE: ” In closing, I’d like to ask my readers, especially those who deny any claim of war crimes to consider if the shoe was on the other foot and Hamas had killed 1,400 Israelis (God forbid). What would you do? How would you want the world to react? If you’d demand a robust response from the international community and an immediate call for war crimes charges, then why wouldn’t you do so in this situation? Or is it possible that when Israel kills it is righteous, but when Palestinians kill it is inherently evil?”

    *SEE: “The Authoritarians” by Bob Altemeyer, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba

    Chapter Three
    How Authoritarian Followers Think

    2. Highly Compartmentalized Minds
    “…As I said earlier, authoritarians’ ideas are poorly integrated with one another. It’s as if each idea is stored in a file that can be called up and used when the
    authoritarian wishes, even though another of his ideas–stored in a different file–basically contradicts it. We all have some inconsistencies in our thinking, but
    authoritarians can stupify you with the inconsistency of their ideas. Thus they may say they are proud to live in a country that guarantees freedom of speech, but another file
    holds, “My country, love it or leave it.” The ideas were copied from trusted sources, often as sayings, but the authoritarian has never “merged files” to see how well they
    all fit together…” (page 80)

    *FREE PDF DOWNLOAD – http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/
    *ALTERNATE FREE SITE – http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/TheAuthoritarians.pdf

  5. 15 Australian politicians went to Israel courtesy of the Australian zionist lobby and took a group of journalists as well.

    One journalist made the amazing remark that he was concerned “the arabs might get concessions they are not entitled to”. I can only think he means their lives, food and justice because he was there in December as Israel was bombing Gaza before the major attack.

    Richard, I don’t care who or what said what Ashkenazi said about Gazans not being allowed to run away, it is pure evil and the most repulsive thing I have read in years.

    No wonder Falk wants that to be listed as a new war crime because I have never heard anything quite like it.

    Imagine if Afghans and Iraqis were stopped from leaving after our two countries bombed them to bits.

  6. “if the shoe was on the other foot and Hamas had killed 1,400 Israelis (God forbid). What would you do?”
    There is no need to speculate. In 1973 Egypt and Syria killed 2600 Israelis. What did Israel do? First, they blamed themselves, set up a investigative commission, brought down the government, removed the heads of the army and a couple of years later made peace with Egypt. Any chance of something similar to that happening in Gaza?

    1. In 1973 Egypt and Syria killed 2600 Israelis.

      This is not at all the same & an entirely inapt analogy. I am not talking about a war between nations in which each side loses a comparable number of fighters. I am talking about a slaughter in which 1,400 Israeli civilians are killed and 13 Gazans are killed. Then what would you do? You know you’d do precisely what the Gazans and international & Israeli human rights groups are doing. You’d scream bloody murder & demand a war crimes investigation.

      a couple of years later made peace with Egypt.

      Again, you’re being ahistorical. You neglect to mention that this was a war that Israel could have avoided entirely if Golda had responded in good faith to Sadat’s call for negotiations in 1971. When she spurned him he turned to war. You also neglect to mention that it was Sadat who made the first move toward peace by offering to come to Jerusalem in 1977. Begin did not make the first move. Finally, at Camp David it was Begin who was the most prickly difficult character & who almost scuttled the proceedings any number of times.

      You tend to want to airbrush history as it pertains to Israel to make it look delightful & charming. But the truth is always darker than you make out.

      1. I’m not airbrushing history or make myself look delightful. The points you added, regardless of how accurate, do not negate my point. Israelis tend to be a lot more self critical than our neighbors and capable of change. Just as the Yom Kippur war was Israelis catastrophic war and led to all those things I said, The Six Day War was our neighbor’s great failure. What changes took place in those countries after those failure. Did it bring down Hussein? Nasser? Will the Hamas leadership pay any price for the failure of their policies to bring their people any peace or stability.

        1. Israelis tend to be a lot more self critical than our neighbors and capable of change.

          You must mean all that “change” that occured during 40 yrs. of Occupation. As for “self-critical:” yes, Israel was critical of Ariel Sharon after Sabra & Shatilla. So much so that he ened up becoming p.m. a few yrs later. Many lessons learned fr. that disaster I see.

          Will the Hamas leadership pay any price for the failure of their policies to bring their people any peace or stability

          Your blindness is amazing. Let’s throw the statement back on you. None of Israel’s military solutions have worked. Do the generals or politicians who devise these failed policies ever pay any price? Olmert was felled by corruption, not by the electorate’s renunciation of his policies. Halutz lost his job, but Ashkenazi pursued almost the same policy which hasn’t worked either as the rockets keep flying despite all the IDF’s best efforts.

  7. Hey Richard!

    I found your blog by accident, read through some of your posts and found them to be interesting. One post in particular got me thinking, it was the one about the effect of Israel’s attack on Gaza on Jews. Over the few weeks I’ve come across information that compares Israel to Nazis Germany and South Africa. While I can see the merits in both comparisons, is comparing Israel to Nazis Germany antisemtic? Dont get me wrong, my great-grandmother was a Jew but I would really like to get your perspective on this because your opinion is reliable. You speak the truth.

    Thank you

    1. is comparing Israel to Nazis Germany antisemtic?

      The comparison makes me extremely uncomfortable unless it is done very carefully, very judiciously, & in a nuanced, modulated way. This, btw, is not something many anti-Zionists are capable of. They actually equate Israel with Nazi Germany rather than just comparing it (as one of the commenters wrote here earlier today). This is treif.

      But comparisons which note that Gaza’s suffering has some similarities to Jewish suffering during the Holocaust are acceptable as long as you don’t go to extremes and charge Israel with genocide, which is not what Israel is doing.

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