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Who is besieging whom?
Reader comment on item: Arabs, Israelis, and Underdogs
in response to reader comment: It will always be Israel as the underdog; since the entire middle east is the enemy and that enemy is islam

Submitted by IVAN (Australia), Apr 4, 2009 at 07:28

For more than 60 years Israel has been attacked time and again, then besieged strategically by surrounding Arab nations and has faced boycotts, terror, "Jew murder by suicide", continuing to be incited in Islamic schools.

In recent years Egypt and Israel have supported an incomplete tactical blockade on the Gaza Strip and its nihilist rulers, elected by Gazans fully aware of the Hamas charter's declared aim to destroy Israel.

The imbalance of these two sieges is inverted by those who pretend underdog status and attract sympathy and impunity to Hamas, despite its inhuman behaviour.

From time to time and frequently, claims are made [seriatim] and that the only obstacle to a peaceful settlement between Israel and the Palestinians is variously:

the Israelis do not want peace; "it's the occupation stupid"; the settlements; the Golan Heights; Israel racism since the time of Ben-Gurion; and charges of Israeli war crimes. And what about the re-invention of Arab "principles", successively revolt, pan-Arabism, secularsm, Ba'athism, Islamism with its 'innocent spiritual advisors' and mendacity.

Take your pick among these dragon's teeth.

Alternatively, major obstacles to a peaceful settlement between Israel and the Palestinians are really Arab oil; hurt pride and perceived dishonour at failures to overcome the Jewish state, at the resilience of Israeli society; at the escape of Jews from prescribed dhimmi status; at the contradiction of the demands of Koranic prescriptions; and the Jihadist movement.

Add to these, the failure of the Palestinians to execute any of the early requirements of the Road Map; Hamas presence constraining the PA always to 'look over its shoulder'; incitement against Israel continuing in Palestinian schools and mosques.

Paradoxically, the United Nations has perpetuated conflict by blessing Palestinian movements from the time when the General Assembly, ultra vires, gave Arafat a platform and specific committees; refugees were given the peculiarity of UNRWA which intervenes in partisan style and ignores its responsibilities to Jewish refugees; UN human rights bodies concentrate their venom upon Israel, whose defensive stringencies against Palestinians are those required and eventuating from by decades of defensive wartime conditions.

Anti-Israel hysteria and boycotts by left wing fascists in the Red/Green coalition are among the distortions that dog, demonize and delegitimize the small, outnumbered, besieged Jewish state.

WHICH IS THE UNDERDOG?


Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.

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Reader comments (32) on this item

Title By Date
It all started with Oil Embargo of 1973 [124 words]B.N.GururajApr 5, 2009 10:43
What could be more!! [553 words]MansoorApr 3, 2009 07:58
Reply to Mansoor [77 words]joe six-packApr 5, 2009 11:12
Another Muslim intellectual [154 words]Chet LimbrightApr 5, 2009 15:22
You must be kidding!! [323 words]MansoorApr 8, 2009 15:42
Pakistan is a paradise? really? [147 words]dhimmi no moreApr 11, 2009 16:01
Right on Chet [16 words]MichaelApr 12, 2009 00:39
Dhimmi, Don't you know, Pakistan, the Land of Pure just kneeled in front of Taliban [119 words]Proud IndianApr 15, 2009 02:28
Is being the Underdog really a good thing?
[w/response] [107 words]
Josiah RotenbergApr 3, 2009 04:26
Brilliant demonstration. Thank you, Dr Pipes ! [114 words]Anne-Marie DelcambreApr 3, 2009 03:20
Isreal v Gaza [119 words]Bernice SteffanApr 2, 2009 19:47
Arab Drama [77 words]Sheryl RosenbergApr 2, 2009 13:56
Reality over perceptions [950 words]Chet LimbrightApr 1, 2009 23:04
It is the Utopian desire to make all things equal- Anti War [195 words]saraApr 1, 2009 21:37
I remember as a kid "logic" based on "truth" & "history", was big ... [21 words]kmanApr 1, 2009 20:23
Underdog or overlord? [200 words]Rebecca MouldsApr 1, 2009 19:43
Who is the underdog? [103 words]StevenLApr 1, 2009 19:37
Who is the real underdog in the MiddleEast [176 words]IsaacApr 1, 2009 16:47
underdogs [102 words]Yuval Brandstetter MDApr 1, 2009 16:39
In the eye of the beholder, indeed [115 words]John BApr 1, 2009 16:05
Where is the support of the Arab community? [137 words]Shawn CohenApr 1, 2009 15:40
Who were the participants of the experiments?
[w/response] [310 words]
IanusApr 1, 2009 15:16
Public Relations Will Not Root Out the Underlying Problem [198 words]Jan JackmanApr 1, 2009 15:07
It will always be Israel as the underdog; since the entire middle east is the enemy and that enemy is islam [164 words]William HillApr 1, 2009 14:51
⇒ Who is besieging whom? [374 words]IVANApr 4, 2009 07:28
Marvin Kalb
[w/response] [13 words]
DavidApr 1, 2009 13:34
Public relations debacle [48 words]BertApr 1, 2009 12:45
who is the Underdog Israel or the Arabs [125 words]IsaacApr 1, 2009 12:30
Preaching negative would not hurt the positive [332 words]MansoorApr 4, 2009 15:52
same old, same old [1113 words]the Grand Infidel of KaffiristanApr 5, 2009 21:20
Wake up Mansoor before its too late! [476 words]Rana RajputanaMay 5, 2009 07:32
A correction and comment
[w/response] [112 words]
Mark GoldApr 1, 2009 11:43

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Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened for relevance, substance, and tone, and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome, but comments are rejected if scurrilous, off-topic, vulgar, ad hominem, or otherwise viewed as inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the Guidelines for Comments. For informational purposes, we identify countries from which comments are sent.

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