Beirut, Iraq, Gaza

My local newspaper runs 5 or 6 letters a week from people castigating Israel. The israelis are modern day nazis, they aren't treating the palestinians fairly. They should open up their borders ( and when they do, notice that the crossings are immediately attacked in Hamas "military operations.") People evidently like to see the Israelis taking it on the chin.

I watch the news though and am taken with the really fucked up state of affairs in the arab world. In Beirut, once a secular country where christians, muslims, and druze lived in relative peace, the Shiites are now completely taking over in the last couple days. Hezbollah is vanquishing its enemies. Syria's hand controls everything that happens there. Very ugly scene.

In Egypt the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood is fomenting violence. Iraq is awash in internecine conflict, with much probably caused by a pissing match between the three sects for control of the oil revenue.

Fatah has been in a major violent struggle with the Hamas Islamists for the last two years.

Pakistan is teetering and angry at us for propping up the dictator Mushareff. They have nukes. Looks like Iran is right there too. New advanced centrifuge.

Abu Sayef continues to slaughter in southeast asia.

In Sudan, the islamists continue to terrorize the christians.

The arab world freaks out because a dane draws a cartoon of Mohammed. Do you know how many arabic cartoons I have seen of stars of david dripping with blood? Not to mention Michael Ramirez or Conrad...

The whole arab world is fraught with war and violence. It is the norm. And people think that Israel can co-exist with these people? In a single state solution? Are you kidding me?

Israel is the straw man, the easy target and a convenient scapegoat for people who don't seem to respect human life or civilization. Can you imagine the uproar if a jew turned himself into a nail bomb and exploded himself in a mosque? Or hijacked an ocean liner? Or an airplane? Or a Maalot style massacre or an olympic massacre for that matter? The condemnation would be deafening. But it wouldn't happen. It's not in their psyche to commit such acts. But we give the Islamic radicals such intellectual carte blanche to luxuriate in their victimhood and to respond like savages. Why is this?

But explain this in Paris, or in Turin this week. Or with Cockburn and the Nation Magazine. Or to Livingston, the mayor of London. Never forget friends, its always Israel's fault. And it will probably end up in flames. Because sloppy, lazy intellectuals refuse to see what's really happening. There's a lot more arabs to appease than jews. And the jews have been the fall guys before. Like the Kurds. I'm betting it will get real ugly.