Hey World, Shove It
The Palestinians murder a sitting Cabinet Minister and the UN tells Israel that it should respond by offering concessions for a peace deal. The Israelis assassinate a guy who sends people to murder Israeli civilians, and the UN holds an urgent meeting to condemn Israel. I couldn't make this stuff up.
And Europe is so self-righteous about it!
The EU issued a statement saying "violence is no substitute for the political negotiations" - and they'd know, what with NATO's affinity for hanging around violent spots without actually doing anything to stop said violence (hey, how's Kosovo going? Two years, and a resurgence of ethnic violence - that's great work guys. Keep it up)
The French said that the assassination "amplifies the cycle of violence." What a bunch of tools. In the UN, they teamed up with the Algerians to condemn Israeli occupation of foreign lands. My understanding is that the deal they worked out stipulates that France will not to invade again and in return Algeria won't militarily humiliate them again.
Luxembourg expressed "fear that we will see new violence." Screw Luxembourg.
Britain said that it doesn't "believe Israel will benefit from the fact that this morning an 80-year-old in a wheelchair was" killed. First, enough with the wheelchair thing already. Second, I think that the veracity of Britain's claim really depends on what you count as a "benefit" - if you count depriving Hamas of the only thing holding it together, then maybe some reevaluation is in order. Third, where was all this concern for costs and benefits when the British were trying to hide their satisfaction with Hamas's "strategic victory" last week.
The Danes said that "there's only one way ahead, and that is political." The Israelis asked what they should do against terrorists like Yassin who say "reconciliation with the Jews is a crime". Crickets thought it was loud in there.
That was Europe. Lets go east and see what's going on in the Muslim and Arab world.
Iran took time out of making the IAEA its bitch to condemn "the Zionist regime's barbarity." Iranian students and dissidents would have commented on the irony, but they don't get TV in the dark torture chambers that they're being kept in.
Lebanon thought that it'd be a good idea to make fun of Israel for occupying South Lebanon. But I think that's just sour grapes because between Israel and Lebanon, only Israel has actually been able to put its troops in South Lebanon in the last 20 years (I can't decide which is more humiliating - to have the entire south of your country occupied by a extra-governmental militia, or to not be allowed to do anything about it becuase the rest of your country is occupied by Syrian tanks).
Jordan condemned the "massacre," but then someone told them that it happened in Gaza and so they didn't have to fear a flood of refugees. They went back to whatever it is that absolute monarchs who have kill 20,000 Palestinians every couple of decades do these days.
This part was my favorite:
Al Jazeera television on Monday interviewed a prominent Islamic leader from Sudan, Hassan Turabi, who made a connection between the Gaza assassination and the goings on in other flashpoints in the Muslim world, such as Chechnya, Indonesia and the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba... and added that Arab regimes would now have to express a resolute position regarding the Palestinian issue.
Sudan is condemning Israel. Sudan! Yes, that Sudan - the legalized slavery, mass female genital mutilation, organized genocide Sudan! This is the Sudan that France is going to align itself with to condemn Israel in the United Nations.
Shameless hypocrisy doesn't begin to cover this situation. This outpouring of anger against Jewish self-defense is something entirely different. I just can't think of what it could be…
And Europe is so self-righteous about it!
The EU issued a statement saying "violence is no substitute for the political negotiations" - and they'd know, what with NATO's affinity for hanging around violent spots without actually doing anything to stop said violence (hey, how's Kosovo going? Two years, and a resurgence of ethnic violence - that's great work guys. Keep it up)
The French said that the assassination "amplifies the cycle of violence." What a bunch of tools. In the UN, they teamed up with the Algerians to condemn Israeli occupation of foreign lands. My understanding is that the deal they worked out stipulates that France will not to invade again and in return Algeria won't militarily humiliate them again.
Luxembourg expressed "fear that we will see new violence." Screw Luxembourg.
Britain said that it doesn't "believe Israel will benefit from the fact that this morning an 80-year-old in a wheelchair was" killed. First, enough with the wheelchair thing already. Second, I think that the veracity of Britain's claim really depends on what you count as a "benefit" - if you count depriving Hamas of the only thing holding it together, then maybe some reevaluation is in order. Third, where was all this concern for costs and benefits when the British were trying to hide their satisfaction with Hamas's "strategic victory" last week.
The Danes said that "there's only one way ahead, and that is political." The Israelis asked what they should do against terrorists like Yassin who say "reconciliation with the Jews is a crime". Crickets thought it was loud in there.
That was Europe. Lets go east and see what's going on in the Muslim and Arab world.
Iran took time out of making the IAEA its bitch to condemn "the Zionist regime's barbarity." Iranian students and dissidents would have commented on the irony, but they don't get TV in the dark torture chambers that they're being kept in.
Lebanon thought that it'd be a good idea to make fun of Israel for occupying South Lebanon. But I think that's just sour grapes because between Israel and Lebanon, only Israel has actually been able to put its troops in South Lebanon in the last 20 years (I can't decide which is more humiliating - to have the entire south of your country occupied by a extra-governmental militia, or to not be allowed to do anything about it becuase the rest of your country is occupied by Syrian tanks).
Jordan condemned the "massacre," but then someone told them that it happened in Gaza and so they didn't have to fear a flood of refugees. They went back to whatever it is that absolute monarchs who have kill 20,000 Palestinians every couple of decades do these days.
This part was my favorite:
Al Jazeera television on Monday interviewed a prominent Islamic leader from Sudan, Hassan Turabi, who made a connection between the Gaza assassination and the goings on in other flashpoints in the Muslim world, such as Chechnya, Indonesia and the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba... and added that Arab regimes would now have to express a resolute position regarding the Palestinian issue.
Sudan is condemning Israel. Sudan! Yes, that Sudan - the legalized slavery, mass female genital mutilation, organized genocide Sudan! This is the Sudan that France is going to align itself with to condemn Israel in the United Nations.
Shameless hypocrisy doesn't begin to cover this situation. This outpouring of anger against Jewish self-defense is something entirely different. I just can't think of what it could be…
