Theos-Talk Archives (October 2002 Message tt00102)

--- In theos-talk@y..., Bart Lidofsky <bartl@s...> wrote:
> You must be mistaking Israel for Arab countries, where
> freedom of speech is NOT a recognized right.

You are right about Arabs being behind in the freedom of speech 
department, although the establishment of Al Jazeera, which has 
managed to piss just about everybody off without being shut down, is 
proof that they are catching up.

It is clear the poem was not written by a Zionist, and that pretty 
well excludes its putative author. I therefore submiit that the 
originator used a nom de plume. Somehow I cannot imagine George 
Washington sending a beautiful sentiment like that to the Iriquois 
while ordering his men to slaughter them. He may have been a 
dirtbag, but he surely was not that much of a hypocrite. This seems 
like an analogous situation. If you want to cut a man's throat, 
please don't read him poetry while you work the knife.

If the person who wrote that lives in areas controlled by the 
Commandant, I am sure you can soon visir his grave. Assuming the 
Commandant does not have him buried secretly. Concealing bodies is a 
technique pioneered by the British and used extensively by Hitler. 
There is something about not having a body which intensifies the 
family's grief.

As for the Commandant, you are right that he is easy to confuse with 
the Arabs, or the Arabs of the worst sort, anyway. A senior member 
of the Islamic Jihad was quoted in TIME a year or so ago to the 
effect tha the Commandant works hard to promote their agenda (i.e., 
Arabs hating Jews) and that they return the favor by working hard to 
promote his (i.e., Jews hating Arabs.) Whether the Islamic Jihad 
pays the Commandant or vice versa he did not say. They do seem to 
have a coordinated strategy. At least he has a constituency, since 
the ordinary Arabs and Jews of Palestine do not constitute one for 
him. Only when he is gone and the series of massacres that are his 
trademark come to an end will there be peace in that troubled 
region. There will be no peace so long as he is around to stop it.

I guess I am just not one of his fans.