Whose scared of the big Israeli ghost?

From a Washington Post Magazine article this Sunday on the relationship between the Israeli Lobby & US Foreign Policy:

ince the Cold War ended, they contend, Israel has become a strategic liability that ignites terrorism against the West and serves as a rallying cry and recruitment poster for bin Laden and al-Qaeda. What’s more, there’s no particular moral reason for the United States to support Israel. Despite a well-cultivated myth, Israel has always been stronger militarily than neighboring Arab states, racist and discriminatory in treating its own non-Jewish citizens and brutal when it comes to the Palestinians. “The creation of Israel entailed a moral crime against the Palestinian people,” the essay states baldly.

As for the United States, it is the “de facto enabler of Israeli expansion in the occupied territories, making it complicit in the crimes perpetrated against the Palestinians.”

And as a follow up, check out the chat with writer Glenn Frankel on his article.

Weekends + Shoot A Live Black Man

This weekend I went to the all and mighty NEW YORK CITY. The main spectacle of the weekend was a trip to Coney Island.

First off, Coney Island is a dirty ass place — a cheap ‘beach’ (gravel and syrienges) and amusement park for city residents to go to on the weekends. There is a plethora of gold chains, tight undershirts, and other humans and animals that may be described as ‘litter’. There was also a Village Voice sponsored concert, so emo kids were in abundance.

There are random events and rides all over. It’s a hodge podge of games and rides with wave after wave of human traffic. But the best and most bewildering game was advertised as ‘SHOOT A LIVE HUMAN’ (others report this as shoot the freak), and sure enough, you could shoot a REAL HUMAN with paintballs. This freak turns out to be a black guy wearing numerous jock straps that darts back and forth between obstacles.

Other events included a trip to the Native American Museum in lieu of a visit to the completely crowded Ellis Island / Statue of Liberty ferry. We also saw Scanner Darkly, and prepared to be subdued in mediocrity (save for Robert Downey & Woody Harrilson). All in all, it was another wonderful weekend spent in the Big Apple.

I’m also pondering doing the Chap Olympics (these are the best photos ever, I’m convinced!).

Back in DC

Oh home again. The flight into National was alright, except I was late getting to the gate because I got some food and was slow about eating it. I was slow about eating it because the Peruvian behind the counter was chatting me up for a while. So I was late getting to the gate and the gatekeeper yelled at me and I got inside and sat down and they closed the doors and said please turn off your phones now. Then I realized I had forgotten my phone at the security checkpoint. Damn. Thanks to my company I now how a work phone, so I have been using that and I was able to talk to the Indy airport and they are holding my phone for me for when I get back.

So I signed my lease with Fountain Park earlier on Friday, it’s a nice studio by the woods. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s a nice place and it’s a quick walk to work, even quicker than what I do now. It’s also close to Marsh and the post office. I can walk everywhere, I don’t care if gas goes to $4. I also paid my brother’s deposit for IU. Originally he was going to go to Costa Rica with Miss Tara, but he’s gotten into some legal trouble. He and my dad think he should go to IU, the only place he got into, but my mom thinks he should stay at home and get some therapy. She’s totally gay for therapy, even though as far as I can tell she’s still fuckin insane. I guess she throws stuff less.

I have training on Monday through Friday. It’s in Columbia, so I have an hour commute each way. In high school, I used to work at a place in Columbia, so I am quite familiar with the drive. Learning to drive in the DC metro area was interesting.

I had Tara Thai today. It’s so fucking good. I wish I had been able to bring Tara, because come on, that’d be funny and I think she’d really enjoy it. I also watch the Wilco movie I am trying to break your heart. It was too long and too much of a Wilco wank fest. It made the Wilco guys seem really pretentious in my opinion. It was interesting to see them work though. All in all worthwhile.

It made me want to finish our damn record. It’s going to be good I think. I’m also excited about our new songs. It’s weird how certain songs just fit right into place, while you kindof have to massage others to work. I think this record is going to be really cool though. I want to try to get as many people to listen to it. I want people to sing along sometime. That’d be fun.

Contagious Stupidity

In the haha stupid item of the day, a man at a pro-life blog mistook an Onion article for a real piece about abortion. There is nothing funnier than a man lecturing a make believe woman who details her love for abortion. Or, thereafter, receiving tons of death threats or insults for their stupidity.

Job? Fuck it! Rationality about the increasing Middle East conflict? Fuck it! Fat Joe: Bitches and Hoes!

Contagious Irrationality

My response to the contagious irrationality displayed at PubliusPundit:

I’ll give a synopsis of my opinion on the Middle East and the current situation before I discuss my reactions to what has been shared on this thread. I am not a peacenik; I am not a Palestinian apologist. In the Middle East, I do not find right or wrong, good or bad. There is ongoing violence and perspectives and prejudices that enable individuals to justify gruesome behavior on both sides without guilt.

In the context of the past month, Israel responded to Islamic Jihad firing rockets into Southern Israel from the Gaza strip by bombarding the coast of Gaza. This resulted in the death of a family of nine on a Gaza beach, and a prompt reaction from Hamas declaring an end to its informal ceasefire with Israel (for more information on the development of this incident, read this BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5079464.stm ). Consequently, this enabled Hamas, specifically the hard-line faction in Damascus, to begin operations against Israel again. The political version of Hamas, which has showed more willingness to cooperate with Fatah and begin serious negotiations on the path to moderation, was in the process of signing an agreement with Abbas to endorse the Prisoners Document (a document drafted by Fatah and Hamas members in Israeli prisoners that recognizes Israel under pre-1967 borders). This drew the ere of the militant sect of Hamas, leading to Damascus Hamas to order the attack on Israeli soldiers to sabotage the process. Israel responded in kind, launching a significant operation in Gaza that collectively punished the population for the actions of Hamas with the bombardment of primarily civilian targets — water distilleries, power stations, and bridges. Hezbollah, working in unprecedented cooperation with Hamas, began its offensive against Israel from southern Lebanon, opening up a two-front conflict. Israel responded in a similar manner, attacking not only Hezbollah but Lebanonese targets that endanger civilians rather than debilitate extremists. And here we are today, with hardliners on both sides benefiting from violence and encouraging more.

In a political context, I believe Hamas and Hezbollah are acting against the United States and Israel as proxies of Syria and Iran. Lebanon is frankly unequipped to deal with Hezbollah, either politically or militarily. Removing Hezbollah would destabilize Lebanon to the brink of another civil war. For a more in-depth and informed opinion on this matter, I suggest Michael Young’s article ( http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/opinion/14young.html?oref=login ) in the NYTimes that details Syria’s efforts to reassert itself in Lebanon following the anti-Syrian protests and removal of the Syrian army from Lebanon.

Ugh, as I read through these responses, I’m confronted with the thoughts I face everyday: how do rational people turn into irrational actors in regards to the Middle East. I too became a victim of the contagious irrationality after reading this post: in my reaction I posted an emotional response that did not help the debate. I still believe that opinions like these are unconstructive and lead to dangerous actions but I could have presented that in a better manner.

While we may not be direct actors in the conflict, our opinions, whether in the US or in other nations, can either facilitate or debilitate the occurrence of violence that seems endless at times in the Middle East. We, as active, engaged citizens, must realize the consequence of our opinions that become the actions of our respective governments as members of democracies. While I know this issue inflames passions, we cannot allow ourselves to become so incensed that we either implicitly or explicitly allow a continuation of the violence that has plagued the Middle East since 1948.