www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/20/dan...

Danish protester: 'No one would care if a Palestinian was hit with a rifle'

Andreas Ias says his treatment by Israeli soldier is nothing compared to the systematic violence carried out on Palestinians

editing reduced font size. RK

Apr 22, 2012 -- 2:11AM, Dostojevsky wrote:

... is dismayed that in the aftermath of him being struck in the face with a soldier's rifle, ...

That cowardly ________ is "dismayed"?! Boy, he's got a lot of nerve. Notice he's afraid to show his face in any Israeli-controlled area during a week-day.

He comes to a country, violates their laws, provokes the authorities, and succeeds in getting someone to lose his cool. But he gets it recorded on video, thus enabling him to cause that person to be removed from his post (a war hero, no less: Eisner went back into the line of fire in the Second Lebanon War to remove a Benaya Rein's body). This Danish work succeeded in doing something that no enemy was - neutralization of Eisner.

The reason you don't hear about it regarding local Yesha Arabs is because it is very very rare. And they don't provoke IDF officers, they're fanatics but not stupid. Not sure? Well, let's see the documentation. It wasn't too hard for this blonde SOB to show his documentation.

Apr 22, 2012 -- 8:00AM, LeahOne wrote:

That a member of an international conspiracy to demonize Israel and Israeli citizens would make such a ridiculous inflammatory accusation should suprise nobody.

That a paper like the 'guardian' woudl be eager to print such imaginary 'knowledge' with which to defame Israelis in general is not surprising.

Nor have the crocodile tears of 'support' for this smear campaign been any surprise.

Yes, there are people with much next to people with nothing - but did the ones with much actually take anything from the others????  Anyone interested in actual truth and justice would at least pause to ask that question......but there don't seem to be many of those about.

 

A member of an international conspiracy?

If you knew anything about British media you'd know the Guardian is centre left, there are Pro-Israelis, there are Pro-Palestinians. British media is not as right wing as US or Israeli media, haaretz and huffington post being striking exceptions.

As for crocodile tears please. There is a greater use of crocodile tears and holocaust sympathy to not only censor fair criticism against Israel but to actually justify violent attacks against Palestinians and their supporters.

Well now, this explains a lot. It certainly explains the protesters both here on B'net and the ones who fly in from Europe for a little protest and a week on the beach in Tel Aviv.

The spoiled leftist radical

Op-ed: Provocative foreign activists exploit Israel’s tolerance and comfortable lifestyle

During my first year at the Hebrew University I worked at a typical Jerusalem bar – coffee and pastry in the morning, hamburgers for lunch and plenty of beer in the evening. The bar's proximity to Jerusalem's city center made it popular with the foreign peace activists who arrive in Jerusalem quite often. On numerous occasions I spoke to those who grabbed a drink after another day of protesting in Sheikh Jarrah or Bi'lin. Time after time I found myself wondering – why do they even bother coming here? How can a 20 year old Danish boy wake up one morning and tell his parents he's flying to the Middle East?
. . .

Indeed, Israel holds a strange dissonance that we have developed throughout our years of living by the sword. The south is bombed, one million citizens sit in bomb shelters, but 15-20 kilometers away – everything is just the same. We have created a situation where little Israel consists of two parallel universes. The foreign activists fit perfectly into one and only one of those universes – the good, comfortable and quiet one.

 
The second reason was explained to me by two Swedish activists who loved the mixture of Arak and fresh grapefruit juice in their cocktails. I asked them once this one clichéd question that always comes to mind – "So why Israel of all places? Why not Syria? Egypt? Russia or China?" One of them put on a serious face. "Are you insane?" he asked me. "These are all extremely dangerous places!"

 

And that's when it hit me.

 

These people know that nothing bad is going to happen to them here. The massive exposure of the high-ranked Israeli officer who struck a protestor, and the amount of condemnation it received, proves how unusual this incident was. When the worst thing that could happen to you is to get smacked on the face and become a war hero among your friends – why wouldn't you hold up a sign? Why wouldn't you throw a stone at a soldier or a police officer?

. . .

"So wait," I asked in all seriousness. "You wouldn't have come here if you thought you could get badly hurt?" My Swedish friend grinned. "I don't think so," he said. "I may be a radical, but I'm also a spoiled one!" And they both burst out laughing.

 
That's when I realized that for many of those foreign peace activists, this is all just a game. And in this game we, the Israelis and Palestinians, are the pieces. They come from all corners of the world to a faraway country they have never been to before. They confront soldiers and policemen, blocking roads and holding signs. Moreover – as long as they have their cold beer by the end of the evening, as long as they lay their heads in a comfy and friendly hostel – they will continue to arrive.
. . .

I hope that once they are here, beyond the screens of blind hatred, they will be able to find the light in the existence of Israel. I hope they will embrace how lucky they are to be “spoiled radicals” here with us. Then they might take a step back and scale back the “Palestine will be free from the River to the Sea" calls a bit. Hopefully they will realize that if that actually happened, and Israel disappeared, they will not have anywhere else to go.

full article:
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-42196...

I never paid much attention to Hitchens, but I'd bet he's about the only 'Marxist' who's expressed public support for Israel.  But then he was actually a Trotskyite, as you said - so does he even count?

Nothing I have seen in the past 40+ years has given me an impression that Marxists are really all that interested in 'liberating' anyone so much as enlarging their support and thus influence.  IOW,  Marxist organizations per se are not 'charitable' - they exist to advance Marxism. 

To be sure, there are some in various Marxist groups who sincerely do wish to help people - but they are not generally the individuals in charge or organizing efforts such as these SHOWS of 'support for the poor oppressed Palestinians'.

Oh, it's a SHOW all right - but the real point is to oppose the US and 'capitalism'.  In this case, Israel is just a stand-in. 

If the blessed saintly organization of ISM really gave a flying fig for the Pals - there are any number of 'mini-loan' plans and other ideas (the Heifer Project) which could help families and villages and grow a Palestinian economy and infrastructure.  But no......they prefer to put their money into grandstanding and confrontations.

I've been watching Marxists burble about 'the oppressed masses' while protesting in ways which do nothing to help anyone.  I've seen this kind of thing for over 4 decades.  And I remain unimpressed with the 'achievements' of such Marxist organizations.  I think they're basically frauds, yes - and generally that people who trust in them are fools and idiots....based as I said, on 40+ years of direct observation and following their speeches and actions for myself.