Child’s Play: Iran and Israel
I wish I could eloquently explain how much the back and forth bullshit between Iran and Israel drives me crazy. War, or even worse, nuclear war, would accomplish nothing. Luckily, we haven’t yet reached that point, but the propaganda both sides are putting forward is problematic enough.
In a visit to Iran, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya was reported as saying that “Gun is our only response to Zionist regime. In time, we have come to understand that we can obtain our goals only through fighting and armed resistance and no compromise should be made with the enemy.” He continued by stressing the importance of Iranian-Palestinian relations, in their ability to protect one another from American and Zionist threats (such as apparent joint attempts by the CIA and Mossad to carry out attacks in Tehran).
On the Israeli side, Haaretz reports that the Iranians were to blame for a car bombing attack on Israeli officials that took place in India on Monday and another thwarted attempt in Georgia (as well as another in Bangkok on Tuesday). Netanyahu has called Iran “the world’s greatest exporter of terror” - clearly an effective means to keep the peace.
Let me clarify. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a cultural Jew. Although I am entirely non-practicing, I still feel strongly about the (continued) existence of a state of Israel. That being said, I grow increasingly appalled day by day by the remarks the Netanyahu government makes and the policies they choose to pursue. Clearly neither side is free from blame, but I just don’t see how this tit-for-tat behavior is going to get anyone anywhere. Isn’t it easier to avoid violence in the first place? (Or is that just the thinking of a naive pacifist?)
