Israeli Leader's WWII Analogy Draws Fire

[question everything]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=5&u=/ap/20040523/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_palestinians_16

By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM - Causing an uproar, an Israeli Cabinet minister said Sunday he was reminded of the suffering of his family under Nazi rule when he saw TV images of an Israeli offensive in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Justice Minister Yosef Lapid, a Holocaust survivor, insisted he was not likening army actions to Nazi policies. However, he said the picture of an elderly woman searching for medication in the rubble of a home razed by Israel in the Rafah camp reminded him of his grandmother.

Infuriated Cabinet colleagues said that even if unspoken, the analogy was clear, and demanded he retract his comments.

Lapid's remarks added fire to a debate in Israel over its offensive in the Gaza Strip camp, which is near the border with Egypt. Some critics said the campaign makes little sense from a military point of view, while others questioned why Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) approved it even though he is pushing for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

(snip)

[TahitiNut]

1. The truth hurts.

[bear425]

3. You beat me to it.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[Just Me]

5. Ouch is right!!!

Although I am not yet fully convinced that the motivations are as much genocidal as they are about strictly applying the "rule of force" for purposes of grabbing real estate,

...the level of suffering is still the same, no matter what the real motivation may be. It's about inflicting suffering upon innocent people that makes both Sharon's and Bush's policies particularly obnoxious.

Now, I realize that both these individuals have deep-seated and fundamentalist religious stuff going on, as well. And, that, to me is very disconcerting because those (I'm going to call them) personal problems preclude a form of spiritual/religious secularism that the majority of human beings need and want.

<end short rant>

[TahitiNut]

8. "Might makes right" has been the rationalization for atrocities ...

... for millennia. There is no nation, ethnic group, religion, or organization that's immune. Indeed, the presumption of some inherent immunity merely assures that atrocities will continue.

[randr]

2. At last one of the perpetrators is realizing

what the rest of the world has been seeing.
How can a people who have survived the Nazi atrocities only a generation ago stand wittiness to the destruction of the Palestinians and not see history repeating itself?

[kalian]

4. Wow...this is HUGE....not to mention IRONIC.

Literally...he is stating that Israel is acting like the friggin
NAZIS. :wow:

[Jacobin]

6. What is telling is the screams of outrage from the perpetrators

They don't like facing what they are doing

[Media_Lies_Daily]

15. Sounds identical to the NeoCons in the House of Representatives.

[maddezmom]

7. Lapid is a brave soul and speaks the truth

In the radio interview, Lapid also revealed that the army is considering demolishing some 2,000 homes in Rafah to expand a patrol road between the camp and the border with Egypt. Military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed for the first time that they are exploring plans involving the demolition of 700 to 2,000 homes.


"We look like monsters in the eyes of the world," Lapid told Israel Radio. "This makes me sick."

[question everything]

12. Also

Lapid has been one of the most RW in Israeli politics. Hence, coming from him has a lot of impact.

This is the difference, I think, between someone who lived in Israel since it first came to independence, and those who joined after the 1967 war.

[Alerter_]

9. 150,000 anti-war protestors in Tel Aviv last week

I think most Israelis want the insanity to end, just like here.

[madrchsod]

10. well finally

some one in israel has stood up..it`s about time the truth is told from those who went thu the horror of germany... maybe hundreds of thousands ,maybe millions of israeli citizens will stand up and say--no more-not in our name.

[mbperrin]

11. I guess this makes him

anti-Semitic now, eh?

God bless him for clear vision and honest speech.

[methinks2]

13. And the truth shall set them free

Way to go Lapid!!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :yourock:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. I've been saying that for years, particularly since Sharon took over.

[western mass]

16. To steal a riff from the Daily Show...

"It's not the media that's biased against Isreal, John. It's the FACTS that are biased against Isreal. Ethnic cleansing, shooting children, elderly women crawling searching through the rubble for medicine...a little hard to maintain fair and balanced reporting when the facts are so biased against Isreal. You see, John, TRUTH ITSELF is antisemitic."

[acmavm]

17. A man speaking his conscience. And he's right. There is absolutely

no rational reason for what the Israelis are doing. None at all. It gains them nothing, it brings international condemnation, and just creates more hatred.

[Chicago Democrat]

18. Good for the Justice Minister...

[Moderator]

19. Please discuss in IP forum

There is a thread on this topic posted there

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x70094