Reply #46: Sorry - it wasn't intended to be.

[Colorado Blue]

This is the problem when people throw terms like "tyranny" around.

It is extremely difficult to counterbalance them without sounding extreme oneself. But as you yourself must know, the situation is far more complex than the post to which I responded would seem to indicate. We need to be careful here. Word choice is important.

I realize that terms like "moderation" and "compromise" and "complexity" and "subtlety" are not as glamorous as "tyranny" but they're going to be more helpful in the long run.

Also, since you've responded to me - I'm concerned that you believe - as you expressed in another post- that it's only been "a couple of decades" since the creation of the Palestinian refugee situation. It's actually been 57 years and this population has grown from 700,000 or thereabouts, to well over 4 million. Supporting the right to return of over 4 million people, into a nation of 6 million, would seem to be suicidal. Shouldn't we be seeking solutions to their dilemma, which wouldn't destroy the state of Israel and devastate the people who live there?

Also, there IS the little fact of the nearly 1,000,000 Jewish refugees. If you are going to speak of the Palestinian people being expelled, then we should speak of the Jewish people who were expelled from their communities throughout the Middle East between 1948 and about 1970, communities which dated to Biblical times.

I think, however, that these issues are tangential to the anti-war issue - and that's why I self-deleted my initial response to you. Another time and place, perhaps?