The state of Israel, formed in 1948, has led a tumultuous existence since its birth. While achieving impressive scientific and industrial feats, its political and sovereign societal stance has been based on a claimed secular democracy that is ironically based on strong religious notions, non-inclusive, paranoid (for historical reasons that are nevertheless fading away) and ineffective structures, ideas, and governing policies. The Israeli democracy does not uniformly apply to its Arab citizens residing within the pre-1967 borders, the misplaced refugees and the populations under its occupation since 1967, the sum of which may closely equal or exceed the “Jewish” population of Israel and the Occupied Territories. The closest parallel to this is the selective pseudo-democracy practiced by the former apartheid Government of South Africa which eventually collapsed.
Ignoring any moral judgment on the Israeli methodology and focusing on the realities of the situation and the sustainability of such governance, it is reasonable to regard Israel, as an independent entity, a failed state since it is simply unable to exist on its own. Yet Israel continues to exist and thrive and exercise military (strategic and tactical) dominance over its neighbors. We argue that this existence is wholly or in large part based on an extensive amount of US financial (direct and indirect) aid and assistance to the state of Israel under the pretext of protecting Israel from enemies and those seeking its annihilation (either politically or militarily). As such peace is detrimental to the existence of Israel as the primary donor (the United States) will be hard pressed by its internal politics to justify its vast quantity of aid in a peaceful environment given its own internal financial and economic disarray. In simple terms, Israel stands to lose significant financial benefits should peace take hold. We characterize Israel as an essentially failed state as it is unable to sustain itself in a peaceful environment and without significant outside assistance. As such, peace is not in the interest of Israel.
The characterization of Israel’s structures, ideas, and governing policies as ineffective is due to the fact that it has been unable to formulate an existence in over 60 years of statehood that is independent of massive explicit and direct outside financial and military support. It has not been able to overcome existential challenges without such support and provide its citizens with reasonable long-term security and peace. In fact, such challenges have exacerbated from relatively manageable conventional military threats in 1967 and 1973 to its current and biggest self-proclaimed existential challenge of facing nuclear threats in the 2000s and the possibility of mutually assured destruction. Random airplane hijackings and Olympic Village attacks have become missile-armed adversaries on its borders able to directly threaten its population centers. Submissive and demoralized generations of refugees misplaced in 1948 and years thereafter have been replaced with even larger numbers of young, angry and non-compromising children of refugee camps and occupation zones that are far more radical than Yasser Arafat’s old PLO and the residents of Sabra and Shatila. None of these developments were considerations in the past and they constitute significant increases in the costs of sustaining Israel. Militarily, today Israel is better armed and equipped as it has ever been, in fact far better conventionally armed than any of its adversaries, capped with a probable strategic nuclear arsenal of up to 200 warheads. Yet it is as unsustainable as ever, and ever more dependent on outside support.
The title of this article, “Peace is Detrimental to Israel” may have been alternately written as “Why it is unlikely that Israel will Survive In Its Current Form”. The latter, however, implies a possibility of an evolution of the existing governance structures, ideas and policies into a new set of sustainable structures, ideas and policies, whereas the current title, should peace prevail, pervades a sense of undesirable and impending change based on devolution combined with shock and awe. The latter, can also be applied to most countries, societies and government, which, based on differing paces, do evolve and change over time or at least show willingness to do so. The former generally applies to entities that are unable to self-sustain while absorbing change and rely on external forces for their sustenance. Such entities do not see the need for a behavior change as long as the external support is present without a quid pro quo.
In the case of Israel, self-sustenance is nuanced not just by the “natural” difficulties of existence any society would face, but also resistance to forces that actively and explicitly seek to change its current order if not to eradicate it outright. As such, we believe that the state of Israel in its current form, would collapse in a peaceful environment based on its inability to independently sustain itself after the external forces that directly and indirectly contribute to its existence lose their ability to sustain such support. This dependency sustenance has been the core of Israeli policies and efforts and the core contributor to its operational calculus vis-à-vis regional geographic, political, societal, and basic human challenges. Israel was created with “outside” help, has continued to exist based on “outside” help and cannot continue to do so without such help. Peace will dramatically reduce this “outside” help and cause the collapse of the state of Israel. Once the so-called humanitarian threats and genocidal enemies give way to peace, and on a purely economic basis, the costs of the outside support required to effectively deal with Israel’s issues do not seem sustainable in a global multi-polar world order that is in the process of replacing one based on a singular super-power.
In the new world order and after the economic disasters of 2009, the “outside” ability to sustain is decreasing while the cost of such sustenance is increasing. During the 60 years of 1948-2008, this equation was positive to the benefit of such sustenance. During this period, the booming economies of the West, specifically that of the United States allowed for such support. The estimates for the total amount of US aid to Israel since 1948 by Israeli-friendly sources is well over $120 Billion, with the annual figure exceeding the billion mark beginning in 1974 (including but not limited to outright financial aid, military aid, partnerships, [possibly un-repaid] loans and loan guarantees, and myriads of other vehicles designed for such activity) . In addition, other sources estimate the interest paid on this aid to be upwards of $50 Billion. These figures are not adjusted for the present value of the aid in the past 60 years (i.e. $100 Million in 1950 was worth far more than today’s $100 Million) nor do they include the private funds collected from various US political and religious groups destined for Israel. A comprehensive estimate in 2002 by a Washington-based economist puts the complete cost of Israeli support to the US at $1.6 Trillion only since 1973. Therefore the total cost to the US from 1948 to 2010 can be extrapolated to be around $2 Trillion in today’s (2010) dollars, with the costs increasing annually. While this figure may be disputable (although not by much), it is indisputable that Israel is the largest foreign recipient of US funds and such numbers are harder and harder to sustain in an era where as of June 6, 2010, the US Budget deficit is slightly over $13 Trillion.
As a comparison, the current US budget deficit on a per-US-resident (population of 308 million) basis is $42,300 whereas the $2 Trillion spent on Israel, on a per-Jewish-citizen basis (using the 5 million non-Arab population figure) is $400,000. So the money the US has spent since 1948 on every Israeli citizen is almost ten times as much as each and every American currently owes. We have not discussed and certainly do not deny US aid to Arab and other countries (much smaller than the aid to Israel) and have focused solely on Israel, at that is the topic of this writing. Even if we use lower figures than the $2 Trillion amount, the disparity between these two metrics is quite significant and noteworthy.
As pointed out earlier, this massive support has yet to produce a self-sustaining, peaceful country. Controversy surrounds any and every action of the Israeli Government. From suppressing occupied peoples for decades to the building of new settlements to bulldozing the homes of innocent people in already dilapidated, highly dense and by all accounts squalid areas, the state of Israel has produced more enemies over the years than friends. This is generally not a characteristic of a long-term, truly independent, self sustaining state.
Given that the US is in a dire financial situation and that it dangerously came close to a total collapse of its financial system (and quite possibly the global financial system) in 2009 and with a rapidly increasing deficit of over $130 Trillion, the sustenance of Israel becomes more and more expensive as time goes on. The cost to the US taxpayer will increase while the taxpayer is mired in debt, in an uncertain economic future and in receipt of less government services. The US ability to sustain Israel is decreasing while Israel does not seem concerned about the loss or possible reduction of this support. That again, is not the sign of a long-term self-sustaining state.
Using a scientific analogy, the creation of Israel has been the primary source of equilibrium disturbance in the Middle East since 1948.
“In chemistry, Le Châtelier's principle, also called the Chatelier's principle, can be used to predict the effect of a change in conditions on a chemical equilibrium.”
“This principle has a variety of names, depending upon the discipline using it……It is common to take Le Châtelier's principle to be a more general observation, roughly stated:
Any change in status quo prompts an opposing reaction in the responding system.”
The creation of Israel was a major change in the status quo of the Middle East over 60 years ago. An artificial state was carved out of an un-willing and hostile population by force. This change prompted an opposing reaction in the region that has been growing and getting stronger in its threatening posture to Israel ever since. The state of Israel has not been able to absorb or neutralize this reaction, by either multiple violent methods, despite multiple attempts, and despite receiving $2 Trillion in outside aid since its birth. Given that the outside aid is not sustainable long term and in a peaceful environment, and the forces trying to restore the “equilibrium” in the region have become only stronger, it is highly unlikely that Israel will be interested in peace as it is unable to survive in its current form and without significant outside aid.
Furthermore, in a peaceful environment, an Israeli “democracy” would have to either relinquish the occupied territories and concede to a Palestinian state, or absorb them all into a greater Israel and grant citizenship to all their residents, overwhelmingly Arabs. Neither of these scenarios is desirable as the first option conflicts with the current (and long term) Israeli strategy of changing the facts on the ground and expanded settlement activity, and the second, will create an Arab majority, which in a true democracy, would erode the “Jewishness” of Israel. A third option, the best and safest so far, is to keep an on-going conflict with occasional uprisings and military adventures. And use that as a pretext for ongoing and increasing financial receipts from an American electorate conditioned for exactly this purpose.
Israel is forced to show that it is interested in making peace and participate in related meetings and conferences, while on the ground and in reality, it is taking steps on a daily basis to erode peace and any chance thereof. Peace is detrimental to the existence of the State of Israel, and like any other entity, interested in survival, it will actively work to avoid peace and its potential internal collapse.
NOTES
[1] Multiple web-based sources but primarily the website for the Jewish Virtual Library //www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/index.html and the following Israeli Aid calculations: //www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Isr... and //www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Isr...
[2] //www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/cost_of_israe...
[3] //www.csmonitor.com/2002/1209/p16s01-wmgn.htm...
[4] US Debt Clock: //www.brillig.com/debt_clock/
[5] Ibid
[6] //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Chatelier%27s_prin...
[7] Ibid
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نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
Hoshang, google these
by Sargord Pirouz on Thu Oct 21, 2010 07:36 AM PDTHoshang, google these keywords: israel peace now.
A knowledge seeking query from all IC's Israel experts on both
by Hoshang Targol on Thu Oct 21, 2010 07:12 AM PDTsides ( meaning whether you oppose or support Israel).
Is there any pro-peace forces in Israel?
How should we relate to them?
Russian immigrants and settlers obstacles to Mideast Peace
by Mola Nasredeen on Thu Oct 21, 2010 08:44 AM PDT"Russian immigrants to Israel have emerged as a central obstacle to achieving a Middle East peace deal, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which increasingly consists of soldiers hailing from this community, might not be fully willing to oppose Israeli settlers as a result." Bill Clinton
who is occupying whose land?
by AMIR1973 on Wed Oct 20, 2010 08:41 PM PDTIsrael is occupying land that it won from Jordan in the Six Day War in 1967. Israel was fighting Egypt and Syria and had told King Hussain of Jordan to stay out of the war. He entered the war, and the Jordanian army was quickly defeated. Egypt and Israel eventually made peace, and Israel completely withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, i.e. "land for peace". IMO, Israel and the Palestinians should make peace (they came very close to a "land for peace" deal at Taba in 2001), and Israel should withdraw from the West Bank to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state there alongside Israel. But Hamas, Hezbollah, the IRI, and the "Death to Israel" crowd living in the West aren't interested in a two-state settlement: they want to eradicate Israel altogether. It is unrealistic to expect a state to negotiate itself out of existence.
Israeli Taliban
by vildemose on Wed Oct 20, 2010 07:26 PM PDT//www.juancole.com/2010/10/israeli-taliban-torch-palestinian-girls-school-destroy-olive-trees.html#comments
repeat:
by Mola Nasredeen on Wed Oct 20, 2010 07:07 PM PDTwho is occupying whose land?
The first step
by AMIR1973 on Wed Oct 20, 2010 06:46 PM PDTThe first step in any effort, whether it is a political movement or a personal endeavor, is to identify the goal of that effort. What is/are the goal(s) of the Palestinians? To establish a Palestinian state or to eradicate Israel? It seems to me that some Palestinians have accepted a two-state settlement, whereas other Palestinians and their supporters hope to achieve a "one state solution", i.e. the eradication of Israel and its replacement with an Arab state (and in the case of Hamas and its backers, an Arab Islamist state).
Who is occupying whose land? this is the question
by Mola Nasredeen on Wed Oct 20, 2010 06:19 PM PDTLook:
It's about occupying and confiscating someone else's land! Here, open your eyes and read. It was reported on Yahoo today: "Israeli settlers have begun building new homes at an extraordinary pace". //news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_israel_settlements_unfrozen
A list of 544 settlement housing starts today : //news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101020/ap_on_bi_ge/ml_israel_unfrozen_settlements_glance_1This "noroz"
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Wed Oct 20, 2010 03:36 PM PDTcharacter has no idea what he is talking about . Nor does he know what democracy is. Or what majority rule with minority rights are. It is a waste of time talking to him. The guy represents the worst of the Iranian people. That is if he is really Iranian.
Lol: please do not take him seriously. He does not represent Iranians or even sane people anywhere in the world.
Norooz,
by LoverOfLiberty on Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:11 AM PDTNorooz: "It is a simple yes or no. Isn't that what democracy is about? The majority wins an election and form the government?"
No, the answer to that question isn't a simple"yes" or "no."
The US, for example, is a constitutional republic with a representative democracy, meaning that individuals are elected by the general population to represent the people. And, the only so-called "majority," in general, that is needed for a candidate to win the election is the majority of votes...which could mean that someone could potentially win the election with as few as, say, 10 percent of the votes just as long as the other candidates in the election have received a lower percentage of votes.*
And, in the US, there is no government to form, so to speak, after an election since the structure of the US government at both the federal level and the state levels are defined by the US Constitution at the federal level and by state constitutions at the state level. In other words, the structure of the US federal government and the state governments do not change from election to election...only the faces of elected officials change, potentially, from election to election.
Furthermore, unlike in some other countries, the people in the US do not vote for political parties...they vote for, again, individuals who may or may not be affiliated with a political party. And, in practice within the US congress and State legislators, elected representatives/senators are not bound by any legal constraint of voting outside their own political party's agendas...meaning that those officials have the legal authority to vote against their own political party's positions.
In addition, being a "constitutional" republic, the legislating actions of elected officials are tempered by the fact that all federal and state laws must adhere to their respective constitutions. So, even if all the elected officials that comprise the US Congress vote for a law, for example, that law would be voided if the US Supreme Court concludes that it violates the US Constitution. And this structure of constitutionally-dictated democracy, as opposed to a direct democracy, was purposely put in place by America's founding fathers in order to prevent what has been called the "tyranny of the majority over the minority."
So, once again, the answer to that question isn't a simple"yes" or "no."
Furthermore, with all of this talk about democracy, when did the Arab/Muslim population within the Mandate of Palestine actually vote to be represented by Mohammad Amin al-Husayni? (As far as I can tell, they weren't granted that ability.)
And, with all of this talk about democracy, when did the Arab/Muslim
population within the Mandate of Palestine actually vote with regards to whether or not the Mandate should be partitioned into two or more states? (As far as I can tell, they weren't granted that ability either.)
So, if the Arabs/Muslims of the Mandate of Palestine had neither the choice in the matter of who should represent them nor the choice in the matter of whether or not the Mandate should be partitioned into two states, then how can anyone possibly conclude with any certainty that Mohammad Amin al-Husayni actually acted in the interest of the Arabs/Muslims of the Mandate of Palestine?
*As an afterthought, I will add that the US Presidential and Vice Presidential elections are not decided by popular vote but, rather, they are "indirect elections in which voters cast ballots for a slate of electors of the U.S. Electoral College, who in turn directly elect the President and Vice President."
(Quoted from Wiki: //en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_presidential_elect...)
LoL
by norooz on Tue Oct 19, 2010 07:46 AM PDTYou wrote,
The answer to this question likely depends on the cultural nature and history of a particular nation and the form of government of that nation. So, this isn't a question that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no."
It is a simple yes or no. Isn't that what democracy is about? The majority wins an election and form the government?
norooz,
by LoverOfLiberty on Tue Oct 19, 2010 12:05 AM PDTnorooz: "Don't the majority get to hold the power in any government and nation?"
The answer to this question likely depends on the cultural nature and history of a particular nation and the form of government of that nation. So, this isn't a question that can be answered with a simple "yes" or "no."
The fact of the matter is, there was no central government nor nation, other than what the British imposed on the peoples of Palestine, during the Mandate of Palestine. Surely, for more local issues within and during the Mandate, there were some remnents of the political/judicial systems that were left over from the Ottoman Turk's rule. However, the League of Nations/UN essentially handed the peoples of Palestine a clean slate, so to speak, with regards to those peoples developing the Mandate into a sovereign nation...or even a number of sovereign nations.
So, with this history in mind, why should the Mandate have to be developed into only one nation, an Arab/Muslim nation, instead of two or more nations simply because there are more Arabs/Muslims than, say, Jews or Christians?
norooz: "Why the Christians don't make the same claims as Jews? Palestine is
just as important to them as is for Jews, but they chose Vatican in
Rome and they go and visit holy sites in Jerusalem. Jews could have done
the same instead of murdering in the name of their God. In fact the
Jews wanted that, but the Zionists had different plans as everyone
knows."
Well, Palestinian Arabs/Muslims could have done the same as those Christians supposedly did, such as choosing Mecca as their home and just visit the holy sites in Jerusalem on occasion. And, similarly, Arabs/Muslims could have done the same as the Christians supposedly did instead of murdering in the name of their God.
loveofliberty
by norooz on Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:15 PM PDTYou wrote,
Now, you infer that, even though there had not been a sovereign Arab/Muslim nor Jewish nation in that region for over 400 years, the Arabs/Muslims should wield full control over the Mandate's destiny simply since they represented the majority of the region's population. But, how would that position address the aspirations of Jews (or other groups) that lived in the region? Moreover, why should that entire region become an Arab/Muslim state when a significant minority of the population there was not Arab/Muslim?
Fool, when did i say there was not a sovereign Arab nation called Palestine? This is what you are saying.
Yes, the palestinian Arabs were the majority. Don't the majority get to hold the power in any government and nation? and yet the Jews and Christians were free to practice their religions.
Why the Christians don't make the same claims as Jews? Palestine is just as important to them as is for Jews, but they chose Vatican in Rome and they go and visit holy sites in Jerusalem. Jews could have done the same instead of murdering in the name of their God. In fact the Jews wanted that, but the Zionists had different plans as everyone knows.
norooz,
by LoverOfLiberty on Mon Oct 18, 2010 10:50 PM PDTnorooz: "The majority Muslims, minority Christians and Jews lived there in peace
for many years. It was the Zionist ideas that turned it into what you
see today. What Mohammad Amin did with respect to defending
Palestine, was what the Gajar should have done with respect to defending
Iran's territories. But due to your ill thinking you make
contradictions and call it logic. This Zionist Joojeh simorgh is making
the same foolish arguments."
I think you are the fool here, norooz.
Mohammad
Amin al-Husayni never "defended Palestine." What that Hitler-wannabe
defended was the position that there should be no Jewish nation,
whatsoever, in the region called the Mandate of Palestine.
Now, you infer that, even though there had not been a sovereign
Arab/Muslim nor Jewish nation in that region for over 400 years, the
Arabs/Muslims should wield full control over the Mandate's destiny simply since
they represented the majority of the region's population. But, how
would that position address the aspirations of Jews (or other groups)
that lived in the region? Moreover, why should that entire region become an Arab/Muslim state when a significant minority of the population there was not Arab/Muslim?
If
you ask me, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni deserves just as much moral and
political loathing as any so-called Zionist who believes that the
Mandate should have become an entirely Jewish state.
Moreover, I would ask,
what did the Arabs/Muslims of Palestine get in return for Mohammad
Amin al-Husayni's blindly self-assured and anti-Jewish machismo that the
Arabs/Muslims would easily win the civil war against the Jews and "push
the Jews into the sea?"
I'll tell you what the Palestinian Arabs/Muslims got in return for
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni's idiocy. The Palestinian Arabs/Muslims got 60 years of
death and hardship and an ongoing civil war with seemingly no
end...simply because Mohammad Amin al-Husayni and others of his
anti-Jewish ilk would not divide up control over that land
with...well...Jews.
Like I said, Mohammad Amin al-Husayni chose poorly. And I think you are a fool for not seeing this reality of the situation.
Mola Nasredeen
by norooz on Mon Oct 18, 2010 09:24 PM PDTIndeed,
No matter how many valid reasons you give this joojeh Zionist, even though, reluctantly he couldn't deny the obvious truth and agreed and wrote, assuming all you say is correct ( coming from him that means, yes you are correct ) , minute latter he/she starts the same BS all over again.
There is a big difference between one who is debating and one who is on a mission. That has been very clear to me with some of these characters, specially this joojeh.
norooz,
by Mola Nasredeen on Mon Oct 18, 2010 08:47 PM PDTYou put your finger on it. What simorgh and the rest of Zionist groupies are doing here on IC is from a handbook called Hasbara. Hasbara refers to the propaganda efforts to sell Israel, justify its actions, and defend it in world opinion. Here is some of the techniques used:
//www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hasbara
Hey Norooz
by Simorgh5555 on Mon Oct 18, 2010 01:59 PM PDTYes, well just let Lebanon and Gaza be an example to you. You were powerless to do anything other than sit there and get bombed. I will sit back zipping my Martini!
Cheers
joojeh simorgh
by norooz on Mon Oct 18, 2010 01:54 PM PDTYou keep writing bunch of BS and dance around it and act like a clown, but you are not going to divert this blog from Israeli Genocides to Sudan, Russia and etc. I understand your concern for your country Israel, but there is nothing you can do, Israel is digging her own grave. She is a goner.
Mola Nasradeen - It takes two to tango
by Simorgh5555 on Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:54 PM PDTEye witness account of an ARAB msassacring native Africas in SUDAN:
The attack was carried out by Sudanese Arab horsemen, the
feared Janjaweed, and their Chadian allies seeking to oust the
government in the capital, N'Djamena. But there was no one on hand to
explain any of that to Tagalo. His father had fled, thinking the boy
was with his mother and baby brother. The baby was dead, however, and
his mother had been crippled in the same hail of bullets. Tagalo was
found lying alone by Italian relief workers.
The massacres in
Tiero, where Tagalo lived, and the neighbouring village of Marena, near
the Sudanese border, killed about 400 people. The numbers are unclear
because many of the bodies are still lying in the bush. The killings
are a blood-red signal that the culture of mass murder as a weapon of
war has found its way to Chad, after four years in Darfur uninterrupted
by the global community.
//www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/apr/16/sudan....
Settlements = Confiscated Natives Land
by Mola Nasredeen on Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:41 PM PDTLets hear it from a Jew:
"The system preserving this apartheid is more ruthless than that seen in South Africa, where the black were a labor force and could therefore also make a living. It is equipped with the lie of being "temporary." Occasionally, Israel's indifference comes up with allegations against the Palestinians.
Abba Eban captured the allegation by coining a phrase repeated by the doves of all parties, who never really went to battle over Israel's future and allowed the "settlement project" to spread. After all, occupation makes Israelis richer. Why oppose it?"
//www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/israel-s-apartheid-is-worse-than-south-africa-s-1.4590
Ehsan Karimi - You have failed
by Simorgh5555 on Mon Oct 18, 2010 11:35 AM PDTDespite challenging Ehsan Karimi (Norooz, Amir Kabir)to explain why he does not confront the historical injsutices Russia has perpetrated against Iran and which still does today by supporting the Islamic Republic, he has stood steadfast to his Islamist beliefs.
When I pushed him for an answer Karimi's reponse was essentially 'that was then this is now' and Iran has to live with the decisions of the Qajar monarchs. But Karimi deliberately choses to ignore that Russian exploitation of our resources and territorial sovereignty did not stop did not stip woth the corrupts Tsars but continued under the Soviets who encouraged separatist movements in Gilan, Azarbaijan, Rasht and other areas of northern to form breakaway republics and even achieved that in Azarbaijan. Ehsan Karimi's reaction? Just let it be.
Not only thta, but Ehsan Karimi is happy for Iran to continue being the client state and political prostitute of Russia, acquiring its second rate technology at extortionate prices and like all Islamists in the IR he is indifferent to it. Karimi singles outIsrael when it's benefactor Israel has invaded two Islamic countries, supported Serbs in their ethnic cleansing of Muslims and only recently savagelyattacked neighboring Georgia - a state which was once part of Iran and which the Russiansceased from us.
However, I now realise the futility in arguuing with Ehsan Karimi. Like most Islamists the defence of Islam and the support of Palestinioan causes are entrenched in their DNA and not even Palestinian support of our enemy Saddam Hussein or theagenda of the Pan- Arab nationalists to steal the Khuzestan province from Iran are all water under the bridge. PAlestine comes first.
When the American boxer Mohammed Ali was asked to enlist in the Vietnam war his response was" Why? No Vietnamese has ever called me a Nigger".
I ask Iranians to do the same. Why should I have a beef with Israel? No Jew ever invaded our country;No Jew evertried to ban Chaharshanbe suri; no Jew ever discouraged the celebration of No-Ruz; No Jew eevr tried to level Persepolis; NoJew ever destroyed th fire temples and impose their religion on me. Far from it, Jews revere Persian culture and vernerate the Cyrus the Great. Up until recentl- and in a desperate public charade the Islamic Republic has not only refused to celebrate our great King but has removed pre-Islamic Persia from it's history book.
But let Islamists like Ehsas Karimi who, like his spiritual leader Khomeini and other Islamists declared' Islam First' .
As for Israel. She knows how to defent her self. Whether you are an Islamist in some ramshackle hut in a Lebanese terrorist camp or brokering arms in a luxury Dubai hotel, you can rest assure on one thing: Israel will get you.
Jimmy Carter
by Veiled Prophet of Khorasan on Mon Oct 18, 2010 03:52 AM PDTPlease don't remind me of JC first thing in the morning. That guy did more damage to the world than anyone else. With his "human rights" he among other things brought Mugabe; Khomeini and so on. Whenever he found an anti-American dictator he supported them.
Here is a thought: A big victim of Jimmy Carter was his own party the Democrats. By his mismanagement he ruined the reputation of Democrats. So badly as to bring Reagan to power. The Democrats are still running away from his legacy. The man is a walking disaster.
Thank god he is no longer in power; I don't think the world could handle more of him. So Molla Jan; jigar joon please don't quote JC to me first thing in the morning.
Norooz or Amir Kabir or Ehsan Karimi?
by AMIR1973 on Sun Oct 17, 2010 09:57 PM PDTBy the way, veiled, joojeh simorgh, Rozie and Amir 1973, you are all using so many joon, jaan, jigar, honey and etc on each others that I am getting suspicious.
Norooz joon-e, Kabir-e jigar-e Karimi jaan, I am getting a little suspicious that you are being reincarnated over and over and over again. Cheers .-)
Joojeh simorgh
by norooz on Sun Oct 17, 2010 07:12 PM PDTYou wrote, By that rational, the Palestinian leadership, weak or corrupt agreed to recognize Israel and renounce violence as part of the 1994 Oslo agreement.
As I wrote before, It has been Israel who has violated agreement after agreement and expanded its territories and along the way has been destroying and killing people. It is only natural for Palestinians to defend themselves.
Khers wrote some comments and wished death to both Israel and Palestine pretending khers is for Iran, but soon started attacking Palestine and defending Israel. That is the same trick others are using. It doesn't work Khersac.
In fact, these arguments are Zionists propaganda to break the unity and support specially between Iran, Lebanon and Palestine. It is the same tactic of divide and conquer. Every one of these three countries will be weaker and much more vulnerable without the current unity. This heavy propaganda here is an alarming sound of the importance of this unity and must be strengthen even more. This is what Iranians understand and the political prostitute cannot.
Zendeh bad Iran va tamameh modafeaneh hagh, marg bar Israel.
By the way, veiled, joojeh simorgh, Rozie and Amir 1973, you are all using so many joon, jaan, jigar, honey and etc on each others that I am getting suspicious.
asgharagha has read all your comments... thank you
by dokooneh_asgharagha on Sun Oct 17, 2010 05:58 PM PDTAll - thank you very much for all your comments. It would have been nice if there was less vitriol and more fact/logic based arguments and no personal attacks and name calling. I have learned a lot from the posts and not being the sharpest tool in the shed, here are some responses - it is by no means complete...and just for the record i don't belong to any group or organization and unfortunately no one pays me a dime other than my day job - which is totally unrelated to all of this.. except for being a US tax-payer from naafeh EEROON......
1. when i started with this article it was with a "I am a US tax-payer (with middle eastern roots of course) and where is all this money going" mind-set .. which may or may not make sense to you ...so it is not a 100% EEROONY topic.. but EEROON spends a lot of money on the opposing side so there is some connection...and most if not all EEROONEEs have grown up constantly hearing about this issue...
2. there is no denial of what has happened to all people; jews, palestinians (christian and moslem), other sub-arab ethnic groups and so on... the idea was to look at numbers and again not being very bright, trying to put the $$$$ context around it....
2a. just googled a lot of numbers and i felt the results were fairly astounding... as I was trying to figure out for myself how much longer before this would pan out... it *has* been 60+ years so how much longer... (and watching/reading about the current and previous peace efforts diligently... as much as my <5KB brain allows)... and it seems to me (my meek brain again at semi-work here).. this will go on for a loooong time.. maybe well past 100 years... 2048 and on... who knows..
3. nothing would please me (or most people i know) more than a just, reasonable and fair peace in the middle east amongst all peoples... this is a big wish.. (remember if this wish were to come true there are many corollaries that probably would come true too.. let's humor each other on this one since we are just wishing here.. :-)
4. indeed there are many other situations that are directly or indirectly related to this unfortunate one.... but that was not the focus... just wanted to know how much money has gone/is going to Israel...
5. .. and what could happen if this money stops or gets reduced.. either as a cause or as an effect of other causes... just speculating here.... it is hard to argue that any country would give up land (or what's left of it considering the strategically located settlements that create a chicken-pox like map - this is not a bias - you can look at the maps and see for yourself), $$Billions in direct and indirect aid and all sorts of benefits in order to appease a bunch of rag-tag Arabs from a few refugee camps or local occupied Arabs... I can not see them doing it... lovely if they did...
6. we are not even talking about all the benefits the sponsors of this whole schmear on either side realize... and why they wouldn't want to give up their Bagel.. so to speak..
koochikeh hameh,
asgharagha
President Carter and the Criminal Apartheid Regime of Israel
by Mola Nasredeen on Sun Oct 17, 2010 03:47 PM PDT"President Carter criticizes Israel for building what he describes as an imprisonment wall through the West Bank. He accuses Israel of strangling the residents of Gaza where the poverty rate has reached 70 percent and where the malnutrition rate mirrors countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. And Carter is critical of Washington’s role. He writes, "The United States is squandering international prestige and goodwill and intensifying global anti-American terrorism by unofficially condoning or abetting the Israeli confiscation and colonization of Palestinian territories."
//www.democracynow.org/2006/11/30/palestine_peace_not_apartheid_jimmy_carter
Meanwhile, back in "islamist paradise" of Iran.....
by Roozbeh_Gilani on Sun Oct 17, 2010 01:53 PM PDTمدیر کل مطبوعات داخلی وزارت فرهنگ و ارشاد اسلامی به مطبوعات ایران هشدار داده است که در صورت دادن پوشش خبری به رهبران مخالفان، تذکر خواهند گرفت و در صورت تداوم این کار توقیف و حتی لغو امتیاز خواهند شد.
به گزارش خبرگزاری رسمی جمهوری اسلامی، ایرنا، احسان قاضی زاده روز شنبه در نشستی با مدیران مسئول نشریات و مدیران خبرگزاری های استان کرمان اظهار نظر می کرد.
او گفت: "مطبوعاتی که در جریان حوادث پس از انتخابات حتی به یک خط در مورد وقایع 9 دی ماه، روز قدس و سایر اصول نظام نپرداختند، انتظار حمایت و یا دریافت یارانه مطبوعات را نداشته باشند."
او افزود: "نشریاتی که هنوز پس از جریان فتنه به انتشار بیانیه و عکس سران فتنه می پردازند، براساس قانون مطبوعات تذکر گرفته و در صورت تداوم توقیف و لغو امتیاز نیز خواهند شد."
اشاره او ظاهرا به انتشار اخبار مهدی کروبی و میرحسین موسوی است که در انتخابات ریاست جمهوری سال 1388 دولت را به تقلب گسترده در انتخابات متهم کردند و حکومت ایران از آنها به عنوان "سران فتنه" نام می برد.
وزارت ارشاد ایران بر فعالیت رسانه های داخلی و خارجی در ایران نظارت می کند.
منابع خبری اصلاح طلبان حدود یک ماه قبل گزارش دادند که شورای عالی امنیت ملی ایران به سردبیران روزنامه ها گفته است از انتشار اخبار مربوط به میرحسین موسوی و مهدی کروبی بپرهیزند. آن خبر رسما تایید نشد.
از زمان اعتراضات گسترده خیابانی به نتایج انتخابات ریاست جمهوری بسیاری از فعالان معترض، روزنامه نگاران منتقد و چهره های سیاسی اصلاح طلب راهی زندان ها شده اند. به علاوه مهم ترین رسانه های چاپی آنها توقیف شده است که امکان ارتباط رهبران مخالفان را با مردم مشکل کرده است.
سازمان گزارشگران بدون مرز، ایران را در رده بندی جهانی آزادی مطبوعات در سال ۲۰۰۹ در رتبه ۱۷۲ قرار می دهد. در این رده بندی تنها کشورهای ترکمنستان، کره شمالی و اریتره در رده پایین تری از ایران قرار دارند.
مقام های حکومت ایران اعتراضات پس از انتخابات و جنبش مخالفان را یک توطئه تحت حمایت خارجی برای تضعیف و یا براندازی حکومت می دانند؛ اتهامی که مخالفان رد می کنند.
سپاه پاسداران ایران که عملیات مهار اعتراضات و تظاهرات پس از انتخابات را به عهده داشت و به خشونت و حتی قتل تظاهرکنندگان متهم شد، بارها به مخالفان هشدار داده است که از ایجاد "بحران امنیتی" بپرهیزند.
آقای قاضی زاده روز شنبه گفت: "بعضی ها به جای اینکه در فضای باز کار کنند، تنها به یک موضوع ویژه می پردازند. در همین راستا نشریاتی در برخی استان های کشور در جریانات یک سال گذشته به دلیل توهین به اصول نظام و اهانت ها به جایگاه مراجع و ولایت فقیه لغو مجوز شدند."
آقای قاضی زاده همچنین در مورد یارانه مطبوعات گفت: "یارانه مطبوعات نوعی کمک به مطبوعات است و قرار نیست برای همیشه ثبات و بقا داشته باشد."
Nelson Mandela and the Criminal Apartheid Regime of Israel.
by Mola Nasredeen on Sun Oct 17, 2010 01:24 PM PDT"Apartheid is a crime against humanity. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property. It has perpetuated a system of gross racial discrimination and inequality. It has systematically incarcerated and tortured thousands of Palestinians, contrary to the rules of international law. It has, in particular, waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children."
Nelson Mandela
امیدوارم که اسرائیل و فلسطین جفتشون
KhersSun Oct 17, 2010 11:34 AM PDT
رو سر هر دوشون خراب بشه که یک مشت مزدور جیره خور جمهوری اسلامی (مثل اینهأی که در این سایت هستند) این مسمسکی را که ۳۱ ساله که برای مردم ایران درست کردند و هر روز برای سرکوب مردم ایران ازش استفاده میکنند از دست بدهند. هر روز فلسطین این و اسرائیل اون. همین اسرائیلی است که ارباباتون تا ده سال پیش ازش اسلحه میخریدند و بهش ده برابر پول میدادند که بیشتر باهاش بیفته به جون فلسطینیها. هر روز هم بلاگ مینویستند، یکی به اسم "جواد آقا" و حالا هم "اصغر آقا"--انگار تو ایران همه چیز درست است و تنها مشکل مردم ایران فلسطینه. هر روز هم block میشوند و فوری یک اسم جدید درست میکنند و میاند اراجیف مینویسند.
Dear Prophet
by Simorgh5555 on Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:28 AM PDTEhsan Karimi IS Amir Kabir IS Norooz IS just another IR Western Groupie.
He keeps changing names but a dyed in the wool supporter of the Islamic Rapist Republic.
People like him make Iranian.com so much fun!