Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu are kindred spirits. Like Trump, “Bibi” needs the powers of his Office to avoid being hauled into court where there’s a strong chance he’d be convicted of corruption. Perhaps even jailed. So he will do whatever he has to in order to stay in power. If it means epic suffering and death of others so be it. Even his own citizens. As for Palestinians? Like some Klansman here in the U.S. he doesn’t even consider them human f**king beings. If every person of Palestinian heritage were erased from the face of this earth tomorrow Netanyahu would smile, yet lament that it took so long.
Let me be clear going forward. Countries including Israel have the right to defend themselves. It’s the HOW that is often the question and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas (a terrorist organization I must add) in the Gaza Strip that has brought this into sharp, tragic focus. Millions have been displaced by the war HAMAS initiated with its terrorist attack almost a year ago on Oct. 7, 2023. I don’t want there to be any doubt to those of you reading this. HAMAS chose to let their terrorist freak flag fly both in starting this current tragedy and via the way it unfolded. It was one huge TERRORIST attack. They knew it would lead to war and did it anyway.
Israel of course fought back, wanting to take out Hamas and ensure it couldn’t ever do such a thing again. However as I’ve said, the problem is HOW Israel has gone about degrading Hamas and in particular going after its leadership. The plain fact is that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t care how many innocent Palestinians suffer and DIE due to how he and his government have chosen to prosecute this war. In fact, it’s my contention that the more suffering and death that takes place in Gaza, the more Netanyahu wants to pour on the misery. Hostages? Whether they be his own citizens or those of other countries including U.S. citizens they are nothing to ole Bibi. If they have to die to protect his worthless ass then so be it. The ONLY value they have to him is for propaganda, and dead hostages are a tool he can use to whip up those in Israel with a desire for retribution.
Still, let’s look at the horizon. Netanyahu wants Palestinians GONE and not just from Gaza but the West Bank too. From all of Israel in fact. He doesn’t care how many die before they give up and flee to any country that will take them. Not that other countries in the region want Palestinian refugees (and they don’t), but Netanyahu not only knows this, he doesn’t care! He’s engaged in what’s been called “ethnic cleansing” but because this is Israel we’re talking about too many people including world leaders are queasy, if not downright afraid of calling it that. Because they will be accused of (as I know I’m going to be) antisemitism.
Since gaining its Independence and being recognized by the U.N. Israel has agreed, in theory at least to there being a separate Palestinian State and the West Bank was the agreed upon place for it. Yet to varying degrees Israel has resisted the establishment of the “two State” solution. Jewish ‘settlements’ in the West Bank have only made the problem more difficult, and sometimes Israeli leaders have told others including and especially the United States (without whom Israel wouldn’t exist at all) ‘F**k you – we will put as many Jews in the West Bank as we want. If you try and stop us we’ll run to American media and whip up talk of antisemitism and your not supporting Israel!’Â When Netanyahu and his Likud Party have been in charge settlement establishments in the West Bank have been on steroids.
Despite all this in fits and starts The Palestinian Authority which nominally controls the West Bank has been committed to a two-state solution. That is the LAST thing Netanyahu has ever wanted. It’s not like The Palestinian Authority has been free of its own trouble makers including some terrorists but overall they’ve tried to control the excesses of their extremists and negotiate a Palestinian State on the West Bank. So, long ago Netanyahu made himself a deal with the devil. Hamas has always been clear – it’s stated prime goal is the destruction of Israel. They have quite the history which you can read about here but within the link some interesting (and not in a good way) things emerge. Netanyahu was not just willing, but chose to support Hamas gaining control of the Gaza Strip! Foment division among the two major Palestinian leadership factions. Divide and Conquer, plain and simple.
It’s well known that Netanyahu has counted on Hamas to undermine The Palestinian Authority. Even to the point of slipping Hamas terrorists into the West Bank to engage in terrorist attacks there! Yet Bibi kept looking the other way. Even as they got the plan for the attack we saw a year ago a year before it happened and ignored it (some effort to assign blame is underway – some poor schmuck or two of moderate importance will be sacrificed to save Netanyahu and his govt.) Bibi looked the other way. He kept letting Qatar know (even encouraged) them to keep pouring money to Hamas! Netanyahu HAD to know at some point Hamas would trigger an all out war.
Why would he do it? To both save his own ass AND to advance his higher goal of eradicating Palestinians from Israel. If things get bad enough Netanyahu hopes Israeli Jews will never, ever trust any Palestinian again. That’s his plan. His dream. Whether one wants to call what Netanyahu wants outright genocide or the (slightly) more palatable “Ethnic Cleansing’ make no mistake – it’s Netanyahu’s lifelong dream. Israel as not just a Jewish State, but one where ONLY Jewish people are citizens and can live.
Hamas as an effective group is done. Their leadership has one thing to trade to try and save their own asses as they look for refuge elsewhere (Lebanon? Iran?) and that’s the hostages. No, they don’t really want a deal either but they also want to survive. A cease fire of enough duration would give them a chance to get the hell out of dodge, and leave behind some seeds to maybe someday grow a new version back in Gaza if rebuilding that troubled patch of land doesn’t go well. The loss of power will hurt. It’s only the conflict with Israel that makes them important and history gives us too many examples of extremists who would rather inflame things than see a peace deal. Still, that’s where I and people smarter than me see Hamas.
As for Israel, the only way to make sure they’ve killed every person in Hamas is to kill every Palestinian. There will always be remnants, just as in our own country we’ve never been able to fully crush the Klan and racist groups who have no issue with violence and inciting terror. What CAN be done is reduce it to manageable proportions. Israel has been at that point with Hamas for a long time now. Making a real and lasting cease fire deal would allow Israel to infiltrate Gaza to identify and take out Hamas leaders. They don’t need to continue doing what they’ve been doing. Again, that’s been the case for a long, long time now.
So again I say HOW Netanyahu and his cronies have chosen to conduct this war is the issue. And again I say the LAST thing he wants is for this war to end. An end to this war would allow Israel to turn its attention to how the hell it happened in the first place. When that happens the corruption charges Netanyahu has long faced will pale in comparison and he knows it. That in turn means he HAS to keep this war going. No matter how many innocent people suffer and die.
As a bonus it helps him in achieving his dream of an Israel without a single Palestinian living within its borders. For all the protests you see taking place in Israel, this article from the New York Times indicates opposition to Netanyahu isn’t as strong as it appears. It’s worth the short time it takes to read because it points out how the strategy of ‘Israel should be wary of a cease fire deal because it will leave us (Israel) weakened’ has to an extent worked.
That is why we saw an angry, defiant Netanyahu’s ugly mug on TV yesterday. The unions chose to obey the court order to stop their strike. Protests or not he’s got just enough room to keep up what he’s been doing. So we saw him saying exactly that in a pointed “f**k you” to the world and even many of his own citizens. His is the face of a leader of genocide.
All the destruction and suffering of Palestinians will only make more terrorists against Israel. All of Bibi’s overkill is not doing his desired result, except maybe genocide.
And all of you who will protest our history with Israel over this war by not voting for Kamala…then YOU ARE STANDING WITH BIBI AND TRUMP! FACT!
Amen. Remember Michelle Obama’s admonition about people with a desire for a “Goldilocks” candidate? This is exactly that type of thing. Yes, what’s happening to those innocents in Gaza (f**k the terrorists from Hamas) is a BFD and I understand why people want someone who can force Netanyahu/Israel to accept a cease fire and hostage release deal. You have dipshits like that guy who commented on an article of mine last week that he would be all for Harris except she won’t promise to cut off ALL support for Israel – so he’s voting for Jill Stein!
WTF? Let’s assume Stein somehow won. As President there’s a lot she could do but just as Trump found out with NATO complete disengagement isn’t such an easy thing to do. Nor would it be a good thing for that region for us to do. People need to think about consequences! As a “protest” vote, voting for Stein or any other candidate is effectively making it easier for Trump to win. Just WTF do people think would happen then?
No, as big a deal as this is one has to look at the WHOLE chessboard. Many people (not just Catholics) are deeply opposed to abortion, but they look at the WHOLE picture and wind up voting for Democrats. Every election they look at the whole range of issues and while this is always a BFD to them it’s the only issue where they disagree with many Democratic candidates so they vote for our people!
For ANYONE who claims to be progressive, or even moderate take a look at ANY issue other than Gaza. Look at what you’d get with Trump and what you’d get with Harris. I’ll bet with every single one you HATE what you know you’d get with Trump. But you want to be all self-righteous and puffed up on this ONE issue? When if you you’re honest with yourself (even if with no one else) you know Biden and Harris have been working furiously not just publicly but behind the scenes to bring pressure to bear on Netanyahu? Give me a fooking break! Trump would be pouring in OFFENSIVE weapons to Israel! Even ordering a couple of our carriers there to help carpet bomb the entire Gaza strip. Kill every living thing.
No folks. If you want there to be any limits at all on what Israel does with Netanyahu and his cronies in charge there’s only one choice and that’s Kamala Harris. A vote for Stein or sometone else is a vote for Trump. And again I’ll point out to those who just couldn’t bring themselves to vote for Gore in 2000 (especially in FL) what it cost and is STILL costing. But many still try to justify the “pureness” of their actions back then. Same in 2016 when people (not Bernie Bros although some of them voted third Party or for Trump) decided to do the whole “protest vote” thing what we got.
Now we have Trump literally saying he’s going to be worse than before! Plus there’s a plan in place and steps have already been taken to implement it (Project 2025) AND a SCOTUS that will give Trump free reign to use the Constitution for toilet paper. Is your fucking “purity of conscience” worth THAT? If you even have to think about it then you are no better than the most stupid, hateful racist and sexist MAGA.
Bibi also continues to give a f..k to Biden. Hopefully Harris gives a stronger message to Bobbie re:a ceasefire if he wants our continued full support. Yep Trump and Bibi are both wanna-be dictators and real crooks.
“Bibi” not Bobbie! Darn ole autocorrect.
It seems ridiculous that we have to tip-toe around Isreal’s hurt little feelings when we are talking about genocide and war crimes, which we are talking about here.
I know that the Palestinians have thrown away some pretty good offers from Israel over the years, so there ain’t no innocents here. I also want to apologize to Denis for the rather harsh comment I posted a week or so ago, it is such a tragedy taking place in Gaza that it’s hard to keep one’s opinions to themselves.
All that said, there’s no excuse for Israel’s genocidal behavior, I hate to state the obvious but Jews were the victims of a Holocaust not so long ago, so they should know it when they see it. Shame on you Israel, I visited your beautiful country in 1996 for a few weeks, and I don’t think I’d want to visit the place again.
No need to apologize my friend. I went back and after considering your comment still thought the average reader would have realized my feelings about Hamas and the barbaric terrorist attack they carried out. Still, I could have and should have been more emphatic. I tried to do so this time around.
I’ll also be the first to admit an inherent negative bias regarding the IDF because even though Reagan yanked us from Beirut before I got sent there I knew and served with some Marines who were there. The shit my Marine Corps had to put up with from those arrogant IDF fucks who’s mess WE were there to clean up is something I will never forget or forgive. Like the Mossad, while they can be fierce (who isn’t when defending their actual homes and neighborhoods as opposed to fighting on some other country’s soil?) they aren’t the superhumans they are cracked up to be.
Israel truly is the Holy Land for three of the world’s major religions. Jerusalem itself if packed with incredibly significant sites for each. How the hell to administer all that in a way that satisfies adherents to all three requires a smarter mind than mine. And then there’s the ancestral stuff with people who’s family roots can be traced back literally thousands of years on that land.
I’ve said before that Israel had a golden, once in a thousand years moment in which to seize the initiative and gain the trust of the Arab world and Palestinians. It was during the “ethnic cleansing” after the former Yugoslavia broke up. Had Israel taken the lead, announced deployment of its military assets and demanded the rest of us back them up that tragedy would have quickly ended. AND Israel would have been in a position where even reluctant Arab states would have yielded to pressure from almost every country in the world to work out a peace deal. However that would have required them to not only stop with the settlements in the West Bank but to relocate the settlers.
Still, it was I will always believe a priceless opportunity squandered. Those Israeli leaders who might have been vilified at the time would now be looked at as statesman in a very different country and region that would be in far better shape than what we’ve known.
Dipshit? Now, that’s not nice.
I noticed you once mentioned SIU Carbondale, did you go to school there? I’m from St. Lou, maybe you remember the Mississippi River Festivals back in the 70’s, saw some great concerts there.
I grew up in the town six miles west of Carbondale. Yes, I completed my higher education at SIU-C. I spent my share of time up your way and not just when my Cubbies were in town. I wasn’t just a jock, but also active in performing arts (I sang with the Marjorie Lawrence Opera Theater at SIU) so trips to the Muny were frequent and to actual theaters up there for other performing arts. With cable we got all the news stations from up there too. Who knows? Had life worked out a little differently I might have (having become a Shriner) wound up living in St. Louis working for the Shriner’s hospital there.
Israel/Palestine is a two-headed snake, and both ends bite. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t with these guys, which is why I hate to see people injecting this issue into American politics. You end up being branded as either antisemitic or anti-Palestinian/pro-genocide. The Middle East has been going at it for decades. It’s almost as if the Hamas raid was created to tear the Middle East, the world, America apart, and yes, Bibi let it happen as a distraction for his own problems. He’s doubly damned for this mess. But he’s obviously aiming for total annihilation of the Palestinians, given the massive bombing raids, the starvation, disease, cruelty. We need to rein him in immediately.
Literally fighting (and killing) for control over that land goes back more than decades. Even talking in terms of centuries doesn’t cover it. Two “tribes” descended from Abraham have felt that land was theirs. Add in it’s hot and there’s not enough water and no wonder it’s been a mess.
There is a solution: 2 states BUT it will need external heavyweights to provide pressure and support. To my simple mind, the UN should be to the fore but the Security Council is a mess – Russia neatly slipping in to the place of the USSR is but one example. And, really, the mishmash of the West Bank and the incursions of Right Wing Jews and Christans (US?) encouraged by Netanyahu (who is no partof the answer) has to be undone. There is no simple solution but a lot of faith and trustbuilding is required but they need foundation. “Ay, there’s the rub.” ( Hamlet, Act 3, Sc 2 the “To be, or not to be” speech.)