April 5, 2001

4:42 PM

If Only It Was Arafat.Good. If he was who they say he was, he deserved it. Keep Playing Hardball. The Israelis should play this kind of hardball for a few years. Then the rocks will stop, things will settle down, perhaps the Palestineans will stop claiming Jerusalem, get some kind of real government, and then, perhaps their own little state. Then again, since no Arab state comes close to being a democracy, perhaps that will never happen.
posted by ParisParamus (12 comments total)

So, like, you're trying to get in trouble, right? Just checking.
posted by jess at 4:48 PM on April 5, 2001

This was a lot better the second time around. Thank you sir, may I have another?
posted by swell at 4:52 PM on April 5, 2001

Troll.
posted by silusGROK at 4:53 PM on April 5, 2001

Are you for real, Paris? Or just mad keen on ill-founded generalisations?
posted by MUD at 4:53 PM on April 5, 2001

Someone around here loves their Submit button a little too much.
posted by waxpancake at 4:55 PM on April 5, 2001

Someone around here loves their Submit button a little too much.
posted by waxpancake at 4:55 PM on April 5, 2001

I love posts like these, as they reinforce my belief that the Middle East situation is far too confusing to ever accurately comprehend. That way I don't have to think about it.
posted by aaron at 4:55 PM on April 5, 2001

*whimpers quietly*

I need my mommy.
posted by DoublePostGuy at 4:55 PM on April 5, 2001

i find the idea of the palestinians ever, ever ceasing their claims on jerusalem about as likely as finding a colony of aliens orbiting the black hole in the center of the earth.

palestinian children throw rocks at the israelis, for the sake of a "nation" that ceased to exist in 1967, decades before they were born. why? what stake do they have, that they would throw rocks at soldiers armed with automatic weapons?

the grasp of an Idea on the oppressed -- or those that consider themselves oppressed -- is no small matter that can be worn out in a span of years or even generations.

while the bloodshed is horrible, i do think the Israelis are being very clever with their choice of targets -- ringleaders and activists and the like -- as opposed to busses carrying children and civilian noncombatants, whom the palestinians seem to be very fond of bombing.

and they wonder why they're called "terrorists" instead of "freedom fighters?" i heard an NPR piece where a palestinian man was complaining that the media was presenting a biased view of them by calling them “terrorists”. he considered himself to be a “freedom fighter”. i wanted to spit. hey buddy, you’re a terrorist because you attack in such a way as to cause terror. you kill anyone you can get your hands on, instead of military targets. yeesh.

what i fear is that the palestinians will never run out of people who are willing to Step Up For The Cause. it doesn't matter how many activists you kill -- there's just another one standing behind him ready to take his place.
posted by fuzzygeek at 5:03 PM on April 5, 2001

This is a good ad for owning your own cell phone instead of using public ones. If only people could love each other.
posted by Postroad at 5:03 PM on April 5, 2001

troll is right. what a horrific thing to write about someone's death. again, links for anyone who wants them - not all Jews/Israelis support this sort of terror:

Peace Now
New Israel Fund
B'tselem - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
Indymedia's Israel site
posted by judith at 5:15 PM on April 5, 2001

Ack.

Not. a. good. post. at. all.

It's pretty inflammatory and racist, but most of all it doesn't seem to spark an open conversation.

What happened to respect? Respecting others' opposing viewpoints? Giving them a place to state their side of the story?

I don't think wishing for someone's death starts a discussion right.
posted by mathowie at 5:34 PM on April 5, 2001