Posted on 02/05/2009 5:13:05 AM PST by AfterManyASummer
Israel suffered 13 deaths in the Gaza war. But we won't know the full extent of the wound the nation has suffered until February 10, when elections are held. If current polls are to be believed, an extremist right-wing party stands to make historic gains. That outcome will demonstrate just how deep the psychic wound from the conflict truly runs; just how far the latest violence has radicalized the Israeli public; and just how big a problem all this will be for Israel's long-term security.
The party in question is Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu (or "Israel is our Home") Party. Lieberman has been a figure on the Israeli far right for years, but the Gaza war has given his party an unprecedented boost. According to the most recent opinion polls published in the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, Yisrael Beiteinu stands to win 15 or 16 seats in the next Knesset, which puts them even with the Labor Party. For a party of the extreme right to surpass Labor - the founding party of the state, the party of Ben Gurion, Golda, and Rabin-would mark a historic shift. Clearly, in the current mood of national anger and frustration, even formerly moderate voters are open to extreme ideas--and Lieberman has plenty of those. Under the catchy slogan "No citizenship without loyalty" (it rhymes in Hebrew), Yisrael Beiteinu is pushing for a new law requiring all citizens to swear an "oath of loyalty" to the state. Israeli-Arab citizens or others who refuse could have their citizenship stripped from them.
(Excerpt) Read more at tnr.com ...
Guess Lincoln must have been a true Hitler for making the South sign.
I’m terrified by Israeli nationalism.
/Hamas
OBAMA!
/Hamas
Hamas could use a lesson in cause and effect. If they're afraid of Israeli nationalism, they should change tactics. Hamas is the cause of it.
I see a lot of dead terrorists in the future
And Jimmy Carter whining like Adolf Hitler at a Nuremburg rally
Yes, totally alarming.
They’re under attack, Iran is close to getting “the bomb”, and the U.S. president has muslim roots.
Why would they behave so gosh-darned irrationally?
What would any other nation do if threatened to the extent Israel has been?
Honestly, the West could use a huge does of nationalism, radical or otherwise. The pendulum has swung too far to the side of Multiculturalism & UN-led Globalism (which is a prescription for disaster). Nations are not making decisions based on their interests of their citizens—as situations which is not natural and (I would think) cannot last.
The big problem is that so many citizens have been brainwashed by the Left, they don’t know what their interests really are. One potential positive of this economic downturn is that it might bring a lot of people back to reality.
For Israel, this unprecedented shift to the right is not just a moral danger--it is also a serious strategic problem. Israel's national security depends on its position as a democracy and a member in good standing of the international community.
just how far the latest violence has radicalized the Israeli public; and just how big a problem all this will be for Israel's long-term security.
It's simply stunning how ideology trumps fact, history, and logic with these people.
Sick.
"Under the catchy slogan "No citizenship without loyalty" (it rhymes in Hebrew), Yisrael Beiteinu is pushing for a new law requiring all citizens to swear an "oath of loyalty" to the state. Israeli-Arab citizens or others who refuse could have their citizenship stripped from them."
"He accuses Israeli-Arab lawmakers of harboring Hamas sympathies, and has called for the parties to be banned from running in the election. His campaign ads show Israeli-Arab students demonstrating against the Gaza war as a narrator ominously intones, "We won't forget that, during the Gaza conflict, there were those among us who stood with Hamas." As for the Gaza operation itself, Lieberman has denounced the cease-fire as a sell-out of the military. His preferred strategy is total war against the Gazan population: "We must continue to fight Hamas just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II."
Thats it? Thats what makes them extremists? What a joke...
It couldn't be from dodging the incoming rocket fire...after all, they're Jews and deserve it dammit!
No bias here...
Gee, maybe their USA voters could use some nationalism
“We must continue to fight Hamas just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II.”
Right wing extremist view? That standard would classify FDR as a right wing extremist. That’s a new one.
Multiculturalism in Israel will inevitably lead to their disappearance as a Jewish state. Their only path of survival involves the expulsion of all Muslims from Israel.
To assign blame (or credit) for Israel’s drift to the right, point the finger at Hamas and Hezzbola
Well it didnt exactly make him a Thomas Jefferson did it?
But I agree with your actual point. Any pride in your country or your people is seen as “radical nationalism” by the left....unless of course your countrymen are non-white/non-jew.
“The big problem is that so many citizens have been brainwashed by the Left, they don’t know what their interests really are. One potential positive of this economic downturn is that it might bring a lot of people back to reality.”
That is one of the smartest lines I have seen in FR. DITTO!!!!!!!!
Now let me ask you one simple question. If you were a small independent community that was completely surrounded by enemies and antagonists who only claimed autonomy based on the support of a great power, would you intellectually revisit the nature of your independent status if the leadership of the great power changed and the new leader had close friends or associates that had the ear of the new leader and who advocated on behalf of your enemy and favored the destruction of your community?
What you might conclude is that your ally might no longer want to guarantee your security, that they may openly aid and abet your enemies or at least become a neutral 3rd party that watched from the sidelines as your enemy developed plans to destroy you.
You might decide to put your future in your own hands and take more personal responsiiblity to maintain your own autonomy. This is the sensible and rational thing to do.
I would call it national self-interest. But in the world of Obama perhaps it is no longer acceptable to defend yourself from your enemies? Perhaps the leaders of the community should pay homage to the Messiah and believe unequivocably he will take care of you, knowing full well who he chooses to associate with.
Nationalism is the emotional side of national self-interest. Without nationalism, national self-interest remains an intellectual idea; with it, it becomes the fuel that mobilizes armies and leads to ultimate victory.
You forgot “non-Christian”
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