Back on November 17 I devoted quite a bit of space to an article by an Israeli historian of the Holocaust, Omer Bartov—currently at Brown University. His article appeared in the NYT on November 10. Here is a direct link to the article, in which he addresses the question of whether Israel is engaging in genocide against Palestinians:
Fifteenth million Germans were ‘ethnically cleansed’ from Eastern Europe after WWII with Western approval. Not to mention the forced resettlement of Kurds by a NATO member and the wholesale expulsion of Christian from the Middle East and Kosovo.
I guess the West isn’t averse to genocide if it’s convenient for political gains.
Should that lessen our revulsion at this stupid, barbaric strategy by Israel? Does it have special dispensation to be stupid and barbaric because it's Israel?
From what I have been told by acquaintances of mine from my Greek Orthodox Parish (these are Egyptian Copts, Syrian Orthodox, Palestinian Orthodox, Iraqi Christians) that Israel is not like how they are portrayed in Western media. The Palestinian Orthodox Priest that my wife met some years ago on a trip to Israel said most of what's left of Middle East Christianity despise the Israeli's. They treat Christians as badly as the Muslim Arabs. Do you ever hear anything about the genocide of Christians? No, they are simply smeared as white Nationalists in American and no one cares about them in the M.E. The Syrian Orthodox all thought highly of Assad saying he protected Christians in Syria and the West portrays him as a killer beast. These are not desperate refugees, but pillars of our parish community and highly educated professionals who have been here for years, but have family remaining in their respective countries. The West accused Assad of using chemical weapons on his own people, I now am a skeptic there is any truth to this especially when one considers the lie of weapons of mass destruction hoax by the most sainted Colin Powell in the Bush white house. This is truly sad.
The US and Israel have routinely supported the most brutal anti-Christian persecutors, like al Qaeda and ISIS. Fact. Saddam and Assad were among the most tolerant governments. Hezbollah, for that matter--and granted the complicated nature of Lebanese sectarian politics--has generally cooperated with Christian factions and has good relations with them. By Lebanese standards:
My brother-in-law's family are Christians who were raised in Baghdad during the Saddam era and left Iraq due to Saddam's persecution of Christians in the 90's.
A timeline of disaster and displacement for Iraqi Christians | AP News
Mar 5, 2021 ... Christians in Iraq enjoyed protection and near-equal rights with Iraq's Muslim majority under Saddam but were among the first groups ...
Iraqi Christians' long history - BBC News
Nov 1, 2010 ... Under Saddam Hussein, in overwhelmingly Muslim Iraq, some Christians rose to the top, notably Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, and the ...
Why did Saddam Hussein protect the Assyrian Christians in Iraq ...
Feb 26, 2015 ... Christians under Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq were tolerated (as a matter of fact Saddam's deputy Tariq Aziz was a Christian, whose given ...
Thanks for your comments in reply, Mark, it's appreciated. I agree, despite Saddam's caricature in the US you are right he was more tolerant as was Assad. Lebanon, once the last Christian country in the M.E. is an interesting case so I appreciate the link.
In Lebanon it appears that 2006 was a bit of a watershed for Hezbollah - Christian relations. Of course, Lebanese Christians are deeply divided, so political maneuvering is Byzantine.
By the same token, Russia and the West must eventually find a political solution to the future of rump Ukraine. Putin's response to provocation has been far more measured (and, we are informed, sensitive to the vulnerability of civilians) than, for example, Israel's, but nonetheless perhaps 400,000 Ukrainians have died. We are told Russia doesn't want to occupy rump Ukraine, but neither will Russia permit an armed Ukrainian state or a NATO presence. Russia may be winning the war, but how does it end the war?
Putin in the past has ironically referred to the US as its 'partner', which, however, the US surely is in terms of its responsibility to work together with Russia to develop a mutually acceptable security structure for Europe. But the Neocon-controlled US shows no sign of being willing or able to work together with Putin to solve this crisis diplomatically or otherwise through a political process.
Perhaps economic woes brought on by the monetary realignments and the insane spending at home will focus the attention of Americans sooner rather than later? Also the social problems. Some smart politician--are there any left?--could put all that together with diplomacy.
I shot off several emails to my Congressman. One an article in Epoch Times about gaslighting, a technique being used by our government. A other one implicating my support for a two state solution, which I feel was better than pointing out international condemnation of Israel. The gaslighting article was a some oblique way to point out that Israel actually started Hamas. It will be lost on him. But I'm doing my part and it makes me feel better.
Fifteenth million Germans were ‘ethnically cleansed’ from Eastern Europe after WWII with Western approval. Not to mention the forced resettlement of Kurds by a NATO member and the wholesale expulsion of Christian from the Middle East and Kosovo.
I guess the West isn’t averse to genocide if it’s convenient for political gains.
References? That's a big claim to make without any.
Should that lessen our revulsion at this stupid, barbaric strategy by Israel? Does it have special dispensation to be stupid and barbaric because it's Israel?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksdeutsche
https://sonar21.com/from-israeli-defense-force-to-israeli-occupation-force-conduct-unbecoming/
From what I have been told by acquaintances of mine from my Greek Orthodox Parish (these are Egyptian Copts, Syrian Orthodox, Palestinian Orthodox, Iraqi Christians) that Israel is not like how they are portrayed in Western media. The Palestinian Orthodox Priest that my wife met some years ago on a trip to Israel said most of what's left of Middle East Christianity despise the Israeli's. They treat Christians as badly as the Muslim Arabs. Do you ever hear anything about the genocide of Christians? No, they are simply smeared as white Nationalists in American and no one cares about them in the M.E. The Syrian Orthodox all thought highly of Assad saying he protected Christians in Syria and the West portrays him as a killer beast. These are not desperate refugees, but pillars of our parish community and highly educated professionals who have been here for years, but have family remaining in their respective countries. The West accused Assad of using chemical weapons on his own people, I now am a skeptic there is any truth to this especially when one considers the lie of weapons of mass destruction hoax by the most sainted Colin Powell in the Bush white house. This is truly sad.
Regarding "West accused Assad of using chemical weapons on his own people"... Google Aaron Mate's articles on this topic.
The US and Israel have routinely supported the most brutal anti-Christian persecutors, like al Qaeda and ISIS. Fact. Saddam and Assad were among the most tolerant governments. Hezbollah, for that matter--and granted the complicated nature of Lebanese sectarian politics--has generally cooperated with Christian factions and has good relations with them. By Lebanese standards:
https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2017/11/30/where-do-lebanons-christians-stand-on-hezbollah
https://apnews.com/article/hezbollah-nasrallah-president-frangieh-lebanon-658ff1d65764ec2941d4af1ae8d1b42e
My brother-in-law's family are Christians who were raised in Baghdad during the Saddam era and left Iraq due to Saddam's persecution of Christians in the 90's.
They're among the lucky ones--I know people like that, too. Things got much worse after Saddam.
Reminder: Saddam's longtime FM, Tariq Aziz, was Christian. If you run this search:
https://www.startpage.com/do/dsearch?query=christians+under+saddam
you come up with entries like these:
A timeline of disaster and displacement for Iraqi Christians | AP News
Mar 5, 2021 ... Christians in Iraq enjoyed protection and near-equal rights with Iraq's Muslim majority under Saddam but were among the first groups ...
Iraqi Christians' long history - BBC News
Nov 1, 2010 ... Under Saddam Hussein, in overwhelmingly Muslim Iraq, some Christians rose to the top, notably Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz, and the ...
Why did Saddam Hussein protect the Assyrian Christians in Iraq ...
Feb 26, 2015 ... Christians under Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq were tolerated (as a matter of fact Saddam's deputy Tariq Aziz was a Christian, whose given ...
Thanks for your comments in reply, Mark, it's appreciated. I agree, despite Saddam's caricature in the US you are right he was more tolerant as was Assad. Lebanon, once the last Christian country in the M.E. is an interesting case so I appreciate the link.
In Lebanon it appears that 2006 was a bit of a watershed for Hezbollah - Christian relations. Of course, Lebanese Christians are deeply divided, so political maneuvering is Byzantine.
By the same token, Russia and the West must eventually find a political solution to the future of rump Ukraine. Putin's response to provocation has been far more measured (and, we are informed, sensitive to the vulnerability of civilians) than, for example, Israel's, but nonetheless perhaps 400,000 Ukrainians have died. We are told Russia doesn't want to occupy rump Ukraine, but neither will Russia permit an armed Ukrainian state or a NATO presence. Russia may be winning the war, but how does it end the war?
Putin in the past has ironically referred to the US as its 'partner', which, however, the US surely is in terms of its responsibility to work together with Russia to develop a mutually acceptable security structure for Europe. But the Neocon-controlled US shows no sign of being willing or able to work together with Putin to solve this crisis diplomatically or otherwise through a political process.
Perhaps economic woes brought on by the monetary realignments and the insane spending at home will focus the attention of Americans sooner rather than later? Also the social problems. Some smart politician--are there any left?--could put all that together with diplomacy.
I shot off several emails to my Congressman. One an article in Epoch Times about gaslighting, a technique being used by our government. A other one implicating my support for a two state solution, which I feel was better than pointing out international condemnation of Israel. The gaslighting article was a some oblique way to point out that Israel actually started Hamas. It will be lost on him. But I'm doing my part and it makes me feel better.
Max Blumenthal (TheGrayZone) : How dangerous is the Netanyahu government for Israel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgJktO5mb_c&ab_channel=JudgeNapolitano-JudgingFreedom