Where would any of us be without Haaretz? How would we even know about the pogroms in Palestine? It's olive harvest time and these Palestinians made the mistake of having their olive orchards on land between a Jewish settlement and a cave that the religious settlers like to visit for Biblical reasons. The settlers of course need a secure path from their settlement to the religious cave! Like, when the Palestinians are trying to harvest their olives. More violence, of course, vandalism, ethnocentrism, racism, destruction of property, intimidation. But a group of Israeli rabbis for human rights is acting as human shields for the harvest, there and near Nablus. The settlers are screaming "murderer" at the rabbis.
There is a civil war going right now for Israel's soul. And the good Israelis are going to need Palestinians if they want to save themselves. Come together, right now…
One aspect seldom mentioned is the presence of settlers and religious fanatics in the police and especially the I.D.F. This should be disturbing. This region of the west bank was the home of Baruch Goldstein who murdered so many Palestinians in a mosque in Hebron. He is considered a hero to many, SHAME!
Wow, when a religious people screams "murderer" at their own religious leaders, you know you're dealing with a lawless and immoral kind of fanaticism, bordering on feral and cult-like.
Where's the NATO Peacekeeping forces when you need them?
There is a dialog in Jewish religious circles about what it means to be Jewish.
People in the same yeshivot (even the ones known for spawning right-wing zealots), argue over whether Jews are commanded to "subdue the land", or "to follow my commandments".
Its a good discussion.
Its clear that Torah teaches "follow my commandments", of which "subdue the land" is a temporary, conditional one, whose conditions are not evident now.
There are parallels to Iraq, in that the urge is "because we can". But, that is the urge of greed, not of spirituality.
To "subdue the land" is not an urge based on spirituality, it's a false scripture-based immoral justification for dispossession and genocide. It's like taking the Talmud and turning it into a puppet on a stick.
You can misconstrue anything you want out of the Bible and the Talmud to take any position on anything. What one gleans from a single passage reflects the level of comprehension of the entire work, or in other words one's morality and ethics. Immoral and unethical interpretations of a passage can only come from an unethical and immoral person.
I agree entirely David.
A quote itself is insufficient sanction.