Gaza

I am utterly distressed by Israel's incursion into Gaza.

Will this end it?
Will this military action bring peace to a region broken by injustice and cruelty?

The double talk is galling.
They describe themselves as peacemakers and restrained.

I'm sorry, that's just doublespeak ... the gobbledygook of politics ... language turned upside down to mask the lies and deceptions that have clouded the minds of Israel's leadership, the very same lies and deceptions spun by Bush and Gang vis-a-vis Iraq.

And though I am deeply sensitive to the history of the Jews and the founding of Israel, I cannot accept the Antisemitism Card endlessly played when there's even the hint of a question about the State of Israel and its ruthless policies.

It's imperative that we stop thinking about the State of Israel as an idea and begin seeing it for what it is - a nation-state, bent on its own security, using language to mask its self-promoting agenda.

And I'm watching CNN right now - how they love a war, and listening to some has-been general going on and on about taking ground and controlling it. Right ... this always works, doesn't it?

Israel is utterly wrong at this point ... and though Hamas has bloody hands as well, the burden of proof rests on those who hold and wield the power, and the Unites States, quietly cheering Israel on, to further destabilize the Middle East, to make it easier for us to maintain a presence there.

A peaceful Middle East would pose an enormous threat to us, even as a United Europe challenges us economically.

Having just seen the fine film, "Defiance," and knowing something of the tragic history of Antisemitism, I have always been sympathetic to the State of Israel. Though I believe its founding to have been a huge mistake driven the the collective guilt of the Western Allies after WW2, there's no turning back the clock. Israel exists as a state, and they need security and peace as any state does.

The Western Democracies have the power and the influence to stay the hand of war - to create a two-state resolution and to protect Israel for decades to come. But we lack the resolve, and as long as Israel is bent on eradication, with US support, and Hamas on harassment, it will only continue.