If you get a sec point your browsers there and read You have to join as a member in order to pot a response. I just posted a pretty lengthy response outlining some of the history and realities the letter to the editr decided to omit, and clarified some clear falsehoods.

Mark-

I lived in Israel for a summer archaeological dig back in 1983. Here’s what I concluded at THAT time after meeting both Jews and Palestinian Arabs. Back then, MOST of the Palestinians living on the West Bank wanted to become full citizens of Israel. Not a country where Israel is, bu citizens OF Israel. reasons for this were predominantly that Israel was a Democracy and that in just 15 years of *occupation* they had gone from some of the poorest people in the middle east to having more freedoms AND a higher standard of living than most people in the region. Also, when Israel took control of the West Bank there were still refugee camps in sad shape. Israel actually worked to resettle those refugees in much better housing and provided jobs and a better economic base.

Interesting how extremists seemed to change that almost overnight.

What do you other readers and writers here attribute that change to and, what solutions do you see that either or both sides of this issue can institute that would work for the betterment of both?

On another note. Read a pretty long article on the Sudanese refugees. While it mentioned Israel and the *debate* over the refugees going on in Israel, this was but a brief paragraph. The majority of the article detailed hoe the refugees were shot in the backs and heads by egyptian border guards, along with several other paragraphs outlining issues in Egypt..the demonstration where Egyptian police killed 20+ people, etc.

Mark-

I did not start to really despise Carter as an antisemite until I saw him on TV once being interviewed by Bill Moyers, about 15-20 years ago but long after he had left office.

First he started piously berating American Jews for not being more sympathetic to the Palestinians and critical of Israel. Never mind the fact that the people he was talking about, my parents generation, had lived through the Holocaust and viewed Israel as a vital sanctuary for the world’s Jews. And the fact that the face the Palestinians had chosen to present to the world up to that time was represented by the Munich Olympic massacre and the Achille Lauro hijacking.

But not even that truly revealed the depth of Carter’s hatred of Jews. He then started referring to the Jews as “the Chosen People”, his voice and expression dripping with sneering contempt and derision. I hope the Secret Service doesn’t come after me for saying this, but I wanted to stick my hand through the TV screen and throttle the little Jew-hating bastard. I couldn’t believe that a former President of the United States was spouting off like David Duke or Louis Farrakhan.

Sorry if I step on toes. I am not Jewish, though I tend to be somewhat PRO Israel. I in no way think Israel can do no wrong, and if I disagree with an Israeli policy or action, I am not afraid to call them on it. I don’t consider that bashing Israel, but instead, simply an opinion. No person or country is perfect and people shouldn’t judge or pass judgment unless they can show examples or proof of a better solution, or at least have a reasonably well thought out solution to a problem.

With that said, I have several questions and several comments.

1. I was not aware of J Carter being anti semitic or anti Israel. Could you please explain this to me? I was just a little teenybopper (teen ager) when he was president.

2. What IS it with the apologist press and politicos for that matter? given that, I can in NO way condone many of the words or opinions of FOX news, no matter how PRO Israel their commentaries tend to be. They tend to be dishonest in too many ways. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it.

Now as for the babies thing. Is that something like my mother telling me I’m getting too heavy and not 5 minutes later asking me if I’d like her to make brownies? It happens almost every time she visits. And yes, my mother has also expressed sadness that I’ll never sire any grand children for her.

sigh

I agree on the kitties…I tend to prefer them over dogs. Dogs are just waay too needy!

Judaism in a nutshell.

I think I will pass on discussing what is, after all, an extremely personal matter. Personally.

Some people simply hate G*d and since they can’t get at him, the choose us.

In fact, I have never met an anti-semite who didn’t hate God.

But look, even just a little, and you’ll see that they hate themselves more than anyone else. Look at their habits. See. They hate being alive, they hate themselves for who they are. Or for what they’ve done. (Or for what they are doing.)

They hate God. And from that it’s a short trip to hating his handiwork.

So Velvel in Decatur, don’t expect a lot from such people. You’ll not get a lot.