Though isn't it true that *our* arguments to this effect (from where
we English-speaking poets are, which is quite near a place of
powerlessness, in any case) might carry a tad more moral weight if
consistently combined with the clear and principled repudiation of
*any* acts of violence that target civilians? The aspirations of the
Palestinain people are profoundly just; the repression they face is
immoral and has come to endanger the whole planet, literally. But
the suicide bombings of restaurants or bus stations by Hamas
militants and others are also acts of unqualified evil and madness.
One can't ethically elide this truth, imho, via relativistic arguments
of "oppressor" and oppressed." Someone like Oz, for example, is
clear on this point, but many of the "western left" don't seem to
always be...
Kent
I was interested, as I do feel with Lawrence that the inability to see
that the 'settlements' are utterly immoral, to see a recent article bh
Amos Oz, a leading Israeli author & intellectual, saying the same
thing, & arguing that until Israel withdraws to its own borders it
cannot hope to 'solve' anything in this mess...
I remain pessimistic for the next few generations, if things continue
as they are...
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