One of the few (political) things that absolutely drive me up the wall is guys here in the US who defend Israel's actions as if they can do no wrong. I'm talking about organisations like AIPAC and NGO Watch who "fight" for Israel from the safety of their K-Street offices. Then when groups like B'tselem and Breaking the Silence (people with the bravery to actually pick up a Galil and "stand up on that wall") speak out, they have the gall to call them traitors with "far left agendas."
In my heart of hearts, I genuinely believe most IDF soldiers know that the situation on the ground is not as simple as Netanyahu, Likud, and the pro-Israelis who live in comfort continents away from Jerusalem would like to believe. In fact, a close friend to my family was a Merkava tank trainer. One day back during the withdrawal from Gaza was all over the news she was driving me home from school and she put me on the spot and asked me how I felt about it. Though my family had passed their views on the Middle East to me (my grandmother lived during the Japanese occupation of Guangzhou, which is why she's sympathetic to the Palestinians), they also taught me enough sense to be sensitive and I merely said: "I think it's quite sad that these people have to leave their homes." Her reply to me: "Yes, it is sad, but it is something that has to be done. We should not have taken that land from the Palestinians"
|