HOUSE DEMOLITIONS in Israel

1. When will Israel stop the bombings?

2. When will the English-speaking world reclaim perfectly respectable words like "defend" from doublespeak word twisters like the Israelis?

3. When will Americans rise up and DEMAND that our tax money STOP funding the Israelis as they engage in a war that they have proven they want and are willing to perpetuate in spite of endless civilian casualties?

Unlike you, goofyfoot, I am sitting here wondering how long it will be before myself and my loved ones will be facing terrorism here in my own city due to US support of Israel to the tune of $5 billion hard-earned tax-payer dollars a year.

I am tired of mincing words. I want every Zionist in America to move to Israel and face the consequences of their politics personally. You want Israel to meander around the West Bank with their uzis? You want the "security fence"? You want home demolitions? You want "extrajudicial killings" of "Palestinian militants"?

Then get over there, take citizenship, and live in fear of the people that you refuse to give human rights to. Get out of America where you enjoy the security of knowing that the government cannot kill YOU or destroy YOUR property without due process. Why should you benefit from the laws that secure your rights if you don't believe in those rights for the Palestinians?

"Vitriol". Darn, you have a good vocabulary!

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No. Let's see if I can come up with an equally irrelevant question for you... You're in a sinking boat in shark infested waters with Ariel Sharon and Michael Jordan. The boat can only hold the weight of two people. Would you be more likely to throw Sharon, Jordan or yourself into the ocean? Please explain your reasoning and provide supporting details. If Barbara Bush showed up in a rowboat with the cast of Baywatch, would your strategy change?

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No. Why do you ask?

What's too emotional for you?

My preference for American interests over Israeli ones? The concept of due process and my concern that Zionists seem to have no respect for this basic American (and human) right? My belief that $5 billion US taxpayer dollars could be spent on something better than the sixteenth wealthiest country in the world? My concern that we violate US law every time we sell arms to Israel to be used against civilians?

Maybe you're mildly freaked out that you tried to throw the most tired, frayed and overused accusation in the world today--"anti-semitism"--at me, and I didn't cry, break down, take a valium, or, frankly, blink. These days, accusing someone of anti-semitism because they don't support Zionism is simply an admission on your part that you can't have the most basic discussion about Israel and the US without resorting to name-calling. This is not CNN, and I'm not a politican worrying about being re-elected. It's time to move with the times and change tactics...otherwise Zionists are not going to be able to maintain the upper hand in the war of opinion.

Here's my advice for Zionists who are trying to adapt to the Internet:

1. Stop calling people "anti-semites" if they don't agree with you. It is lazy and gets you nowhere. Address the issues, if you can. If not, do some more research.

2. Read your opponents. Start with the Washington Report on Middle Eastern Affairs, Miftah, Antiwar.com, the International Solidarity Movement, Counterpunch and other news-based websites.

3. Be selective when depending on pro-Zionist sites for information. Zionists have had the upper hand for a long time and are not used to dealing with the new wave of intelligent counter-opinion--much of the information on their sites is no longer competitive and has already been refuted by some of the sites mentioned above.

See yourself as a lawyer for Israel. Remember that your client has to tell you truthful information if you are to win in court. If your client tries to feed you propaganda or half-truths, you will be caught with your pants down in court and will give your opponents a bonanza of opportunities to prove you incompetent and foolish before the jury.

4. One of the most important points that Zionists do not seem to get is this: if you cannot convincingly argue for Israel in an open forum, DON'T BRING IT UP! As long as people are debating the relative merits of Ho-Hos and Ding-Dongs, I simply pass over the discussion, in spite of the fact that I eat one package of Ho-hos every night after dinner. However, when you bring up Israel or Zionism, I almost always have the compulsion to get involved if I see the post. So does nanderle and a few other people, I think. So sometimes it may be safest to just avoid Israel as a topic. That would be my strategy, if I were a Zionist.