(no subject)

[meanfreepath]

Why does Israel have to be put on the defensive internationally after its commandos use limited force in response to being attacked with potentially deadly weapons? Would anyone be complaining if the men and women of the US Navy were to use lethal force to defend themselves in the course of interdicting Somali pirates?

Comments

[sildra.livejournal.com]

You start talking about a fantasy where there's a second Holocaust; people of my grandparents' generation were afraid of that and saw Israel as the solution, but I certainly don't. I will point out, for the millionth time, that I am, in a sense, in hiding from the Israeli government because I don't want citizenship--it has no upsides and many downsides for me. If a second Holocaust looked like it was about to happen, the safest thing I've ever been able to think of to do would be to hide in the jungles of Central America. Which isn't a great option, either.

What Israel provided was place for a whole generation of orphan teenagers and 20-somethings with no education to get back on their feet. The Romany didn't have that, and still continue to live in shanty towns and refugee camps. It doesn't matter much that the starting point was different--that the Jewish homeless, uneducated teenagers' now-deceased parents were largely middle class, while the Romany homeless, uneducated teenagers' now-deceased parents were mostly poor.