Re: At gift for Israel at 60

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Posted by National Post Editorial on 09:22:27 2008/05/11

In Reply to: Re: Stephen Harper's pro-Israel interview a Canadian first posted by CFRB Interview

Your browser does not support inline frames, or it has been configured incorrectly. If page does not display on your browser, please <a href="http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/story.html?id=504863">CLICK HERE</a>. A gift for Israel National Post Canada.com Network Browse the Canada.com Network Home News Sports Entertainment Health Travel Obituaries Celebrating Contractors National Post Victoria Times Colonist The Province (Vancouver) Vancouver Sun Edmonton Journal Calgary Herald Regina Leader-Post Saskatoon StarPhoenix Windsor Star Ottawa Citizen The Gazette (Montreal) DOSE Vancouver Island Newspapers VANNET Newspapers Global TV Global National Global BC Global Calgary Global Edmonton Global Lethbridge Global Saskatoon Global Regina Global Winnipeg Global Ontario Global Quebec Global Maritimes E! CHEK NEWS CHCA NEWS CHCH NEWS CJNT Montreal TVTropolis X-treme Sports Specialty Channels Shop | Find a Career | Find a Car | Find a Home National Post Home News Opinion Arts Life Sports Multimedia Your Post NP Network Blogs Financial Post Columnists Full Comment FP Analysis Diane Francis Hot Topics Israel at 60 U.S. Election Driving Columnists Tax Centre Biz Startups Search var int_search_init = setInterval(function(){ if(document.forms['search']){ clearInterval(int_search_init); document.forms['search'].q.value = 'Search National Post...'; } }, 100); Home / Opinion A gift for Israel National Post Published: Saturday, May 10, 2008 Related Topics Israeli Politics Politics Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Benny Morris David Frum Story Tools - + Change font size Print this story function print_click() { u=location.href; u=delineate(u); window.open('/story-printer.html?id='+encodeURIComponent(u),'sharer','toolbar=1,status=1,location=0,menubar=1,scrollbars=1,width=650,height=600'); return false; } function delineate(str) { theleft = str.indexOf("=") + 1; theright = str.lastIndexOf("&"); if ( theright == -1 ) { theright = str.length; } return(str.substring(theleft, theright)); } E-Mail this story u=location.href; t=document.title; // Facebook Link function fbs_click() { window.open('<a style="font-weight:normal" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u">http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u='+encodeURIComponent(u</a>)+'&t='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=626,height=436'); return false; } // Digg Link function digg_click() { window.open('<a style="font-weight:normal" href="http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url='+encodeURIComponent(u">http://digg.com/submit?phase=2&url='+encodeURIComponent(u</a>)+'&bodytext=&title='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer',''); return false; } // Delicious Link function dels_click() { window.open('<a style="font-weight:normal" href="http://del.icio.us/post?url='+encodeURIComponent(u">http://del.icio.us/post?url='+encodeURIComponent(u</a>)+'&jump=close&title='+encodeURIComponent(t),'sharer','toolbar=0,status=0,width=700,height=400'); return false; } Share This Story html .fb_share_link { padding:2px 0 0 20px; height:16px; background:url(<a style="font-weight:normal" href="http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?12:26981">http://static.ak.facebook.com/images/share/facebook_share_icon.gif?12:26981</a>) no-repeat top left; } Facebook Digg Del.icio.us More Story tools presented by try{ var str_da_src = document.getElementById('ad-leaderboard').getElementsByTagName('script')[0].src; str_da_src = str_da_src.replace(/loc=\w+;/gi, 'loc=microbar;'); str_da_src = str_da_src.replace(/sz=\d+x\d+;/gi, 'sz=88x31;'); str_da_src = str_da_src.replace(/ptile=\d+;/gi, 'ptile=4;'); document.write(' '); }catch(e){} As our week-long series, Israel at 60, concludes, one wonders: What would be a fitting birthday gift for a nation that many once believed would not last 60 days, let alone 60 years? In material terms, the country wants for little. It is as wealthy and technologically advanced as most OECD nations. Indeed, a common complaint from visitors is that many urban areas are indistinguishable from the upper middle-class suburbs they left behind in Toronto, Cleveland and Los Angeles. But there is one important difference: The families that inhabit those North American communities do not live in fear of rocket attacks and suicide terrorism. Nor are they surrounded by a violent and politically dysfunctional civilization that regularly launches wars -- albeit unsuccessful, self-destructive ones -- against its infidel neighbour. Even in the West, it has become intellectually fashionable in left-wing circles to regard Israel as a mistake that must be reversed, or at least radically altered, in the name of social justice. Pundits and politicians -- especially in Europe -- cast the Jewish state as a nation conceived in "original sin," and perpetuated as an "apartheid" society. As George Jonas, David Frum and Michael Coren noted in their contributions to our series, these accusations have no basis. At best, they represent the projected neuroses of self-loathing Western intellectuals who are still guilt-ridden over their own ancestors' colonial sins, and still influenced by Marx's toxic doctrines of class struggle. At worst, they are a politicized expression of crass anti-Semitism. Excising such intellectual bigotry from our societies would make a fitting (if belated) gift in commemoration of 60 years of Israeli survival. We do not mean to suggest that Israel's history and policies must be whitewashed. As Benny Morris and Jeet Heer reminded us in their series contributions, the Irgun and Stern Gang committed terrorist acts in Israel's early days. And -- even discounting lurid blood libels such as those surrounding Muhammad al-Durrah and Rachel Corrie -- the Israeli military makes mistakes during the execution of counterterrorist operations. But what Western fighting force does not? We would be curious to know what fury our own military would unleash if Canadian citizens were regularly being killed by terrorists from rogue statelets. As the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq show, waging war against cowards who hide among innocent civilians is difficult. No one in the West can give Israel the normalcy its citizens truly crave. But we can, at the very least, make an effort to subject the Jewish state to normal moral standards. Perhaps, in time, Israelis will be able to live their lives the way we do -- taking the safety of their homes and borders for granted. Until then, we must stand behind them in their ongoing struggle. font_size(0); Close Presented by try{ var str_da_src = document.getElementById('ad-leaderboard').getElementsByTagName('script')[0].src; str_da_src = str_da_src.replace(/loc=\w+;/gi, 'loc=email_this_story;'); str_da_src = str_da_src.replace(/sz=\d+x\d+;/gi, 'sz=88x31;'); str_da_src = str_da_src.replace(/ptile=\d+;/gi, 'ptile=4;'); document.write(' '); }catch(e){} #commentform-narrow { display: none; } #recent-comments { width: auto; padding-top: 0.25em; margin: 0 0 1em 0; } #recent-comments #comment_head { font: bold 14px georgia, serif; } #recent-comments .comment_box { width: auto; margin-bottom: 0.5em; } tour_comments_off = true; Reader Discussion #comment_top { Xborder-top: #ccc 1px solid; } #commentform-narrow { float: none; width: auto; } More From National Post How anti-Zionism= racism National Post - Thursday, April 3, 2008 Anti-Semites used to like Israel National Post - Saturday, March 29, 2008 Is Israel paying the price for its 'original sin'? 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Re: From Harper, principle & clarity. From Ignatieff, distortion and double-speak - Rochelle Wilner 09:24:35 2008/05/11 (0)

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