05 August 2006

Israel vs. Hezbollah

After a long delay, something.

This post is an extension of our debate with several students here at Cambridge. We've been surprised by how many express anti-Israel sentiment. Considering that many attend school at Cal (Berkeley), it really shouldn't come as a surprise. Especially when we read of things like this (Hat tip: James Taranto & BOTW):
__________
One Cecilia Lucas, a graduate student at UC Berkeley, has penned a "love poem for Hizbullah." We kid you not. Here's a sample:
You were born out of death to a life in a cage
Where bombs are not the only reason people die
Fed by the violence of hunger and homelessness
Raised by colonialism
Your heart and your will still grew strong

You scare me
Not just because they tell me to be scared
Not just because they repeat, repeat, repeat
The story of 1983
Begging me to understand
Americans are worth more than Lebanese
We suppose a certain romanticization of nihilistic political violence is a common enough form of adolescent rebellion, though one suspects young Miss Lucas is getting egged on by her professors, many of whom no doubt are liberal baby boomers who never outgrew their own adolescence.

Ah well, the best way to respond to this sort of thing is with mockery, as blogger "Iowahawk," writing under the nom de plume "Omar Walid Muhammed, Chairman, Hezbollah Poetry Club," devastatingly does, in a poem called "I Love You Too, Cecilia Lucas":
You were born in the Valley to a life in a suburban cage
Encino, where mean girls and cheerleaders
Drop bombs of hate on the unpopular girls
Shy poetry club chicks like you
With 1480 SATs and early admission to Berkeley
Fed by the violence and lookism of the dance squad
Raised in a four bedroom colonial
They wouldn't let you wear your Che T-shirt to prom
But your heart and your armpit hair still grew proud and strong

You scare me too
Not just because you have that Code Pink Manson girl freak-vibe
Not just because you repeat, repeat, repeat
All those quotes from your dog-eared volumes of
Chomsky
and Zinn
and Edward Said
Begging me to understand
Can't we just hold each other
Instead of talking, talking, talking
About your Masters thesis?
__________
If that doesn't have you rolling on the ground laughing, well, you might be a leftist student at Berkeley.

While reading Friday's Best of the Web (subscription required) we came across one piece that does a great job highlighting the difference between Israel and Hezbollah.

This was written by Naomi Ragan, a novelist whose son is an Israeli soldier. Click to read the full transcript.
My son spoke to his friend yesterday, and this is how he described it: "The village looked empty, and then we heard noises coming from one of the houses, so we opened fire. But when we went inside, we found two women and a child huddled in the corner of the room. We were so relieved we hadn't hurt them. We took up base in one of the empty houses. And then all of a sudden, we came under intense fire. Three rockets were fired at the house we were in. Only one managed to destroy a wall, which fell on one of us, covering him in white dust, but otherwise not hurting him.

"I spent the whole time feeding bullets to my friend who was shooting nonstop. We managed to kill 26 terrorists. Not one of us was hurt. Our commanding officer kept walking around, touching everybody on the shoulder, smiling and encouraging us: 'We're are better than they are. Don't worry.' It calmed us all down. And really, we were much better than them. They are a lousy army. They only win when they hide behind baby carriages."
Further illustrating (literally) the difference between the two are political cartoons found here and here.

While liberal elites and the Democratic party leadership (oxymoron?) continue to give credence to Hezbollah and Hamas, we will continue to wonder, wonder, wonder, why they get so much support from Jewish Americans.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is not just Indigo Girls from Cal who support Hezbollah. It took me over an hour to get home from a activity today because some people decided to stage a protest against the US/Israeli attacks on the Lebanese at 4:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday. I was forced to detour because they decided to start throwing things at the passing cars. Thanks guys. I was able to get a nice tan on my left forearm. I owe you one.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's right. Democrats, Hamas and Hezbollah on one side with Israel and the religious right on the other. Now it all makes sense. Thanks "the narrator."

the narrator said...

ronny mexico:

jewish americans, for the most part, are not friends of the christian-right. that is why they do not tend to align themselves with the republican party. hence, the common enemy.

as far as the whole deal with israel and the middle east goes, spend 20 minutes with bonner ritchie (former byu organizational professor asked by the lds church to build bridges in the middle east) and you'll quickly be disgused by all the support america has given israel.

Anonymous said...

Since when did "not friends" a "common enemy" make? Watch out the narrator, that sounds like Bush-speak. Are you a closet Bush fan? I'm sure Jake appreciates the support.

I thought this Bonner Ritchie guy was buddies with Yasser Arafat? Maybe that's where his anti-Israel sentiment comes from.

ps. I appreciate the obvious affection in your comment--"Ronny" Mexico.

Thanks the narrator, I think you're pretty great too.

the narrator said...

i thought 'ronny mexico' would be more hip with the kids.

perhaps enemy is a bit strong, opponent or adversary works just as well.

bonner ritchie's frustration with israel and friendship with arafat came after he witnessed the atrocities and abuse caused by israel's control of land, water, and military strength in the middle east.

Anonymous said...

You got it all wrong sugar $#%@ (this is a family friendly blog after all), it is The Juice who is responsible for all the wars. If only the glove fit...

Anonymous said...

Bonner Ritchie is probably the most radical member of the LDS Church I have ever met. He taught the Global Economics portion of my PMgt 385 class many years ago. The first day of class he displayed the text book that was required for the class. He didn't mention it for the next 6 weeks. Possibly the most entertaining hours of my BYU experience.

Oh, and lactose is responsible for all the wars. See the connection? All wars involve people who drink milk.

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