"The Jews are crazy"

Before a claim of anti-Semitism is charged - I did not say that. That's what an Israeli government official, Eli Yishai, wants us to think.

In an interview with the Israeli Haaretz daily newspaper, Eli Yishai, Israel's Shas Party leader, and a member of the Security Cabinet and Ehud Olmert's seven-minister forum, clarifies the Israeli methodological and strategical plans during the war as well as the defense agenda he recommends during the interim of the cease-fire.

"If Hizballah fires Katyushas, we have to deliver a severe blow to Lebanon's infrastructure, black out Beirut, cut off electricity, turn off the water, destroy bridges, halt industry and flatten entire villages. If there is horrible damage in Lebanon, they will say, 'The Jews are crazy,'" Yishai explains.

Eli Yishai is making reference to the deterrence factor and an IDF invincibility that the Israelis have been trying to implement during its war on Lebanon. High ranking Israeli military officers have framed the issue as a matter of "establishing a certain level of 'awareness' in the Arab world."

Yishai continues, "If Lebanese citizens pay the price, they will rise up against Hizballah. I have proposed that we damage infrastructure and flatten villages because Hizballah personnel must know they are not immune. That policy would have assured that Lebanese citizens would not permit Hizballah to live next to them."

I guess you can't get any more crazy than wantonly killing innocent civilians in order to attain political goals. However, it does not seem as if the Lebanese, the Palestinians or other Arabs are acknowledging this certain level of fear, which the Israelis have been trying to instill for more than 60 years.

Our statesman, Eli Yishai, espouses on the correct course of action in order to expedite the implementation of UNSC resolution 1701 although the means might be a violation of the resolution itself.

"If the Lebanese government fails to implement this decision, international pressure must be brought to bear to force Lebanon to do so. In the cabinet meeting yesterday, I proposed that we present an ultimatum to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora stating that if Lebanon fails to disarm Hizballah, we will halt the supply of electric power and water to Beirut for several weeks." Haaretz article.

Back in 2001, Eli Yishai threatened to boycott the parliamentary coalition if an agreement was not reached on the military draft deferment for yeshiva students. Ironic that one so adamant about killing, destruction and war heads a religious political party, which advocates deferments from mandatory military service. I guess as long as the children of working class secular Jews and Arabs are fighting and dying it's ok to wave the flag of war.

Do the majority of 'Jews' want to be seen as "crazy?" Eli would certainly, like to instill an "awareness" of the mad Jew among the Arabs and throughout the world. However, these time-tested belligerent and racist means only continue to generate generational warfare. Moreover, no one seems to be afraid, in fact many are willing to martyr themselves so that this vestige of Nazi Germany will cease and desist from its heinous murderous ways.

Where are the Jews of vision, those who study and learn from history? Why does Israeli society continue to produce and elect political leaders who twist or dismiss the past in order to prey on the "fears" of Israel - self-serving as this may be -- so that Jews will pray to them for guidance and protection? The Zionist war machine with its hollow pledges of security for Israel has only served as machinations, which sow fear and reap hate. It`s time for a change before time runs out. The time is ripe to forge a new path and give the children something to look forward to, besides revenge and war.

In a report released today, Wednesday, August 23, 2006, Amnesty International accuses Israel of War Crimes in Lebanon.

The Israeli Foreign Affairs Spokesmen, Mark Regev, rejected Amnesty International's criticism and indicated that "the actions in Lebanon were in accord with the norms of recognized conduct of war and did not contravene pertinent International Laws." According to Regev, the IDF did all it could to avoid civilian victims contrary to the practices of Hizballah.

UNICEF estimates 1,350 Lebanese persons died in the conflict while, 970,000 were displaced.

Lebanese mourners carry coffins, draped with Lebanese flags, of the civilians who were killed when an Israeli air-strike attack hit a residential neighborhood, in a Beirut suburb Aug. 13, a day before a UN cease-fire plan went into effect. There would be hundreds of such funeral processions throughout Lebanon as a result of the Israeli carnage executed on the population. Many familes have to deal with the loss of their loved ones and the attenuated grief and other social, emotional and financial cost of an unrelenting assault of their lives and livelihood.