:dubious: OK, this ain’t GD . . . But for this kind of Pitting, you should at least make it clear whether you’re for Palestinian statehood or against it, or whether you’re Pitting Obama for reasons essentially irrelevant to that issue.
At least this whole kerfuffle has allowed the Republicans to shamelessly pander to the Jewish vote, as noted in the NYT this morning, thus providing the rest of us with endless amusement for this news cycle.
I think this is worth repeating. When was the last time Abbas visited Gaza? Extra points if anyone can say when he plans his next visit?
Well, it is supposed to be of value to have at least one Western-oriented democracy in the MENA . . . But, at the moment, I cannot think of any specific instance or manner in which our alliance with/patronage of Israel has been of any strategic or economic advantage to the U.S.
Although it is completely unsurprising that Obama says what he says in regard to Israel, given the uselessness in finding a path toward partition and bad PR the current government of Israel gives the US in the Mideast, it’s a good idea to entertain re-evaluating our relationship. Especially as it becomes more clear that the Arab Spring will result in potentially friendly, secular, democratic regimes. We don’t have to go all cold Turkey on them but fuck 'em what does that country do for us?
One word: Rapture.
Let’s see.. What good stuff came out of Israel that US uses every day?
off the top of my head:
Drip irrigation
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles
Flash drives
ICQ and later AOL IM
The medical stent technology
Voice Mail technology
Computer Firewall technology
Data Compression Algorithms that you use every day
Cherry Tomatoes
Solar Water Heaters
Windows NT Operating System
Intel 8088, Pentium MMX, Pentium 4 and Centrino chips
Beta-interferon
VoIP
Mmmm. Cherry tomatoes.
The stuff from Intel would have come from Intel whether they had the facilities in Israel or not. Dov Frohman worked at Intel US before he got them to start up operations in Israel.
Through all the hand waving and excuses I’m still not sure what the case is to prevent Palestine’s nationhood.
Agreed, how does Palestine becoming a nation prevent that?
Jesus Christ I wish they’d get it over with already then.
This is a list, but seriously, big deal. I wonder if anyone else on the planet would ever possibly think of sticking a solar panel on a drum of water? Then there is the fact that AMD is better than Intel, and everyone knows it. Maybe UAVs are impressive, but Iran makes UAVs too so probably not. I’d tear this list of apart more, but it’s hardly worth the effort because even if I am objectively wrong about the value of these contributions, it doesn’t change my point because we acquired this shit by trade, not by being BFFs.
I wish somebody would explain that to me.
There’s the slight problem of the parliament being controlled by Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, Canada, the U.S., Israel, and Japan. Hell, even Jordan banned them. Giving a terrorist organization its own sovereign state isn’t exactly considered a path to peace.
In case you forgot, the Arabs rejected the partition plan and went to war instead. They lost.
Ireland and Northern Ireland have Sinn Féin.
I would love to see the Arab Spring come to Palestine. It’d start with disaffected, underemployed, tech-savvy youth realizing that the thugs in charge serve no purpose (indeed, that they serve solely their own, negative, purposes), and Hamas and Fatah members would soon swing from lampposts.
Wait, what?! How will that make it more difficult?!
I don’t see that the result of the Arab spring is “friendly, secular, democratic regimes”. I see more confrontation with Israel and therefore, with the US.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/sites/all/files/images/palestine_page.img_assist_custom-640x388.jpg
Look on the map on that symbol. Do you see “two states” there?
It will be in Libya, almost certainly.
Bookmarked. So I can point and laugh in a couple of years.
I most sincerely hope you’re right, but I don’t beleive it.