The Middle East Explained As Simply As Possible…
Ok, for those of you confused about the situation in the Middle East it’s pretty similar to what’s been happening in the world since things began.
There was one group of people who went somewhere and did unspeakable things to innocent people, so those who identified with the innocent people got very cross and decided to teach the first group a lesson, leading to them retaliating and also doing awful things to innocent people, which meant that the first group felt justified in what they did and so they decided to do more of it, leading to the second group feeling all the more justified in doing even more things and this normally leads eventually to a shortage of people prepared to do unspeakable things instead of just ordering them, leading to some form of peace agreement.
Of course, in the case of the Middle East, it’s different. There’s a tale about a scorpion and a frog which I’ll get to later, but I want to take a few moments to tell you why I feel qualified to talk about the situation when I have no links to the area. Neither have I studied the situation in any detail.
As such, nobody can refer to me as an “elite” or “one of those academics”, and I’m therefore the sort of person we should listen to. Although I have just finished my afternoon nap, so one could say that I was “woke” by the phone call that reminded me to take the washing from the line, although I’m not sure that is actually what people mean when they refer to someone as “woke”. In fact, I’m pretty sure that most of the people using the word, don’t have any idea what it means either…
Although we did have one of the anti-woke crusaders, Mr Howard, telling us: “I have my doubts about multiculturalism, I believe that when you migrate to another country you should be expected to absorb the mainstream culture of that country!” So I guess that means that if he were to have moved to certain islands of Vanuatu, he would have renounced his suit and tie and dressed in nothing but a namba (penis sheath). Two tribes on one island were respectively named as either Big Nambas or Smol. I suspect Little Johnny would join the Smol tribe in order to absorb the culture.
Anyway, the story of the Scorpion and The Frog:
One day, a scorpion needs to cross a river but because he cannot swim, he asks a frog if he could ride on the frog’s back. “No,” says the frog, “you’ll sting me and I’ll die!”
The scorpion says to the frog: “But if I did that I’d drown and we’d both die.”
The frog considered and decided that what the scorpion said made sense so he allowed the scorpion onto his back and they began to cross. Halfway across the scorpion stung the frog and they began to sink.
“Why did you do that?” asked the frog. “Now we’ll both die.”
The scorpion replied: “Hey, it’s the Middle East, you expect things to make sense!”
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Return to home pageYes Ross. Exactly.
Netanyahu has tunred on Hamas after years of supporting them to prevent the Two State Solution occurring.
This Crikey article 311023 may provide some illumination:
Thanks Rossleigh.
To your “historical perspective” I would add only that the State of Israel was born out of mayhem, murder and the forcible removal of many thousands of the original inhabitants of Palestine.
Who would have thought that 70+ years later, very little has changed for the better.
While I don’t know how this terrible conflict might be resolved, I feel that more of the same is not the answer.
Yes, quite so
I find it obscene that Israel has become the persecuters of a minority. They can no longer claim to be the underdog.
It will NEVER end.
Shouldn’t that be a question mark rather than an exclamation mark at the end of the story, and perhaps add ‘already’ ?
But SERIOUSLY by what right do six former Prime Ministers presume to speak for Australians when what they are actually doing is parroting Zionist propaganda. John Howard will never speak for me and how do I express my disappointment that Gillard and Rudd joined this deluded exercise. Another example of the Jewish lobby doing what it does so well: cast any anti-Israel commentary as anti-Semitic, or demand (using what threats?) some form of message of support. How is it thet at least some of the six are still, apparently, under the sway of the Jewish lobby. Yes, Hamas should be castigated for its murder of non combatants, but there is no equivalence here. Israel has been murdering non-combatants for 75 years, and as I write has unleashed a reign of terror impossible for us to conceive. It is not responding justifiably to an outrage it is perpetrating a continuing outrage and must be condemned unreservedly
Labor continues to disapppint. Keating stands as a becon of reason while Albanese, Rudd and Gillard show their lack of backbone and poor judgememt. Albanese, like Howard, will lose his seat as a sitting prime minister at the next election. His support of Israel, AUKUS and the fossil fuel indudtry, to name just a few, will not go down well with the voters of Grayndler.
Israel should stop her attack on Gaza.
Israel should allow Hamas, to do as it pleases.
Hamas has a right to attack.
If Israel stops being belligerent, then Hamas will win and peace will follow.
Ok, Mark and Margaret, which of you is the scorpion and which is the frog?
And which of the people went somewhere and did unspeakable things?
Which of the children are innocent and which are just collateral damage?
And who were the people just following orders?
Too much media reporting has submerged, diluted and almost absolved corrupt authoritarian leadership regimes of both Netanyahu and Hamas, by ignoring recent events i.e. civil war & ‘born again’ settler aggression on West Bank by the former’s allies and intentional massacre of civilians by the latter, in presenting simplistically and generally as, an Israel vs. Palestine issue*.
This also disappears the broader complexity of relationships around and between US GOP grifters esp inc. $2bn man Kushner, MBS/Saudi, el Sisi/Egypt, MBZ/UAE etc., antipathy they hold towards Palestinians, the anger by West Bank Palestinians toward their own corrupt Fatah & Abbas, who in turn despise Hamas in Gaza, while Putin is friendly with both Netanyahu and Hamas leadership; silence on Hamas end game or what can be inferred?
*Seems to mirror Kremlin agitprop modus operandi; vague on timelines or avoiding the present eg. WWII starting in ’41?, by talking about long term or history. One is also aware that many ‘faux anti-imperialist tankies of the left’ supporting Putin’s Russia ie. blaming Ukraine via NATO, EU, US etc. for invading themselves, are now promoting the broader Palestine (avoiding mention of Hamas) vs. Israel; too easy.
Some print blobs, Mark and Margaret, are keen supporters of murder, filth, superstition, invasion, occupation, crime, all the drives of invading zionists from over a century ago. Israeli settlers, and as murderous as any known criminals, are thieving, killing, acquiring, occupying and gloating now, as they beat off the untermensch of Palestinian origin. The zionists were murderous invaders, foreigners, for only Rabin was a Palestinian born in the old British mandate area. Like the unmentionable Nazis, slaughtering and thieving swine must be stopped. All slaughter and crime must be stopped, and only secure borders with guaranteed states can exist.
Women will eventually end the killing.
Oh how I love the humour of the god of abraham!!
The scorpion was muslim and will get a god given virgin a day for killing a jew frog who will be reformed by god into a virgin every day of eternity for trying to save a muslim.
ps
I love pointing out the jews, xstians and muslims all have the same god.
The christians go ballistic denying that theory.
the fallicy of historical arguements is that non of them are satisfactory or can solve the problem. Yea i know, the jews were there 3000yrs ago but who was there before that?
We need to look at this in the context of the last 70 odd yrs. Carving up the middle east after ww2 was a gross mistake all round. Acting as god with straight lines where non existed before. It was a total denial of the people living there at the time. And so today, we are dealing with the consequences of our gross stupidity. Admitedly, as a species we have come a way since those times but not enough to deal with the problem.
A two state solution was never going to happen, the state of israel pointed the finger at the palestinians but they absolved themselves from their own machiavellian actions. You had to be totally nieve to believe israel was going to give up anything. In sport, we find the guy who retaliates usually is the bunny who gets penalised. And so again, the palestinians are the bunnies, but beware, they have evolved to have bigger teeth.
i am angry with the state of israel for being such arseholes towards the palestinians. I am angry that the two sides cant solve the mutual problem they have. Those extreem right wing radicals need to be put on the front line, Not allow them to throw bombs from the side and then wash their hands of the consequences. Israel ignored the obvious and kept expanding settlements , encroaching on palestinian lands. These extreemists need to be pulled out or left to their own devices. make them understand, there are consequeances for their greed. Religion is just a cover and i am surprised it has not been understood. Give me the levers, i will fix it overnight.
Poor Israel – always the victim and never to be blamed for anything because 70 year old atrocities have given them an ongoing exemption.
The country itself was created by acts of terrorism and assassinations and has always been a rogue and potentially failed state, propped up by the USA and with dubious territorial claims based on a book they themselves wrote.
With their apartheid, scapegoating and theft of property Zionists have become the new Nazis.
Netanyahu believes in the Peace Process but does not want the Peace itself because while talks continue, so does the spread of occupation.
Meanwhile another generation of potential terrorists is being created.
My father was stationed in Pallistine (1943/1946). Yes, it was called Pallistine then, when I was old enough to question the troubles in Pallistine I asked my father.
He (my dad) said the Jews were saying that the land was theirs and that justified them expelling Pallistinians from their homes and land.
The British were left in the middle trying to keep the violence from escalating, British Jews and Pallistinians were killed and maimed. Eventually the British cleared out and left the Jews to continue their policy of terror intimidation and forced expulsion, a policy that has continued from then to today.
Know one will object because they will be labelled antisametic.
Such is the legacy of feudalism.
“I have my doubts about multiculturalism, I believe that when you migrate to another country you should be expected to absorb the mainstream culture of that country!” And here was me thinking all along that the lying rodent was a religious whackjob, dogmatic, racist bastard, when he was actually telling the world that the brits had done the wrong thing by not assimilating into Australia’s Indigenous population way back in 1788… Who’d a thought……
Scorpions and frogs are biological creations, beautiful in their own individual ways, and are not there for the use of of religious nut-jobs to use in any analagous context.
There is no god.
Proof.
A. Religion. Belief in a higher power is a faith thing, and faith does not require some idiot in a funny hat demand that I have the same faith as them and shower them with gold coins lest I be considered a lesser being.
B. The invention of gunpowder. A supreme all knowing being would have looked at the monster of their creation called humankind and though “No. Bad idea. Not for them. I know what they will do with it. Pointy sticks is as good as they get.”
C. Th iceberg wiould have struck the Mayflower, not the Titanic. Again. Any supreme being worth a pinch of shit in a snowstorm would have looked into their tealeaves while the puritans were halfway across the Atlantic and decided “Yeah, far enough for you lot. The Natives on the other side ar ok without you. ( Other icebergs would have stopped the spanish and portuguese explorers too, but that happened in different chapters.)
All of the bullshit going on in the middle east, and Ukraine, and westen china, and the sth china sea, et al, is all about power. Nothing more, nothing less.
The israelis just want to be able to tell the world that they are unstoppable. All that they are proving is that the murder, rape, theft and maynem will never, ever, end. They MAY end up with a single state solution, but they will achieve it while living in isolation under their iron dunny-lid.
In case I am being labeled anti semitic, I googled it.
“Semitic”
Pronunciation : /sɪˈmɪtɪk/ Adjective
1. Relating to or denoting a family of languages that includes Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic and certain ancient languages such as Phoenician and Akkadian, constituting the main subgroup of the Afro-Asiatic family.
2. Relating to the peoples who speak Semitic languages, especially Hebrew and Arabic.
Kiss my don’tgivearatsarseist backside.
An ongoing disgraceful and merciless debacle going on for over a century, appallingly instigated and interfered with by ‘western’ colonials. And that’s not to forget the ceaseless incursions, blood letting and land grabbing by various ’empires’ over millennia.
It is as if it is perhaps the world’s biggest (concealed) example of the ‘western imperium’ seeking to solve its own geo-strategic, economic and cultural hot potatoes by guilefully undermining, and by various proxies, attacking the indigenous lands and people. Especially, in modernity, Britain and the USA.
It is of no small consequence that the vast diaspora (persecuted or not) seeking emplacement in the ‘holy land’ return from a huge variety of adopted countries, with widely varying cultures, legal systems and ideologies. This ‘returning’ diaspora brings with it a multiplicity of linguistic and other difference, from simple folk, through religious idealogues, clever scientists and technologists, to sophisticated, monied and organised entrepreneurs and political persuaders.
It is well understood that the latter have long been active in manipulating the ‘western imperium’. And together they have done little to affect a universal and peaceful success, but instead have opted for continuing adversary and divisive manipulation leading to brutality and hatred as manifest on both sides today. Suffice it to say that the dominance, power and belligerence of one side backed by the ‘western imperium’ is manifest. The m.o. is reminiscent of that of the ‘Atlas’ network, and way back to Hayek and Fisher.
This is more than enough to make one’s blood boil. Such filth exercised in the name of humanitarian gestures, such exploitation, brutality and greed.
It appears that’s what is obtained when money, religion and politics is combined to have influence.
In this case it jeopardizes the middle east and beyond, but more broadly the wellbeing of the entire world.
I expected no better from the six PM,s, apart from Rudd.
Rudd’s failure is the one that hurts.
Well said Clakka !
Andy56: You say “A two state solution was never going to happen”, but what is/are the alternative(s)? There are two main cohorts – 1) the Israelis and 2) the Palestinians. Logically and practically they would prefer separate states. Unless you are thinking of a three or more state solution, it means continuation of the current 1 state occupation or genocide by removing one of the cohorts. It would seem the Israelis are bent on the latter. Implementing a 2 state solution would mean the withdrawal of the Israelis from a variety of places, which is also unlikely unless the rest of the world enforces it (improbable). So going forward… same as… same as. Glad not to have been born a Palestinian. What Hamas did is unconscionable. What the Israelis have done to the Palestinians for the last 70 odd years is also unconscionable. If only they got together and had a chat about the god they both worship and are prepared to fight for, and came to the realisation that there isn’t one, well certainly not an omnipresent one.
Last night on ABC 7:30, former PM Ehud Olmert said (paraphrased):
The usual rhetoric about the current situation
Hamas needed to be routed
Netanyahu needed to resign now, he is incapable
After Hamas routed, and a ‘buffer period’, a 2 state solution to be agreed with Palestinian Authority
It is notable that Netanyahu has for years ‘put the knife into’ any accord or solution. And has promoted and funded Hamas. He is seen by many (including Israelis and other Jews) as a trouble maker, and is notably avoiding facing criminal charges for corruption.
The Scorpion is chosen by God, and it behaves outside any prole laws.
The only number it understands is six million(ad nauseam), and anything less is beneath consideration.
Simply collateral damage in the deluded mission to cleanse the pond.
But never, never, never, question its right to exist.
But why? Are we that gullible?
“Top UN official in New York steps down citing ‘genocide’ of Palestinian civilians.”
“Craig Mokhiber, director of human rights body, accuses the US, UK and much of Europe as ‘wholly complicit in the horrific assault’.”
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/31/un-official-resigns-israel-hamas-war-palestine-new-york
JulianP, thanks for the article,
It’s notable that there would be someone that accused ‘antisemiltism’. Where once the term had relevance to the centuries of pogroms and the Holocaust, it now appears often to be a catch-all convenient term to be used against anyone who criticizes the m.o., the politics and behaviour of Israel in the lead-up to, implementation and development of the state of Israel.
Clearly, there is cause for such criticism, as there is for Hamas. I have many Jewish friends who over decades have made such criticisms. And clearly many criticisms do not have to have their roots in antisemitism.
Sadly the term appears to be fast becoming a worn and irrelevant ‘guilt-play’. Recent history and the fast approaching future will reveal to what extent.
Different but similar context: white supremacists on a certain island in the IndoPacific have just said to the people they took the land from, “No you can’t be constituted and we will decide what you get and the circumstances in which you get it.”
And the story ends: “Hey, it’s Australia, you expect things to make sense!”
Excellent analogy Paul, nice work.