tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19907120.post4665765058531838437..comments2022-10-20T11:35:12.464+03:00Comments on Morey Altman: Massacre Mania 2Morey Altmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15886157582583010411noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19907120.post-64776110368036567912009-12-02T09:52:31.650+02:002009-12-02T09:52:31.650+02:00I agree with your first comment. It was written so...I agree with your first comment. It was written somewhat in haste, and anger. Certainly as flawed human beings we're as capable of committing massacres as anyone else. But, I don't believe anyone has proven that Israel has ever conspired to commit a premeditated elimination of an Arab community, or the Palestinians as a whole, as is often charged. There's no question, of course, that individuals or units of the Israeli army, sometimes with the stated (or unstated) approval of senior officers, have done so; and it is shameful that these incidents have been swept under the rug, and the perpetrators never charged, or charged and later pardoned. <br /><br />I haven't read Kenneth Bilby's book but will look for it.<br /><br />I'm very aware of the State Department's longstanding issues with Israel in general, and her nuclear programme, in particular. They've been in bed with the Saudis and other Arabs for decades. The Kingdom, by Robert Lacey, sheds some light, as does James G McDonald's My Mission in Israel 1948-1951. McDonald was the first US Ambassador to Israel. His book can be read for free here: http://www.archive.org/details/mymissioninisrae002443mbpMorey Altmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15886157582583010411noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19907120.post-50699851451781352542009-12-02T00:52:12.884+02:002009-12-02T00:52:12.884+02:00Morey, I cannot and would not say a priori that Is...Morey, I cannot and would not say a priori that Israelis or any other people or nation are incapable of massacres during war time or have never done such. However, the Arab leaders seized on massacre charges in particular and atrocity charges of all sorts in general as a political weapon against Israel going way back. For example, in 1948 after most Arabs had fled Jaffa (Yafo), the mayor of Yafo met the American journalist Kenneth Bilby, telling him that the Jews had massacred the Arabs in the Manshiyyah Quarter of Yafo during the battle there not long before. Bilby found no evidence of such a massacre, as he reported in his book, New Star in the East (or some such title). It is notable that Arab spokesmen have focussed on Deir Yassin and have not used the "massacre" charge about Jaffa since 1948, as far as I know.<br /><br />Anyhow, your piece on the Israel nuclear capability was interesting. You are aware that the possible Israeli nuke bothers the State Dept crowd much more the possibility of an Iranian bomb.Eliyahu m'Tsiyonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07973268399414290195noreply@blogger.com