I've been inside of the belly of the beast, and I can tell you that AIPAC does not support ISRAEL, it supports the Israeli GOVERNMENT.
In a global climate where some call for the disolution of Israel altogether, those ARE two distinct things. In the early 2000s (before he softened a bit and began dismantling some of the settlements) my personal hatred of Sharon was on par with my personal hatred of Arafat, but that did not change the factthat I support Israel.
I do not support Israel's actions in Lebanon, but I will state that them doing something was more important than doing nothing. It is NOT a justification, but it is worth noting that Lebanon is not REALLY in control of themselves to begin with, so attempting to negotiate with them is a bit different from some one attempting to negotiate with the US. I view Israel's actions here not as evil, but as desperate. Israel being a sovereign nation itself can't accept the willful allowance of even a single terrorist attack. THAT is their motivation. While their behavior is indeed often wrong, it is hard to classify that motivation as "evil."
Like I said, I'm not AIPAC, nor am I a fan of theirs. I subscribe to the REAL form of Zionism, Herzl's Zionism. I would have been happier with Uganda, but that decision was made before I was born, so I'll work with what there is.
When I called you uninformed I didn't mean it as an insult, but rather, I meant to make it clear that I did not believe you to be anti-semite. If you are interested in learning, I am happy to share with you the knowledge I've aquired. Even if you end up believeing everything I tell you, don't worry, you'll still hate AIPAC with a fiery passion. Honestly, I sometimes feel like they are a bigger obstacle to peace than Arafat was.
I don't think this thread is really the place, though. If you'd like to discuss things via PM or in another thread, just let me know, and I'd be happy to.
