by Starman » Wed Aug 17, 2005 2:41 am
<br>Heyia Al;<br><br>While the comment you reposted is generally true and accurate and readily substantiated, it might have been more specificly 'correct' to reference dual-nation loyalties and/or interests -- Perhaps the Admin. felt you weren't being appropriately PC -- it IS a touchy issue for some, conflating Nation with Religious beleief. But then, it WAS expressed as opinion. If you were tombstoned for merely pointing out the evident fact that, in essence, under past administrations but especially under the present GOP 'leadership', that US policies have been exquisitely shaped and coordinated thru numerous Bush officials with close Israeli ties and many with dual-citizenship to advance very specific Israeli security and political issues, then that shows a very deliberate agenda at DU to discourage and be intolerant of Israeli/Zionist criticism. The topic is probably confounded to an extraordinary extent by the many inherant contradictions and inconsistencies of regarding Israel as an authentic 'democracy', since the whole premise of Israel as a nation is, after all, essentially based on the cultural and religous heritage of Judaism. It's not exactly a secret that in Israel, Christians and Muslim citizens have significantly reduced rights, and are treated as 2nd and 3rd class semi-citizens. <br><br>This is the 2-ton elephant in the Living Room that dedicated Zionists and Israel-Firsters attempt to keep away from American public attention or notice, as severely contradicting the popular myth of Israel as America's partner in promoting greater freedom, social justice, human and civil rights, and self-rule Government. Especially too, because Israel is the top recipient of US financial and military aid, and Israeli officials were inticately involved in helping to fabricate the case for war on Iraq -- for which Israel stood to benefit with major gains to its security, energy needs, economy and business interests, and greater political and military influence in the region.<br><br>This attitude of treating with kid-gloves and extra-sensitive deference the whole issue of Israeli and Zionist influence subverting American interests, is too typical thruout the blogsphere -- I've read where board and website managers have been lobbied and promised vague 'financial benefits' if they eliminated certain articles or comments or discussion topics that implicated Israeli/Zionist influence or that criticized Israeli policies -- ie., suggesting a very organized gate-keeping strategy with carrot-and-stick incentives. That should be VERY troubling.<br><br>While I don't post at DU, which is my personal boycott of the DU management's policies discouraging certain topics and out-of-the-box speculative thinking, I do occasionally read comments, esp. when someone here specifically recommends a given vibrant topic -- and there ARE many sharp people posting there.<br><br>Anyway -- Welcome to RI, where informed self-expression and information-sharing is encouraged (according to very basic, practical guidelines mostly re: hate-speech, violence, or hostile discrimination).<br><br>Starman <p></p><i></i>
