Roger Cohen on Gaza

I am liking the New York Review on Books. Well written article on the Gaza crisis.

Peace, Please, Peace.

And then they say that Muslims don't want peace with Israel. If this man in his grief can ask for peace, then why can't the rest of the Palestinian and Israeli people.

Why can all of this not stop.

Imam Zaid Shakir on Gaza

Money Quote:

We are the followers of a merciful Prophet, peace upon him, and not the ideological and philosophical children of those who have introduced the idea that the slaughter of an opponent’s civilian population is an acceptable stratagem or consequence of warfare.

Framework for an agreement?

When Jimmy Carter said this three years ago, he was an anti-semite. Now it appears this is becoming the conventional wisdom in American Foreign Policy.

George Bush and Cognitive Dissonance

While no one has ever accused George Bush of making decisions within a strong cognitive framework, his comments in his farewell address were just too much to bear.

He said:

Murdering the innocent to advance an ideology is wrong every time, everywhere. Freeing people from oppression and despair is eternally right. This Nation must continue to speak out for justice and truth. We must always be willing to act in their defense and to advance the cause of peace.

He says this the same day that Israel bombs a UN Humanitarian depot in Gaza, and while the EU and the UN all condemned it, all the United States did was have a chat with the Israelis. What oppression, what despair is anyone being freed from here? The UN is almost the only source for relief aid currently in Gaza. Hundreds of pounds of food and potable water were destroyed in this bombing. Do the Palestinians not count as oppressed people? Do they not feel despair?