THE JURY IS IN - RADICAL ISLAM'S GOT TO GO

Well, this link, at The Bacon Eating Atheist Jew's blog, pretty much made up my mind.

Here is the link.
Special note - I came across it today, in it's entirety, but it promptly went KA-PLOONK! - so here's the trailer:

I originally had the full length feature, but someone somewhere yanked it - apologies.

In the interests of survival, I'm going to have to go with the side that's less likely to slit my throat in the night. Much as I'm a leftie liberal, I fancy myself a pragmatist as well, and no amount of optimism is going to change the fact that I am more likely to have my brains blown out by a Palistinean than an Israeli if I were to walk down a street in the Gaza strip in broad daylight.

Let's get a few things straight here, however:

1. I support Israel's existence, but by no stretch do I think they get carte blanche to do any damn thing they please. I don't think ANYONE gets a free pass, my country, their country, anyone's country. That includes Arabian, European, African. So I reserve the right to criticize freely, anything (and I mean ANYTHING) that I see fit. Regardless of race, creed, gender, geography.


2. I'm not an anti-semite. Anybody who wants to contact me, here's my email: reluctantatheist@yahoo.com . We'll arrange a meeting. All accusers are welcome to come say it to my face.
   


3. Note the operative word is radical. Dershowitz (whom I've never liked, since the OJ trial - let's face it, OJ did it, all the spin-doctoring in the world can't change the facts) qualifies the distinction in the film. There's a number of good qualifiers in the film - one is a woman who's father was a 'martyr'. Another was a woman who spoke about supporting the moderate muslims, who are too afraid to speak out for fear of retribution. A rally where Arabs were chanting 'Death to the terrorists'.
   

I received this in my mailbox (I subscribe to the Huffington Post):

"For Prager, the discussion was all about the morality of Israel's actions (he has called support of Israel's battle with Hezbollah "the most clarifying moral litmus test of our time"). For me, it's a question of strategy and effectiveness. There's no question that Israel has the moral right to defend itself against a fanatical terrorist organization that seeks to destroy it. But, as I've asked before, does Israel want to be right or does it want to win? And can victory be defined as anything other than the ability of Israel to guarantee the security and safety of its people?

Ultimately, the long-term security of Israel depends on isolating and marginalizing the vile, violent extremists in the region from the rest of the Arab and Muslim world. As Prager wrote in a recent column, not every Arab or every Muslim is an enemy of Israel. But Israel's current tactics are pushing more and more Middle East moderates to embrace the extremists.

As Robin Wright of the Washington Post put it on Larry King: "A staggering poll last week -- in a country with 17 different recognized religious groups, 87 percent said they backed Hezbollah, which is unprecedented in the history of Lebanon." Even more ominous for Israeli -- and American -- interests, Israel's all-out approach is bringing together the traditionally divided religious factions in the country, with 89 percent of Sunnis, 80 percent of Christians, and 80 percent of Druze siding with the Shia terrorists of Hezbollah."

Also:
"Prager also tried to frame the debate over Israeli strategy as a left/right issue. In truth, the idea that Israel is doing itself more harm than good is shared by those on both sides of the political spectrum. Chuck Hagel, the second ranking Senator on the Foreign Relations Committee, recently declared "The war against Hezbollah and Hamas will not be won on the battlefield." He cautioned that a continued air and ground assault by Israel "will tear apart Lebanon, destroy its economy and infrastructure, create a humanitarian disaster, further weaken Lebanon's fragile democratic government, strengthen popular Muslim and Arab support for Hezbollah, and deepen hatred of Israel across the Middle East."

Let's face facts, folks: Israel's approach isn't winning any converts. Let's take this to a personal level:

If someone I love, or care about, family member or friend, were killed due to his/her political leanings, what do I look at first? Do I say, "Well, they had it coming to them?", or "That's what you get for having those specific political leanings", or even "You got what you deserved"? Nope. My first reaction will of course be grief. Then rage, at the instrument(s) of my sorrow.

Between this ongoing conflict, and our ridiculous invasion of Iraq, well, the ranks are swelling. No one, Israeli or Lebanese, is going to look at the mutilated corpse of an infant, and shrug. No one is going to question the politics of the corpse. That's just the way people are. They are going to take an immediate stand, and demand justice (warranted or no). That's just how people are. Nobody wants a senseless death in their circle. No one.

Many of the more striking examples in the film:

1. There's an ongoing propagandizing of the 'evil Jew' (gah! I hate stereotypes!), including cartoons, soap operas, all targeted at slandering the Israelis.


2. Sound-bites of children advocating wholesale slaughter (from three years old and up).


3. Shots of children handling firearms.

Towards the end, the comparison was made between the Nazis and the radical Islamites. An interview with a fellow who once had been high-ranking in Hitler's Youth.

But this turned the tide for me:

Hitler shaking hand with the Mufta of Jerusalem, in the late 1930's. Strangely, there's a dearth of google-able links to this little factoid.

The anti-semitism then and now is so obvious, I don't know how it could've escaped me.
One woman proposed that we (I assume that means the West) support and strengthen the moderates who are too afraid to speak up.
Let me address the constant refrain, "Why aren't the moderate Muslims speaking up/out about this?!?"
To which I reply:

The same reason PETA people go after rich white women with fur, rather than bikers wearing leather chaps. Who is more likely to do you violence? A white lady in a fur coat is far less likely to arrange your dental work, I'd think.
Be that as it may, this idea struck me:

The film emphasizes the constant propagandizing/demonizing of Jews in the Middle East. So, who has tried to put out counter-propaganda? Anyone?
Obviously, there's a distinct slant in the Arab-driven media. It's hammered in during the film. Has there been any anti-terrorist pamphleteering? I've written about Arabian misconceptions and stereotypes. I've also mentioned Al-Afif al-Akhdar in this post.

How does one counter disinformation? It seems to my humble eyes, that only information can do that.

And before we re-hash the tired old refrain, of figuring out who's to blame, a wonderful Japanese saying springs to mind:

"Fix the problem, not the blame."

'Cause let's face it folks: time's a-running out, and while we indulge the idiocy of acrimony, people are dying.

That's my nickel's worth: spend it quickly. The bell tolls. Let's hope it's not for thee, or me, or anyone else.