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''My people decide the truth in sixty countries every morning. And in every one it's different.''
''My people decide the truth in sixty countries every morning. And in every one it's different.''
Since March 29th 2006
2 comments:
Hi Sophia,
Thanks for clearing up the deleted msg's issue, I was also referring to other instance in which someone has deleted comments to a piece. I guess I addressed your comment on Gert's piece just to consolidate the debate instead of having it all over the place. I was hoping you would respond, perhaps I should have posted it on your site.
Now to our debate of Israel being built on terrorism. You have clearly shown that Israel was in fact built on land purchases (whether under Ottoman or British rule). This is still not terrorist meaning the use of politically motivated violence against non-combatants. This would occur later on and, as you have noted, occurs today but that is well after the state was already established.
There are some other excellent examples of States being built on terrorism. Consider Revolutionary France where Maximilien Robespierre was justifying the use of "terror" (he actually uses the word) against what he perceives as enemies to the "state" and revolutionary cause. Revolutionary France was the ideological birthplace of modern terrorism.
According to your view of a state built on terror, modern Britain, Canada, Australia and America are also states built on "terrorism." The emergence of liberal-capital Britain was based on the Highland Clearances which helped establish the industrial economic complex necessary for a modernizing, capitalist state. The building of the Canadian and American nation resulted in the destruction of the indigenous culture through disposession and violence. Australia did the same with their indigenous population. Most Balkan nations (like Greece and Serbia) relied on land clearances, and ethnic cleansing, to establish themselves. Israel is not unique in this case but the argument can be made that it is a more benign case. But of course that is all due to ones bias and interpretations.
David, Please read may answer at Gert's blog.
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