(May 22, 2006)
[Ed. As a reminder to Letter writers: If you want your letters to be published, you must include your first and last names and your city and state of residence. Also, please, enter in the subject line of your e-mail "letter to the editor," and specify the article or the subject on which you are commenting. Thank you.] Choosing Peace as an Endgame: Israel-Palestine To the Editor: There is a place in the great hereafter for each one of us. Just be sure to make your reservations with the right travel agent. Each religion practices its own traditions and these traditions can vary from family to family. These practices represent the sacred interaction and interpretation of ones individual faith. The overarching message to be communicated through one's exercise of one's chosen religion, is one of peace. And peace is the only endgame available to the world at this point in history. Peace, as religion, can be chosen. To some it is a hard choice, between peace and war, and to others it is the only choice. We can choose peace as our endgame or it can be imposed upon us following the annihilation of the warring parties and the exhaustion of weapons systems. To choose peace means to properly exercise one's faith and to be truthful in your interpretation of god and religion. The very day that Harry Truman chose to recognize the state of Israel, to appease the embryonic Israel lobby, was the beginning of a great experiment. This ongoing experiment is testing the people of our planet and their individual interpretations of their respective religion. If the message of religion is peace and the bulk of the Earth's population have chosen to worship in one manner or another, why is peace sometimes not chosen and not chosen, ironically, in the name of religion? The Zionist experiment is a misinterpretation of Judaism because it is testing the strength and the desire for peace. To test the strength of peace is anti-ethical to any interpretation of mainstream religious practice. This fact is what separates the State of Israel with the majority of the world's Jews and what then follows is the simple fact that just because one questions the way the State of Israel functions does not make one anti-Semitic. The state of Israel and all of its territorial conquests have been achieved using over powering military support from the West. Does this mean that Israel is a western outpost in the Middle East? Does this mean that most of the leaders and citizens of modern Israel are refugees from Europe and Russia? Does this mean were it not for the billions of dollars of direct aid and support from western powers that the State of Israel would cease to be in a position to brutally subvert the Palestinian? Which makes me wonder if the leaders of Israel, in all their wisdom, have a plan when all the western support dries up? Current US and UK policy in the Middle East is the proverbial snowball headed for hell. They spend their treasuries to prop up the regime in Israel and to eliminate any suspected adversaries, who also happen to be their neighbors, and all along weaken their standing in the world community and sooner or later the finances dry up and another country decides to lend their support to the Palestinians. What future is there for a young Israeli and how can people call themselves leaders when they hamstring future generations like this? Donald MacRae Brown Colonial Beach, Virginia, USA - May 8, 2006 ********** Pat on the back from a former contributor: Swans 10th Anniversary Gilles: Quite an accomplishment. 10 years. I know there have been times you've wanted to just give up, but it says something that you and Jan have stayed with your program, sans bells and whistles, fancy graphics or advertising. Just words. Here's to another 10! Margaret Wyles Arcata, California, USA - May 9, 2006 ********** Want change? Make it happen...and, please, help us help YOU make a difference.
********** Musing from a current contributor, one of the original "Five."To Jan and Gilles: Computer going cockeyed -- seems like a constant. Would like some relief. Working on resurrecting my oldie to get through a few months. Lost Internet browser for some reason and trying to figure out why. After Dell fiasco, I wonder if any manufacturer can be trusted. Go out and assemble my own (that crazy, I am not!). Like cars, I suppose, if it comes from the factory right, it'll stay right. Got to SWANS 10 just now and went through it with a fine tooth comb, especially Gilles being candid as well as being Gilles. A saga. Brought back the whole question of making money through the Web. I notice that no one of consequence has solved that little problem yet. The New York Times pissed my off by charging $40 for Select articles (I declined). Friends who paid up send them to me anyhow. Gave up daily newspapers except through Web versions. Still doing a passel of magazines, though. Getting Web access cut off through some computer glitch or another emphasizes that I am using the Web as close to my primary resource for information. It remains the best research tool ever created for people who want data and information -- which may be different. Books are still No. One, on balance. A friend chastised for me for comments related to KOS and other similar sites (which I rarely visit). Called KOS's opinions "factual." May be, but the comments of someone with whom I mostly agree are not necessarily factual. Corollary has to be that my comments are not necessarily factual either. All of which gets into a philosophical argument about "facts." Time to rein in that horse. Slow down, now, wooooaaaa. Great job on the tenth. I'll hang around for the next ten just to get another Jan interview of Gilles. Milo Clark Pahoa, Hawaii, USA - May 11, 2006 ********** Remember, support Swans. It only will hurt your wallet, not your freedom to be heard.
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