Thursday, May 07, 2009

DECENT AND INDECENT - PART ONE [DECENT]

The decent part is easy.

This article by Greg Sheridan of the Australian shows that he is a decent man.

ISRAEL STILL LOOKS GOOD, WARTS AND ALL

That Israel of the Western mind (and indeed of the Arab mind) is a hateful place: right-wing, militaristic, authoritarian, racist, ultra-religious, neo-colonial, narrow-minded, undemocratic, indifferent to world opinion, indifferent especially to Palestinian suffering.

Yet the Israel I know is mostly secular, raucously, almost wildly democratic, has a vibrant left wing, having founded in the kibbutz movement one of the only successful experiments in socialism in human history. It is intellectually disputatious; any two Israelis will have three opinions and be happy to argue them to a lamp post. It is multi-ethnic, there is a great stress on human solidarity, there is due process. And I've never heard an Israeli speak casually about the value of Palestinian life. I've heard Israelis voice a desire to neutralise Hezbollah or remove Hamas from leadership in Gaza, but I've never in any context heard an Israeli express the view that the value of a human life is determined by race.


The indecent involves people who regard Israel in terms of the first Israel as described by Sheridan.

They will be highlighted here later.

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