Thursday 8 January 2009

Israel and Anti-Semitism

Since the start of recent Israeli attacks on Gaza, I couldn't help but think why is West so adamant in supporting Israel and its "right to exist", against all reasons and logics or any political or diplomatic morality.
Right to Exist; it is a loaded phrase with multi-faceted explanation. The very use of the phrase "right to exist" implies that, although, the user of these three words knows that the existence of Israel is inherently wrong and illegal, however, s/he should support its existence to maintain status quo. Another explanation that entails its use is that the user of the phrase is saying, "Now that Israel has emerged on earth's map and we are not able to falsify this reality, although we don't like it, we will have to accept its existence and accept that Israel has raised its stakes so high which cannot be competed in order to diminish it."
Any student of history with a keen eye on the background of creation of this Jewish state knows that its creation was both morally and legally wrong, although many wouldn't admit it.
The question still remains unanswered: "Why is West so adamant in supporting Israel and its 'right to exist'?"
One explanation is the anti-Semitism in West which reached its culmination in the form of Hitler's Nazi ideology. West knows that cooking Jews like Hitler is no more an option; therefore, only workable way of getting rid of them is to send them some place where they would be more than happy to go and stay. Hence, the existence of Israel and its support. In my opinion, the very notion of supporting Israel is in itself deeply and inherently anti-Semitic. Many supporters of this country equate supporting Israel with supporting Jews, which is also a very misguided notion. Israel is the creation of a group of people comprised of Jews and Christians which completely ignored the war crimes against Jewish people in WWII. They had their own agenda and that was not the well being of Jewish people. Their agenda was to benefit a select group of people which did not represent all Jewish but a subgroup of Jews with extremist militant inclination called Zionists.
Flag waving support for Israel in West is instrumental in drawing idealistic picture of Israel as a land of Jews among young Jewish population. Engraving a utopian depiction of Israel in the young Jewish minds is essential to make sure that these young boys and girls will easily be brain washed into leaving West to permanently settle in Israel. The feud of Palestinians and other Middle Eastern countries with Israel is understandable as they have lost an entire country to aliens and they are left with two strips of land with overly congested population living in same conditions as Jews in European ghettos. When some misguided Arabs launch a couple of mostly ill-aimed rockets which land in Israel, they are not hurting Israeli people. They are hurting that utopian picture of Israel that is depicted for Jews living in West and the utopian ideology is to be protected at any cost even if it means obliterating the rest of Palestine.
Believe it or not, Israel is the foremost cause of anti-Semitism around the world. This country has done more harm than good for Jews. If you study the history of Jews, you will notice that they were one of the most oppressed people in Europe. Historically, whenever Jews suffered and were kicked out of their homes and land, the only place they found refuge and which served as sanctuary for them for centuries was Muslim empire. Many would argue against Muslims not giving Jews share in government or powerful government positions. That maybe so, however, there was no bar on Jews from getting into non-political or non-governmental jobs and they actually prospered under Muslim rulers. Others might argue about the status of Jews. It must be understood that every country has its laws and its citizens must abide by them if they want to live in that country. Laws in parts of Muslim empire required all non-Muslims to pay a certain protection tax which included Jews. It must be mentioned, however, that Jews and Christians enjoyed better status compared to other non-Muslims because they were (and still are) people of the book, followers of Islamic prophets. Muslim governments never discriminated against Jews and treated them same as any other non-Muslim citizens. Anti-Semitism in Muslim empire was non existent.
Now that same Muslim empire has divided into many countries and almost all of these countries have unfriendly stance towards Jews as they see them as the representatives of Israel, an oppressor which has captured Muslim land illegally and kills and is still killing thousands of Muslims.
History is the witness; there was zero anti-Semitism in Muslim countries before the creation of Israel. Now they are topping the list of anti-Jewish countries. Who is to blame?
In USA, conservative ideologists are the strongest supporters of Israel. Southern USA is famous for being conservative and following two videos are evidence of anti-Semitism in USA which is often not expressed as it is considered politically wrong:



Wednesday 7 January 2009

Stupid Men of Sitcoms

A couple days ago Mike Stafford of AM640 was ranting about how media portrays men as stupid goofs and women as the ones running the business of life. For the most part he was ok until he started to name the titles of sitcoms which depicted man of the house as an utter idiot and while wife was the one where all wisdom resided. Following four sitcoms were named often by Mike and by the callers who mostly agreed with him. Most caller know that if they disagree with The Holy Mike Stafford, they will be cut off then mocked and insulted without any chance of response from them. Here are the sitcoms that came up:

  1. King of Queens (Doug Heffernan)
  2. Everybody Loves Raymond (Raymond “Ray” Barone)
  3. Home Improvement (Tim Taylor)
  4. According to Jim (Jim)

Following is a brief sketch of these male characters:
Doug Haffernan
He is fat, loves to eat, loves to hang out with friends and he has no ambition what-so-ever. He is very well contended with his life and job; however, it does bother him occasionally when the circumstances force him to acknowledge that his wife makes more money than him. His wife, Carrie, is clearly much more intelligent than him; she is ambitious and always enthusiastic about progress in life. Doug is clumsy and often has hard time understanding often simple things. He is often childish and impulsive but not more than his father-in-law who lives with the couple and, simply put, is an adult baby, often tended by his daughter who acts more like a mother of her own father. Alright, Doug Haffernan is stupid.
Raymond “Ray” Barone
Raymond, mostly referred to as Ray, is clearly and utterly stupid but somehow a gifted sportswriter. He cannot pronounce many of the words properly and doesn’t seem to be very verbose. Yet he is a successful sportswriter. He often has problem understanding simplest of family issues. He doesn’t have any particular talent and is proudly clumsy. He has a relatively happy life and a strong financial position still he loves to complain. He has whiny nasal voice which becomes even more annoying when he slants single words to the length of half a sentences while acting like an adult child. He often argues with his hot (but not) wife on his self-centered non-issues. His wife, Debra, is perfect in every way except that she cannot often cope with the stupidity of his male in-laws and mischievousness of her only female in-law, Marie. In conclusion, yes, this sitcom’s got a lota stupid men.
Tim Taylor
I haven’t seen much of Home Improvement but I can tell that the man’s got a hot wife and he’s an idiot of sorts. However, his level of moronity (I am trying to invent a word here) is not as high as his friend’s, who is his co-host in a TV show titled Home Improvement (coincidence? Maybe.). In addition, he’s a got a shady neighbor who is always available when his wife needs to complain about her husband and seek advice. A wise man never lets his wife share her secrets and regrets with other men. Moral: Tim Taylor is not a wise man; he’s a stupid.
Jim
Also known as University of Jim, he looks stupid, acts stupid but is not stupid. Yeah, I know, this last sentence had a lot of stupid in it but Jim isn’t part of it. Despite his laziness and apparent clumsiness, Jim is one of the most intelligent characters in the sitcom. He runs his own construction company, keeps his business smooth and customers happy. This requires a lot of intelligence and leadership capabilities. At home, he lets the household business go by on its own and intervenes only when it’s needed. He often argues with his wife on seemingly petty issues, however, most male viewers would easily agree with his stance on household conflicts, which is just common male sense. On the other hand, his wife, Cheryl, is naive and impulsive. She is always trying and planning to outsmart Jim with the help of her conniving sister, Dana, and more than often she fails. Even when, Dana, who openly expresses her utter contempt for her brother-in-law, is rescued and comforted by Jim by his words of wisdom reflecting his profound understanding of life. Jim enjoys sincere respect of his wife’s brother and other co-workers. He, being deprived of father’s love at an early age, is very sensitive to his family’s needs and is often overprotective of his wife and children. It is his that kindness by which he has taken his wife’s siblings under his protective wing.
On the other hand, Jim likes and enjoys keeping his inner child happy as a result of which he often finds himself involved in unnecessary one-on-one fights. He doesn’t mind a happy night of roaming the streets while drunk along with intoxicated friends. He is always a ring leader and never stays behind when it comes to partying or music. In conclusion, with all of his humanly shortcomings, the character of Jim is different from all lead males from other three sitcoms. Jim is a character who acts stupid to get out of chores while other three are genuinely stupid. He is the most lovable character in all four sitcoms.

Friday 2 January 2009