Now if only someone would analyze the wingnuts politicians in Western countries maybe I could understand why we all stand by and cheer while Israel gleefully kills and maims with our blessing (In North America our chant is so sweet, reminiscent of the Dixie Cup's version of Iko Iko: Hey now, hey now 'cause Obama and Ignatieff have told me so ... ):
Is an Israeli Jewish sense of victimization perpetuating the conflict with Palestinians?
"A pioneering research study dealing with Israeli Jews' memory of the conflict with the Arabs, from its inception to the present, came into the world together with the war in Gaza. The sweeping support for Operation Cast Lead confirmed the main diagnosis that arises from the study, conducted by Daniel Bar-Tal, one of the world's leading political psychologists, and Rafi Nets-Zehngut, a doctoral student: Israeli Jews' consciousness is characterized by a sense of victimization, a siege mentality, blind patriotism, belligerence, self-righteousness, dehumanization of the Palestinians and insensitivity to their suffering. The fighting in Gaza dashed the little hope Bar-Tal had left - that this public would exchange the drums of war for the cooing of doves.
Akiva Eldar
January 2009
Harretz
Technorati Tags: Confusing?, Gaza
