The Israeli government’s actions should be undertaken in order to protect its citizens. Period. Potential citizens who have not thrown in their lot with Israel need not be a factor as such – but need to be brought home.

Last, and perhaps most importantly – the diaspora is not “expected to take the rap.” Look at history objectively – has antisemitism truly risen since 1948? No. In fact, prior to 1948 antisemitism was FAR greater than now, so to blame Israel for the rise of antisemitism is just plain wrong.

Our question is this: Does the Israeli government ever take this into account when making its decisions?

If the diaspora is expected to take the rap for Israel’s actions, and to come out in support, shouldn’t it also be consulted at some point?

If there is ‘taxation’, shouldn’t there also be representation?

Israel excites, alienates and compels. How are we as Jews implicated in Israel’s achievements, mistakes, and challenges? MAKOM invites you to join an ongoing conversation about hugging and wrestling with Israel.

makom.haaretz....

That idiot interviewer had the nerve to ask why the IDF is “bombing schools and hospitals”. First, the IDF returned fire that came from Hamas firing from the school to begin with! Many people were killed by the traps Hamas set for the IDF in that school. Hamas also hid out in Shifa Hospital disguised as doctors and nurses, a hospital built by Israel, btw. haaretz.com/ha... Even being reprimanded by their OWN people for firing within civilian centers! israeltoday.co... Why does Hamas hide among the sick and innocent, putting them directly in harm’s way?  Why do they bury weapons under schools israeltoday.co... and youtube.com/wa... and keep weapons in mosques? youtube.com/wa... I don’t recall the Geneva Convention allowing any of that.

But the evil Israelis, after 7 years of this (one could say 60 years give or take some more peaceful times), have the audacity to do something to stop them. Over 4000 rockets and 4000 mortar shells fired into Israel (terrorism-info..., starting at p5) 5000 in Sderot alone, injuring, maiming and killing 100s, multiple ceasefires, all broken by Hamas. Defending Gaza just seems like an immoral stance to me.

And Mr. Texan, if Mexico was firing rockets at you, it would take you about 3 seconds to think of how to stop it.

The only people who’s survival is in danger are the people trapped in Gaza. This isn’t just about the settlements anymore. Now, all Israelis have blood on their hands.

The nickname The Grauniad for the paper originated with the satirical magazine Private Eye. It came about because of The Guardian’s reputation for frequent and sometimes unintentionally amusing typographical errors, hence the popular myth that the paper once misspelled its own name on the page one masthead as The Gaurdian, though many recall the more inventive The Grauniad. The domain grauniad.co.uk is registered to the paper, and redirects to its website at guardian.co.uk.
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… more to the point – from the same page:

Editorial articles in The Guardian are generally to the left of the political spectrum. This is reflected in the paper’s readership: a MORI poll taken between April and June 2000 showed that 80% of Guardian readers were Labour Party voters; according to another MORI poll taken in 2004, 44% of Guardian readers were Labour voters and 37% Liberal Democrat voters.

There are many stereotypes, but perhaps the most prominent is that of the Labour-voting middle-class Guardian reader with centre-left/left-wing politics rooted in the 1960s, working in the public sector or academia, sometimes eating lentils and muesli, living in north London (especially Camden and Islington), wearing sandals, sometimes believing in alternative medicine and natural medicine though more often atheistic or non-religious and rational…. This might be illustrated by Labour MP Kevin Hughes’s largely rhetorical question in the House of Commons on 19 November 2001:

“Does my Right Hon. Friend find it bizarre – as I do – that the yoghurt- and muesli-eating, Guardian-reading fraternity are only too happy to protect the human rights of people engaged in terrorist acts, but never once do they talk about the human rights of those who are affected by them?”

The stereotype of The Guardian reader is a persistent feature of British political and social discourse. Doctors have used the “doctor slang” acronym GROLIES (Guardian Reader Of Low Intelligence in Ethnic Skirt) on patient notes.

The stereotype is occasionally referenced self-deprecatingly by Guardian readers in the newspaper’s letters page, such as opening a response to a surprising claim in a recent article with “I nearly choked on my muesli” or some variation on that phrase.

“By nearly three-to-one (55% to 20%), Republicans approve of the military action Israel has taken in the Gaza Strip. Independents, by a smaller margin (44% to 29%), also approve of Israel’s actions. However, a plurality of Democrats (45%) disapproves of Israel’s military campaign, while just 29% express a positive opinion.”