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CALLING A SPADE A SPADE
Treppenwitz
July 15, 2014 Tuesday 4:39 PM EST
by David Bogner
Jul 15, 2014 (Treppenwitz:http://bogieworks.blogs.com/
I have so far successfully resisted the temptation to weigh in on
the current conflict. And I will continue to hold my tongue for the
simple reason that I have nothing helpful to say beyond the following
which I shared a few days ago in a more intimate online setting:
I want to ask that people refrain from contemplating and/or assigning
blame. It is unhelpful. I cringe when I hear people say they are
'pro-Israel' or 'pro-Palestinian'. This isn't the world cup or some
zero-sum game where you root for a side. Wanting anyone to win implies
that you also want the other side to lose.
In a just, peaceful solution (as my country has so far achieved -
tenuous as it may be - with two of our neighbors), both sides should
win and nobody should lose. And by 'win', I mean both sides should
enjoy the benefits of peaceful coexistence. That can't happen so
long as anyone (here or around the world) actively works and prays
for anyone's victory or defeat.
If you can view current events through that mindset, it quickly
becomes clear who wants peace and who can't exist without war.
I encourage everyone to follow the news and think critically about
what you see. There are state actors involved in the current conflict
as well as non-state terror organizations (as defined by the US, EU
and UN) that do not represent any state and, in fact, would cease to
be relevant the moment a just and lasting peace would be achieved.
Don't forget that essential fact for a moment as you scan the news!
That said, I can't remain silent in the face of Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most recent hateful, anti-Israel rhetoric.
Today he managed to ignore the fact that Israel heeded a 9:00 AM cease
fire while Hamas continued to fire more than 50 unanswered missiles
into Israel civilian population centers.
Instead, when after four hours of unabated bombardment Israel resumed
military operations to protect its citizens, Erdogan accused Israel
of "perpetrating a 'massacre' of Palestinians" and of "committing
'state terrorism'".
But the bit that shattered the last of my resolve to stay silent was
his statement this afternoon in which he compared Israel to Adolf
Hitler (according to Turkish daily, 'Hurriyet'). [source[1]]
Okay, here's the deal, Recep. As a Turk, you should know a thing or
two about Genocide... and about shame.
Specifically, you should be able to differentiate between legitimate
self defense and the stated intention to wipe out an entire people.
After all, your country murdered a million and a half innocent
Armenians in 1915 and created the model on which Hitler built his
own grand vision for genocide.
In fact, in his 22 August 1939 speech prior to Germany's invasion of
Poland, Hitler famously said:
Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan
led millions of women and children to slaughter - with premeditation
and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state.
It's a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European
civilization will say about me. I have issued the command - and I'll
have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing
squad - that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines,
but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have
placed my death-head formation in readiness - for the present only
in the East - with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and
without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation
and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum)
which we need. Who, after all, speaks to-day of the annihilation of
the Armenians?
For reasons that have thus far evaded me, the world continues to
dance carefully around using the 'G' word in reference to Turkey's
massacre of its Armenian minority.
So let's call a spade a spade: Turkey committed Genocide. And they
need to face up to their criminal past and national shame. Only then,
like Germany, can Turkey accept responsibility and educate its citizens
against ever contemplating such evil again.
Accusing Israel of perpetrating genocide is monstrous, and Turkey's
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is indeed a monster; a throwback to a time
when dictators and despots could bend the world to their will with
deceptive words as much as unspeakable deeds.
As an afterthought, I would add that I am deeply ashamed of the
civilized portion of the world that sits by and raises no objection to
such monsters and their vile pronouncements... and even allows them the
veneer and cover of membership in legitimate organizations like NATO.
Treppenwitz
July 15, 2014 Tuesday 4:39 PM EST
by David Bogner
Jul 15, 2014 (Treppenwitz:http://bogieworks.blogs.com/
I have so far successfully resisted the temptation to weigh in on
the current conflict. And I will continue to hold my tongue for the
simple reason that I have nothing helpful to say beyond the following
which I shared a few days ago in a more intimate online setting:
I want to ask that people refrain from contemplating and/or assigning
blame. It is unhelpful. I cringe when I hear people say they are
'pro-Israel' or 'pro-Palestinian'. This isn't the world cup or some
zero-sum game where you root for a side. Wanting anyone to win implies
that you also want the other side to lose.
In a just, peaceful solution (as my country has so far achieved -
tenuous as it may be - with two of our neighbors), both sides should
win and nobody should lose. And by 'win', I mean both sides should
enjoy the benefits of peaceful coexistence. That can't happen so
long as anyone (here or around the world) actively works and prays
for anyone's victory or defeat.
If you can view current events through that mindset, it quickly
becomes clear who wants peace and who can't exist without war.
I encourage everyone to follow the news and think critically about
what you see. There are state actors involved in the current conflict
as well as non-state terror organizations (as defined by the US, EU
and UN) that do not represent any state and, in fact, would cease to
be relevant the moment a just and lasting peace would be achieved.
Don't forget that essential fact for a moment as you scan the news!
That said, I can't remain silent in the face of Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan's most recent hateful, anti-Israel rhetoric.
Today he managed to ignore the fact that Israel heeded a 9:00 AM cease
fire while Hamas continued to fire more than 50 unanswered missiles
into Israel civilian population centers.
Instead, when after four hours of unabated bombardment Israel resumed
military operations to protect its citizens, Erdogan accused Israel
of "perpetrating a 'massacre' of Palestinians" and of "committing
'state terrorism'".
But the bit that shattered the last of my resolve to stay silent was
his statement this afternoon in which he compared Israel to Adolf
Hitler (according to Turkish daily, 'Hurriyet'). [source[1]]
Okay, here's the deal, Recep. As a Turk, you should know a thing or
two about Genocide... and about shame.
Specifically, you should be able to differentiate between legitimate
self defense and the stated intention to wipe out an entire people.
After all, your country murdered a million and a half innocent
Armenians in 1915 and created the model on which Hitler built his
own grand vision for genocide.
In fact, in his 22 August 1939 speech prior to Germany's invasion of
Poland, Hitler famously said:
Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan
led millions of women and children to slaughter - with premeditation
and a happy heart. History sees in him solely the founder of a state.
It's a matter of indifference to me what a weak western European
civilization will say about me. I have issued the command - and I'll
have anybody who utters but one word of criticism executed by a firing
squad - that our war aim does not consist in reaching certain lines,
but in the physical destruction of the enemy. Accordingly, I have
placed my death-head formation in readiness - for the present only
in the East - with orders to them to send to death mercilessly and
without compassion, men, women, and children of Polish derivation
and language. Only thus shall we gain the living space (Lebensraum)
which we need. Who, after all, speaks to-day of the annihilation of
the Armenians?
For reasons that have thus far evaded me, the world continues to
dance carefully around using the 'G' word in reference to Turkey's
massacre of its Armenian minority.
So let's call a spade a spade: Turkey committed Genocide. And they
need to face up to their criminal past and national shame. Only then,
like Germany, can Turkey accept responsibility and educate its citizens
against ever contemplating such evil again.
Accusing Israel of perpetrating genocide is monstrous, and Turkey's
Recep Tayyip Erdogan is indeed a monster; a throwback to a time
when dictators and despots could bend the world to their will with
deceptive words as much as unspeakable deeds.
As an afterthought, I would add that I am deeply ashamed of the
civilized portion of the world that sits by and raises no objection to
such monsters and their vile pronouncements... and even allows them the
veneer and cover of membership in legitimate organizations like NATO.