You mean this letter...

Dear All of You:

I sense I'm breaking an unspoken rule with this letter, but I can't keep quiet any more.

Today I saw a picture of a weeping Palestinian man holding a plastic carrier bag of meat. It was his son. He'd been shredded (the hospital's word) by an Israeli missile attack - apparently using their fab new weapon, flechette bombs. You probably know what those are - hundreds of small steel darts packed around explosive which tear the flesh off humans. The boy was Mohammed Khalaf al-Nawasra. He was 4 years old.

I suddenly found myself thinking that it could have been one of my kids in that bag, and that thought upset me more than anything has for a long time.

Then I read that the UN had said that Israel might be guilty of war crimes in Gaza, and they wanted to launch a commission into that. America won't sign up to it.

What is going on in America? I know from my own experience how slanted your news is, and how little you get to hear about the other side of this story. But - for Christ's sake! - it's not that hard to find out. Why does America continue its blind support of this one-sided exercise in ethnic cleansing? WHY? I just don't get it. I really hate to think its just the power of AIPAC… for if that's the case, then your government really is fundamentally corrupt. No, I don't think that's the reason… but I have no idea what it could be.

The America I know and like is compassionate, broadminded, creative, eclectic, tolerant and generous. You, my close American friends, symbolise those things for me. But which America is backing this horrible one-sided colonialist war? I can't work it out: I know you're not the only people like you, so how come all those voices aren't heard or registered? How come it isn't your spirit that most of the world now thinks of when it hears the word 'America'? How bad does it look when the one country which more than any other grounds its identity in notions of Liberty and Democracy then goes and puts its money exactly where its mouth isn't and supports a ragingly racist theocracy?

I was in Israel last year with Mary. Her sister works for UNWRA in Jerusalem. Showing us round were a Palestinian - Shadi, who is her sister's husband and a professional guide - and Oren Jacobovitch, an Israeli Jew, an ex-major from the IDF who left the service under a cloud for refusing to beat up Palestinians. Between the two of them we got to see some harrowing things - Palestinian houses hemmed in by wire mesh and boards to prevent settlers throwing shit and piss and used sanitary towels at the inhabitants; Palestinian kids on their way to school being beaten by Israeli kids with baseball bats to parental applause and laughter; a whole village evicted and living in caves while three settler families moved onto their land; an Israeli settlement on top of a hill diverting its sewage directly down onto Palestinian farmland below; The Wall; the checkpoints… and all the endless daily humiliations. I kept thinking, "Do Americans really condone this? Do they really think this is OK? Or do they just not know about it?".

As for the Peace Process: Israel wants the Process but not the Peace. While 'the process' is going on the settlers continue grabbing land and building their settlements… and then when the Palestinians finally erupt with their pathetic fireworks they get hammered and shredded with state-of-the-art missiles and depleted uranium shells because Israel 'has a right to defend itself' ( whereas Palestine clearly doesn't). And the settler militias are always happy to lend a fist or rip up someone's olive grove while the army looks the other way. By the way, most of them are not ethnic Israelis - they're 'right of return' Jews from Russia and Ukraine and Moravia and South Africa and Brooklyn who came to Israel recently with the notion that they had an inviolable (God-given!) right to the land, and that 'Arab' equates with 'vermin' - straightforward old-school racism delivered with the same arrogant, shameless swagger that the good ole boys of Louisiana used to affect. That is the culture our taxes are defending. It's like sending money to the Klan.

But beyond this, what really troubles me is the bigger picture. Like it or not, in the eyes of most of the world, America represents 'The West'. So it is The West that is seen as supporting this war, despite all our high-handed talk about morality and democracy. I fear that all the civilisational achievements of The Enlightenment and Western Culture are being discredited - to the great glee of the mad Mullahs - by this flagrant hypocrisy. The war has no moral justification that I can see - but it doesn't even have any pragmatic value either. It doesn't make Kissingerian 'Realpolitik' sense; it just makes us look bad.

I'm sorry to burden you all with this. I know you're busy and in varying degrees allergic to politics, but this is beyond politics. It's us squandering the civilisational capital that we've built over generations. None of the questions in this letter are rhetorical: I really don't get it and I wish that I did.

XXB

Nice job, Legar.

As for the OP- flip off. Tired of you whining about your peeps "holy land" when I don't believe in your bible (and neither do you- you don't read Leviticus, for example.) The Holocaust survivors are passing away (RIP) and it is slowly dawning on the US that the new generations contain some real rotters. Tired of sending $ to Israel so that it can be used to blow up daycare centers and support
extreme Orthodox Jews who stone other jews (esp. women) for not covering up.

Sure- some Israelis are great but modern day Israel is scary, violent, country with way too many religious nuts.

So- get over yourself OP. We will cry for the Palestinian guy and wait for Israel to stop sucking US tax dollars.

Ahhhh, the Middle East doing what it does best...

Bringing people together.

Unfortunately Mr. Byrne cannot respond individually to every maniac who reaches out to him to fix the middle east however we invite you to enjoy some complementary lyrics from "Life During Wartime" (available for purchase on iTunes)

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons,
packed up and ready to go
Heard of some gravesites, out by the highway,
a place where nobody knows
The sound of gunfire, off in the distance,
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstore, lived in the ghetto,
I've lived all over this town

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey,
I ain't got time for that now

Transmit the message, to the receiver,
hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, a couple of visas,
you don't even know my real name
High on a hillside, the trucks are loading,
everything's ready to roll
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the nightime,
I might not ever get home

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.,
I ain't got time for that now
Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, P. A.?
You oughta know not to stand by the window
somebody might see you up there
I got some groceries, some peant butter,
to last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers, ain't got no
headphones, ain't got no records to play

Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time
Can't write a letter, can't send a postcard,
I can't write nothing at all
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
I'd like to kiss you, I'd love you hold you
I ain't got no time for that now

Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock,
we blended with the crowd
We got computer, we're tapping pohne lines,
I know that ain't allowed
We dress like students, we dress like housewives,
or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle, so many times now,
I don't know what I look like!
You make me shiver, I feel so tender,
we make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving,
you ought to get some sleep
Get you instructions, follow directions,
then you should change your address
Maybe tomorrow, maybe the next day,
whatever you think is best
Burned all my notebooks, what good are
notebooks? They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, burns like a furnace,
the burning keeps me alive
Try to stay healthy, physical fitness,
don't want to catch no disease
Try to be careful, don't take no chances,
you better watch what you say

Curious, were the 40,000 other blogs out there that are being overrun with this sort of hate just too scary create accounts for that I, Anonymous was the only one you felt safe venting yours to?

When Israel handed over Gaza to the so-called, "Palestinians," there were miles of commercial green houses which provided vegetables to market. Within the first week the new citizens demolished the glass hot houses and destroyed a thriving industry which could have provided jobs and income for a great many. Now, there are nothing but guerrilla soldiers' tunnels. It's high time that rats' nest finally got cleaned out.

"To cry for the children on one side...."

No children on the other side have been killed.

Forgot about The Who?

^ Dre, they forgot about Dre.

Israel has finally had enough bullying. They can kill as easy as militant arabs, and they are merciless if their country is in peril.

- We are not sending troops in, and they are not going to stop rockets into Palestine until they destroy the tunnels underground.

If they have to keep fighting they will. They have been told for about 12 years that they need to be patient,and not have such overkill when they finally have had enough.

The ugly pictures continue of dying babies and children, there is no front line in this war.

Our country is afraid to be critical of the Arab Countries, we are really afraid of THEIR abhorrent fighting and disrespect for people who object to their hiding behind suicide bombers, and using their children for Cloak and Dagger activity. Planes in the World Trade Center. Too soon!!!!

The shoe was on the other foot when Tel Aviv and Jerusalem were getting blown up all those years. There just was not indignation during that time.

I think a country that protects itself with it's population, has no plane crashes because of major securities then told by UN to just not get mad when Iran jokingly threatens them.

We can not face the fact that we are giving the muslims a huge break when we defend their hate for us.

The World Trade Center should have been enough but we want to be politically correct to not blame all muslims/arabs.

They hate the country we live in, and if we let our guard down, they will hurt America again with whatever they have.

I hope this stops now and am just wondering why we cannot even express opinions of them without being stereotyped.

I'd certainly trust Byrne and Eno more than your own biased views.

I don't want my tax dollars going to buy guns and bombs for one side in a race war. It's time to stop the gravy train to Israel and tell them to fuck off.

HamASS deliberately places missile installations and military command posts adjacent to hospitals and schools in densely populated residential neighborhoods, using innocent civilians with children as human shields. Israel goes to great lengths to be as surgical in their strikes as possible, and continually warns residents in those areas to evacuate, so there are no surprise attacks.

It is my understanding that Israel too has its' military installations located next to densley populated neighborhoods.

Deaduptown - Love Israel? Why don't you move there?

lucydog3, Atheist, Mark Twain once paid a visit to Jerusalem and reported it to be a deserted, malaria infested swamp. There once was a people known as the Philistines, who's fate has been lost to history. The Arab tongue was unable to pronounce "Philistine" so they called their outcasts, "Palestinians," and deported the poor underclass to Israel who welcomed them in and gave them jobs. I'll visit Jerusalem sometime after the Great Tribulation.

Deaduptown - it must be fun to sound knowledgable but basically know that you're flipping bullshit. But then this country is full of aholes who pass on fantasies from the department of propaganda in Israel. It's time to figure out what country you are a citizen of.

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts was a great album, wasn't it? Still holds up...

Hey, I morally support Israel, but am against taxes in general and foreign aid in particular. I do believe that financially fortunate Christian Americans ought to be charitable, but it seems to me that Israel is a most productive country with it's own, strong economy.

I wonder how productive a Palestinian State would be, if it existed, and gave it the same financial help that we give Israel.

Israel currently receives about $3 billion in annual aid from the United States, while the so-called, "Palestinians," get about $.5B. How much do you and I get? In all fairness, Israel turns around and uses the money to buy weapons from US manufacturers.

Israel gave the squatters miles and miles of green houses which they ingrates thereupon immediately destroyed. Based on that, I suppose you would have to give them an exponential amount of foreign aid more than to Israel to compensate for their self destructive tendencies.

Yes, Israel (translation, Jews) gave the squatters (translation, the Palestinians) houses after violently stealing their lands and houses that are now occupied by the invading white European Jews. Hard to believe the squatters just don't show enough appreciation for what's been done for them.

Ahh the clean out the rats nest. They are hiding behind hospitals. They are in the most population dense area of the planet. If only they stood in the open we would just kill them easily and not kill all the children, women and innocents. They don't treat their stuff well. They aren't real humans and we can kill any we want unless they live under horrid dehumanizing conditions.

Not a bunch of excuses to defend genocide I promise.

What would you do if Vancouver were to launch missiles into Portland? Israel gives advance warning for people to evacuate. In fact, most of the squatters actually have jobs which they commute to daily, in Israel.

^ Ahh, the ol' Sean Hannity defense. BTW, Vantucky fires rockets over the river every July 4th, and Portland doesn't do shit about it.

Hey Dread Uptown. So If someone says they're gonna bulldoze your house tonight, you'll just grab some stuff and run? You're free to go! But if you shoot at the bulldozer, you're a terrorist.

That's what Multnomah County did to me, Lucky.

http://hippyfan.freeservers.com/multcert3.…

It's not as if I was lobbing missiles at Multnomah or the court house, either. You can't expect Bibi to just sit back and let HamASS launch North Korean bombs purchased with US foreign aid into his sovereign country while he watches it on TV. Maybe HamASS could use the $400,000,000.00 per year that the United States donates to them, to build homes instead of buying weapons from other rouge nations which are enemies to the free World. It would be better to take that $400B and buy food to feed the North Korean civilians, than to hand it over to HamASS to pay the North Korean military.