[Buddha-l] Re: Gog and Magog

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Richard Hayes schreef:
> On Tuesday 18 September 2007 17:43, Dan Lusthaus wrote:
>
>   
>> Now I find that fascinating. Barak offered Arafat the West Bank, Gaza and
>> half of Jerusalem (including the Temple Mount and Western Wall).
>>     
>
> Arafat turned it down. A foolish move on the part of a stubborn man, to be 
> sure. But one foolish move cannot be used to characterize some sixty years of 
> history, a sad history characterized by plenty of greed, hatred and delusion 
> on both sides of the dispute. I have not seen much evidence of either side 
> following Buddhist principles of relinquishing views, abandoning attachments, 
> extending genuine love and friendship and trying to live in peace and 
> harmony. I have seen plenty of individuals on both sides trying to do all 
> those things, but I have not seen government leaders exemplifying such 
> conduct. That being the case, I find it nothing short of tragic for any 
> country to take sides with either the Palestinians or Israel. Alas, it is a 
> legacy of the cold war that countries have taken sides. The Soviets chose to 
> side with the Arabs, the Americans with Israel. Which was more foolish and 
> short-sighted? I cannot see any way of determining the answer to that 
> question.
>
> The United States has made so many disastrously idiotic foreign policy 
> decisions during the past sixty years that it would be foolhardy to single 
> out any one as the most foolish and calamitous. Suffice it to say that the 
> unqualified support of Israel has been one of dozens of blunders and that the 
> world as a whole is much the worse off for this mistake.
>
> But you know how I see the situation, and I know how you see it, and we'll go 
> to our respective graves without either of us having convinced the other. So 
> let's take up respectful silence on the issue and get back to discussing 
> Buddhism (about which we also have profound disagreements -- or perhaps they 
> are, after all, shallow, for we are both pretty much incapable of any kind of 
> profundity).
>
>   

There's a new book out from Naomi Klein: 'The Shock Doctrine - The Rise 
of Disaster Capitalism'. I believe she discloses some of the capitalist 
mechanisms behind the continuity of conflicts. It seems that continuing 
a war can be more profitable than stopping it.



Erik

Info: www.xs4all.nl/~jehms  
Weblog: http://www.volkskrantblog.nl/pub/blogs/blog.php?uid=2950 
Productie: http://stores.lulu.com/jehmsstudio