Exalted return

I haven't really quite ranted on this blog in a long time; perhaps I fear everyone not reading me to death, but that doesn't really quite matter. A recent screening of the movie Waltz with Bashir has turned on my angry rant mode, so prepare for a lot of loud bile and snide remarks. I guess this will also be a mini-review of the movie as well, but...

Anyway, Waltz is a Hebrew movie about Ari Folman, who continually experiences nightmares where he's chased by 26 hounds, which he believes to be connected to his experiences in the horrific 1982 Lebanon War, one of the many conflicts between the Israelis and various other ethnic groups out for their blood and to drive them out of the Holy Land. The movie, while there's a focus on Ari's interviewing various other soldiers during the conflict on their stint in the Israel Defense Force which effectively gives it a kind of documentary edge, is animated and is an extremely creative and original way to tell Folman's story, which also contains themes of memory, the enigmas of the mind, and repression. It's a brilliant movie, with some particularly cool bits (like the opening scene and the "Waltz" with Bashir). The animation really makes the movie stand out - if it weren't like that, this movie would've definitely failed. Overall, a good contender for Best Foreign Film.

But it got me thinking about some stuff, an opinion I'm not exactly proud of, but I feel needs to be expressed anyway. It's about Israel and its hawkish military policies and its vast abuse of human rights.

As we all know, Israel was formed after World War 2, through various annexations and carvings of the region. The Jewish have their own homeland, smack dab in the Middle East, amongst a host of Arab nations that detest its very presence. With the first few skirmishes between Israel and its Arab adversaries, it managed to gain a little more land in the Six Day War. Most of these states, Jordan, Syria, etc have refused to acknowledge Israel's right to exist, with Egypt recognizing its sovereignty only just recently.

Here's the problem I have with Israel. It's nice to have an ally as powerful as us in the Middle East, a nice little pie in the sky if you will, but their very existence has caused so many miniature wars, so many pointless conflicts that you really have to ask whether or not it's worth it, to squabble so vehemently over a small piece of land. It's like fighting over the last cupcake in the shitty school cafeteria. You may feel good when you win the cupcake and triumph over the guy who's a few feet taller than you, but remember that you're still eating crappy cafeteria food! The Knesset and the opposing parties may not feel this way, probably feeling some religious connection to the land, but to everyone else, it's fighting over the bigger rock.

I realize it's probably not just fighting over a rock. It's proving you have big guns. It's proving you have balls of brass. You don't have to fight over the Suez Canal to do that. You don't have to secretly assassinate supposed "heads of terror." Furthermore, what right do you have to bulldoze areas of the West Bank, "relocating" Palestinians? What right do you have to pursue an aggressive expansionist campaign to collect more territory in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, pushing Palestinians out of their homes? When you bait a wild dog, hit it with a stick, do you expect for it to just sit there and yowl? No, it's a dog that'll defend itself if attacked. You can hardly be surprised when the PLO, Hezbollah, Hamas, whatever governing body of Palestine decides to retaliate. The recent conflict that erupted was a result of Palestinian aggression, but it hardly comes as a surprise considering Israel's track record with local foreign relations. It's also a little hard to sympathize with these warhawks when they're supported by the might of the United States and their foes, who don't even have an established capital for God's sake, has to make due with whatever they can scrounge.

Do not get me wrong. I am not anti-Semitic. I fully support Israel's right to exist. They deserve a homeland. They've been trodden on for the better part of forever; it's only fair they get reparations for their suffering. But when your uncle gets you a really cool BB gun after you've come out of your gastric bypass surgery, that does not give you a free pass to shoot people in the eye. Don't act surprised when they get angry when you attack them. Two of the big players, Egypt and Jordan, have established friendly ties with Israel, but a large part of the Arab world still seems averse to their very existence. Here's some free advice for the Knesset. Stop firing rockets. Stop bulldozing refugee camps. Stop relocating transients. Stop angering the Palestinians and drop that gung-ho, imperialistic attitude. The Arab world hates America and Israel, and did you ever thought to wonder why? Could it be because we're warmongering, resource-thirsty, expansionist superpowers? The other kids in school will conspire to bring down the biggest bully in the yard, so quit giving the rest of the world wedgies if you want to maintain some degree of respect in the international community.