Collective punishment is a war crime

It won't change the situation in any kind of minute, either.

Exactly. Like, Ms Livni does not know that Hamas is on terrist lists everywhere now, under pressure from the U.S. and Israel? Hamas for sure know.

War crimes? That's only for "other" people, isn't it?

Y'know, I wish I had been calmer when I put this post up. Just that brief quote from the Grope and Flail editorial is now killing me with the death of a thousand cuts, one condescending colonial insult after another.

Look at the rhetoric: "what passes for normal" in the "terrorist statelet" -- that was written by someone who passed Sneer 101 with flying colours and has gone on to an MA in Sadism.

Mind you, "call off its dogs," while still a dehumanizing sneer, is about as cheap as clichés come, so I think we deduct points there.

It's amusing to consider just how outrageous it would be to turn the rhetoric around. Can you imagine the reaction if a prominent newspaper published an editorial saying
"... there is a simple way to end the misery. If life in Israel is to return to normal - at least what passes for normal in the terrorist statelet - all the IDF needs to do is call off its dogs and end its attacks. As Mr. Haniyah said, this would change the situation in Israel 'in a minute.'"

Barely imaginable, isn't it? And yet closer to the truth. Israeli ceasefires have generally been responded to with Palestinian ceasefires or deep reductions in violence. Palestinian ceasefires have generally been responded to with escalating Israeli provocations, pushing harder until a reaction is gained, making any claims that all the Palestinians have to do is stop attacking absurd (even aside from the problem of the ongoing misery and death caused by occupation, which is not symmetrical even in theory).

Incidentally, I don't think you can really deduct points for "call off its dogs", because I think it gains points as an inadvertent cultural-specific epithet--"dog" being as I understand it a genuine insult in Arab culture. So really, extra points for managing to call any and all Palestinians desperate enough to retaliate "dogs".

Silly people, it's like the racism convention that Harper just withdrew Canada from because they dared note that Israeli racism against Palestinians exist. Repeat after me: INACIDBI. It's Not A Crime If Done By Israelis. Remember, pointing out Israeli racism against Palestinians is... uhm... racism. Alrighty, then!

-- Badtux the Snarky Penguin