Chosen Words

The link to the report does not seem to be functioning. Have you taken 2009 Global Language Dictionary off your site for some reason?

IF this idiot thinnks thate he can snow people with this crap then whoever commision this study wasted their money. The settlements are counterproductive in the efforts of piece. Where does he think these people are going to go if Israel is allowed to continue to build these settlements.

This is an odious piece of propaganda for a country that practices state-sponsored terrorism from behind a veil of self-righteousness. I think the IDF has taken this thing far enough so that few will buy into this propaganda???at least, I hope so. The so-called "settlements" are not only illegal, they are acts against humanity. They should be abandoned, totally, by the squatters and the land returned to its rightful owners, the Palestinian people.

I am old enough to have lived through the Nazi era and I have a very uncomfortable feeling of deja vu these days.

I have always believed that it takes much more work to cover up a lie than to tell the truth. What we have seen over the last sixty years is the greatest human attempt to convince the world of a lie, and it is only now beginning to become exposed.

The founding of Israel had nothing to do with religion, particularly the Jewish faith. The introduction of the "Jewishness" of Israel was used to promote it amongst the poor and religiously orthodox Jewish population in the world. Most of the people who make their way to Israel these days are impoverished Jews from Siberia, Yemen, and Ethiopia who the Israeli government treat as "rightful" owners of the land and ends up sending them to Illegal settlements, away from the richer, more "civilized" Isreali population. Now, if you were coming starved from far away and given a house in a settlement, with a pool and free educational and all that, would you ever leave?

The government of Israel has created a huge quagmire in the Middle East by importing a foreign populations into a land inhabited by Indigenous Palestinians and masterfully brainwashing the imprisoned Israeli population (the are literally surrounded by a 12-foot concrete wall to provide "security" ) with ideas like "Palestinian never existed, what are Palestinians?" and like, "We must get rid of I-ran, it is a threat to the world!"

Who, in the right state of their sane mind, would suggest getting rid of a country and inflicting harm on it population as a way of dealing with a problem? Bush, Cheney, and Israel only.

I think that the war on Gaza, should I say, the massacre at Gaza is the turning point in this long conflict that will expose the lie that the world has been made to believe, and hopefully bring about the beginnings of a concrete peaceful solution that is more than Israeli stalling tactics for land grabs.

I believe this article illustrates how gullible the American Israeli lobby believe the American population continues to be. After all George Bush has proven that Americans will easily allow divisive rhetoric and propaganda to sacrifice our children for unjust causes. So why should this be any different??

What so bother you? That Israel supporters waking up to defeat you?

Wow, a manual about zionist propaganda. Hasbara in pure state. It would be ridiculous if it wasn't so real and wasn't causing so much suffering.

Just one notion, Mr Luntz, evacuating Jewish settlers is not racist:

-First, they are not being evacuated because they are Jewish, but because they happen to be living on land that was illegally confiscated from the Palestinians. As easy as that. Settlers who can prove that they legally bought land before occupation should address the government of the new Palestinian State to get back their property, and accept living under Palestinian authority.

-Second, Israel has never intended to leave its settlements in the new Palestinian State. Its declared intentions are to annex those illegal settlements on illegally confiscated land into Israel, getting away with flagrant theft.

I just hope that nobody is actually going to buy all of Mr Luntz's load of BS

More to the point, those misconceptions won't last forever. The images of Iranian protesters help drive the point that not all Muslims are the same. Also, there are two MAJOR values of the US public (shared by the left and the right alike) that hurts Israel's cause:

1) Americans are strongly against the notion of a "birthright". Hell, this was the reason behind the Revolutionary War. Kings and Queens, and nobility is one of the most un-American concepts out there. You can't even become a US citizen if you have any titles of nobility to your name, unless you are willing to give them up. It doesn't help that US fundamentalists tend to pick and choose what Bible verses they care about, and guess what. They'll pick the ones that dictate how you should live your life (behavior based) before the ones that talks about God given certain people special privileges based on their bloodline.

2) Americans are strongly anti-government. Look, racism is one thing. If people want to treat each other like crap because they're racists, thats someone tolerable (eg: Israeli racists towards their own Palestinian citizens). But once the government actually gets involved subsidizing racism, thats a whole different can of worms. Look, don't get me wrong. The Israeli Jews have every right to settle into the disputed Palestinian territory. Let them buy the real estate out of their own pocket, make sure the land isn't already owned by someone else, and be willing to become Palestinian citizens. But since the Israeli government is actively subsidizing a certain class of people to live in a certain area, that doesn't even belong to them, never mind their own domestic land use restrictions; thats not gonna win over too many Americans.

In related news, a study recently found that pissing in a jar full of girl scout cookies while rubbing your ass on the American flag offends many Americans.

Well, at least they're making some effort to understand US culture. You would think they would have done a better job given that many of these settlers are ex-pat US citizens. Go figure.

US support stems largely of misconceptions. The average person is (I am guessing) thinking "ok, Palestinians = Muslims = making women wear headscarves. Jews = the secular Jews that we know in the US = progress. So EVEN IF the Palestinians have a right to the land, its still better for Israel to have that land." Off course thats just a perception. The Palestinian and Lebanese Muslims are not like the Muslims in Saudia Arabia or Afghanistan, and the Israelis Jews are not so secular. Ok, many are, but can't say the same for the settlers living on Palestinian land.

Perfect. Now we can understand it better. It´s not the best way to live in Israel, I mean as a hostage. Cause this we support Americans for Peace Now. Land for Peace, to have finally a normal life! David C.

Actually this article doesn't take the side of Israel. it makes the Israeli government look deceitful. But if everything in this article is true, why does Israel still have such strong polling numbers in the US? People disagree with them on the settlements, but still like Israel overall? Actually, that's not far from my own view; I just didn't think many people shared it.

I'm surprised Newsweek is taking the side of Israel. They're usually Arab lovers.

I'm shocked to see Newsweek publishing an article taking the side of Israel.

The bottom line is that nobody involved really wants peace. If they did, they'd stop teaching their children to hate the other side from birth on. Even if a treaty was signed today, it would take generations before a meaningful peace took hold. Before that ever happened, I'd bet money that one side or the other (probably Israel, since they have the military to sustain it and want to deny one to the Palestinians) would find an excuse to start a new war. I have little sympathy for Israel and it escapes me why their supposed democracy form of government automatically makes them a "special friend" of the U.S.

Dan Ephron's article is a brazen attempt to aid and abet the violation of American and International law. The Geneva conventions, which are American law, prohibit the transfer of populations into occupied territories. Israel's "settlements" are just that, a transfer of populations into occupied territories, and a violation of American and International law. Ephron's biased attempt to sell Americans on lawbreaking should be shamed for what it really is.