Oct 10 2004 Round Up

Democracy in Iraq won't stop insurgency.
War and Piece

Data mining and Spying by China.
War and Piece

Another discussion of anti-semitism and anti-zionism:
Jews sand frontieres

And here is an interesting comment made on Antony Lowenstein's blog:

Dear Antony
Dont let anyone silence you - hang in there - it is people like you who are actually giving Israel some hope for a future.

I was in Israel and the Occupied Territories last month and the situation there is truly horrendous.
Im an Australian but have been living OS for the last 4 years, and I had forgotten how linited political debate is back home. The arguments that get you a bucketload of hatemail in Australia are mainstream political debate in Israel. The typical editorial page of HAARETZ would get you slapped down as an antisemite.
The real threat to Israel is that the Palestinians are getting fed up with this whole charade - they are starting to lose all interest in a 2 state solution as it becomes clear that the "state" will be a chopped up bantustan. And they are not exactly unaware of the demographic trend running in their favour....[All errors in original]

It really is true. Most debate regarding Israel would be completely uncontroversial if made with regard to any other country or international situation. It is possible to discuss spying by China or the Philippines, for example, in a reasonable and rational manner. One can state that interests of France and the United States are not the same with little expectation of argument.

Bring these issues up with regard to Israel, however, and you will receive another response entirely. The lack of open dialog on Israel is not a healthy situation.