kerkko.fi

I am thoroughly disgusted with this sign, not because I support all of what the Israeli government has done, not because I am in any way agreeing with the obvious mistreatment of various Palestinian refugees, but because largely the falsities present in the statements written on this sign. Let me break it down:
"You take my water"
Whose water? Is that implying that most Israelis are living in complete luxury, bathing in excess water, filling swimming pools up all the time, pouring water on the ground for absolutely no reason other than the fact that they can? Because they certainly can't...I have lived there, and even in some of the nicest areas, the limitations and scarcities of water are extremely evident. There is also an implication that the Israeli government is responsible for providing an immediate solution to the water crisis not only for its own citizens (the Kineret is quickly depleting), but for the Palestinians, which last time I checked, had their own autonomous government, which they "democratically" elected, and should be responsible for the welfare of their people.
"Burn my olive trees":
I am saddened by this, because for some part it is true--there have been many land encroachment issues with reference to taking over Palestinian agricultural lands, and there is a great movie that exemplifies this topic, "The Lemon Tree," however, however, let's remember that the Israeli government, being the ONLY democracy in the Middle East region, isn't some barbarically backwards country with a flawed court system--rather it has a basically identical to most Western countries' method of trying these exact land disputes in a civilized court case. Where is Seymour Hersch (the one holding the sign) protesting the case of the Native Americans, or the Hazda African Tribes, both of whom are dealing with incomparably less responsive governments than Israel.

I will go on at a future time and post similar arguments for the rest of these statements because frankly, they need to be said. I am saddened to have grown up in a world in which history is so ignored, one which hypocritically teaches that certain people have a "claim" on an area of land, but then simultaneously freak out when the same claim is made for the Jewish Israelis, tracing back to Israel (and other lands) for thousands of years longer. You know what my advice is to all of those extremist Western "sympathetic" experts on Middle Eastern Affairs (aka anti-Americans, anti-semitics)? Go live in any culture dictated by Sharia Law, and then talk to me about "human rights."