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UK cuts Israel weapons contracts

The Spanish brutalized the native peoples of Mexico, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, and the U.S. in way rarely seen during history.

And, they created a caste system in Central America and mexico that endures to this day, resulting in the catastrophic and horrific mistreatment of the indigenous peoples.[/QUOTE]

Same in India under the British. Ever hear of untouchables?
 
If people never spokeout against the wrongs of their countries, or the courses taken that they felt were wrong, there would not be democracy. I do not see Red Dave's comments, nor Chomsky's for that matter, as self hatred. But rather as the warning beacons of society. They look at the actions of their home nation, and as patriots, criticize what they see wrong. That is not cultural loathing, it is fighting for what one believes within the sphere of democracy.

Criticism, alone, does not determine whether or not one is engaging in patriotism or self-loathing. It is the balance or lack thereof that deterimes such. A Patriot criticizes his country when it fails to uphold ideals, but does so fairly and with acknowlegements of what it does right. If a person is simply indulging in never ending and often times wildly distorted accusations, they are not acting as a patriot at all, especially when their accusations are hypocritical to the extreme.

Chomsky falls quite squarely in the latter category as far as I'm concerned.
 
You blame the BRITS for that? Way to rewrite history.

The Spanish committed genocide against the Caribbean peoples.

So the Brits were not the biggest traders in slavery? Have you ever read about the early America's? The East India Company was government sanctioned, and one of the most brutal colonizers in the world.
 
Criticism, alone, does not determine whether or not one is engaging in patriotism or self-loathing. It is the balance or lack thereof that deterimes such. A Patriot criticizes his country when it fails to uphold ideals, but does so fairly and with acknowlegements of what it does right. If a person is simply indulging in never ending and often times wildly distorted accusations, they are not acting as a patriot at all, especially when their accusations are hypocritical to the extreme.

Chomsky falls quite squarely in the latter category as far as I'm concerned.

Brilliant post.
 
You realize, don't you, that the caste system started in India around 1500 BC.

Were the Brits colonizing India in 1500 BC?

The castes did not constitute a rigid description of the occupation or the social status of a group. Since British society was divided by class, the British attempted to equate the Indian caste system to their own social class system. They saw caste as an indicator of occupation, social standing, and intellectual ability.[31] Intentionally or unintentionally, the caste system became more rigid during the British Raj, when the British started to enumerate castes during the ten year census and codified the system under their rule.

The Dalits, or the people outside the varna system, had the lowest social status. The Dalits, earlier referred to as "untouchables" by some, worked in what were seen as unhealthy, unpleasant or polluting jobs. In the past, the Dalits suffered from social segregation and restrictions, in addition to extreme poverty. They were not allowed temple worship with others, nor water from the same sources. Persons of higher castes would not interact with them. If somehow a member of a higher caste came into physical or social contact with an untouchable, the member of the higher caste was defiled, and had to bathe thoroughly to purge him or herself of the impurity. Social discrimination developed even among the Dalits. Upper sub-castes among Dalits, like dhobi, nai etc., would not interact with lower-order Bhangis, who were described as "outcasts even among outcastes".

Nice try, but the caste system you refer to had no social or economical meaning until the arrival of the British.
 
Now, back to our regularly scheduled topic. So, the British, those good guys who modernized the primitives and recieved no thanks, when they were not as bad looters and pillagers as the Spanish and French, are now backing away from Israel. Will other European countries do so as well, or is this simply a British reaction to domestic powers?
 
So, do you guys think that even though the War in Iraq may not have been justified, one should find things to compliment in order not to be unpatriotic?
There are people who simply hate their own nation.
How does it work? I can't tell ya, I haven't studied the issue.
But when a person is always there to complain about how evil and bad his country is and is never there to point out at the good things that it does, he shouldn't even consider calling himself a patriot.
 
There are people who simply hate their own nation.
How does it work? I can't tell ya, I haven't studied the issue.
But when a person is always there to complain about how evil and bad his country is and is never there to point out at the good things that it does, he shouldn't even consider calling himself a patriot.

If your refering to me then I refer you to the list of times ive defended our foriegn policy.
 
There are people who simply hate their own nation.
How does it work? I can't tell ya, I haven't studied the issue.
But when a person is always there to complain about how evil and bad his country is and is never there to point out at the good things that it does, he shouldn't even consider calling himself a patriot.

You and Gardener may well be right, and there may indeed be people who literally hate their own nations. My point is that one must indeed by weary of labelling people as such for criticisms of policy. Chomsky, for example, criticizes the U.S.'s foreign policy. He has rarely, if ever criticized domestic policy, thus we do not know his feelings on the subject. I would not accuse him of hating America based on his criticisms of foreign policy alone.

Why am I so hesitant to proclaim such labels? Herman Goering said it best:

Voice or no
voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked,
and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the
country to danger. It works the same in any country."
 
If your refering to me then I refer you to the list of times ive defended our foriegn policy.
I haven't mentioned names, and no, I wasn't referring to you.
 
In the end, it's Britain's guns and they may do with it as they like. If they don't want to sell to Israel, they don't have to. End of story. And I don't necessarily think it to be a bad thing to watch Israel's actions, critique them, and hold Israel accountable to them. Same goes for any country.
 
BBC NEWS | Middle East | UK cuts Israel weapons contracts



Under pressure from Amnesty International and other groups, the UK has basically accused Israel of using their weapons to kill Palestinians in the Gaza strip, which is in violation of the terms of the agreements. Israel maintains that they never used the weapons in violation, yet the UK has still placed what many are calling a weapons embargo, on Israel. Thoughts?

It would be lovely if we directed these apparent weapons to our soldiers who are not even equipped properly! :censored

Why is UK taking the word of AI over Israel?
Unless there is some form of hard evidence that shows Israel was lying when it said it wasn't using the weapons to kill. The weapons contract stands and we honour it.

I am embarassed of my Government sometimes :doh
What has happened to the Britain we all knew and loved?
 
Now, back to our regularly scheduled topic. So, the British, those good guys who modernized the primitives and recieved no thanks, when they were not as bad looters and pillagers as the Spanish and French, are now backing away from Israel. Will other European countries do so as well, or is this simply a British reaction to domestic powers?

There is little domestic power against Israel in UK, We don't have powerful pressure groups.
Well i suppose the trade unions can be described as slightly biased against Israel. Demonstrated by the countless boycotts at the drop of the hat and as long as Labour is in power, that power stays as trade unions hold the purse.
 
Amnesty International has an agenda, and it isn't necessarily reducing world violence. It is only about pressuring western style democracies and looking the other way for the most part when the violence arises from other sources. They indulge in a few faux criticisms of human rights violations in the Islamic world, but these are intended as window dressing and nothing more.

That the U.K. would succumb to such pressure is no surprise. They cater to Arab views to an enormous degree, and their level of animosity towards Israel is so widespread and of such magnitude in the U.K. that selling them anything would be wildly unpopular.

AI has been pretty consistent actually. They have been very critical of Hamas and get accused of being agents of western imperialism as often as they are accused of being godless leftists [which is always a good sign]. If we,re going to accuse Amnesty of bias ild like to see some concrete evidence.
 
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It would be lovely if we directed these apparent weapons to our soldiers who are not even equipped properly! :censored

Why is UK taking the word of AI over Israel?
Unless there is some form of hard evidence that shows Israel was lying when it said it wasn't using the weapons to kill. The weapons contract stands and we honour it.

I am embarassed of my Government sometimes :doh
What has happened to the Britain we all knew and loved?

This is odd. I seam to remember you being very critical of what Isreal did in Gaza, and yet you seam to have no problem with Brittish weapons being involved.
 
Israel doesn't rely much on UK weapons last I checked.
We even rely more on German and French made weapons than British ones.

What I do find disturbing is the way the UK so easily submits to the claims of propaganda organizations.

right....they are the ones fooled by the propoganda. :spin:
 
This is odd. I seam to remember you being very critical of what Isreal did in Gaza, and yet you seam to have no problem with Brittish weapons being involved.

There is little evidence that british weapons was used apart form the say so of Amenesty International
It seems it may be occuring because of this.
BBC NEWS | UK | UK sued over Israeli arms sales

I was critical of Gaza and Israel's actions but not because of the principal that Israel had the right to protect one self but because i got the feeling that the siege occured for no good reason outside of political gain. It did not manage to achieve the end it wished, remove Hamas or stop rockets. They continued falling and the death toll seemed too one sided.

Maybe it is just me who is concerned we are bowing to pressure groups at the drop of a hat.
If Israel says it did not use it, take its word for it unless there is undeniable evidence that it did use it.
 
If you wish to say something just say it Joe.

About the propaganda of how Israel needs to be formed and protected as a safe haven for their people?

nah. I think the last 50 years has proven how wrong that piece of propaganda turned out being.
 
About the propaganda of how Israel needs to be formed and protected as a safe haven for their people?

nah. I think the last 50 years has proven how wrong that piece of propaganda turned out being.
And that, folks, is how a propaganda looks like. ;)
 
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