The Politics Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

All the major players look suspect right with the world going into every wealthy country for themselves. Not even the pretense of some type of altruistic unity.

How quickly things change.

[Juliajms]

I read an article predicting this outcome a few weeks ago. Israel is our ally so this was the way foreign policy experts expected Iran to take revenge.  Israel is our client state. That's why we generally take their side. It's not out of the goodness of our hearts. Even when Obama was in charge they got massive aid packages, because they are useful to us. I wouldn't say I trust them exactly. It depends on the context.

 

That said, I am pretty unequivocally on the side of Israel, which isn't to say that I think everything they do is right.  Still,  if Gaza were on the US boarder with Hamas sending (and paying)  terrorists to kill our civilians, we would have bombed it out of existence long ago.  Look at how many countries we've carpet bombed for far less.

[Vee]

[DramatistDreamer]

 

The way they've treated Africans, even their Ethiopian descended, citizens (most of whom were born in Israel by now), is pretty s*hitty. I know that many of the black citizens were protesting and refusing to join the military until they were accorded the same rights as any ordinary Israeli citizen. It's strange that no one talks about it.  I've heard words like apartheid being used but I don't expect America to care about this, especially this administration.

Edited May 10, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

 

Hasn't Japan been seen as in something of a decline in recent years?

[Juliajms]

Yes, it is wrong for them to turn away refugees.  It's just that I'm having a hard time figuring out which country has the moral high ground from which to judge. Canada maybe? Germany to some extent.

 

When people call Israel an apartheid state I figure they are talking about the fact that they (sort of) control Gaza and the West Bank, but those people can't vote.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Japan did indeed go through a period of prolonged stagnation for almost 20 years.

Japan's biggest problem is demographics. They have an aging population and not enough young workers.  This is what happens when a society is staunchly anti-immigration.

But for now, Japan has been slowly emerging from their economic stagnation while no one has been looking.  By the way, Japan has the world's 3rd largest economy (for now).

 

 

 

These are not refugees that I am talking about.  There is at least one full generation of Israeli born Ethiopian-Jews whose parents/grandparents migrated from Ethiopia to Israel over 25 years ago. 

People should really look that up. I happen to have a few Ethiopian born friends that I met in school, I remember discussing it with them when it happened. They were pretty upset when the Israeli government disposed of Ethiopian donated blood to the blood bank, even after the government claim it was in error.  But those in their 20s and early 30s are citizens by birth.  Many have been protesting their treatment by refusing the compulsory military service until they are accorded with the same civil rights as their fellow Israeli citizens.

 

Edited May 10, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[DRW50]

Thanks for the articles on Japan. I was/am mostly confused as I've read about how dependent they've been on the US in various areas, even as Trump has mostly just played golf with Shinzo and not given him much support. At least it sounds like they're trying to move forward, I guess - I'm not sure what we're doing in the US. 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

That dependency likely has more to do with military/self-defense issues than economic in recent times.  Most economies are fairly interdependent because of globalization, rather than outright dependent. 

Japan is still a mainly export economy, which means they need people to buy, of course, but the world is their customer base, not just the U.S.  Actually, because their products tend to lean toward the higher end, the upwardly mobile countries comprise their consumer base.

Abe has been shedding Japan's pacifist image over the past few years, not without some controversy and resistance but his more aggressive stance is likely to be welcomed, especially with the U.S. political turn over the last year or so.

 

Abe actually rejected Trump's overture for a separate bilateral trade agreement. Abe proposed that the U.S. rejoin the TPP instead. So that was a polite rejection, pretty much.

Edited May 10, 2018 by DramatistDreamer

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Guess who's ready to step into the void left by the U.S.' withdrawal from the agreement with Iran?  It should've been obvious that this would happen.

 

 

[Juliajms]

Not really news but an interesting article.

Which civil rights are they being denied? I knew they existed and that there is discrimination, but I hadn't heard about a lack of civil rights.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Same as in the U.S.-- a pattern of police brutality, which is regarded as a civil rights issue in most countries. One example of it happened less than three years ago when there was a case of an Ethiopian-Israeli soldier (still in his uniform) beaten by policeman.  It happened frequently enough to spur some Ethiopians to refuse to participate in the compulsory military service until this issue was addressed. 

I must admit, in all the U.S. election chaos, I've lost track of what the results were but I read an article about at least a year ago that suggested that this was still a problem.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

This should come as no surprise.

 

[Juliajms]

This is one of the worst things I've seen in terms of discrimination, although I had to look it up to make sure it hadn't happened in NY as opposed to Israel. I cried when I first heard about it.

http://www.israelhayom.com/2016/12/08/activist-urges-probe-of-trial-circumcisions-on-ethiopian-babies/

[DramatistDreamer]

 

It's infuriating but not surprising unfortunately.  There is a community of Ethiopian Jews in NYC, they actually have their own places of worship, so I actually think there would be better safeguards in place to prevent such an atrocity from happening in NYC.

 

The language was quite condescending calling these people the weakest, especially given the heroics of the Ethiopian army during WWII. They remain the African Union's most disciplined and effective military force.

Also, it is well documented that the Ethiopian Jews were tested (DNA/blood) to prove that they are in fact, descended from the line of King David, so I don't know what rational reason some rabbinate have for not placing value on their status as Jews.

 

Unfortunately, the Ethiopian Jews do not get much sympathy from any side.  There are non-Jewish Ethiopians who scoff at them for migrating, claiming that they should've known that they'd never find genuine acceptance in Israel. They are citizens however and should be afforded all the rights of any citizen and be allowed to live with dignity. A sad plight.

 

I have family who are Christians and have visited the Holy Land but personally, it's situations like these that make me feel as though I wouldn't ever go.

 

EDT: Then again, I live in the U.S. and at times, it gets pretty bad here too. I have relatives who live in the Caribbean and they are afraid to visit.

Edited May 10, 2018 by DramatistDreamer