Opinion from the desk of the Editor:

I have written a lot on the Middle East a region that I like…..and most of it has been met with understanding….but in the isolated moments the haters have shown up….haters….those people that hate Arabs and Muslims and anyone with an opinion in conflict with theirs…..but to most of them I say BITE ME!  I will debate anyone on the region as long as their hatred and bigotry is left at the door and they approach the subject with knowledge……

I bring this up because I have debated people that do not agree with me that Israel is NOT a democracy and the media needs to cease using that analogy……and our less than intelligent diplomats need to cease also…….

I offer up what I see as counter-democracy in Israel……..

Israel has built an Apartheid Wall that separates one ethnic group from another….

Israel takes land from farmers to build settlements for Jewish right wingers……..

Israel silences dissent Arab-Israelis in their parliament, the Knesset…..

Israeli officials call for genocide against citizens of their own country…….

There are segregated roads in Israel you can use them if you have the correct tag color……

And then here is my fave……Israeli soldiers are routinely investigated on suspicion of “fraternizing with minorities,” generally a euphemism for Arabs, even though no such offense exists. This, according to the transcript of a Military Police interview, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz …………

Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset and member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud Party, Moshe Feiglin, has called for the use of concentration camps for the “conquest of the entire Gaza Strip, and annihilation of all fighting forces and their supporters.”

Sharing a plan for the destruction of Gaza in a letter addressed to Netanyahu on his Facebook page on August 1, Feiglin wrote “What is required now is that we internalize the fact that Oslo is finished, that this is our country – our country exclusively, including Gaza.”

That from an elected official, a high ranking one at that…….

A prominent Israeli blogger wrote that genocide should be permissible…..

In the post titled “When Genocide is Permissible,” Yochanan Gordon framed his premise as “a question for all the humanitarians out there.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?

During hostilities Muslims are barred from their houses of worship

Those are just a few of the problems….over the years they have made Arab-Israelis use a car tag that identifies them…….Palestinians were forced to work for lower wages that an Israeli with like skills……Palestinians are second class citizens……..Palestinian areas have a limited access to water……

There are many cases where the Israelis have denied Palestinians living under Israeli rule from their civil rights…..

The world needs to stop calling Israel a democracy….Israel is NO more democratic than I am a Mexican gardener…….having what appears to be an election does not make a democracy.  it is that simple!