From Barry Rubin, but applicable to so many situations, especially many of my readers:
Dear Reader: Thank you for your note explaining why
___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hizballah
___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hamas
___ Israel should win total victory
___ Israel should invade the Gaza Strip and take it over
___ Israel is going to collapse because of the demographic gap
___ Israel is doing hasbara all wrong and you have the solution
___ Israel should make its main priority answering all the idiots who attack us rather than going about our business
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Palestinians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Syrians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should let Hamas stage terrorist attacks and not respond to show we are nice people, those of us who are still alive
___ All of the above
I very much appreciate your taking the time to write. Your interest in Israel is very much welcomed by people here. Given the clarity of your ideas, if you are Jewish, permit me to suggest you:
___ Make aliya and join the army
___ Make aliya and pay taxes
___ Make aliya and have a lot of children
___ Make aliya and find out it isn’t so simple to entertain you and gratify your wishes
___ All of the above
If the above does not apply to you, you aren't Jewish or you are not interested in all those alternatives, perhaps you might consider the need to:
___ Get another hobby
___ Focus on dictatorships in Iran and Arab states to see how they treat people
___ Think what it is like to live under an Islamist regime
___ Do some actual reading and research on the Middle East before mouthing off
___ All of the above
In future, please feel free to write to someone else. Otherwise I will be happy to send you my rates for corresponding with you. We accept checks, cash, and credit cards.
Sincerely yours, Barry Rubin
(For Barry Rubin's blog on Middle East issues, see http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com where you can also subscribe. or the work of the GLORIA Center including MERIA Journal and subscriptions, http://www.gloria-center.org )
Otherwise, drop me a line at my website, http://www.davebrianbender.com
