You know, maybe it’s because today is tisha b’Av and I’m not dealing too well with the fast or maybe it’s something else, but it’s probably a good thing that I do not personally possess deliverable nuclear weapons or a Fist of Death.
For example, take this item:
Israel ranked one of world’s least peaceful states
For the third year in a row, Israel fared very poorly in the Global Peace Index, being placed just 141 out of 144 countries, and ranked more peaceful than only Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia.
Published by the “Vision of Humanity” organization, the index has a stated aim of measuring peace through the “absence of violence.” To do this, the group employs 23 different indicators which are then modified by various variables to produce a final score.
In a breakdown of the Israeli score, which is based on the indicator results from the past five years, Israel is seen to maintain a very high level of “organized conflict,” and a very low respect for “human rights.” In addition, the Jewish state is deemed to have very poor relations with its regional neighbors…
Countries which were considered more peaceful than Israel in 2009 included Sudan (140), Pakistan (137), Lebanon (132), North Korea (131), and Iran (99).
Let me also mention Syria, which, despite arming Hezbollah and supporting insurgents in Iraq, still earned a 92. Of course, Hamastan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) aren’t countries yet, so they don’t appear.
I’m sure that the 1939 Global Peace Index put Poland near the bottom for “poor relations with its regional neighbors”, and downrated Czechoslovakia for its low respect for the human rights of those Sudeten Germans.
I could say that Israel should certainly be credited for withdrawing from Gaza and for making concession after concession to the PA which doesn’t even recognize its right to exist.
I could say that judging the ‘peacefulness’ of a nation without taking into account who precipitated the wars that it has been engaged in is a little misleading.
I could say that counting military expenditures as a percentage of GDP without considering external threats is pointless.
But why bother? You already knew that anybody calling themselves “Vision of Humanity” had to be a bunch of idiots.
Must… control… Fist… of… Death.
Technorati Tags: Global Peace Index, Israel, Fist of Death
In order to be a respected international organization or agency today you must demonize Israel. How else to please the great non-democratic majority, whose heart is the Islamic fifty plus? There is it is true something infuriating in this process by which reality, truth and objectivity are turned upside down. The hypocrisy and stupidity of groups like this one and a whole host of NGOs did make one wonder about the future of us all. I recommend as refreshing tonic to this a new book by George Gilder called ‘The Israel Test’. in it he suggests that one’s attitude towards Israel gives the clue to whether one is a resentful, frustrated non- creator interested only in envy and taking from others, or whether one is like on his ideal version of it, the Israel which invents and creates new wealth and with it well- being’ for mankind.