The Big Picture
US-Israel: The evils of exceptionalism

US-Israel: The evils of exceptionalism

The US and Israel believe they are exceptional. Hitler thought the Aryan man was exceptional. Look what that led to.

Vaqas December 02, 2012

Many years back, a group of people — shunned by their homelands because of their religious beliefs — migrated thousands of kilometres to a foreign land. Once there, with the help of the superpowers of the day, they used coercion and violence to take over the entire territory.

To rid their own populace of guilt for the millions of natives killed by the army of the newly-born country, religious-inspired concepts of exceptionalism and predestination were created.

Religion was also used as a tool to justify the subjugation and decades-long abuse of their fellow men, as long as there were ethnic differences.

Meanwhile, the chicken hawks in this country — leaders with no military background or familiarity with the reality of war — continue to believe that the death of one of their own civilians justifies the death of a million ‘enemy’ civilians.

Today, this country is reviled by many around the world for its duplicitous claims of being a model for the developing world while it simultaneously annihilates parts of it. It rains fire from the sky on children. It violates its own laws on torture by redefining the word. It absolved itself of one of the greatest war crimes of the 20th century by redefining what constitutes a war crime. Yet, people still ask why this country supports the criminal actions of its closest ally.

I ask, why not?

The America of today was built with the help of Puritan extremists, the Israel of today, with the help of Zionists. While both claim to be secular and believers in human rights, the narrative above applies precisely to both. They are cut from the same cloth and if there is any difference, it is that Israel, by not killing off the entire local population as the US did with 100 million Native Americans, might have higher moral ground. But that might also have to do with the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust.

Two states born of genocide. One, the culprit, the other, a victim. Both believe that the experience makes them exceptional.

Hitler thought the Aryan man was exceptional. Look what that led to.

Exceptionalism is an evil concept. End it, and the world might be a better place. Keep it up, and the Drone Age will witness the greatest genocide in history.

Read more by Vaqas here or follow him on Twitter @vasghar

WRITTEN BY:
Vaqas

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

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COMMENTS (53)

Harsh | 12 years ago | Reply @akt: ” Inside job ”….,,,, No one will believe on it except some terrorist minded people in Pakistan and their supporters . Well i am working in the Middle East and have been regularly visiting Iraq, Gulf Council Countries and Afghanistan for some infra structure project works. But after working with these guys and with their mental capacity I am now Convinced that it was 9/11 was an "inside Job" the way the things were planned these terrorist can not make a clue out of it. In the last it just a segment of people who are making trillions of Dollars out of this whole staged drama.

Sexton Blake | 12 years ago | Reply @Rex Minor: Dear Rex, Most of the Arabs, I am aware of, are running around in expensive German limousines. So much for camels.

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Adil | 12 years ago | Reply @akt: So talking about genocide of native Americans i.e. Red Indians and innocent people of Middle East is an act of terror as per your thinking?

Zalmai | 12 years ago | Reply "Pakistan, Exceptionalism is the entire basis of intervention in Afghanistan" You lost me there. The only reason Pakistan was able to interfere in Afghanistan was due to the internecine warfare among Afghans, which in and of itself was the handy work of Pakistan and those days of Exceptionalism are over. The only thing exceptional about Pakistan these days is its intolerance and bigotry, which are byproducts of its exceptional military. Brace yourself for Pashtun Exceptionalism.

akt | 12 years ago | Reply '' Inside job ''....,,,, No one will believe on it except some terrorist minded people in Pakistan and their supporters .

Sexton Blake | 12 years ago | Reply @Numbersnumbers: "What happened to all the people that disappeared" Dear Numbers, In regard to the people who disappeared; haven't you worked it out yet? In regard to the Pentagon and 9/11, it has more CCTV.s than any other building in the world peering out at external activities, but after nearly 12 years has not shown to the public any footage of a commercial airliner, or any other missile, crashing into the Pentagon, which would reasonably explain what happened. Now why don't you do what you keep asking other people to do? Come up with some some credible evidence to justify your extremely doubtful theories. I consider that Lovepak is right on the ball and you would do well to read his missives carefully.

aayush | 12 years ago | Reply http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PersecutionofZoroastrians

Clear Black Bag | 12 years ago | Reply Only one statement regarding US-Israel comradeship,id est,"US and Israel always go together and secure and support each others interests any where by using easily available any forms and manifestations"

Numbersnumbers | 12 years ago | Reply @lovePak: For all those interested in 9/11, one can go to Wikipedia and do a search for "9/11" and also "9/11 conspiracy theories"! You want to fantasize that 9/11 was an inside job, so be it, but the rest of the world has moved on after detailed investigations. However, you might want to tell us what happened to all those people on the planes that "disappeared" that day!

vasan | 12 years ago | Reply lovepak : You are desperately wanted in Mumbai, We are in a huge short supply of story tellers.

Rex Minor | 12 years ago | Reply @abhi: because jews are nomadic people like their arab cousins, with one exception that they do not like camels.

Numbersnumbers | 12 years ago | Reply @lovePak: Wow, please give us credible references (conspiracy bloggers not accepted) to your comment that "80% of top architects and engineers agree that 9/11 was an inside job"! WHERE IS THAT WRITTEN? Please give us credible references (conspiracy bloggers not accepted) to support your comment that "the planes that hit the towers were clearly not commercial, they had no tail signs, confirmed by witnesses and cameras. They looked like military transport planes"! WHERE IS THAT WRITTEN? Please give us credible references (conspiracy bloggers not accepted) to support your comment that "there wasn't any evidence that a plane crashed" (at the Pentagon). Anyone can look up 9/11 on Wikipedia and read detailed pages about the event! If you feel that they are in error, then you are free to sign up with Wikipedia and edit the report with what you feel is THE TRUTH!

Sexton Blake | 12 years ago | Reply @Numbersnumbers: Dear Numbers, Which Holocaust are you referring to? The US Holocaust perpetrated in Iraq, Afghanistan, various North African countries, or the WW11 Holocaust in Europe, which nobody is allowed to discuss, critically, unless they wish to go to prison.

akt | 12 years ago | Reply After going through all the above comments I must conclude that all the history books being published in Pakistan should be ceased with immidiate effect and it's content should be verfied by an international commettee of experts of history before allowing the teachers of history to entier in the class room from the next session in Pakistan . Now Pakistan is no more a sovereign state ,and hence the above suggestion can be implemented focefully . So to change the breeding ground of terrorists for ever .

Zalmai | 12 years ago | Reply If this blog represents the views of the enlightened and educated people of Pakistan I shudder at the thought of hearing or reading the world view of the Urdu medium and Madrassa educated masses. God help Pakistan.

Eli | 12 years ago | Reply A surprisingly badly researched article from a person who has great articles in the past. The sort of views expressed in this article are normally expressed by the likes of rupee news and such trash. This is really sad.

Wajahat | 12 years ago | Reply @ Opps So true man For fedup Indians and people like him, all one can say is, well, ignorance is such a bliss!

Wajahat | 12 years ago | Reply @ fedup indian Really? Muslims committed genocide of Hindus in making Pakistan? You gotta be kidding man. Try reading history apart from that written by your biased writers. May be than you would know what the case really was.

abhi | 12 years ago | Reply @Vaqas Asghar Very surprising article from you Vaqas. I have heared this argument often that Jews were sheltered by Mumlims while they were persecuted in Christian Europe. Now if this is really absolute truth, how come so much big number of Jews ended up in Europe. The curious thing is unlike christians and muslims Jews traditionally do not believe in conversion, so most of the european jews will be ethnic Arabs, why these people inspite of getting brother like support in Muslim countries ended up in hostile european countries?

lovePak | 12 years ago | Reply @Numbers That's simple, America attacked America. Ever hear of the inside job theory, false-flags to get excuses. I'll refer you to the story of "Nurse Nayirah". This was a 15 year old girl who made up a story to give America to attack Iraq in 1991 by saying Iraqi soldiers raided a hospital, took 312 babies from their incubators and left them to die on the cold floor in Kuwait. After the war, it was found that Nayirah was actually the daughter of a Kuwaiti politician, human rights groups found no evidence, and Kuwaiti doctors all rejected that this had ever happened. However, it was what won American support for the Operation Desert Storm. Similarly for 9/11 General Wesley Clark leaked that the plans to invade Afghanistan and Iraq were already made before the event. In 2003 or so, he also said that plans had been set to invade Libya, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia and such countries to force a regime change. America invades other countries with a simple policy of "problem-reaction-solution". They create the problem, they build up a public reaction through the media for support, they offer a solution. And that gives them popularity as well as support for the war. Now getting back to how 9/11 was an inside job...no building collapses in on itself like that without demolition. The planes that hit the towers were clearly not commercial, they had no tail signs, confirmed by witnesses and cameras. They looked like military transport planes. Furthermore there is evidence that thermite was used. There was molten steel at ground zero, and white smoke. Heat lasted for weeks. The Pentagon one goes a step further because there wasn't even any evidence that a plane crashed. Not only was the blast radius not equal to the dimensions of the plane, no witnesses even claim they saw the plane. 80% of top architects and engineers agree that 9/11 was an inside job, call them "conspiracy theorists" if you want. And since you brought it up, let's talk a bit about the Taliban. The TTP operate from American-occupied Afghanistan. The Taliban is not one large group, it's a bunch of militias which all have very different aims, some are freedom fighters, others are terrorists and sadly when talking about human right violations all of them are categorized as one and the good ones take blame for what the American-sponsored ones do. Osama bin Laden was a CIA agent with the name of Tim Osman, he was a hero for America against the USSR. He dedicated his whole life to being a sponge for America. He and his "al-Qaida" would and still do attract all innocent blood and spill the blame exactly where America wants a war. But Osama was special, he even died exactly where America wanted him in another highly suspicious event where "conspiracy theorists" have the upper hand on the base of evidence.

Numbersnumbers | 12 years ago | Reply @Sexton Blake: And you always get it right? By the way, still waiting for you to tell all of us THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST that you referred to in previous postings!

Kaalchakra | 12 years ago | Reply Excellent piece, Vaqas. This US-Israel combination has been deadly for mankind. Sadly, far too often, India joins the two as an underling to complete a poisonous troika. As the cup of their sins flows over, we can have little doubt that Allah will bring them down. That shall be the day when the righteous rejoice.

Rex Minor | 12 years ago | Reply @Vaqas Asghar: well said, and do not forget that both America and Israel are the only two countries in th world who are following the extra judicial target killings. I can assure you that it is a matter of time when the ICC will be in a position to confront them.

Sexton Blake | 12 years ago | Reply @lovePak: Dear Lovepak, Do not worry about Numbers or Cautious. They always get it wrong.

Numbersnumbers | 12 years ago | Reply @lovePak: Wow, so America killed some 35,000 Pakistanis over the last decade or so! And here I always thought it was the TTP/terrorists/militants who sent suicide bombers and such to slaughter civilians and soldiers alike, and then called up the media to take credit for it!!!

Numbersnumbers | 12 years ago | Reply @lovePak: You comment about the "9/11 Myth"! Please tell us just WHO attached America on 9/11 so we can all judge your credibility!

Zalim singh | 12 years ago | Reply @ Vaqas Asghar The America of today was built with the help of Puritan extremists, the Israel of today, with the help of Zionists. How about Pakistan. It was once Hindu lands. Hindus were eliminated as idolaters and their lands converted to a different religion using Islam. We should allow things to pass and forget. Israel has a right to exist. they have been killed and decimated from their lands in Arabia for more than 1400 years. It is not fascism to yearn for their nation. Fascism is not allowing any other religions in their countries like what is happening in middle east and much of the Muslim world. We will always back Israel.

Khaksar | 12 years ago | Reply Just one comment. You just need to know what makes the Muslim world respond/react. They don't react when humanity is at risk. They react only when Muslims are at risk. And that my friend by itself, is quite an answer to your questions.

Opps | 12 years ago | Reply @ Fed Up Indian Pakistan was formed by Muslims who committed genocide against the Hindus I am sure the Hindus just gladly offered themselves for massacre. Its sad that you have to twist facts to build an argument. The torment and horrors the Muslims had to face at the Hindus during the migration can't be described in words. The Hindus didn't even spare women and children. And since you are on the subject of genocide what about the genocide Indian Army has been committing in Kashmir for more than half a century? I would advise some introspection to you but I feel I may be to asking too much

Insaan | 12 years ago | Reply @Fed UP Indian: Pakistan was formed by Muslims who committed genocide against the Hindus. Iran was formed by Muslims who committed genocide against the native Zoroastrians. Turkey was formed by Turkic Muslims who committed genocide against the native Greeks and Armenians. Most of the Copts in Egypt were wiped out/forcefully converted during the Muslim conquest of Egypt. And more recently, the Pakistan Army conducted a genocide on an untold number of Hindus in Bangladesh. So true, thanks for sharing.

Sexton Blake | 12 years ago | Reply @lovePak: Dear Lovepack, Good work. You made an excellent contribution.

Freeman | 12 years ago | Reply @MatterofFact: Already been talked so much about Paksitan now its turn US, Israel and India. Do not need to be shy my dear if someone tells the truth.

Rex Minor | 12 years ago | Reply Not bad at all, placing the imperialist America with the Nation made up of victims! Both are the pillars of zionism and the centre of capitalist economic order. Both have refused to accept the jurisdiction of the Internatioal Criminal Court. But we should not forget the Victim status of the jewish people, from Pharaohs to Romans and to the European lands everyone tried to find a solution which eventualy culminated in holocaust. And what did Voltaire said to cicero in his letter about these people in 17th century? Today they are nuclear armed and with Iron Dome sitting in the lands of and sorrounded by their cousins, the only people who throughout history have protected them and granted them refuge whenever they suffered at the hands of Romans and European christians. Yes, they are the victims and let the world now find a solution for them! Rex Minor

Adil | 12 years ago | Reply Excellent points especially deriving parallels between history of USA and Israel by talking about how both these nations were formed after occupation and genocide of natives. And those who are talking about population of natives that were murdered in America after Christopher Columbus arrived,here's a link to yet another article.It's old but still historical facts don't change. The Holocaust We Will Not See http://www.countercurrents.org/monbiot120110.htm Moreover,many Jews converted to Christianity and Islam as well.So,many Palestinians would probably be descendants of the same Jewish tribes who were persecuted by the hands of Romans and Christians. Even Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's grandparents were Jews too. Moreover,Jews have been living in India too for over 3000 years so I don't think that Muslims would be blamed for that exodus too.

Parvez | 12 years ago | Reply After reading this I got the same feeling I got after watching the movie 'Inception'. Sorry Vaqas, always like reading you, still do.

Vaqas Asghar | 12 years ago | Reply @Pessimist: I didn't chose the links, they were added by the blogs desk. The details mentioned are structurally applicable to both states at different times: "While both claim to be secular and believers in human rights, the narrative above applies precisely to both." I didn't mean the genocide of native Americans was why they supported the creation of Israel, rather i meant to infer the fact that while farcical Holocaust denials are criticised (although it is legal in America to hold that belief), the Native American genocide is widely ignored. Many university educated people there think the natives just died out, without paying attention to who 'helped' them die. Yes, there was no America for most of the period when this happened (it continued well into the 1800s and part of it was directly backed by the US government/army action), but i wrote of this in a local analogy in a comment above, the murders were by settlers whose would go on to become Americans. Also, the indian removal act was in the 1800's under the US govt, many killed/ died as a result and the events were exactly what is today referred to as ethnic cleansing. The lobby's are a major reason for support, but religious exceptionalism is another. Evangelicals believe the rapture will come when the Jews control Jerusalem, so they support Israel not out of a love for Jews or the state of Israel, but because they believe it will get them to heaven. Republicans have a strong evangelical base, and like our fundo politicians, the people will do what the fundo says is God's will. I'm actually not opposed to Israel at all. My opposition is only to the murder of 100 innocents to avenge the death of one. Hamas was once an Israeli pawn that has come back to bite it. If Israel was killing the people killing Israelis, it would be defensible as a just war. on topic, I believe a single state solution is needed and the only way that can come is to accept Israel is a reality, and the Palestinans and Israelis need to find a way to live together as equal citizens. This is a position many Israelis and Palestinians support, but some Arab leaders and Israeli leaders worried by the demographic problem of a huge Muslim minority in a 'Jewish State' do not. I submitted this a day before the recent ceasefire went into effect, I was focusing on the violence, rather than the land grab, which will continue if a one state solution is not implemented.

Pessimist | 12 years ago | Reply Vaqas I still do not agree with your article. Who are you talking about!? The links in this article are also confusing. In the fifth paragraph are you talking about Israel or US? I thought Israel but the links seem to indicate that it's America! I agree with your view on exceptionalism but the article has been presented in a very poor format. Please realize that English is not our first language and try to make this a bit more understandable. I also disagree with your views on how America was born out of genocide. The American lands were discovered in the 1400s but America the country was born in the 1700s. To use the genocide of the Native Americans as a reason for US support of Israel is absurd. You do know how powerful the Israeli lobby is, right? AIPAC etc. There's even an article on that. Do you also think that Abe Lincoln, George Washington or even Benjamin Franklin would have supported Israel's atrocities. No way. I stand by my original comment. You're letting your hate for Israel preventing you from writing an article. P.s: If you wanted an Israeli bashing article then you should have written about the new settlement plans. That's complete stupidity & immaturity shown by Israel.

lovePak | 12 years ago | Reply @Zaid Hamid If the sites you mentioned can get the truth out, I don't see anything wrong in their writers coming here. I assume that most of the comments here are from Indians, Americans, or expatriates to America. Because I've been to Canada and self-analyzed myself after returning to Pakistan. Expatriates to different countries especially America go there for a better living, more money, a more free lifestyle or something like that. But when asked about why they live in a country or strengthen the economy of a country that is only killing people all across the globe including our own country Pakistan. Their only answer is by believing all that supports the American dream, it's their defense. "to believe that the death of one of their own civilians justifies the death of a million ‘enemy’ civilians" This statement is so perfectly true and applies so well to the 9/11 myth. 3000 Americans were killed, in revenge 1 million Iraqis, more than a 100,000 Afghans, more than 35,000 Pakistani civilians to mention only 3 countries were killed. Americans continue to disbelieve 9/11 truthers and taunt them as "conspiracy theorists" knowing perfectly well that facts and logic support them. But 9/11 has become part of the American image of itself, and renouncing the myth would change turn their view of the world upside down; to one that opposes what America does. This is the mindset Pakistani Americans have to adopt to defend their place in America. Those who don't or can't side with lies either go back to their countries, or live a much less dignified life in America. All psychology my friends and yes, I am related to the field of medicine.

Vaqas Asghar | 12 years ago | Reply Please read the works of Maimonides. The great Jewish philosopher encouraged Jews to immigrate from Europe to Muslim land where they would be treated 'well'. The dhimmi status may be criticised, but apart from that, Jewish culture flourished in the Muslim lands because the Jews were given a high degree of religious freedom, i.e. they had rights (compared to the inquisition etc in Europe). The Muslims did not expel Jews from Spain etc, but that was amont the first things done every time the Crusaders took Jeruselum, and during the During the crusades and the Spanish Reconquista. For a modern perspective from a reputable source, read any of Bernard Lewis's many works on this period, or any book on the period written by a reputable source (which automatically excludes anyone whose writing was motivated by religious belief rather than factual evidence). Anti-semitic sentiment among Muslims was largely a gift from Europe, in the form of discredited and ridiculous texts such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which unfortunately are still treated as factual in many Muslim countries including Pakistan.

Vaqas Asghar | 12 years ago | Reply @Mike: Israel did not commit the genocide, they were victim to it. put your biases aside and re-read it. My point is that If not for the Holocaust, western support for the creation of the state of Israel, a place where Jews could be truly free from persecution, would not have been as strong. The genocide was proof that the Jews needed a place they could be safe. @A reader: Two wrongs don't make a right. Minorities here have it horrible, and I have previously highlighted their issues as well. Claiming there was no America when this happened is as defensible as saying Hindus and Sikhs killed in Lahore prior to 14th Aug 1947 were killed by Indians (since there was no Pakistan). Also, The subcontinent saw killing by locals of different religions, America saw an invading force killing off the locals. WWII saw many conquered people including Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Romani and others being sent to the camps by an invading force. The American Indian figure is from David Stannard's book American Holocaust. Even Stannard's detractors considered the low figure to be between 10 and 25 million. At no point do i claim the Jewish people, or any human being, does not have a right to live in Israel/ Palestine. Nor do question the creation of Israel. The point is the violence. Many Israelis have relatives who died in Auschwitz and other concentration camps. they would have heard stories of how people were forced into ghettos before being sent to the camps. While no one is, or will be 'sent to the camps' in Palestine, the Palestinian territories are being converted into ghettos. By the way, exceptionalism, the point of the essay, is the only thing no one is talking about. Religious exceptionalism occurs in all three Abrahamic faiths, with each claiming to be God's chosen people above the other two. Directly or indirectly, the most conservative followers of each encourage the killing of one or even both of the other two groups. And yes, there are differences in the scale of each. On a political level, America has often committed actions including strike breaking or placing trade tariffs, which it condemns others for doing. Israel feels that it has the right to make disproportionate attacks and encourage settlements despite knowing, and sometimes admitting, that both are illegal. And before an attack on me for not mentioning Pakistan, Exceptionalism is the entire basis of intervention in Afghanistan, and on a societal level, the ignorance of minority issues by the majority population, who will go up in arms when the same things happen in Burma, etc. I could go on but this is becoming longer than the original piece.

Informed | 12 years ago | Reply @Mike: "And as for the founding of America. The extermination policies were mostly the work of the Catholic Spaniards – not the Puritans." Please keep your ignorance to yourself Non-puritans were banned from Puritan settlements as well as the surrounding areas and were forcibly exiled or executed, including Catholics, Quakers, and any Puritan who preached tolerance. The Puritans were responsible for the witch trials in which they tortured and murdered their own citizens. Much like modern Israel, the Puritans left their homes for freedom from persecution in a new land and then turned around and used God to justify the persecution of others, and today are known particularly for their lack of religious freedom and tolerance There were NO Spanish territories on the East Coast, or as far inland as the Great Lakes other than FLA - EVER. There was no overlap of natives between the Spanish and Puritan territories. There were no Spanish termination policies I'm glad you brought up the Nazis - I'll throw pre-90s South Africa in there, too - because there's some fearful symmetry going on in Israel right now.

Zaid Hamid | 12 years ago | Reply Hmm... seems like a writer from Pakistan Ka Khuda Hafiz, Pakistan Cyber Force, B-Grade Rupee News or Pak Nationalists managed to enter Tribune.

Muhammad Imran Khan | 12 years ago | Reply Dear Vaqas Asghar, please dont post anything without references and never make any claim of a figure you can't prove. 100 million killed by the US (it was the europeans, there was no US at that time) and the figure itself is preposterous.

Pessimist | 12 years ago | Reply What exactly did the author think happen when Muhammad Bin Qasim invaded the sub-continent? I'm not comparing the two. I would have gone into detail, but my views have already been expressed in the above comments. Well done lads. Can anyone not write an article on US or Israel without getting all emotional and biased?

Rajesh | 12 years ago | Reply What a hypocrite analysis? Judaism - a religion which has its origin in the middle-east and Jews used to live all across the middle-east including the most prominent region where they have a history of 3000 years, long before Islam arrived. Jews were not air-dropped by God, they belong to the middle-east. For the last 2000 years, they have a history of being persecuted, first by the Christians followed by the Muslims, forcing them to flee wherever they had a substantial number which was perceived as a potential threat. Jews migrated to Europe mainly because of the persecution that they faced in the middle-east. Jerusalem has been the holy place of Jews for over 3000 years. In early 40s and long before Jews started migrating from Europe, the total population of Jews in that disputed region constituted around 20-25%. They have been thrown out of every middle-east country in the last 60 years. The holy place of Jews - Temple Mount was destroyed by the Babylonians, Romans and Muslims. The pillars, altars and carved marbles of Dome of Rock (now a Mosque) have been found to be remnants of Solomon Temple. The site were Muslims offer pray, their back faces the Dome of Rock. To say that Jews don't belong to middle-east and have no claim to Jerusalem is a complete over-simplification. If the Mecca and Medina were invaded and taken over by Christians in the 1000 AD leading to Saudi Arabia being a Christian majority country and most of the Muslims were thrown out of middle-east, would the Muslims living in Asia and Europe have absolved their claim to Saudi Arabia in the 21st century? I guess not. What is written about America is so gross and stupid that it is not even worth debating. It sometimes helps to occasionally look into the mirror.

lovePak | 12 years ago | Reply Brilliant article, the truth hurts to a lot of people who choose to forget it. Their only defenses here are about Pakistan which has nothing to even do with this. How US generals simply regard innocent death as "collateral damage" is disgusting. And both the USA and Israel were meant to be best friends, they have much in common, they are both illegitimate states built on some other person's land. And they both are masters of death and destruction. And yet, both claim to respect human rights and laws while breaking all international rights and laws to brutally kill whosoever they wish. Great article.

MatterofFact | 12 years ago | Reply What abt Pakistan. Land created out of nowhere

Something Clever | 12 years ago | Reply The founders of the US did not solely nearly wipe out the Native Americans by a long shot. First, disease got a lot of them. That was brought by ones foreign to the lands but it most certainly was not intentional. Second, the part of the world the US is in was new and unexplored to the rest of the planet so many, many countries came to what is now the US. It was actually Spain that ended up nearly annihilating most of them Third, even Mexicans ended up clashing with them during that period at times and... Fourth, not all of them were friendly so some could be counted in self defense. There were most certainly clashes and a lot of deaths. The killing was terrible. There's no defending the majority of it not to mention it's pretty pointless to sugar coat the past when the present is so different and none of the ones who participated are even among the living... But the number you give is not only incorrect because of the fact there weren't even 100 million Native Americans concentrated in the areas to kill in the first place but you obviously do not know much of anything in regard to events at that point and location in history. Many of what people call "Native Americans" that were wiped out were even in present day Mexico.

BlackJack | 12 years ago | Reply I am quite disappointed, Vaqas - this piece is highly contrived; I agree that Israel's actions cannot be supported, but neither can poor logic and sub-standard research. A 100 mn Native American population - seriously! The highest estimate of the pre-Columbus American population of the US is 18 mn, with 50 - 70% of them dying when they contracted Eurasian diseases to which they had no immunity, the largest killer being smallpox (they apparently returned the favor when Columbus contracted Syphilis). There is no doubt of the evangelical strain that exists in all Abrahamic religions/ sects - the Spanish were no less religious (pun intended) in their zeal to spread God's word in the Americas; (Getting into wars and conversions closer to home based on, as you put it, exceptionalism and predestination will dilute focus on the current subject - although they remain relevant even in present day); The Spanish also caused massive relocation of locals from their natural habitats as part of the Toledo reforms (in modern day Peru). Anyway, the bulk of US aborigines who died over land rights were in the West and mid-West, and this was economic conflict that had no basis in religion. On Israel, the muslims of Palestine had a choice to 44% of the land area in 1948; this was unacceptable to them - now they have to settle for 22% if they are lucky - not fair, but then life isn't either, and you sow what you reap. Even now, accepting the right of the Jewish state to exist and agreeing to some give and take on the West Bank settlements could help in arriving at a solution. If everyone knows that Israel exacts disproportionate vengeance when its citizens are killed, then why are these brilliant people still firing rockets? And to top it all up, you go and prove Godwin's law as well. In summation, you need to re-examine the information from which you have constructed this article.

Gratgy | 12 years ago | Reply Sunni Muslims consider themselves exceptional more than anyone else. Pot calling the kettle black

Fed UP Indian | 12 years ago | Reply "They are cut from the same cloth and if there is any difference, it is that Israel, by not killing off the entire local population as the US did with 100 million Native Americans, might have higher moral ground." . Where on earth did you get the 100 million number? The total number of Native Americans in all of America, i.e. North America + South America was estimated at 90 million when the first European ships arrived in the 1400s and 1500s. Over 90% of these people were wiped out not in wars, but through infectious diseases like smallpox against which they had no natural resistance. By the time the colonizers arrived in the 1600s, a majority of North American native civilizations were almost extinct due to these diseases. . By the way, the US and Israel aren't the only two states born out of genocide. A lot of countries in this part of the world is also based on genocide. Pakistan was formed by Muslims who committed genocide against the Hindus. Iran was formed by Muslims who committed genocide against the native Zoroastrians. Turkey was formed by Turkic Muslims who committed genocide against the native Greeks and Armenians. Most of the Copts in Egypt were wiped out/forcefully converted during the Muslim conquest of Egypt. And more recently, the Pakistan Army conducted a genocide on an untold number of Hindus in Bangladesh. For certain reasons, the author seems to have completely ignored these examples when drawing comparisons with Israel. . I hope this comment gets published. I've noticed that the mods have been ignoring my posts for the past few days.

Mike | 12 years ago | Reply This article is a complete exaggeration and smear piece. Remember the Hebron and Safed massacres - 18 years before the much advertized Deir Yassin massacre?? Why no mention of this? Or Haj Amin Al Husseini's collaborations with the Nazis? To say Israel has been built on genocide is a gross, criminally immoral lie. But what do you care? or the hundreds of others who systematically spread this virus? The nation was established in 1948, and 6 Arab armies made war upon it. Where's the "genocide" here? They stuck to the areas which the '47 partition gave them; in fact, on may 14th 1948, the land declared Israel was significantly smaller than what they would have had if it weren't for the aggressions of the Arabs. And as for the founding of America. The extermination policies were mostly the work of the Catholic Spaniards - not the Puritans.

A reader | 12 years ago | Reply Oh boy - an overly simplistic analysis. Dear Vaqas, has another country ever come into your mind which you failed to include here - you know, the land of the blasphemy law and all? I wonder why you left that one out.

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US-Israel: The evils of exceptionalism

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