Post by Java JivePost by Reno CruzeHas the meaning of democracy changed? Chinese and Russians don't have
restrictions on international journalists from reporting freely and
without fear or favour.
Check your facts. Israel was brutally attacked and is defending
itself against a terrorist organization. I'm sure Russia and China
will welcome you with their free society.
True, but the attacks came after years of racist and colonial behaviour
by Israel, and settling of Palestinian areas that has been condemned
internationally. Further their response to the attacks, which no-one
disputes were terrorism of the most brutal kind, has also been way
overkill in brutality. Neither side is without fault in this conflict,
they're about as bad as each other.
I equate the Israel response to the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
which ended WWII. By most estimates, as many as 250,000 mostly innocent
civilians were killed by the US bombs. On its face, that is an
incomprehensible tragedy. But because the bombs effectively ended the
war, it probably saved millions of lives (32 million, by one estimate)
that would no doubt have been lost if the war has continued. I think
Israel is taking the same approach by wanting to totally destroy Hamas
in the quickest and most efficient way possible.
I again repeat that Israel is the only democracy in this region, and the
Israeli people have the power and the right to replace their leaders if
they desire. This is not a small point. No other country in the region
- including the Palestine authority - allows its citizens to choose and
potentially replace its government.
Post by Java JiveAnd as for Russia & China, neither allow free reporting 'without fear or
favour'. WRT Russia particularly, a father was jailed because his
daughter drew at school a picture that was deemed the Russian equivalent
of politically incorrect, because it showed sympathy to the Ukrainians,
and the school authorities reported him. Russia also bombs Ukrainian
civilians and civilian infrastructure such as schools and hospitals and
murders Ukrainian prisoners of war who have surrendered, both of which
are war crimes, and even sometimes then the perpetrators post video in
internet forums 'celebrating' their 'success', which gives you some idea
of how twisted minds can become under the assault of continuous
propaganda. It also poisons its political enemies abroad, even here in
the UK. The Chinese are little better, witness the Tiananmen Square
massacre and the repression of freedom in the former British colony of
Hong Kong.
And again - Russia and China are both dictatorships which have not had
truly free elections in forever. So what do you expect?
Post by Java JiveOther formerly open democracies - such as Israel, Hungary, Georgia
(the nation), and even India - are also becoming increasingly
repressive, and America under a second Trump presidency may very well go
the same way - that at least is what openly he claims, and it may yet
prove to be the only true thing he has ever said, but hopefully the
world won't ever have to endure finding that out.
If Trump is re-elected, it will be because the people of the United
States chose to do so under the rules of our democracy. Ditto the other
countries. And regardless of what Trump says - and frankly much of what
he says is just blustering to create an effect - his actual power to
create a truly repressive government is really quite limited. If he
does attempt actions which go against what the people of our nation
want, we have constitutional mechanisms to limit what he can do and
potentially remove him from office, as do the other democracies,
including Israel. There is no such removal mechanism in Russia, China,
Iran or even Palestine.