If The 'Iron Dome' Controversy Was About A Fist Fight
Steve and Joe were at the bar one night when things became heated between them, as they often do.
"Oh no, not again with you two," yelled the bartender when a stool got knocked over. "Take it outside!"
The two men took their exit accompanied by other patrons. Steve looked at a third man named Bill, then threw a punch at Joe.
Before Joe could strike back, Bill snuck up behind him and pinned his arms to his side with a bear hug. Onlookers yelled out in protest as Steve punched Joe in the face while he struggled to free himself from Bill's grasp.
"Why are you yelling at me??" said Bill. "This is a defensive maneuver. I'm helping to defend Steve from getting punched by Joe."
"But you're not letting me fight back! Ow!" said Joe as Steve cracked him again.
"Yeah Bill, let him go!" said someone in the crowd. "You're just helping Steve tee off on Joe!"
"Why do you guys hate Steve so much?" asked Bill while straining to keep Joe's limbs pinned to his body. "Is it because he's Jewish??"
"What?? No! You're helping Steve attack Joe, that's the problem!"
"Steve has a right to defend himself!" said Bill over the sound of Steve's fists smashing into Joe's face. "I don't understand how anyone can have a problem with a completely defensive maneuver. Look at Steve's face, there's not a mark on him! That means my defensive system is effective. What the hell is wrong with you that you'd want Steve to get beat up? Are you some kind of psychopath?"
"I am present!" interjected a woman in the crowd before bursting into tears.
"It's okay Alexandria," her friend consoled her.
"But look, Joe's all banged up," said someone in the crowd. "If you care about defense then why are you defending Steve but not Joe?"
"Yeah, where's Joe's defense?" said someone else. "Steve's able to just throw punches as hard as he can without any fear of getting hit back! You're not just helping Steve defensively, you're helping him offensively too!"
"I bet Steve wouldn't have even picked this fight if he didn't know Joe would be unable to fight back!" another onlooker added.
"Aaagh!" yelled Steve as Joe landed a kick to his groin.
"Hmm, I guess our defense system might not be as perfect as advertised," said Bill.
"Steve's always picking on Joe and Bill always helps him," someone said. "They're a coupla bullying thugs."
"We are not!" Steve shouted while landing successive blows to Joe's bloody face until the man went limp.
"You guys just hate safety and peace," said Bill as he let Joe fall fall to the floor. "If it were up to you, Joe would be terrorizing us all and we wouldn't even be allowed to protect ourselves."
"If Joe wants to protect himself he needs to stop trying to fight back when I hit him," said Steve. "I have a right to exist, after all."
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There's so much to dislike about America's relationship with Israel it's hard to know where to start or to limit my response to under 10,000 words, so I'll be necessarily brief.
Israel is a weapons exporter and is not Ethiopia. To have the American taxpayer foot the bill for Israeli weapons systems is ludicrous, more so when so many domestic needs are lacking.
Israel regularly violates human rights and international law. Iron dome and the UN veto assure Israel never faces any consequences for its lawlessness, which encourages their continuation.
Defenders of Israel too often smear critics with charges of antisemitism instead of honestly addressing the issues, thus cheapening cases of actual antisemitism.
Israel represents one of the most powerful lobbies on Capitol Hill, demanding that freshman congresspeople sign loyalty pledges or face challengers in the next election cycle. The dysfunction of having a foreign power making our representatives sign a loyalty pledge should be obvious
Israel's defenders promote censorship in the press, on our evening news, on our social media, in our political discourse, and on our college campuses.
I don't contribute to racist conservative politicians here in the States; why should I be made to do so elsewhere?
Israel's interests as a regional power encourages policies which do not serve the interests of the American people. For starters see PNAC.
Blindly supporting a self-proclaimed Jewish State is a perfect an example of a "foreign entanglement" that the Founders warned us against entering.
With both major parties firmly in Israel's pocket, paying taxes amounts to extortion that benefits both Israel and American weapons manufacturers.
Defenders of Israel pretend they want to be treated like any other country, but time and again they receive special treatment no other country enjoys.
Wikileaks revealed an internal NSA document that named Israel the greatest cyber threat to the United States. Yes, our "good friend" Israel, whose citizens and spies are regularly employed by our major tech firms.
Defending Israel makes our words about democracy and the rule of law comical. Of course, our actions do the same, but embracing Israel doesn't help.
Israel is a facet of the exact same Deep State rot that is making our government such a mess. Endless war, terror, dark money, corruption, corporate greed, unaccountable power, etc. Addressing our blind support for Israel pulls on the string that connects it all, and that's one reason the pushback is so severe.
The current situation is unsustainable. It's time for America's unconditional support of Zionism to end.
This parable is a good analogy of power relations between Israel and the Palestinians. One saving grace is that in reality, the Iron Dome is full of holes, like many U.S. designed weapons systems. Just ask the Saudis about their experience with Houthi rockets and drones. Hezbollah already possesses weaponry that can penetrate and overwhelm Israel’s air defenses, and someday Hamas will as well. Then the playing field will tilt in a different direction.