Re: NYTimes.com Article: Europe's Chance in the Mideast

List,

I agree with George.  The "victims" of history are legion, but those
"victims" that get official attention are the ruling class and its
supporters.  "Victimization" is an important tool of legitimation, hence
is promulgated by the media to support the actions of the powerful.  The
fight in the Middle East over who is the most victimized is hence just
another battle for power in the realm of ideology echoing the real militay
battle on the ground.  To argue that to date the Israeli state has
benefitted by its ideological claim to being the victim of the holocost,
and that its power RESULTS from that claim, is to put the cart before the
horse.  On the contrary, the hegemony of the holocost story is a
legitimating REFLECTION of the centrality of Israel's importance as a
client state in the US empire.  
        All violent deaths are an abomination; and genocide is the
greatest abomination of all.  But WHICH genocides get press attention
reflects which military alliances serve the material needs of imperialism.

Cheers,
Peter Grimes