Thursday, August 21, 2008

The Best and the Worst

The article from Ha'aretz manages to highlight both the best and the worst elements of Israeli society.

Shooting the foot of a bound prisoner at close range with a rubber bullet? Thuggish brutality.

Charging the soldier with the wrist-slap of "conduct unbecoming"? Outrageous.

Human rights groups able to sue in Israeli courts and get an injunction with an order to show cause? Rule of law.

Every country has its brutes. Israel is no different. And every country has people who want to protect those brutes. Israel, again, is no different. But not every country has a truly independent judiciary that can check those abuses. And in this respect, Israel is quite different.

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