Since the Israeli-Palestinian question has reared its ugly head once again, I have witnessed several progressives challenge the validity of other progressives credentials. I have been wondering to myself, am I a progressive and what does it mean to be progressive?
I have heard every side of the arguement on this site and frankly nobody or nothing is going to change anyones mind on how they feel about the I/P issue. Just to lay my cards on the table, I am for peace, but believe Israel has every right to protect its citizens from the rockets in Gaza. I believe Hamas is a terrorist organization and so are the settler groups who believe in a biblical prophecy. I believe the PLO is a corrupt, cowardess organization who hides behind "diplomacy", when they are nothing more then looking to maintain their own economic and political standing. Like Hamas, I think Likud is a racist party as stated by their own doctrine. They are all extremists and no matter what side you are on, failure to recognize this means you are biased and frankly not rational. I am sure there will those that call me "fence sitting" and others that will call me a "Zionist" or a "terrorist sympanthizer", but frankly I could care less. What I really want to know is how most people on this site can question someone's progressive credentials.
Wiki states:
Progressivism is a term that has varying meanings in different countries.
In some countries, the word refers to left-wing politics. For instance, in the United States, the term progressive emerged in the late 19th century in reference to a more general response to the vast changes wrought by industrialization: an alternative to both the traditional conservative response to social and economic issues and to the various more radical streams of socialism and anarchism which opposed them. Political parties, such as the Progressive Party, organized at the start of the 20th century, and progressivism made great strides under American presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Lyndon Baines Johnson.[1]
I truly wonder how many of you really meet this defintion, if there is a definition. I have seen people called new-con, Zionist puppet, Hamas sympathizer, Self hating Jew, Anti-Semite, someone even wrote "Seig Heil". I can't imagine all these people would want to hang around a "progressive site", so are they really just trolls or do they really believe what they say? IMO, these people are probably a mixture of passionate people who belive so strongly about a topic that rational thought goes out the window. Yes there are probably some trolls just looking to start trouble, but I have read a lot of these comments and frankly they are not troll worthy. Whether you agree with them or not "comosellama" and "sortoflikenathan" layed out rational and compelling argument for their positions. They probably can't fathom each others arguments, but is it possible they both can be progressives and on the complete opposite side on this one issue?
During the primary election, I found myself looking for a blog where my ideas were the norm. I tried many other sites, yet some were so pro-Hillary I couldnt hold a rational argument until i came here. I found other like minded people who were for gay rights, anti-iraq, for fair pay, for animal rights, for the environment, against torture, against abolishing habeas corpus, for alterantive energy, for change, etc...... I was in heaven, I didnt know this many people existed and I live in LA. Now these same people who probably still have all the same beliefs are going to question the progressive credentials of people who believe exactly the same thing except differ on I/P conflict. I call Bull shit.
I consider myself a progressive who probably favors Israel in most of your minds, but I will stand by each and every one of you to help get progressives elected who believe in gay rights, are against the iraq war, are for fair pay, for animal rights, for the environment, against torture, against abolishing habeas corpus, for alternative energy, and for change. What I will not do is have my allegiances questioned because you are too emotional about a topic to have a rational conversation. So whether you like me or not, I will stand by your side on the above issues!
Peace out and Happy New Year!