The Gaza pullout

I've wanted to comment on the Gaza pullout for a while. It's a truly remarkable phenomenon, and it's remarkable in several different ways. First and foremost, I find it personally satisfying to see crazy religious extremists forced to confront reality. Every time I see pictures of the raging, zealotous settlers being dragged away by the Israeli army, I get fucking pissed off. Why don't those idiots understand that they're responsible in large part for the continued hostilities and deaths of innocent people on both sides? Do they not know how criminally insane they sound when they claim to have a Biblical right to the land of Israel?

At the same time, I gotta say it's reassuring to know that other religions besides Christianity have their nutjobs. Fundamentalism is not particular to Christian dogma. Any time you have a reliance on an invisible, magical authority whose will is purportedly divined by people who claim to have a special understanding of the will of said invisible, magical authority, you're going to end up with a group of people who have so completely defined their existence in terms of the arbitrary but reassuring moral system that inevitably develops that they will fight tooth and nail defending that moral system even in the face of the corresponding inevitable encroachment of reality. And it's been happening for millenia. And people are still too stupid not to let it happen.

The other really fascinating phenomenon, however, is the behavior of the Israeli soldiers. I have been absolutely astounded by the many reports on the Israeli soldiers' poise and composure through this whole thing. They've calmly negotiated with settlers screaming at them. They've comforted the settlers who have complied with the orders that they themselves doubtlessly have some reservations about. No soldiers that I've heard about have refused to obey the orders. Moreover, they've restrained themselves from employing an unnecessary and vengeful amount of force in response to settler attacks. They've done quite simply an amazing job, one that I don't have 100% faith that American soldiers could match.