Quote:
Originally posted by dhamsaic
Thich Quang Duc ... stepped out of his car, sat down in the street. He assumed the Lotus position and began meditating. One of his fellow monks doused him with gasoline and then stood back. Duc lit a match and was instantly covered in flames. He sat there and burned. ...
All of a sudden, the entire world was awakened to the plight of the Buddhists in Vietnam.
It's my contention that a similar tactic would work wonders for the Palestinians.
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The concept is fundamentally valid - could be quite effective. However it has two problems. The first is that international press does not have the freedom in Israel that it had in VietNam. Second, is that we have been there; seen that.
The concept would indeed be mesmorizing IF it was a new twist on an old, proven concept. BTW, the Buddist did not flinch or scream as he burned to death - making it that much more stunning as we watched it on TV network news. And that is the trick - to perform a new twist on a previously executed tactic - and have a press friendly enough to truly distribute the facts - including why the man's/women's life had been so destroyed as to commit suicide.
The Buddist monk was campaigning against a government that was an enemy of the people. However at the same time, a US president was putting full US support behind that government. Ironically, George Jr is the first US president to ever support the policies of Likud in direct opposition to Arab interests. He is the first US president to endorse the policies of any Likud government. Not even Reagan would permit a Likud government to use US supplied weapons against occupied territory residents or in Lebanon. More similarities between the two events if a Palestinian did the public burning gig.
However what happens after that? Does the UN respond with a peace force? That force is necessary and called for by many including the EU. Other G-8 members are either neutral or in favor of it. A majority on the Security Council have no objections. But America, that now loves Likud, would veto a peace force outright.
A public burning would be influential, but by itself, would not have signficicant consequences. It took reality - the Pentagon Papers - to expose lies about VietNam - to change public opinion. A simple human sacrifice, same as suicide bombings, really only remind us that there is a conflict over there - nothing more.