Kudos on this. Entire books have been written about the Middle East conflict without this level of distillation and balance. Is there anything you can't do, you magnificent bastard?
Possibly very unpopular opinion here: if the West had just done right by Jewish people, even just during and after WWII, a lot of these issues may have been mitigated and even prevented. But no -- the US and the rest of the West was fine with helping terrorized, post-Holocaust Jews migrate to, and take over, land that was until that point held and owned by Arabic peoples. But doing the decent thing, and opening our doors wide in welcome and apology for allowing the Holocaust to happen in the first place? Not even a bit of it; if anything, we did the opposite.
Today, the Christian right in this country only really supports Israel because they expect the Israeli/Arab conflict to start the Biblical end times; the Christianists believe all the Jews will die and go to hell so that the "real" Christians can go to heaven. The Israeli state is as rabid as it frequently is, and is supported in its actions by Jewish people to the extent it is, in large part because of the very real anti-semitism that is still so prevalent throughout the world. Imagine knowing that a lot of powerful people around the world hate you just for existing, and simultaneously being surrounded by countries full of people who also hate you. How much would you support your government taking any means it tells you is necessary for you to be safe?
I'm not disagreeing. It's a bad situation, but it's what exists now and so we must deal with that and not with what ifs. I had to block some people on Facebook for demanding Israel cease to exist. I made this comment there:
"Believing that there should be a peaceable solution that does not involve dissolving the state of Israel--something that would almost certainly result in another Holocaust--angers a lot of people. There are many who believe that the end of Israel is the ONLY solution, and that if you don't believe the same, you are the enemy."
You're absolutely correct about dealing with the situation as-is. To me, though, the only way to do so honestly is for Western governments to acknowledge their historical responsibility, both publicly and as part of their policy-making processes. One way to do that would be to shift from funding Israeli arms no matter how they're used to moving money for only humanitarian needs and defensive materiel -- and issuing both an apology, and a lot of humanitarian money, to Palestinians. Funding for defensive capabilities would also need to be contingent on Israel pulling out of occupied territories, ending human rights abuses, and bringing people who have committed those abuses to justice -- and Palestinian authorities doing everything in their power to stop attacks on Israeli civilians and likewise hand out justice to their side's civilian-targeting terrorists.
Kudos on this. Entire books have been written about the Middle East conflict without this level of distillation and balance. Is there anything you can't do, you magnificent bastard?
Alas, the posting on Facebook has some people quite upset.
Whaaaaaa? You brought up the Middle East, Jews, and or Israel on Facebook and people got upset?!🤯🙄
This is why I'm here, sir.
Another sign you're doing it right.
Possibly very unpopular opinion here: if the West had just done right by Jewish people, even just during and after WWII, a lot of these issues may have been mitigated and even prevented. But no -- the US and the rest of the West was fine with helping terrorized, post-Holocaust Jews migrate to, and take over, land that was until that point held and owned by Arabic peoples. But doing the decent thing, and opening our doors wide in welcome and apology for allowing the Holocaust to happen in the first place? Not even a bit of it; if anything, we did the opposite.
Today, the Christian right in this country only really supports Israel because they expect the Israeli/Arab conflict to start the Biblical end times; the Christianists believe all the Jews will die and go to hell so that the "real" Christians can go to heaven. The Israeli state is as rabid as it frequently is, and is supported in its actions by Jewish people to the extent it is, in large part because of the very real anti-semitism that is still so prevalent throughout the world. Imagine knowing that a lot of powerful people around the world hate you just for existing, and simultaneously being surrounded by countries full of people who also hate you. How much would you support your government taking any means it tells you is necessary for you to be safe?
I'm not disagreeing. It's a bad situation, but it's what exists now and so we must deal with that and not with what ifs. I had to block some people on Facebook for demanding Israel cease to exist. I made this comment there:
"Believing that there should be a peaceable solution that does not involve dissolving the state of Israel--something that would almost certainly result in another Holocaust--angers a lot of people. There are many who believe that the end of Israel is the ONLY solution, and that if you don't believe the same, you are the enemy."
You're absolutely correct about dealing with the situation as-is. To me, though, the only way to do so honestly is for Western governments to acknowledge their historical responsibility, both publicly and as part of their policy-making processes. One way to do that would be to shift from funding Israeli arms no matter how they're used to moving money for only humanitarian needs and defensive materiel -- and issuing both an apology, and a lot of humanitarian money, to Palestinians. Funding for defensive capabilities would also need to be contingent on Israel pulling out of occupied territories, ending human rights abuses, and bringing people who have committed those abuses to justice -- and Palestinian authorities doing everything in their power to stop attacks on Israeli civilians and likewise hand out justice to their side's civilian-targeting terrorists.
Great synopsis!