photo op with the US president and the leaders of Egypt and Saudi-Arabia — ssu
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/22/world/middleeast/trump-glowing-orb-saudi.htmlFrom left, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt, King Salman of Saudi Arabia, Melania Trump and President Trump during the opening of an anti-extremist center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Credit...Saudi Press
Agency — NYT
But it's not AIPAC or the over 7 million Jews in the US, it's the 70 million Christian Evangelicas. — ssu
And other results show Americans view Israel as a nation much more favorably than unfavorably, by more than a 2-to-1 ratio. — RogueAI
Indeed, so the question is, is this 'manufactured consent' or real? — FreeEmotion
Is there a manner of attacking Hamas (who are literally dug in under Gaza) which would not result in a large number of civilian casualties? — BC
I think it's real. Everyone knows Jewish people. — RogueAI
“Let us not condemn the murderers. What do we know of their fierce hatred for us? For eight years they have been living in the refugee camps of Gaza, while right before their eyes we have been turning the land and the villages, in which they and their forefathers lived, into our land.
“We should demand his (Roi’s) blood not from the Arabs of Gaza, but of ourselves… We are a generation of settlers, and without a helmet or a gun barrel we shall not be able to plant a tree or build a house. Let us not be afraid to see the enmity that consumes the lives of hundreds of thousands of Arabs around us… This is the fate of our generation. The only choice we have is to be armed, strong and resolute.” — Jerusalem Post
What good has Hamas done? — BC
Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by several countries, including the United States, the European Union, and Israel, has been involved in both political and military activities in the Gaza Strip. Supporters argue that Hamas has provided social services and infrastructure development in the region, such as building schools, hospitals, and providing welfare programs. However, critics argue that these activities are often intertwined with their militant and political agenda, and the group has been accused of using civilian infrastructure for military purposes. Overall, opinions on the positive impact of Hamas's actions in Gaza vary, and the organization's methods and objectives are widely debated.
I don't know to what extent Hamas represents the political opinions of the Gazan and wider Palestinian population. Do they deserve to be wiped out, at considerable human cost to the civilians they claim to represent? — BC
My guess is that Hamas has diverted a large percentage of material imported (or smuggled in through tunnels) into Gaza for its own use, rather than for the benefit of average Palestinians. — BC
I guess then you have to ask if the support for a ceasefire is manufactured or real? — FreeEmotion
Any non-partisan approach would want civilians to stop getting killed. They do not care about the causes they represent, as much as some ideological stand about self- determination - which Israel has, and was achieved partly though violent means. In any case, there are Jewish people asking for a ceasefire as well.
I can see valid arguments for each side, however some of the starting assumptions I do not agree with, and this is a matter of personal beliefs, which are unassailable under the Charter of Human Rights.
Agree?
I think it's real too. Leftists have always had a soft spot for oppressed peoples, and Israel, with it's vastly superior military, can't help but come across as a bully. I can see both sides' reasoning, and they both make compelling arguments. — RogueAI
In the past I've generally accepted that the State of Israel has a right to exist but I have to say that Israeli brutality against civilians is severely testing my belief. — Wayfarer
General William T. Sherman, one of the Union's best generals, said: "It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell."
People are lazy and stupid. — I like sushi
Some demonstrators accuse Israel of ethnic cleansing. This seems to have occurred at the time of Israel's founding when many Palestinians were displaced. What the settlers are doing on the West Bank is more 'ethnic encroachment' than ethnic cleansing. Israel ought (imho) to return the settlers' seized lands. I don't think that is going to happen, but it should happen. The Gaza war is definitely not ethnic cleansing: it's an effort aimed at regime change. (Those don't always work out very well either,).
I pretty much support Israel. I'm not very enthusiastic about the Arab block. Israel's birth could have been engineered more successfully, perhaps (don't ask me how). I'm not very enthusiastic about the increasing dominance of the ultra-conservative religious factions in Israel, but I don't know what we can do about it. I dislike the American religious ultra-conservatives too, and not much I can do about them, some of them are close relatives! — BC
I already see a problem here. Ukraine certainly isn't going to act in a spirit of brotherhood towards Russian soldiers (or even Russian civilians who are in the way of a high value target), nor should they. — RogueAI
No comparison. Under the original un charter, every sovereign is to govern itself. So why is it that the Palestinian authority has been given its own sovereign land to govern, and done nothing but wreak tyrrany upon its own people, and violence to its neighbors? No excuse. — Merkwurdichliebe
I'm not very enthusiastic about the increasing dominance of the ultra-conservative religious factions in Israel, but I don't know what we can do about it. I dislike the American religious ultra-conservatives too, and not much I can do about them, some of them are close relatives! — BC
As much as you can, reassure your children that they are safe from any danger. Remind them that many people are working hard around the world to stop the conflict and find peace.
many people are working hard around the world to stop the conflict and find peace
Start by defining pacifism with your students and prompting a discussion on its merits. Pacifism is the belief that all disputes can be settled without violence, emphasizing dialogue and cooperation instead. Creating an environment where students feel safe discussing their views on peace and conflict resolution can set the stage for further exploration.
Gideon Levy, a Haaretz columnist, noted the striking similarities between these photos and the Palestinian glorification of violence. “Where else do they force a little child to crawl with a backpack on his back? When Hamas treats its children like this, Israeli parents tut-tut with disgust: Look at these beasts.”
It’s a double standard all too common to the conflict.
We’re told that Palestinian maps in schools often show a unified Palestine between the river and the sea — “how awful!” — yet Israeli maps, more often than Palestinian ones in fact, don’t show the Green Line, and Jews don’t really seem to care.
We’re told that Palestinians are taught in school that the Jewish historical claims to the land, particularly the Temple Mount, don’t really exist — “how awful!” — yet in a similar tone, many Israeli children learn that “Palestinians” were only recently invented, and Jews don’t really seem to care.
We’re told that Palestinian textbooks distort history — “how awful!” — yet a recent State Department study found that many Israeli textbooks do too, and Jews don’t really seem to care.
What did the world’s Jews mostly want in 1900? Most of them just wanted to be able to live where they were and not be disturbed. To go about their business, study, pray, raise their children, and just live as Jews. That was Plan A. But increasingly, that was coming under pressure as anti-Semitism rose in Europe, and obviously by the 1940s, it had become utterly impossible. If Jews couldn’t live in peace where they were, Plan B was to migrate to someplace where they could start again. For many years, the United States was the favored destination, but also Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and other countries. But starting with Britain in 1905, and progressing into the U.S. in 1924, and Latin America in the 1930s, country after country closed its doors to immigration, just as Jews grew more desperate to migrate. So Plan B could not get the critical non-Jewish support that it needed to work. That left Zionism as Plan C: Let’s have our own state where we can go. — The Atlantic
Pacifism is the belief that all disputes can be settled without violence
10% of excellent agricultural land which belongs to nation A is seized by nation B. Nation A sends its top negotiators to peacefully negotiate to get its land back from Nation B. Nation B says that 1000 years ago, the nomadic bandits that would later become Nation A took the land that Nation B had ALWAYS considered its own. Our answer is, "No! you cam not have it any more. It is ours now. Go away and don't come back; we have nothing to negotiate with you."
The land is important -- it provides food for many people. What did pacifistic Nation A do?
Nation A sorrowfully accepted the loss of its farmers and most productive agricultural land. No military violence was contemplated.
A year later, Nation B seizes 10% more of Nation A, this time the land that lies over rich mineral deposits. Nation A sorrowfully accepts the grievous loss if its miners and mineral resources. No military violence was contemplated.
A year after that, Nation B seizes 15% of Nation A, this time land that has excellent timber resources. Nation A even more sorrowfully and grievously accepts the loss if its lumberjacks and timber resources. No military violence was contemplated.
After these land seizures, Nation A is 35% smaller and its economy is deteriorating rapidly. It can't produce enough food. It can't produce enough metal and wood products for export to pay for imported food. It has changed from a prosperous country to an impoverished one.
As an organized nationalist movement, Zionism is generally considered to have been founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897. However, the history of Zionism began earlier and is intertwined with Jewish history and Judaism. The organizations of Hovevei Zion (lit. 'Lovers of Zion'), held as the forerunners of modern Zionist ideals, were responsible for the creation of 20 Jewish towns in Palestine between 1870 and 1897.
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