Hard to know where to start. If you condemn Palestine you’re seen as Islamophobic. If you condemn Israel you’re called anti-Semitic. The Israeli land grab over the last 80 years however, is pretty clear to see. Obviously I never condone atrocity. However I do wonder how British people would respond if that scale of occupation was attempted here.
Hamas do not equate to all or even the majority of Palestinian citizens just as the IRA didn’t equate to the majority of Catholics . Hamas thrive because of the way Israeli governments have treated Palestinians over generations , which is apartheid in all but name . Unfortunately the extremists on both sides seem to have the upper hand in their communities and bloodshed is inevitable
Harris is very much anti-religion but has concentrated most of his fire in the past on Islam. He has criticised Israel in the past but accepts that a state needs to exist in the Middle East where the Jews can feel comfortable.
There is no justification for killing and stripping an Israeli civilian women, parading her body through the streets on a back of a pickup as men jostle for their turn to spit on her dead body. When the enemy wants to do this to your people, how do you expect them to react?
it is not even good enough to be called drivel. Israel has become a sham of a nation that has and continues to shame the dreams, hopes and aspirations of its founding fathers. To denounce people who condemn the actions of the Israeli state as anti semetic is beyond parody.
This. Ireland in the 1980's is an apposite parallel to draw. There are enough extremist loonies on both sides who don't want peace to ensure that peace does not occur.
I hate the fact that Palestinians have to use Hammas as their voice, and encourage the carrying out of atrocities such as these latest ones. However, this is what happens when you treat a population with how Israel has treated the Palestinians, then not only deny them a voice, but, have the ears of some of the most powerful nations in the world (financially and military) Just wish folk would equally convey their wrath and condemnation to both ‘sides’
Understanding something is not equivalent to condoning, just as sympathy isn't the same as empathy. Clearly the only way to improve the rights of people living under repressive regimes is to keep thrm living under repressive regimes. No?
If criticising the Israeli state is antisemitic, then the Israeli state is de facto beyond criticism. There are reasonably sized minorities in Israel who are very much against their governments actions. They obviously can't be labelled as anti semitic, so they are sometimes called "self loathing Jews", by other Jewish people.
Just trying to bring some balance to the “payback” brigade - you might as well say the same thing about Enniskillen. The answer is a two state solution which has been on the table many times and rejected by one side or the other - many reasonable people on both sides could live with it but, as you say, there are too many extremists holding the whip hand who’s interest lay in continued conflict. The state of Israel should not be beyond criticism nor should it be automatically equated to antisemitism. In the same way that pointing out the awkward truths behind the Islamic fundamentalism fuelling the other side isn’t being “Islamophobic”. Both accusations are just used to shutdown debate.
Just had a look on his twitter and the other things he posts what a waste of oxygen. He's just a hate preacher like the British version of Abu hamza.
This kind of thing will keep happening as long as world leaders and public figures continue to take sides and throw accusations around. There are only 2 resolutions to this kind of dispute. Mass genocide (doesn't matter which way around) or negotiation. I know which I favour. It doesn't matter who's 'right' any more. The bulk of people dying on both sides are innocent. Israel oppressing Palestinians over Hamas and Hamas bombing Israeli citizens over government policy just pushes support to the extremists of the opposition.
I learned a new word today. Thanks. I don't see there being a peaceful resolution to the Arab-Israeli situation in my lifetime, if ever. The two sides are too entrenched in their loathing and both have far too many extremists who peddle their views as fact.
Rachel Riley of Countdown fame is often keen on battering down anyone who objects to Israeli actions. It's not describing "payback" if you simply see the violence and killing as an inevitable outcome of an unfair and illegal occupation of their land. It's just a foregone conclusion, especially when governments that matter routinely side with the Israeli state. If the Palestinians have no political recourse to solve the issue then what? Edited for duplication.
There's a twisted irony in Zelensky (who is Jewish himself) supporting Israel, whilst no doubt fully aware of them illegally occupying Palestinian land. I'd be interested to hear his answer, should a reporter ever ask the obvious question to him.
The majority of Palestinians reject a one-state and two-state solution. The majority in the West Bank and Gaza favour regaining all of historical Palestine for the Palestinians- ie to some pre-1948 fantasy. Try negotiating with that.
And the far right in Israel wants to remove all Palestinians from the land. Neither of which means that negotiating should not be done. Edit: this makes interesting reading https://www.washingtoninstitute.org...wo-state-solution-hard-data-hardest-questions