The Present Israel-Palestine Conflict Thread

[Middle-aged Europe]

My contribution is: I ABSOLUTELY HATE both sides of this "debate".

I tend to share that sentiment.

A couple of years ago, I had both a Jewish and a Palestinian Facebook friend and both were very dedicated in sharing their views on the conflict. So, the Jew usually posted news articles on the evils the Palestinians had comitted during the week, and the Palestinian posted news on the evils the Israelis are doing at the moment.

And this is basically what it boils down to: Two sides who equally view themselves as victims.

[Middle-aged Europe]

This thread is a fine representation of why the Middle East conflict is such a mess. It must be preserved.

[Middle-aged Europe]

So where does this "Israel is the only democracy in the region" line come from?  I keep hearing it.  Did Lebanon cease to exist at some point or something?

Freedom House doesn't consider Lebanon a democracy. However Libya and Turkey are in the general region, and are considered democracies.

Freedom House is literally funded by the CIA, in fairness. They also consider our puppet banana republic in Bogota freer than the Bolivarian democracies.

Fail to see the relevance, since you didn't provide any actual arguments why Tunisia, Libya and Turkey aren't demcoracies... if that's what you were trying to say in the first place.

[Middle-aged Europe]

The author also posted some bullsh**t apology saying that he "never never intended to call to harm any people".

http://5tjt.com/apology-from-yochanan-gordon/

At least he should have been honest enough to admit that for all intents and purposes he's esentially a Nazi.


Meanwile, the Times of Israel has another potential pro-genocide editorial online, stating:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/1-samuel-1518/#ixzz39AIQIcls

[Middle-aged Europe]

The supposedly captured Israeli soldier was apparently not captured at all, but killed in action on Friday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/03/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-conflict.html?_r=0

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-gaza-hamas-missing-soldier-20140802-story.html

[Middle-aged Europe]

UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon went so far to call the school shelling "a moral outrage and a criminal act."

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=48396&Cr=Palestin&Cr1=#.U96nvFeZbpg

[Middle-aged Europe]

I think there's a habit of judging Israel's actions by the standards of a western democracy, while we measure Hamas by the standards of Islamic extremists.

By the standards of a western democracy, Israel's current actions are horrible and disgusting. As far as Islamic extremists go, there are much worse groups than Hamas though (ISIS, Taliban, al-Qaeda).

That shouldn't blur the fact that at the end of the day Israel is still a western democracy and Hamas are still Islamic extremists. However, we must able to call Israel out on their bullsh**t, without letting Hamas off the hook in the same instance.

[Middle-aged Europe]

By the standards of a western democracy, Israel's current actions are horrible and disgusting.

I totally don't understand how this is just a "known" thing.  How do you think a European country would act in the same situation?  Do you guys REALLY think Germany would send an angry letter if missiles were launched at their civilians every few days (and that's during the "cold" part of the conflict)?  Or if there were tunnels built (that again cost many millions and use child slave labor to construct where hundreds have died) for the sole purpose of kidnapping/murdering your civilians?  What action(s) have Western democracies done to make people think they wouldn't take action in such a scenario.

I don't deny that a European country could react in a similarly disgusting manner. It's probably more likely than not.

[Middle-aged Europe]

To discuss who's right and who's wrong in the Middle East and whose sides' actions are justified and whose are not ist utterly pointless because they are all wrong.

It's like debating whether rape or murder is "less wrong". Obviously, rape is less wrong, but what value does such a conclusion possess in the first place?

[Middle-aged Europe]

Of course, had the Palestinians adopted Gandhi/MLK tactics they could have won 30 years ago.