Ha, always had my suspicions about you comrade!

The bigger picture in so much as that the deaths of innocents won't change the realities of the West's position regarding its allies and defensive strategy.

You could talk about the evils of warfare all day, but our overlords priorities are the global balance of power and the nullifying of destabilising elements.

Edited by Hrolf The Ganger (17 Apr 2024 6.06pm)

I don't really think of my opinions in terms of the political spectrum. They are what they are.

I just judge everyone else's by that measure.

Says a top fan of the undemocratic EU.

I find it a very odd idea that anyone posting here could be described as a “Hamas supporter” or as “jew hating anti semites”. I see absolutely no evidence of that and can only conclude that those that do are viewing posts from an odd, and biased, perspective.

Hamas are, and have been consistently described here as, a terrorist organisation which no one has any sympathy for. The sympathy expressed is for Palestinians and the loss of life of innocent people caught up in events they have no control over.

Opposing Zionism is quite different to antisemitism. As the referenced podcast explains very well, Zionism has a long and complicated history. It has never been universally supported by all Jewish people. To try to untangle the many strands that contribute to where we are today and determine who is right and who wrong is both impossible and pointless. There is both merit and evil everywhere. No one is completely right, or completely wrong.

You can argue for ever that the decisions taken to create modern Israel are responsible for where we are now, but there’s no point. We are there.

The only possible way forward that I can see is the pragmatic one of building both control and containment of terrorism and the much harder and longer term goal of building trust between people whose religions and culture are very different.

Having spent a little time in Israel myself last year I know that at ground root level that trust can and does exist. I have seen Jews and Arabs co existing perfectly well, working together with smiles and friendship. The human spirit will triumph when given a chance to flourish.

Israel, trying to destroy Hamas or Hezbollah won’t work, in my opinion, for something similar will emerge to replace them fuelled by the hatred now being stoked in the next generation. The only way to destroy them is from within and that needs love to be shown, not hatred. It will take generations to achieve but it could start with regime change in both Israel and Iran followed by a reproachment between them, the Israeli settler movement curtailed, and Iran’s nuclear programme internationally supervised.

If Israel, and its US supporters, assisted by the Gulf states and Saudi, rebuilt Gaza and invested there and the West Bank, bringing prosperity and education then there would be a shared ambition. Cooperation would increase and partnerships built. When people feel safe and happy the desire for religious warfare hopefully will diminish.

I’ll not witness it but I hope someone will.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

In my opinion anyone who is not prepared to unequivocally condemn the terrorist organisation Hamas is a supporter.

Often semantics and phrases such as " it's complicated " are used to wriggle out of being straight forward.

Anti semitism and jew hate are the same thing but one is more hurty words than the other and gets more of a reaction which is curious.

When the IDF becomes a proscribed organisation then it can be viewed quite differently than the present time.

The only Islamic country interested in putting money into Gaza is Iran, the main concern of the other neighbouring countries is to ensure they don't have to accept any Palestinians in their country. The exception is Oman which allows the very rich leaders of Hamas to live there.

Going forward I shall highlight any posts I see which IMHO are pro Hamas or anti semitic/jew hating.

Responsibility Deficit Disorder is a medical condition. Symptoms include inability to be corrected when wrong, false sense of superiority, desire to share personal info no else cares about, general hubris. It's a medical issue rather than pure arrogance.