Quote:
Originally Posted by Cretaceous Bob
It's really pointless to take any side.
There wouldn't have been a problem if the Zionists hadn't decided land ownership is determined by religious texts, and there wouldn't be a problem now if people decided their children's futures were more important than fighting over land they felt was promised to them. The same way there was a huge influx of Jews into Palestine/Israel, they can all leave. Just about anywhere else in the world would serve as a better Jewish homeland. It's one thing to reside in a country for hundreds of years and then protest when you get attacked, but it's another entirely when you chase the inhabitants out of a piece of land, fill it with your own people, and then protest to coming under fire.
It's their war, and it's a mistake to get caught up in it. We should always provide assistance to anyone who wishes to leave the area on either side, but, otherwise, we should just butt out. That sounds harsh, given that most people on both sides don't deserve the stress, living conditions, and death inflicted upon them, but the harm taking a side does is not justified by the cause.
I'd also like to say I've noticed for a long time how Chemda always says she knows very little about Israel and Judaism, and simultaneously is very sensitive and defensive about the two. Whenever KATG got a letter from someone offended by something, Chemda was always the one to say, "That's the one thing that offended you? We're offensive about everything, so either be offended by everything or by nothing," yet when Keith turns the same humorous eye he applies to every country to Israel, Chemda is always frustrated and defensive. Keith can stereotype anywhere else, and say he doesn't need anywhere else, but what he says doesn't warrant protest until he says Israel is not, in fact, beautiful, but rather alot of brown dirt. That's not even that bad. Since all land is largely made up of dirt, most things beyond the extremely urban New York City are going to have a very strong tendency to bear a resemblance to dirt. Keith may claim Israel has a more monochromatic variety of dirt than most, but that's hardly something to constantly treat with impatience and irritation.
Edit: Oh, also, it's rare when I like anything outside of metal/classical/baroque music, but that 4 Inch Stud song from their new EP is pretty killer.
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So Jews aren't allowed to immigrate to the Middle East? The strength of Israel as a nation is that it's the restoration of the world's only Jewish nation. To say it would succeed elsewhere is ludicrous. The ONLY reason it works is because of Judaism's historic attachment to the land.
It's misrepresentative to say Jews just came in and took land. A lot of land was purchased and Britain allowed immigration into a territory they controlled. Jews moved in. Eventually a partition plan (like Pakistan and India) was set up. Israel accepted a tiny state for Jews, much smaller than it is now, and with no territorial contiguity.
The Arabs declined and invaded.
Yeah, America backs Israel, but why shouldn't we? Israel is a democratic nation with amazing trade ties with us. They have the number one producer of generic pharmaceuticals on the planet, and if your computer uses a Dell processor odds are it was fabricated in Israel. Israel invented AIM, too.
What would you have America do, just back down because doing the right thing is unpopular? Fuck that. Most Americans believe that aiding Israel and other small democracies that depend on us for protection (South Korea, West Germany pre-reconciliation, etc.) is a hallmark to our foreign policy.
We don't even put soldiers in Israel, and our foreign aid to Israel is only slightly higher than our foreign aid to
Egypt, a nation with a dictator.
Israel catches a lot of shit because the Arab world hates Israel. There's tons of stuff going on right now that's way worse than what's happening in Gaza. Darfur, where the killers are Muslim (so we can't pay attention to that in the Arab world), DR Congo, where 5 million have died in the past ten years, and so much more.
Israel is a country that isn't going away. Until the Arab world accepts that and works for peace none of this stuff will stop.