The refusal of either side to deal with the facts on the ground, in the name of some idealized fantasy of "Justice" has rendered the entire situation untenable.
I'm now seeing posts that are making the claim that the 10/07 attacks were "really" carefully directed at military targets and personnel, that the rapes and murders didn't "really" happen, etc. Sandy Hook denial levels of BS, backed my "evidence" that is magically never provided.
Very well expressed sentiments here, Jack Cluth. The horror that Hamas inflicted on 10/7, particularly to women, is monstrous. Clearly, what they did is orders of magnitude worse than when Israel unintentionally kills civilians in their quest to destroy Hamas. Those on the the Left equating the two are either that benighted to elide the difference, or are just intellectually dishonest. That said, as you so appreciably noted, what Israel has been doing has created it's own monstrous legacy, due to the sheer number of dead and the physical destruction of much of Gaza. Like you, I want it to stop. There has to be a way to strike out Hamas and minimize harm to civilian lives. At this point, Israel needs to play the long game with Hamas. They should cease fire, secure their border with Gaza, restart peace negotiations with Saudi Arabia, collect intelligence on Hamas' leadership, and have Mossad take them out surgically, whether within Gaza, or abroad. They need to be of two minds; with one mind strategizing to eliminate Hamas leadership, with the other working feverishly for a diplomatic solution. Like you, I'm a supporter of the existence of a Jewish state. In that sense, in the formation of the extreme Left I'm a Zionist; good. I've no problem being considered as such, because the history of Jews is rife with episodes of violence against them spanning millennia. If any group of people require a nation of their own for their safety it's Jews. But regular Palestinians also deserve their own land and the means of self determination. Neither Jews or Palestinians are going anywhere in that place, so pragmatism demands that they compromise enough so that both can exist there in peace.
I agree completely. People can call me naïve if they choose, but I've always believed, and will continue to believe, that good, decent, and serious people among Israelis and Palestinians will find peace if and when they choose to.
This endless cycle of hatred, war, and death cannot continue forever. It will only result in mutually assured destruction. The good news is that hatred is a learned behavior, which means that it can be unlearned. It CAN happen, the only question being how long it will take for both sides to stop demonizing the other.
In one of Tom Clancy's books, he constructed a Middle East peace in which the Vatican's Swiss Guards were deployed to Israel to keep the peace. Perhaps it will take something along those lines initially, because there will be those committed to doing whatever they can to destroy peace.
Then again, perhaps my downfall is being overly optimistic. :-)
The refusal of either side to deal with the facts on the ground, in the name of some idealized fantasy of "Justice" has rendered the entire situation untenable.
I'm now seeing posts that are making the claim that the 10/07 attacks were "really" carefully directed at military targets and personnel, that the rapes and murders didn't "really" happen, etc. Sandy Hook denial levels of BS, backed my "evidence" that is magically never provided.
Something about truth being the first casualty of war....
Very well expressed sentiments here, Jack Cluth. The horror that Hamas inflicted on 10/7, particularly to women, is monstrous. Clearly, what they did is orders of magnitude worse than when Israel unintentionally kills civilians in their quest to destroy Hamas. Those on the the Left equating the two are either that benighted to elide the difference, or are just intellectually dishonest. That said, as you so appreciably noted, what Israel has been doing has created it's own monstrous legacy, due to the sheer number of dead and the physical destruction of much of Gaza. Like you, I want it to stop. There has to be a way to strike out Hamas and minimize harm to civilian lives. At this point, Israel needs to play the long game with Hamas. They should cease fire, secure their border with Gaza, restart peace negotiations with Saudi Arabia, collect intelligence on Hamas' leadership, and have Mossad take them out surgically, whether within Gaza, or abroad. They need to be of two minds; with one mind strategizing to eliminate Hamas leadership, with the other working feverishly for a diplomatic solution. Like you, I'm a supporter of the existence of a Jewish state. In that sense, in the formation of the extreme Left I'm a Zionist; good. I've no problem being considered as such, because the history of Jews is rife with episodes of violence against them spanning millennia. If any group of people require a nation of their own for their safety it's Jews. But regular Palestinians also deserve their own land and the means of self determination. Neither Jews or Palestinians are going anywhere in that place, so pragmatism demands that they compromise enough so that both can exist there in peace.
I agree completely. People can call me naïve if they choose, but I've always believed, and will continue to believe, that good, decent, and serious people among Israelis and Palestinians will find peace if and when they choose to.
This endless cycle of hatred, war, and death cannot continue forever. It will only result in mutually assured destruction. The good news is that hatred is a learned behavior, which means that it can be unlearned. It CAN happen, the only question being how long it will take for both sides to stop demonizing the other.
In one of Tom Clancy's books, he constructed a Middle East peace in which the Vatican's Swiss Guards were deployed to Israel to keep the peace. Perhaps it will take something along those lines initially, because there will be those committed to doing whatever they can to destroy peace.
Then again, perhaps my downfall is being overly optimistic. :-)