Israel Q.A.

[asiepshtain]

Hello everybody,

I'm an Israeli citizen, a reserve solider and nice guy. I've been hearing a lot of misinformation about Israel lately. The latest conflict in the Gaza strip has stirred up many feeling in the world, many of them sadly based on misinformation. I would like to correct that.

Let me begin by stating a few facts about myself just as a basis. I am neither extreme to either left or right in politics when it comes to security. I voted to "Meretz", a left-wing welfare state party, in the last few elections as I agree with their economic views. I'm a graphic designer, but I have heavy interest in both politics and philosophy And I served in the army for four years.

The idea is simple, you ask questions about Israel, I answer. I assume the Israel-Palestine conflict would be most heavily discussed but you can ask anything, And yes Israeli girls are the prettiest there are and we do love our 'humus'.

I will attempt to answer any question fairly and with complete honesty, representing as wide a base of opinions as possible.

Shoot.

 

[CIA]

Is Israel as dangerous as portrayed in the media? I've been wondering about that for a while now.

 

[ElephantGuts]

Hi, fellow Jew here (I can only assume you're Jewish, though true you never mentioned as such). I don't have any particular questions right now, though I'll ask if I think of one. But when you said that you've been hearing misinformation about Israel, could you clarify some it? I'd like to know in case I heard it and didn't realize it was wrong, and maybe you can educate some other people in the same situation.

 

[asiepshtain]

Is Israel as dangerous as portrayed in the media? I've been wondering about that for a while now.

A tough question to answer as it solely based on the media you have seen. Years ago I would have come back with a resounding no. However, today, many settlements in the south are under constant bombardment. Go to Sderot and in less then twenty hours you will be shelled with all certainty. Lately there have also been a few terrorist attacks in Jerusalem using vehicles to run over people, usually with construction vehicles. So while it's not fallout 3 out here, it can get dangerous.

The greatest danger you will face however is not from war but from traffic, Israel has one of the worst accident mortality rate from both car accidents and being run over. This is due to some very bad decisions in relation to driving laws and the state of the road system. There have been in the history of Isreal many more people who have died in cars then in wars. Sad but true.

 

[bad rider]

What was/is your take about the Gaza conflict?

 

[asiepshtain]

Hi, fellow Jew here (I can only assume you're Jewish, though true you never mentioned as such). I don't have any particular questions right now, though I'll ask if I think of one. But when you said that you've been hearing misinformation about Israel, could you clarify some it? I'd like to know in case I heard it and didn't realize it was wrong, and maybe you can educate some other people in the same situation.

The most pronounced one is that the recent attack on the Gaza strip was unprovoked. Thats ridiculous, eight years of mortar fire and rocket fire is at the very least provocation.

 

[CIA]

Is Israel as dangerous as portrayed in the media? I've been wondering about that for a while now.

A tough question to answer as it solely based on the media you have seen. Years ago I would have come back with a resounding no. However, today, many settlements in the south are under constant bombardment. Go to Sderot and in less then twenty hours you will be shelled with all certainty. Lately there have also been a few terrorist attacks in Jerusalem using vehicles to run over people, usually with construction vehicles. So while it's not fallout 3 out here, it can get dangerous.

The greatest danger you will face however is not from war but from traffic, Israel has one of the worst accident mortality rate from both car accidents and being run over. This is due to some very bad decisions in relation to driving laws and the state of the road system. There have been in the history of Isreal many more people who have died in cars then in wars. Sad but true.

The media in the states seems to want to portray it as Fallout 3-esque. Shelling in less than twenty-four hours though....that is scary.

Traffic is deadly, man. Bad craziness on the roads. I assume that the government doesn't have the time or the money to do a serious infrastructure overhaul.

 

[Avatar Roku]

Hi, fellow Jew here (I can only assume you're Jewish, though true you never mentioned as such). I don't have any particular questions right now, though I'll ask if I think of one. But when you said that you've been hearing misinformation about Israel, could you clarify some it? I'd like to know in case I heard it and didn't realize it was wrong, and maybe you can educate some other people in the same situation.

The most pronounced one is that the recent attack on the Gaza strip was unprovoked. Thats ridiculous, eight years of mortar fire and rocket fire is at the very least provocation.

That's what I've been saying (hi, another Jew here!), but some feel the response was somewhat disproportionate, and I honestly have no idea, not having been there. What did you think of Israel's response to Gaza?

 

[asiepshtain]

What was/is your take about the Gaza conflict?

damm, thats a HUGE question. and I think thats one of the most important things to remember, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most complex conflicts there ever where. Including elements of religion, politics, territories, culture, globalization, east-west conflict and many more.

Personally, I believe in a two-state solution based on the border of 67 as accepted by the UN with some give and take on both sides. However, Hamas who are now in control of the Gaza strip are a terrorist organization and unlike the PLO are not someone who we can work with. Hamas has publicly pronounced its goal as the death of every Jew alive in the world, not Israel, the world. Kind makes brokering a deal difficult, maybe we can talk them down to just half of the Jewish population. Sadly, Hamas has growing support in the Palestinian population.

I was a supporter of the two-state solution even before the Oslo accords, when it was considered left-wing madness. Sadly with each passing day it seems to grow farther away.

 

[Chinchama]

Wow, there are Jews on the internet. Hi there fellow Jews. Okay, so I need to set this one up for you. A friend of mine who I used to be fairly close with has basically just started going insane on me. He suddenly changed his mind about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and decided that Palestine was right and that Israel's actions were wrong.That's fine with me. I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion. He started out saying that it had nothing to do with my religion and that was great. Two people with different views being able to share the same space, it was wonderful. Then he became basically very aggressive about the issue. He dumped a lot of his old friend to hang out with transfer students from Palestinian areas of the Middle East.

Where I'm going with this is before I pissed him off enough to stop talking to me, he would go out of his way to attack me for certain things. He is under the impression that the Israeli government is a corrupt terrorist organization out to kill all the Palestinians and take their land. I said that civilian causalities are likely to happen in the world's most populous place. I also said it's not like they are lining people up and shooting them. He then proceeded to send me a link from an Iranian website of where an Israeli soldier sat on a farmer and then shot him. This act was also reported by farmers and was seen from about half a mile away. That soldier was immediately reprimanded and disarmed. He feels that the action of one Israeli soldier represents the entire nation. However when I tell him that Hamas, an elected part of the Palestinian nation is shooting rockets into Israeli markets he claims that this elected government doesn't represent all of Palestine. Sure it doesn't, but if one man can represent an entire nation why can an elected group designed to represent part of a nation represent the whole thing?

He is very hypocritical of the entire situation. I have friends that are Palestinian and we get along greatly because we feel that both sides need to come to a stop and that blame cannot be put on either Israel or Palestine, at this point both sides just need to stop pointing fingers and stop.

But whenever I talk to this one friend and I show him things from another perspective he gets loud and starts to yell and smack tables. If I keep talking it gets to the point where he gets physically violent, the bastard has struck me over stuff like that. I can't see why he can't stay calm in a debate. I ended up telling him that the people he supports share his attitude and are so easily worked up, that is why there will never be peace there, because terrorists will never sit down and discuss things in a civil manner.

Are there any documents or anything you can direct me to to show him that the Israeli government is not some terrorist organization out to kill innocent people. Particularly something where people of Palestinian origin support the Israeli government?...sorry this post was so long everyone

 

[Horticulture]

What's your take on (inter-Jewish) race relations, specifically between the Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Arab and Slavic-speaking populations of Israel today? With the new coalition forming, it seems like an appropriate time to ask.

 

[Urock]

Hello, interesting to hear from someone actually from Israel.

I'm generally a firm supporter of Israel when it comes to Israel-Palestine conflict. To those who say Israel's response was disproportionate, I ask: What would the U.S. do if a drug cartel (or better yet, the Mexican army/police) in Tijuana started firing rockets into San Diego? The answer would, of course, involve the California National Guard at the very least. What Hamas is doing would qualify as an act of war if it was between two Western nations. Yet people seem to look the other way on that issue, which really irks me.

As for questions, I'm curious as to your view on the United States, its former and current president, and your view of its backing of Israel.

 

[asiepshtain]

Hi, fellow Jew here (I can only assume you're Jewish, though true you never mentioned as such). I don't have any particular questions right now, though I'll ask if I think of one. But when you said that you've been hearing misinformation about Israel, could you clarify some it? I'd like to know in case I heard it and didn't realize it was wrong, and maybe you can educate some other people in the same situation.

The most pronounced one is that the recent attack on the Gaza strip was unprovoked. Thats ridiculous, eight years of mortar fire and rocket fire is at the very least provocation.

That's what I've been saying (hi, another Jew here!), but some feel the response was somewhat disproportionate, and I honestly have no idea, not having been there. What did you think of Israel's response to Gaza?

The response in the Gaza strip was off course disproportionate. Then again, we wanted to win. War isn't play, you don't do it to be fair, you do it to win. We have airplanes and tanks, so we used them. It came as response to intensifying fire on our country for years and years.

The truly sad thing is the price both civilian populations have to pay, and I am gravely aware of the very high civilian casualties in the Palestinian side. To those of you who have never been to Gaza it is the most densely populated piece of land on earth, and even while the army spread pamphlets urging civilians to retreat and actually using an automated system to call cell phones in areas about to be hit with warnings, hitting civilians was unavoidable.

 

[Urock]

Let me be clear. When I say the reaction wasn't disproportional, I mean it wasn't disproportional compared to the retaliation any other Western nation would have invoked.

 

[asiepshtain]

What's your take on (inter-Jewish) race relations, specifically between the Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Arab and Slavic-speaking populations of Israel today? With the new coalition forming, it seems like an appropriate time to ask.

I'm an Ashkenazi decedent and my wife is a Sephardi decedent so I really don't take it into account. However, sadly, some people are still biased against one camp or the other, mostly the older people. Like any attack on minority just because it's a minority, it belongs in the past.

 

[asiepshtain]

Hello, interesting to hear from someone actually from Israel.

I'm generally a firm supporter of Israel when it comes to Israel-Palestine conflict. To those who say Israel's response was disproportionate, I ask: What would the U.S. do if a drug cartel (or better yet, the Mexican army/police) in Tijuana started firing rockets into San Diego? The answer would, of course, involve the California National Guard at the very least. What Hamas is doing would qualify as an act of war if it was between two Western nations. Yet people seem to look the other way on that issue, which really irks me.

As for questions, I'm curious as to your view on the United States, its former and current president, and your view of its backing of Israel.

The USA and Israel have a parent-child relationship, at least in my view (USA is the parent, obviously) And like all such relationships it's a complex one. We know we owe our lives to you and admire you, but we still rebel when you tell us to clean our room, not listen to heavy rock and do our homework.
Seriously, we hold the USA in highest regard as our most vital allay. However, Israel has very strong socialist root. For a very long time our Capitalist party was more socialist then your democratic party. And lets say the bush years didn't exactly help our view of the USA.

And then came Obama, and here I'm going to get personal, I LOVE Obama. I was SOOOO envious of your last election. And when he won, good god, I wanted to move to the USA.

 

[cainx10a]

Wow, there are Jews on the internet. Hi there fellow Jews. Okay, so I need to set this one up for you. A friend of mine who I used to be fairly close with has basically just started going insane on me. He suddenly changed his mind about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and decided that Palestine was right and that Israel's actions were wrong.That's fine with me. I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion. He started out saying that it had nothing to do with my religion and that was great. Two people with different views being able to share the same space, it was wonderful. Then he became basically very aggressive about the issue. He dumped a lot of his old friend to hang out with transfer students from Palestinian areas of the Middle East.

Where I'm going with this is before I pissed him off enough to stop talking to me, he would go out of his way to attack me for certain things. He is under the impression that the Israeli government is a corrupt terrorist organization out to kill all the Palestinians and take their land. I said that civilian causalities are likely to happen in the world's most populous place. I also said it's not like they are lining people up and shooting them. He then proceeded to send me a link from an Iranian website of where an Israeli soldier sat on a farmer and then shot him. This act was also reported by farmers and was seen from about half a mile away. That soldier was immediately reprimanded and disarmed. He feels that the action of one Israeli soldier represents the entire nation. However when I tell him that Hamas, an elected part of the Palestinian nation is shooting rockets into Israeli markets he claims that this elected government doesn't represent all of Palestine. Sure it doesn't, but if one man can represent an entire nation why can an elected group designed to represent part of a nation represent the whole thing?

He is very hypocritical of the entire situation. I have friends that are Palestinian and we get along greatly because we feel that both sides need to come to a stop and that blame cannot be put on either Israel or Palestine, at this point both sides just need to stop pointing fingers and stop.

But whenever I talk to this one friend and I show him things from another perspective he gets loud and starts to yell and smack tables. If I keep talking it gets to the point where he gets physically violent, the bastard has struck me over stuff like that. I can't see why he can't stay calm in a debate. I ended up telling him that the people he supports share his attitude and are so easily worked up, that is why there will never be peace there, because terrorists will never sit down and discuss things in a civil manner.

Are there any documents or anything you can direct me to to show him that the Israeli government is not some terrorist organization out to kill innocent people. Particularly something where people of Palestinian origin support the Israeli government?...sorry this post was so long everyone

An Israeli CO shot and killed a young girl, because he believe the younglin was carrying C4/w/e in her damn school bag. And he shot her multiple times to confirm that she was dead. I really don't know what to think of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at this point. A tiger that keeps getting pat on his back, and supported by the west, and a rat that keep uh, biting back at the tiger's paws. Courageous, foolish, human instinct of survival at work, I don't really care to understand it anymore.

So my question is, why wasn't Israel rebuilt in friendly region? You know, Texas? South America? Jerusalem belong to everyone, not just the Jew.

Hello, interesting to hear from someone actually from Israel.

I'm generally a firm supporter of Israel when it comes to Israel-Palestine conflict. To those who say Israel's response was disproportionate, I ask: What would the U.S. do if a drug cartel (or better yet, the Mexican army/police) in Tijuana started firing rockets into San Diego? The answer would, of course, involve the California National Guard at the very least. What Hamas is doing would qualify as an act of war if it was between two Western nations. Yet people seem to look the other way on that issue, which really irks me.

As for questions, I'm curious as to your view on the United States, its former and current president, and your view of its backing of Israel.

So, the Palestinians are like the mafia, they are not actually people of Palestine whose land was 'illegally' given to the Israelis? I mean, I sort of understand the brits didn't care much for the Arabs based on what Churchill wrote on these "sand rats", still.

 

[xxDarlenexx]

Wow, this is sort of spooky. My boyfriend and his brother will be going to Israel this summer as part of Project Birthright and they'll be there for 10 days. My boyfriend has tried to calm me down, but I've still be extremely nervous about the two of them going, because as was said, the media is making it out to be very dangerous.

I'm not exactly sure where they will be specifically staying, and I know Israel is a big country and not all areas are "Fallout 3" as you said, but i'm assuming they're going to more historical and religious sites. Is there anything you can say that will ease my mind as someone who lives there on a day to day basis?


Thank you <3

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

Do you believe the existence of Israel is justified?

 

[bodyklok]

Which is the most elite part of the Israel army?