Israel Q.A.

[The Infamous Scamola]

What are the attitudes towards Israeli atheists? Is it acceptable to be Israeli and not Jewish?

If you mean Jewish as a religeon, well, Israel Is a Jewish state for the ewish race, not the jewish beleivers, except the ultra orthodox (the Scared for Israelis), people here are excepting of Atheists, My family has religeouse friends, and we are non reliouse (that for them is the same as atheists) and we go along O.K.

If you mean Jewish as a race, well... While the goverment teart non jewish Israeli citizens the same as jewish, there alot of right-wing extremists that say the arabs need to burn in a fire and that we should make Kababs on there burning body, But most israelis are O.K., but get pale and almost faint when they meet with Israeli Arabs, but thats just in our blood >.>

It was my understanding that there is no Jewish race and that the suggestion is racist. Though there is a Jewish 'people' through ethnicity, culture and belief.

I'm confused by your second paragraph. I thought gentiles and those of other faiths were to be respected. Surely the right-wing extremists are of the Jewish faith, otherwise they would not have a justification for the existence of the state of Israel as proclaimed in the Torah. In which case how do they justify calling for murder? That behaviour is not acceptable in the Torah except for exceptional circumstances.

*facepalm*, those people AREN'T religouse, Israel ISN'T a relegiouse contry, The probbly serve shrimps at the goverment cafetiria, and those kababs the extremists are cooking on the arabs burning body is probbly pig meat.

Don't facepalm! It's a highly ambiguous area; Israel seems to switch from saying it is a religious state to justify its existence to claiming it isn't to wriggle out of religious accountability.

The main justification for the creation of the State of Israel was that it was promised from God. If Israel is not religious then this argument is invalid and the land was 'stolen' from the Palestinians, thus it is no different from the colonising by the European states of much of the world, an act widely condemned.

I have to say that this is my opinion, that the land was stolen from the Palestinians. That the State of Israel was given out of guilt from the holocaust. Ironically the actions and crimes under the holocaust are being repeated by the state of Israel against the citizens of Palestine. You can track the oppression from the 1930s against the Jewish population and see remarkable similarities against Palestinians. We now see the same war crimes conducted against Palestinians as the Nazi's committed against the Jewish people, though on a smaller scale, the action are just as monsterous and horrific.

I don't recall hearing about any Israeli death camps...

They still use illegal weapons on women and childern.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Phosphorous#2008.2F9_Israel.E2.80.93Gaza_conflict

 

[theSovietConnection]

Have you had any experience with the Merkava? And what do you think of it as a tank compared to the other MBTs used in the world?

Didn't serve in the armored forces so I never used one, but I did get to train along side to them. Can't compare it to other tanks as my knowledge on the subject is limited, but let me tell you this.

You have never seen anything scarier then a dozen metal giants storming at you at 80 kilometers per hour, crushing everything in their path and firing shells every few seconds.
I thank god I was never on the other side of a charge like that.

Okay, thanks. I asked because I did a history project on tanks, and although I got a chance to talk to people who had served with the T-72 and the Abrams, I never got the oppurtunity to talk to anyone who had served with the Merkava

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

You're nearly a treat... but you're really a cry! Sorry, had to.

... is that a Floyd reference? Sorry, I'm American, and I've only heard that expression in Pink Floyd lyrics.

asiepshtain, thank you for answering my questions. Politics are fucked up in the best of times, and I know your countrymen are dieing. Good luck to you and yours.

 

[PopperThingi]

What are the attitudes towards Israeli atheists? Is it acceptable to be Israeli and not Jewish?

If you mean Jewish as a religeon, well, Israel Is a Jewish state for the ewish race, not the jewish beleivers, except the ultra orthodox (the Scared for Israelis), people here are excepting of Atheists, My family has religeouse friends, and we are non reliouse (that for them is the same as atheists) and we go along O.K.

If you mean Jewish as a race, well... While the goverment teart non jewish Israeli citizens the same as jewish, there alot of right-wing extremists that say the arabs need to burn in a fire and that we should make Kababs on there burning body, But most israelis are O.K., but get pale and almost faint when they meet with Israeli Arabs, but thats just in our blood >.>

It was my understanding that there is no Jewish race and that the suggestion is racist. Though there is a Jewish 'people' through ethnicity, culture and belief.

I'm confused by your second paragraph. I thought gentiles and those of other faiths were to be respected. Surely the right-wing extremists are of the Jewish faith, otherwise they would not have a justification for the existence of the state of Israel as proclaimed in the Torah. In which case how do they justify calling for murder? That behaviour is not acceptable in the Torah except for exceptional circumstances.

*facepalm*, those people AREN'T religouse, Israel ISN'T a relegiouse contry, The probbly serve shrimps at the goverment cafetiria, and those kababs the extremists are cooking on the arabs burning body is probbly pig meat.

Don't facepalm! It's a highly ambiguous area; Israel seems to switch from saying it is a religious state to justify its existence to claiming it isn't to wriggle out of religious accountability.

The main justification for the creation of the State of Israel was that it was promised from God. If Israel is not religious then this argument is invalid and the land was 'stolen' from the Palestinians, thus it is no different from the colonising by the European states of much of the world, an act widely condemned.

I have to say that this is my opinion, that the land was stolen from the Palestinians. That the State of Israel was given out of guilt from the holocaust. Ironically the actions and crimes under the holocaust are being repeated by the state of Israel against the citizens of Palestine. You can track the oppression from the 1930s against the Jewish population and see remarkable similarities against Palestinians. We now see the same war crimes conducted against Palestinians as the Nazi's committed against the Jewish people, though on a smaller scale, the action are just as monsterous and horrific.

One by one:
No, Israel is not a religious country, although some think it should be. God is not even mentioned in our Decleration of Independence. The State Of Israel was not promised by god. and no argument for our existence has anything to do with religioun, at least by the general view.

No land was stolen in the history of Israel. The first zionists payed a lot for the land they bought here, and got only swamps and mosquitos for it. Conquests by Israel are questionable, I admit, but now most of them (Sinai, Judea and Samaria) are a part of Israel that no outsider claims, so it is ours, or were returned.
I Will not denay that the holocaut was a major reason why Israel now exists, but we do not, read this carefully, DO NOT, commit any of the tragedies that happend in that damned times.
The nazis slaughtered jews for the sake of doing so, killing with no merci for children or old people. No act by Israel was ment to kill innocent lives. None. People get hurt in the way, because terrorists act in crowded settlements. There is no mass-murder, no genocide. We do not want to harm civilians. Did you know that in the last conflicts, Herald were sent before every bombardment, to inform civilians and tell them to run away? I don't recall the US doing so in Afghanistan or Iraq. The Israel Defence Forces are the most moral army in the world, and the acts of sadistic retards that decide it's funny to go kill Arab cost us, and them, a lot.
If you still belive in what you say, I'll be happy to show you FACTS, that denay those extreme sayings. The Conquest in Gaza is bad, and a hell of a lot of effort is put into finishing it and granting Palestine a State recognition, so we all could just have peace. But as long as terrorist organizations will keep bombard the south of Israel and control Gaza with iron grip, Israel is entitled to protect itself and its civilians

 

[Horticulture]

No land was stolen in the history of Israel. The first zionists payed a lot for the land they bought here, and got only swamps and mosquitos for it. Conquests by Israel are questionable, I admit, but now most of them (Sinai, Judea and Samaria) are a part of Israel that no outsider claims, so it is ours, or were returned.

Avoiding the minefield topic of what constitutes 'stolen' land, even the purchased land acquisitions by early Zionists are can be questioned. This isn't to say that they weren't made within the existing (Ottoman/British) legal frameworks, or even that they weren't made in good faith. However, the attempts by the late Ottoman empire to implement a program of land deeds were, like so many other efforts to allot territory in the region, far from perfect.

Because land were typically held communally (i.e., the whole village farms x acres together) in an informal system, it wasn't practical to chop lands up into individual parcels in many cases. What was done instead was to award deeds for large tracts of land to clan or village headmen, under the assumption that they would manage them in the best interests of their kin and communities. Unfortunately, this policy didn't anticipate a concerted effort to acquire a homeland for the stateless Zionist nation. Land prices rose due to demand from the well-funded and -organized Zionist movement, and the sale of (often marginal, as you noted) land became quite tempting. Because one person held the deed for the land of a whole community, it was possible to become quite wealthy. Often, the sale went unnoticed as lands were acquired by the Jewish National Fund well in advance of the location of pioneers to settle them.

What this meant for the communities, of course, was that some day down the road, a group of unsuspecting settlers would arrive, and inform the (equally confused) Arab Palestinians that they were squatting, and now might be a good time to move to the city. Needless to say, over a century later, there are some hard feelings on both sides.

 

[Azetheros]

... is that a Floyd reference? Sorry, I'm American, and I've only heard that expression in Pink Floyd lyrics.

Why yes it is (see Pigs (Three Different Kinds). I'm an American too, though I lived in Ecuador most of my life (so far), and I knew it was a Pink Floyd reference. Being American is no excuse!

Also, I want to repeat my earlier claim: Israel's chief justification for existence is the fact that Jews need a state to defend their rights if/when the Western world's guilt trip over the Holocaust wears out and we find ourselves treated like we were back in the day. The legal precedent for the partition of Palestine into states with different majorities is the partition of India. The reason you'll hear of people talking about the Jewish race is that 1) we got pushed around in very racial terms for very long, peaking with the Holocaust, where 2nd and 3rd generation converts (people who potentially had never been Jewish or even knew they should be) were considered Jewish for Nazi purposes (in other words, racializing Judaism), and 2) not all of us are Jewish anymore, but we recognize that that wouldn't be protection from discrimination if it came.

Well, at least as a history student that's the best I can come up with. Maybe my pogrom-centric analysis (Or as I prefer, citizenship-centric analysis, stemming from the Hannah Arendt paper "The Decline of the Nation State and the End of the Rights of Man") would be called incorrect in Israel... Would it? ^^'

 

[garfoldsomeoneelse]

Is the TAR-21 as good as they say?

 

[arcainia]

On a totally unrelated issue, I'd like a share a rather bizzar yet cute video my friend sent me.

http://www.mantis.co.il/pesach2006/

Happy passover everyone.

 

[beddo]

What are the attitudes towards Israeli atheists? Is it acceptable to be Israeli and not Jewish?

If you mean Jewish as a religeon, well, Israel Is a Jewish state for the ewish race, not the jewish beleivers, except the ultra orthodox (the Scared for Israelis), people here are excepting of Atheists, My family has religeouse friends, and we are non reliouse (that for them is the same as atheists) and we go along O.K.

If you mean Jewish as a race, well... While the goverment teart non jewish Israeli citizens the same as jewish, there alot of right-wing extremists that say the arabs need to burn in a fire and that we should make Kababs on there burning body, But most israelis are O.K., but get pale and almost faint when they meet with Israeli Arabs, but thats just in our blood >.>

It was my understanding that there is no Jewish race and that the suggestion is racist. Though there is a Jewish 'people' through ethnicity, culture and belief.

I'm confused by your second paragraph. I thought gentiles and those of other faiths were to be respected. Surely the right-wing extremists are of the Jewish faith, otherwise they would not have a justification for the existence of the state of Israel as proclaimed in the Torah. In which case how do they justify calling for murder? That behaviour is not acceptable in the Torah except for exceptional circumstances.

*facepalm*, those people AREN'T religouse, Israel ISN'T a relegiouse contry, The probbly serve shrimps at the goverment cafetiria, and those kababs the extremists are cooking on the arabs burning body is probbly pig meat.

Don't facepalm! It's a highly ambiguous area; Israel seems to switch from saying it is a religious state to justify its existence to claiming it isn't to wriggle out of religious accountability.

The main justification for the creation of the State of Israel was that it was promised from God. If Israel is not religious then this argument is invalid and the land was 'stolen' from the Palestinians, thus it is no different from the colonising by the European states of much of the world, an act widely condemned.

I have to say that this is my opinion, that the land was stolen from the Palestinians. That the State of Israel was given out of guilt from the holocaust. Ironically the actions and crimes under the holocaust are being repeated by the state of Israel against the citizens of Palestine. You can track the oppression from the 1930s against the Jewish population and see remarkable similarities against Palestinians. We now see the same war crimes conducted against Palestinians as the Nazi's committed against the Jewish people, though on a smaller scale, the action are just as monsterous and horrific.

I don't recall hearing about any Israeli death camps...

And I say just that as an understatement, besides everything else that isn't true with what you said and how offensive that is to suggest that the same people who suffered through the Holocaust are now doing the same thing.

If it were not true then it would be offensive. I would like to point out that I was making the point that we a starting to see the same kinds of war crimes, though I do note that the pale in comparison in terms of scale. Still life is life and under no case can I except that even one murder is acceptable.

Throughout the 1930s the Nazi Party made increasing social restrictions against Jewish People. This was disgusting behaviour, Jewish citizens of Germany slowly lost their rights to freedom of movement, freedom of employment, ownership of property and goods and many more oppressive measures which led to kristal nacht, arguably the first concerted violence against the Jewish people where they were forcibly removed from their own property and arbitrarily detained. This decended into the worst crimes against humanity ever committed and on the biggest scale ever seen. A sickening and repugnant series of events the irreversibly scarred humanity.

Now from my understanding, the same oppression is now being asserted against the Palestinian people. We have seen restrictions on the ownership of property, freedom of work, freedom of movement and forcible removal from propery. Moreover, numerous Palestinian religious figures have been kidnapped and held in arbitrary detention. As I discussed above, we can see that the same behaviour as conducted in 1930s Germany.

Now, there are no 'death camps' that I am aware of in Israel. So the Israeli government are clearly not as maniacal. However, we just need to look at the recent conflict to see abhorrent treatment and horrific murders of Palestinian civilians, use of children as human shields, use of white phosphorus, bulldozing property with civilians inside, I point you to the following links:

[link]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/19/israeli-troops-gaza-shootings-civilians[/link]
[link]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7960824.stm[/link]
[link]http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/un-accuses-israeli-troops-of-using-boy-11-as-human-shield-14240116.html[/link]
[link]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/gaza-human-shields-claim[/link]
[link]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/03/2009323225126719889.html[/link]
[link]http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-armys-use-white-phosphorus-gaza-clear-undeniable-20090119[/link]
[link]http://www.amnesty.org/en/gaza-crisis[/link]

Now while nowhere near on the same scale, these actions show the same kind of callous disregard for human life. Sadly these actions are something that some Israeli citizens see fit to be proud of; [link]http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Israeli-Army-T-Shirts-Mock-Killing-Palestinian-Women-And-Children-During-Gaza-Offensive/Article/200903315245946[/link]

I am not trying to single out Israel for War Crimes, I am well aware that War Crimes are committed by almost every state that is involved in any war. It is worrying that these crimes appear to have been given as orders. Also, that civilians were stopped from leaving war zones and that international aid was heavily restricted from entering the Gaza Strip.

It seems that we, as a people, are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

 

[beddo]

What are the attitudes towards Israeli atheists? Is it acceptable to be Israeli and not Jewish?

If you mean Jewish as a religeon, well, Israel Is a Jewish state for the ewish race, not the jewish beleivers, except the ultra orthodox (the Scared for Israelis), people here are excepting of Atheists, My family has religeouse friends, and we are non reliouse (that for them is the same as atheists) and we go along O.K.

If you mean Jewish as a race, well... While the goverment teart non jewish Israeli citizens the same as jewish, there alot of right-wing extremists that say the arabs need to burn in a fire and that we should make Kababs on there burning body, But most israelis are O.K., but get pale and almost faint when they meet with Israeli Arabs, but thats just in our blood >.>

It was my understanding that there is no Jewish race and that the suggestion is racist. Though there is a Jewish 'people' through ethnicity, culture and belief.

I'm confused by your second paragraph. I thought gentiles and those of other faiths were to be respected. Surely the right-wing extremists are of the Jewish faith, otherwise they would not have a justification for the existence of the state of Israel as proclaimed in the Torah. In which case how do they justify calling for murder? That behaviour is not acceptable in the Torah except for exceptional circumstances.

*facepalm*, those people AREN'T religouse, Israel ISN'T a relegiouse contry, The probbly serve shrimps at the goverment cafetiria, and those kababs the extremists are cooking on the arabs burning body is probbly pig meat.

Don't facepalm! It's a highly ambiguous area; Israel seems to switch from saying it is a religious state to justify its existence to claiming it isn't to wriggle out of religious accountability.

The main justification for the creation of the State of Israel was that it was promised from God. If Israel is not religious then this argument is invalid and the land was 'stolen' from the Palestinians, thus it is no different from the colonising by the European states of much of the world, an act widely condemned.

I have to say that this is my opinion, that the land was stolen from the Palestinians. That the State of Israel was given out of guilt from the holocaust. Ironically the actions and crimes under the holocaust are being repeated by the state of Israel against the citizens of Palestine. You can track the oppression from the 1930s against the Jewish population and see remarkable similarities against Palestinians. We now see the same war crimes conducted against Palestinians as the Nazi's committed against the Jewish people, though on a smaller scale, the action are just as monsterous and horrific.

One by one:
No, Israel is not a religious country, although some think it should be. God is not even mentioned in our Decleration of Independence. The State Of Israel was not promised by god. and no argument for our existence has anything to do with religioun, at least by the general view.

No land was stolen in the history of Israel. The first zionists payed a lot for the land they bought here, and got only swamps and mosquitos for it. Conquests by Israel are questionable, I admit, but now most of them (Sinai, Judea and Samaria) are a part of Israel that no outsider claims, so it is ours, or were returned.
I Will not denay that the holocaut was a major reason why Israel now exists,

I disagree but this is obviously still an unsettled area and going round in circles won't help.

but we do not, read this carefully, DO NOT, commit any of the tragedies that happend in that damned times.
The nazis slaughtered jews for the sake of doing so, killing with no merci for children or old people. No act by Israel was ment to kill innocent lives. None.

Firstly, I don't view the Jewish people as one group that act together, I'm talking about the government and armed forces.

Now, I can point out that innocent people have been killed directly as a result of actions committed or sactioned by the Israeli government.

[link]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Corrie[/link]

Look at the recent conflict to see abhorrent treatment and horrific murders of Palestinian civilians, use of children as human shields, use of white phosphorus, bulldozing property with civilians inside, I point you to the following links:

[link]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/19/israeli-troops-gaza-shootings-civilians[/link]
[link]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7960824.stm[/link]
[link]http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/un-accuses-israeli-troops-of-using-boy-11-as-human-shield-14240116.html[/link]
[link]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/gaza-human-shields-claim[/link]
[link]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/03/2009323225126719889.html[/link]
[link]http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-armys-use-white-phosphorus-gaza-clear-undeniable-20090119[/link]
[link]http://www.amnesty.org/en/gaza-crisis[/link]
[link]http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/F1EC67EF7A498A30C125752D005D17F7?opendocument[/link]
[link]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7818122.stm[/link]

So yes, the Israeli army has directly targetted, ordered the murder of and murdered unarmed civilians with full knowledge of their actions. How you have come to hear this is false is beyond me.

People get hurt in the way, because terrorists act in crowded settlements. There is no mass-murder, no genocide. We do not want to harm civilians.

See above, also see the following for 'indirect' methods of harm to civilians; [link]http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/world/middleeast/28egypt.html?_r=1[/link]

Did you know that in the last conflicts, Herald were sent before every bombardment, to inform civilians and tell them to run away?

Run away to where!? It is my understnading that they had nowhere to go. Places of cover including UN buildings were targetted and bombed.

I don't recall the US doing so in Afghanistan or Iraq. The Israel Defence Forces are the most moral army in the world, and the acts of sadistic retards that decide it's funny to go kill Arab cost us, and them, a lot.

It seems some people wish to brag about the murder of civilians;[link]http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Israeli-Army-T-Shirts-Mock-Killing-Palestinian-Women-And-Children-During-Gaza-Offensive/Article/200903315245946[/link]

The US's wars have been worse in terms of casualties and they have also committed many war crimes. However, you cannot justify war crimes by pointing out the same actions of other nations.

If you still belive in what you say, I'll be happy to show you FACTS, that denay those extreme sayings. The Conquest in Gaza is bad, and a hell of a lot of effort is put into finishing it and granting Palestine a State recognition, so we all could just have peace. But as long as terrorist organizations will keep bombard the south of Israel and control Gaza with iron grip, Israel is entitled to protect itself and its civilians

Israel, as a country is entitled to defend itself, but I would argue not at any cost. Strategic operations would be more effective and cause far fewer civilian casualties. I'm not trying to single out Israel, there are far worse states and wars but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't point out the wrongs.

I am not trying to single out Israel for War Crimes, I am well aware that War Crimes are committed by almost every state that is involved in any war.

The behaviour of Hamas is also criminal and they have commited many War Crimes. Cowardly hiding behind civillians and targeting Israeli civillians is abhorrent.

I think what we all fail to learn is that war just results in a worse situation for all sides, the only way forward is through dialogue, comprimise and reconsiliation.

 

[ElephantGuts]

I don't recall hearing about any Israeli death camps...

And I say just that as an understatement, besides everything else that isn't true with what you said and how offensive that is to suggest that the same people who suffered through the Holocaust are now doing the same thing.

If it were not true then it would be offensive. I would like to point out that I was making the point that we a starting to see the same kinds of war crimes, though I do note that the pale in comparison in terms of scale. Still life is life and under no case can I except that even one murder is acceptable.

Throughout the 1930s the Nazi Party made increasing social restrictions against Jewish People. This was disgusting behaviour, Jewish citizens of Germany slowly lost their rights to freedom of movement, freedom of employment, ownership of property and goods and many more oppressive measures which led to kristal nacht, arguably the first concerted violence against the Jewish people where they were forcibly removed from their own property and arbitrarily detained. This decended into the worst crimes against humanity ever committed and on the biggest scale ever seen. A sickening and repugnant series of events the irreversibly scarred humanity.

Now from my understanding, the same oppression is now being asserted against the Palestinian people. We have seen restrictions on the ownership of property, freedom of work, freedom of movement and forcible removal from propery. Moreover, numerous Palestinian religious figures have been kidnapped and held in arbitrary detention. As I discussed above, we can see that the same behaviour as conducted in 1930s Germany.

Now, there are no 'death camps' that I am aware of in Israel. So the Israeli government are clearly not as maniacal. However, we just need to look at the recent conflict to see abhorrent treatment and horrific murders of Palestinian civilians, use of children as human shields, use of white phosphorus, bulldozing property with civilians inside, I point you to the following links:

[link]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/19/israeli-troops-gaza-shootings-civilians[/link]
[link]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7960824.stm[/link]
[link]http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/un-accuses-israeli-troops-of-using-boy-11-as-human-shield-14240116.html[/link]
[link]http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/23/gaza-human-shields-claim[/link]
[link]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/03/2009323225126719889.html[/link]
[link]http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/israeli-armys-use-white-phosphorus-gaza-clear-undeniable-20090119[/link]
[link]http://www.amnesty.org/en/gaza-crisis[/link]

Now while nowhere near on the same scale, these actions show the same kind of callous disregard for human life. Sadly these actions are something that some Israeli citizens see fit to be proud of; [link]http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Israeli-Army-T-Shirts-Mock-Killing-Palestinian-Women-And-Children-During-Gaza-Offensive/Article/200903315245946[/link]

I am not trying to single out Israel for War Crimes, I am well aware that War Crimes are committed by almost every state that is involved in any war. It is worrying that these crimes appear to have been given as orders. Also, that civilians were stopped from leaving war zones and that international aid was heavily restricted from entering the Gaza Strip.

It seems that we, as a people, are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Well first of all let's get the obvious out of the way: in 1930s Germany, the Jewish population didn't constantly bombard Germany with artillery, launch terrorist attacks, swear to destroy all of Germany, or in fact take any aggressive action whatsoever. This is in great contrast to the Palestinians, who have launched a great amount of violence against Israel and warranted atleast some retaliatory action against them.

Also in 1930s Germany it was (mostly) the government enacting restrictions and unfair laws against the Jews, not war crimes. This is also in contrast to the current situation in Israel in that it is not the Israeli government attacking the Palestinians, but instead the military conducting war crimes (as in the stories you linked). Not only were those actions not those of the Israeli government, but the government has clearly condemned them and they are clearly illegal (if true, of course).

In short, Hitler's Germany had a clear goal of attacking the Jewish population. Israel's government is taking no such action, but the war crimes you are citing are accidental actions by individual members of the IDF which everyone agrees should not have happened. (EDIT: When I say accidental I know the soldiers may have meant to do them but the Israeli government/command did not mean them to happen when they launched the military operation)

As for the social oppression you mentioned, I believe that asiepshtain, or someone, already addressed this and said that such actions are illegal (though I can't find the post right now). Though it is probably going on to some extent, it's clear that it isn't a goal of the Israeli government like it was for Nazi Germany.

 

[asiepshtain]

I'm a bit sick, so I'll be slow to respond toady and tomorrow, but I haven't forgotten this post. Now for some answers.

 

[asiepshtain]

Frankly, I don't see a point in asking you any questions, because I don't believe a single word you say, but I'm one of this pesky antisemites, who think that those poor Palestinians should be left alone in their country and the new Israel should be on Madagascar or even better, moon.

I'm not going to answer as there are no real questions here, but I feel forced to ask you to consider something.

Being an anti-Semite means hating a lot of people for no good reason. There are many Jews, with many opinions. Some good, some bad. To hate so many for no reason, just brings a lot of hate into your life.

I hope you'll be able to live your life with less hate in it.

 

[WrongSprite]

What are your opinions on:

A: One of your officers ordering civilians into a building, then proceeding to shell it.

B: The use of white phosphorus on civilians.

 

[asiepshtain]

Here's a question for ya, dont you think that the Balfour declaration was contradictory to previous British statements about freeing Palestine from the Turks to make an Arab state?

I think you're getting your history wrong. the Balfour declaration was in 1917. It was incorporated into the 'British Mandate of Palestine' that was enacted in 1922. The creation of a Jewish state was the goal from the start.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

How safe is it for non-Israelis to live or work in Israel? I've been curious about this for a little while, and I hope you can help me answer this question. Thanks in advance.

 

[asiepshtain]

Has the Tavor entered service yet, or are you guys still using M16s? I've seen some demos of the new Israeli Tavor, but I have yet to see if it has been fully adopted by the IDF.

The Tavor has entered service for some of the Units, but not for all unit. The Tavor is more of a short-range weapon and the M-16 will remain in service alongside it.

 

[asiepshtain]

A its good to hear from an insider, the media is giving us nothing but lies to spice thinks up a bit. At least that was the case some while ago, haven't watched or paid attention to the media in quite some while now. I do have a question for ye:
You said you LOVE Mr.Obama, as an European could you explain to me why?, as for what I am aware, the only thing changed is, a white dumb ass got replaced by a black dumb ass (not racist). And you said you're relationship with the US is like a Parent/child relation, could you give me an example of a real situation instead of the example you have already given

~Enchanted

Why I love Obama:

A. I'm a very strong believer in welfare policy.

B. I'm a very strong believer in integrating the internet into government.

C. I'm a HUGE believer in the power of hope.


As for the parent/child thing, it's just a metaphor. We know we our existence to the USA and still we want self-definition.

 

[kawligia]

Why don't more of you come to teach Krav Maga in the US? Its so hard to find an instructor here! >.<

 

[asiepshtain]

Has the big-ass wall helped at all? I can't tell if it's the media over here, but it seems that the wall has helped with decreasing the amount of bombings in Israel. Considering all the anti-wall media, I?m just wondering if it helped in the end.

Plus how do the Israelis look at some of the incidents that occurred in the reclamation of Israel, that resulted in quite a few innocent Palestinian lives being lost?

Personally I'm pro-Israel, but just curious as to your and the general Isaeli views on some of the more questionable aspects to the country.

There is a problem answering this question for a simple reason. Imagine you install an security fence around your house, you don't get any break ins, but how can you know if it's the fence, or just no-one trying?

I can tell you however that since the creation of 'Israeli West Bank barrier' suicide bombing inside of Israel have gone down dramatically, and the professionals in our equivalents of the CIA and NSA say it's a major obstacle for our enemies.

This said, I believe Israel should have shown much more care in its creation. With more attention placed on how the wall would affect near-by Arab settlements. I find the fact that this wasn't taken into account very disturbing.

As to the "War of Independence" and it's price for the Palestinian population, this area has been woefully and dramatically under-played in Israel society and education. And while I disagree with many of the Palestinian claims on certain occasions, to completely ignore the price paid by the Palestinians, is in my mind counter-productive to the peace process.

It is the work of many artists and intellectuals to bring this to the forefront of Israeli knowledge. Thou it is met many time with knee-jerk aggression, as it is seen as aligning with the enemy. Sad, but true.