Are you kidding me?

[Canadian Mojo]

Dear Bibi:

Fuck you, you fucking fuck.

well at least it's not another invasion

So, Palestinian violence is counterproductive which, honestly I can kind of buy as being a slightly less than complete bullshit excuse by Israel. Palestinians pursuing a peaceful solution that would hold them accountable for their actions is also counterproductive. Funny how any action besides the Palestinians collectively crawling in a hole and dying seems to be counterproductive as far as Israel and the US is concerned.

[Dakota Bob]

A Jew who doesn't like giving people money? colour me suprised. tee-hee!

[Eiki-mun]

God damn. When will Israel just go away already?

[Ironchew]

Israel will keep up these shenanigans as long as they get aid from the United States. I don't see the evangelical Christians changing their mind about that, unfortunately.

[Eiki-mun]

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Jewish people as a religion, but the state of Israel seems to find new ways to piss me off every day. You think they of all people would know better than to treat others like this, but I guess religion is too powerful a blinder.

[booley]

the Israeli?palestinian thing always seemed pretty easy to understand once you took the religious aspect as an excuse.

Israel wants the land that Palestine has.  Palestine is too weak to fight them conventionally so they use asymmetrical war fare.

Both sides use terrorism.  But that doesn't' mean both sides are the same.

[Ironchew]

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Jewish people as a religion.

I've definitely got something against their religion; they gave the rest of us the Old Testament.

but the state of Israel seems to find new ways to piss me off every day. You think they of all people would know better than to treat others like this, but I guess religion is too powerful a blinder.

It's not even religion, I don't think. The far right leadership and supporters in Israel are rabidly nationalistic. The Holocaust gave them a persecution complex that is a go-to rationalization for any crimes against humanity they commit.

Of course, the reason the U.S. gives them so much foreign aid has to do with evangelical end-times eschatology -- they have to support Israel so that Jews build a new temple and Jesus comes again and all Jews die a fiery death. Religion is definitely the main factor behind that.

[Lt. Fred]

So it's fine for Hamas to rob Israeli banks, yeah? Since that's exactly what Israel has just done (for the second time in a decade).

[Ultimate Paragon]

And the cycle of hate continues.  It's like a fucking Greek tragedy.

[Askold]

If the Palestinians aren't allowed to continue their cause through non-violent means does this mean that Israel prefers them to be violent? (Of course it does, then they can say that anything they do is self defense.)

At this point I don't like the Israeli goverment very much and though I have nothing against their people as individuals I wish they would get some sense as a group because these warmongers are only in power through majority support. Not to say that the Palestians haven't done anything wrong, but they are the underdogs and this move for example was at least in the right direction... Unlike their rocket attacks, which are a) ineffective b) target civilians c) do not help their cause in any way.

[lord gibbon]

If the Palestinians aren't allowed to continue their cause through non-violent means does this mean that Israel prefers them to be violent? (Of course it does, then they can say that anything they do is self defense.)

At this point I don't like the Israeli goverment very much and though I have nothing against their people as individuals I wish they would get some sense as a group because these warmongers are only in power through majority support. Not to say that the Palestians haven't done anything wrong, but they are the underdogs and this move for example was at least in the right direction... Unlike their rocket attacks, which are a) ineffective b) target civilians c) do not help their cause in any way.

Likud and Netanyahu, at least, do prefer that the Palestinians be violent. Violence leads to fear, and fear leads to Likud victories. If Palestine uses non-violent methods, they're more likely to succeed, and that would be bad in Likud's eyes.

[Art Vandelay]

Of course, the reason the U.S. gives them so much foreign aid has to do with evangelical end-times eschatology -- they have to support Israel so that Jews build a new temple and Jesus comes again and all Jews die a fiery death. Religion is definitely the main factor behind that.

That may be why the fundie Christian demographic supports aid to Israel, but it's not why the US government does it. They just want a loyal ally in the Middle East who's also the military superpower of the region. It's hella useful when you have to convince people who don't much care for you to sell you their oil.

[TheContrarian]

I believe I've found a surefire way to secure peace in the region.

Turkey and Saudi Arabia are strategic regional allies of the west and even though we aren't propping up a dictator in Egypt any more, there's a half-decent chance of a regime there that we can deal with...eventually.

The rest of the region...not so much.

So, a big lead wall from the Mediterranean coast of Egypt, the Saudi/Kuwaiti border and Turkey's borders with Iran/Iraq and Syria.

And we glass the rest.  Jerusalem is a holy site for your bronze age fucknuttery?  Tough Shit, it's a radioactive deadland now.  Grow up and get a life.

Who the fuck is going to want to fight over it then?

And don't start whinging about the death toll, your pathetic "picking sides" nonsense has been contributing to that since 1948, my way is just more direct.

[Ironchew]

And we glass the rest.  Jerusalem is a holy site for your bronze age fucknuttery?  Tough Shit, it's a radioactive deadland now.  Grow up and get a life.

"We glass the rest" is shorthand for "it's happening in a place I've never seen so I can't empathize with them and I don't care about any consequences of my actions."

Why should we listen to you when it comes to international affairs?

[TheContrarian]

And we glass the rest.  Jerusalem is a holy site for your bronze age fucknuttery?  Tough Shit, it's a radioactive deadland now.  Grow up and get a life.

"We glass the rest" is shorthand for "it's happening in a place I've never seen so I can't empathize with them and I don't care about any consequences of my actions."

Why should we listen to you when it comes to international affairs?

If people outside the region cared about the consequences of their actions (by which I assume you mean the piles of dead), then we'd never have gotten involved in the first place.

Left to their own devices, they'd just try and kill each other off.  Without support from the west Israel would have been wiped off the map decades ago and without pressure from the west they would already have finished revisiting the treatment on the Palestinians. 

There is no peaceful solution given that both sides are religiously motivated windowlickers, but we can excise the entire region and all of its' sociopolitics like the cancer it is.