I’m not done. There are four more points I would like to make about this series on hate. (I hope this is it. I have a day job.)
1. Bill often makes his points with anecdotes that are most extreme or not significant. From last week’s post:
“In Israel today, Jews from all over the world are free to immigrate and get citizenship. Arabs are not. Children of mixed Jewish-Arab couples do not have the right to immigrate to Israel either. "A thousand non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew's fingernail,” said a Council of Rabbis. Israelis are not necessarily fond of Christians either. Recent news reports tell of Jews spitting at Christians in Jerusalem. And the 11th century Monastery of the Cross, built by crusaders, was sprayed with graffiti saying: Death to Christians.”
I don’t think the point about mixed Jewish-Arab couples is accurate. The line about spitting is like me saying that someone yelled “Heil, Hitler!” at a Jew walking on the street as an example that antisemitism is prevalent in the U.S. today. Who spit? Who is the Council of Rabbis? The fact is, Israel protects sites holy to all religions as well as, or better than, any Western country. On trips to Israel, I spoke with visiting Christians who felt welcomed and at home by the locals. I’d like to hear Bill’s comments about this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yznFT4-2dKI of rival groups of Christian monks in an all-out rumble at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and what conclusions he draws from it.
2. I wrote an op-ed that was published in our local paper, Sunday edition, in August, 2005, when Israel pulled its citizens and soldiers from Gaza, known as the Disengagement. This is the end of the op-ed:
“Withdrawal from Gaza will bring larger towns and cities in Israel, including the Ashkelon power plant, within 10 miles of terrorists’ rocket launchers. Israel already is planning to defend against rocket attacks in what will become the new border towns.
“Egypt and the Palestinian Authority have shown that they cannot be relied upon to stop terrorism, to put it mildly.
“The Disengagement Plan is a disaster for Gaza. It is a disaster for Israel. It is a disaster for the world.
“The Disengagement Plan will turn Gaza into the terrorist capital of the world.”
‘Nuff said.
3. To understand the Israeli – Arab conflict, you have to know about Haj Amin El Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. While there were moderate Arab groups in Palestine who were interested in working with the Jews immigrating from Europe for the economic benefit of the region, El Husseini was opposed to Jews in Palestine. According to O’ Jerusalem by LaPierre and Collins, in the 1930s El Husseini’s henchmen killed several thousand fellow Arabs that he saw as threats: academics, scientists, community leaders, etc. During WW2, El Husseini was in Germany, consulting with government officials, including Hitler. El Hussieni instigated several pogroms against Jews in Palestine, and set the tone for the fierce anti-Jewish sentiment among Arabs that still exists. Had the British appointed a moderate as Grand Mufti, chances for co-existence among Jews and Arabs would be much greater, in my opinion. I shared just a few points about him, for those interested in learning more, it is worth your while to do more research.
4. Finally, many residents of Gaza are victims of Hamas, just as residents of Afghanastan are victims of the Taliban. Times of Israel reported that Hamas employed Gazans to dig their tunnels under extreme secrecy, and then executed about 100 diggers to prevent them from sharing the location of the tunnels. Hamas has an intricate tunnel system under Gaza, referred to by Israeli soldiers as “the Gaza Metro”. Israel is not carpet bombing Gaza. Every bomb is strategically planned. Any building or location bombed by Israel is used by Hamas as offices, to store weapons, where they shoot from, an entrance to a tunnel, etc. Hamas owns the deaths of the poor innocent Gazans.
I predict that when the Israel-Hamas war concludes, the victors will be the (mostly American) arms manufacturers , and the losers will be the thousands of Israelis and Arabs killed or suffering life changing wounds. Billions of dollars of valuable resources will have been wasted to achieve practically nothing. Israelis will be safer? I doubt it. Hamas will destroy Israel? Don't make me laugh! What a sick time we live in.
Pretty much on the money Tim imo, and the hugely divergent views expressed here support that notion. There's no obvious pathway out of all this - well, maybe at least a go at a two state solution, might be worth a shot; but no doubt even that comment will create an indignant response from someone - otherwise as you say, the arms manufacturers will be the only winners. What useless "leaders" we have, and generally speaking what a feral, nasty little creature we can be.
No wish to be indignant, but somebody should probably point out that the citizens of Gaza have consistently rejected a "Two State Solution" whenever polled, and the Hamas "government" (duly elected by the same citizens) says flat out they are not interested. They are only interested in 𝗼𝗻𝗲 thing.
While two states living in harmony looks "good" on paper, there IS one trifling sticking point in that the Gaza side wants nothing less than the complete 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 of the Israeli side. And as they recently proved, they have no moral, ethical, religious or humanitarian qualms about trying to make that happen - in spades.
You may well be correct Starboard, I wasn't suggesting it's a good idea btw - just better than what's currently happening. Hamas are obviously a bit of a problem, to put it mildly, but given their rise to power was, at least partially, because the Israeli Government of the time gave it their tacit support, then maybe, just maybe, they could be made to be as irrelevant as a lot of the shadowy groups from a few years back, ISIS etc, appear to be now. You'll need to try harder if you think that was indignation too btw - just a reasonable alternate view to mine is how I saw it., but appreciate the humour
you're right Hamas won't on their own but the 'Black Kites' of Persia are at full alert and they have 50% of the US war fleet bottled up in the smallest sea battle area of the Med ..
just ask the Brits/Aussies/French about how trapped they were by the Germans/Turks in 1916 .. it's a historical replay but that of course won't happen .. will it ?
What interests me is how immediately the US citizens will get so worked up over what happens in foreign countries all the while their own country is disintegrating out from under them.
Am I to presume we are spinless cowards, afraid to get our hands dirty cleaning our own septic tank? Yet we are so easily ready and able to judge another man's point of view. Ah yes! Disagreeing with another's point of view is tantomount to doing nothing. Just like not cleaning out our own septic tank.
In 1948 there was no state of any kind in the area today known as Israel. When the partition was put on the table there was no political entity representing the Arabs living in the area. The Jews accepted the land area offered to them. The Arab states surrounding this area said no. They would not allow another Arab state along with a neighboring Jewish state. They said there could be one state and the Jews were welcome to live there but they could not control it. Control would have to be by Arabs.
In May of 1948 when the Jewish state became a real entity, the surrounding Arabs declared war.
20% of the Arabs decided to stay in Israel. They became citizens of Israel.
And at the height of the war in 1941-1942, when German troops entered Muslim-populated territories in the Balkans, North Africa, Crimea, and the Caucasus, and approached the Middle East and Central Asia, Berlin began to see Islam as politically significant. Nazi Germany made significant attempts to promote an alliance with the "Muslim world" against their alleged common enemies — the British Empire, the Soviet Union, America and Jews, and succeeded with most.
Germany and it's allies in the Middle East lost the war.
To the victor belongs the spoils... And so the State of Israel was born, along with the constant State of laundering monies thru the constant State of War...
Yes brother Scott, since the Balfour Declaration constitutes the beginning of Israel’s legitimation by other nations, the declaration’s own legitimacy has been the subject of unending attacks. This is made easier with each passing year, as the world that produced the declaration draws ever more remote. Few people today are sure why World War I was fought at all, and Britain circa 1917 is best known through PBS costume dramas along the lines of Downton Abbey. The Balfour Declaration? In the mind’s eye, one imagines back-and-forth negotiations in the palaces of Whitehall and the gilded drawing rooms of the Rothschild dynasty, with white-gloved servants delivering urgent sealed missives. Surely the declaration was stirred by similarly antique passions and interests, from safeguarding England’s route to India to satisfying the Christian Restorationist imperative of returning the Jews to the Holy Land.
The content of the declaration seems no less distant or downright baffling. The prominent Jewish intellectual Arthur Koestler, repeating a frequent mantra, would call it “one the most improbable political documents of all time,” in which “one nation solemnly promised to a second nation the country of a third.” The fact that it included no explicit rationale for itself has also fueled the suspicion that its authors had dark or disreputable motives. After all, it was issued in the name of the largest empire in history, embracing (or, perhaps, gripping) almost a quarter of the world’s landmass and population. In the guilt-sodden litany of imperialism at its apogee, the Balfour Declaration has enjoyed a certain preeminence as (in the words of the British Arabist Elizabeth Monroe) “one of the greatest mistakes in our imperial history.”
There's no doubt that the Balfour Declaration was very helpful to the Zionist movement. But there had been a significant increase in immigration to Palestine starting in the late 19th century. Given the horrors of WWII, it's reasonable to conclude Israel would have come about. without the declaration.
If ever there were a stupid war, WWI was it. It's fun, even entertaining, to speculate how different the world would be had it never happened, But, reality is where we live. And reality is serious.
just think all of this could have been avoided is only .."The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 fulfilled the long-standing Zionist goal of creating a national home for the Jewish people. While the idea of Australia as an alternative Jewish homeland has historical roots, it is not a current or widely discussed proposal. The State of Israel remains the recognized homeland for the Jewish people, and discussions about Jewish identity, homeland, and diaspora continue in various contexts." the whole problem could have been part of in Terra Nolis of the Northern Territory .. I wonder how that would have affected the Yes Vote of thiis past weekend ?
Ever since the culmination of the unfortunate events surrounding Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the vast majority of mankind's decisions have turned into an IMPURE mixture of good and evil, also sometimes known as love and hate. None of us, including me, can claim to be ABSOLUTELY good. All of humanity will continue to suffer the consequences of that fateful event until such time as God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit decide that it is finally time to end humanity's suffering.
I have just one question that I would like you to answer and for which I would like to see documented evidence: Are Hamas' own actions designed to protect the lives of the common folk living in Gaza, or are those acttions more likely designed to expose these same common folk to increased danger in order to score political public relational brownie points?
Oh.... and by the way! The noun for God in the Old Testament, Elohim, is stated in its PLURAL form (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?), and not its singular form. And ALL the pronouns that refer back to this proper noun are also stated in their plural form.
There is no third person, it's simply the Father and the Son. They have a spirit, of course, and that spirit is holy, unlike satan's spirit. But it's not a separate person. More at www.discourseonagape.org, go to Booklets, start with Discourse On Agape.
There are several instances of words that refer to someone in charge, or in control, in the plural form. This is not just when referring to G-d.
First of all, El-him is a plural form, but the predicate / verb that accompanies it is always the singular form. It remains in the plural form even when it does not refer to G-d. The word El-him, in the plural form, is used to refer to Moses as "judge" or "leader", as in Exodus 4:16 and 7:1, and there the accompanying pronouns are singular.
Another name usually referring to G-d, Ad-noi, which means "chief" is also plural. Another form of this word is used in reference to Pharoh, also in the plural, Genesis 42:33. A third word "baal" meaning "owner" is used in plural form Exodus 22:13, referring to someone who lends an object.
Gaza is Israeli land. The Palestinians are Arabs and don't belong there. They voted Hamas into power. They are terrorist sympathizers who hate Israel. Israel needs to flatten Gaza and kill-destroy Hamas. The Palestinians need to find Arab land to live on. The Arabs own 99% of land in the Middle East. If your body was the Middle East, Israel would be one of your little fingers, the rest would be Arab. The Arabs can give the Palestinians some land. The Palestinians are Arab, not Jewish.
The Gazans, as you note, elected their prison jailers, Hamas, whose job is to keep the Gazan draftees on the task Islamist Arabs drafted them to perform: destroy Israel. These draftees are not welcome in Arab countries, where they would be viewed as AWOL deserters from their assignment in the Islamic Martyr Brigade.
Hamas was promoted, aided/abetted, assisted, and funded by none other than Bibi Nutinyahoo himself !! (See speech 2919) as a foil against Aradfat's PLO, (a nationalist Palestinian political entity) which was at that time, the prevailing political entity promoting the Palestinian cause, prior to the rise and subsequent election (by deceit/duplicity, mis/dis-information) of Hamas, and their zionist led agenda handlers.
Do your own research, of the ample factual evidence of this matter.
Note; This info won't be found in any of the 'Legacy', lame-stream ('fake') news media.
because we all know who repeatedly brags about owning & controlling those mal/mis/dis-info media outlets.
If Bibi thought replacing the PLO jailers with Hamas jailers was a good idea, events have proved him wrong, and he is taking steps to rectify the mistake. Curing the Gaza inmates' eliminationist mind virus planted by their PLO and Hamas jailers and their enablers in the UN swamp culture may be a tougher task, especially the children.
Fully disbanding the Martyr Brigade and relocating it's members to rehabilitation camps in some corner of the Arab territories might be the best path to creating a functional noneliminationist system.
This is also true, Palestinians are made up group. When the Israeli state was brought into fruition, about 250,000 Jews were expatriated out of their lands in Arab countries and about 500,000 Arabs were expatriated out of Jewish lands. The big difference is that the Jewish people were welcomed in as one of their own. And the Arab people did not welcome their brothers and sisters, and kept them in camps and called them Palestinians. This is all an Arabic tragedy, made by the Arabs.
Israelis die as they try to spare Gazans while targeting Hamas. Yet you still have the grotesque temerity to say they are preparing “ethnic cleansing”. It’s official now Bill - your anti-Semitic inner freak is on full display.
Guess about what? No rational non-Jew hater needs to “guess” about whether Israel is preparing “ethnic cleansing” or not. The Jews unwillingness to do such a thing is costing them many lives right now as it has many times in the past. The true evil of anti-semites using the Israelis virtue against them by is in full display. If they really were that hostile to life (as are their enemies) it would be a simple matter to flatten Gaza indiscriminately without regard to Gazans, hostages or terrorists. Even simpler: Seal off Gaza completely without risking a single Israeli casualty and wait for everyone to starve.
hahahaha, are you for real ??... 'Chosenitis', arrogance, hubris chutzpah, bombing of neighboring countries, stealing resources, and almost constant warmongering (Bibi's, Acme Bomb, No Palistine on map @ UN GA drawings) are not considered virtues by most civilized humans.
100 percent completely for real. It is absolutely an extreme virtue to risk your own life to save the lives of others while targeting your enemy in defense of your life. Please describe the rational case for viewing it otherwise.
Hey c. I prefer the book of Luke chapter 6 verse 27 and 28. “To those of you who are listening, I say, love your enemies. To go to those who hurt you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you“. As they say much easier said than done.
Extremely simple. Logistically simple and expedient not morally or politically. Then again, if you are truly dealing with anti-semites who frame defending yourself as synonymous with “ethnic cleansing” then you are already being regarded and treated as a “pariah”. In that case - and without true moral standards - what would be lost besides the swell regard and excellent support of Jew haters?
I don’t think so. The ethnic cleansing argument actually covers both sides. And since the Israelis get a free pass, I think he’s coming down harder on them because of that, but all in all, it’s very fair and balanced. Nobody is in the right.
I believe these are the end times. Yes, I know. Many others have said this before. But this is the only moment in time where it is actually possible for every prophecy to come true. And so it will.
you are just parroting the party propaganda that we Israelis are just peace loving people who have always had the best interest of Palestinians in mind for the past 75 years .. just keep on preaching that fiction as Goebbels said eventually the lie will become the truth ..
"With all of their sophisticated monitoring…and so many Israeli agents infiltrated within Hamas itself… it is almost unbelievable that they didn’t see this coming. Perhaps they did." The question none of the self-professed elites want answered.
I would like to see the proof that the army attacked hospitals. Furthermore there is no doubt that it is not an ethnic cleansing. Israel has always tried to minimize civilian casualties. What would be your plan? It think you have lost a lot of credibility.
"Israel has always tried to minimize civilian casualties" ... maybe ... and I stress maybe ... their own' lesser (Torah following Hebrew) brethren' citizens !!
Who (pray tell) is this, 'Israel', that you speak of ?? The citizens, or the ZOG ??
What rock have you been sleeping under for last 7 decades + Ripvan??
Do you get your talking points from JP, NYT, WaPo, WSJ, CNN, etc., etc., et. al.
Both the Dr'.s, and Your(s) hubris, and chutzpah are rising to the surface for all to witness.
Lots of keyboard farts from you but: Still waiting for your rational explanation as to how risking one’s life to spare innocents while defending your life from an enemy who values no one’s life isn’t a virtue.
Just take a deep wiff ... breath deep the gathering gloom, watch lights fade from every room ... forwarded to all murderous, bolshevik, ideological supremacist, zio-nazis !!
As Pogo once so poignantly proclaimed, "we have seen the enemy, and they is us" !!
Yes brother Farmer! We had the chance to place a true conservative, American intellect into office, but the Foreign powers that are could never let that happen.
Now all we can do is watch the insanity from our beautiful sanctuary's and let them destroy each other...we will be there to clean up the mess, and rebuild, the American way:)
Hey brother, I also pray you are right, but believe we are just getting started into something that none of us are ready for.
I have at least six months left before my mountain home is complete, and believe we have at least a year or two before the total financial collapse takes the world, followed by world war. I hope and pray i'm wrong on all fronts, and our national debt disappears, all wars end, America wakes from it's slumber, and ends the lawlessness, indoctrinations, communist takeover and all woke communist perish from the jab. Dream on we may, but I think we are better off praying for the best, and getting ready for a really tough battle ahead...Boyscout motto my friend, be prepared...and then some:)
Hey Steve. I actually assumed you were already there in the mountains. My brothers house is halfway finished, my sister is in her home. I should have a foundation by Thanksgiving. We are refugees from New Jersey or I mean new Germany. I expect my house to be totally buttoned up by June. I told my brother and sister I wanted to go last and now I am wondering did I make a mistake? I am with you I still think we have a couple years till the absolute bottom falls out. we’re expecting a cold winter in West Virginia which concerns me as well. We all have wood, stoves, and cisterns. Plus, of course we also have all the “essentials“. Good luck getting yours finished as well!! Godspeed, my friend.
Hey GF. What we have is the end of the empire, total degeneracy. An absolutely disgusting crap show. I remember scuba diving in Bahamas about 05 or six. I met some BRITs at the bar and I literally told them I was Canadian. I lied. I was so embarrassed by Bush had done in the Middle East. Another war criminal.
The level of vitriol in the comments makes them unreadable. I suppose there are constructive comments here, but I really cannot tolerate all the other stuff. Signing off.
While passionate, compared to the rest of the interweb comment sections, these boards are generally genteel, even tipping into the benign typically. Including this thread...
Do I get out much? Let me see. I'm 80 years old. I lived and worked for 20 of those years in Africa, 10 in Asia, and 5 in Latin America, plus short stays in Europe and New Zealand. I regularly read news aggregators in three languages. I have only last year given up writing op-eds for a variety of news outlets, but I have to admit I think every once in a while about getting back to writing more of them. It's a virus that gets into your system.
So yeah, I guess I get out a little, even though I am officially retired.
My comment had to do with people writing essentially ad hominem attacks, or supposing their opinion is the only one with validity. After having written several hundred op-eds, I guess I think there's a better way to make your point. And that was sorely lacking from a good number of the comments in this string.
My point is, we might think we know "truth," but there is no lack of people with a different opinion. So tell us what you think, but don't pre-emptively suppose others don't have an equally valid alternative opinion. And don't bad mouth them.
I wasn't trying to personally attack you in any way. I was only pointing out the BPR comment boards are, well, extremely tame compared to most other political sites. With all those years and worldly experience one would think you had a bit thicker skin, sir.
;)
Yes, I know BPR is supposed to be about Finance, but BB often veers into the mud...
Thank you Flier, as you are much more world traveled then myself, and I'm sure, after your experiences with many cultures, truly understanding of many, and still a gentleman.
We hopefully are here to learn from smarter men then ourselves, and from each other. Unfortunately, we live in extremely divisive times.
I believe we should be focused on survival in each part of the world in which we live. Money is such an important part of that, and we are all here to save what we have worked for our entire lives.
At the end of the day, we are all mostly the same here. We can agree to disagree without such animosity, of which i'm guilty, because it's so hard to watch our world collapse into another useless, Hegelian war, because the communist never sleep...
Mr. Star. I so agree. I have not seen a single F bomb as of yet. Trust me, we all want to do that. It’s just we are compelled by our faith not to. Not always easy!😂😂😂
Nothing much happening around the world, just a few pigs fighting each other on the outskirts of the flatfoot sand haven Eastern taverns, somewhere in the middle of butt fudge Egypt, what a beautiful name! Hahaha
No black swan events happening, Israel has absolutely no idea what the hell they are shooting at, there’s nothing out there! A pure impulsive action play/plan! 😂
Kinda like a bum getting shoulder checked in a crowded subway, pulls out an Uzi and fires in every direction until the clip is empty.
Financial and market decline, stay away from day trading, haha, you are better off with zero returns than with negative -50 returns! 🥸😂
The coming recession is currently on hold, it cannot be reversed, but it needs Yellen’s approval before it is actuated. 🙃
Gasoline and inflation is sky high, mountain peak, but everyone is still spending and cussing like Sailors! 🥹🤣 Airports across the globe are packed with happy traveling spenders, long lines at amusement parks, the kids are happy.
The Consumer Price Index continues to decline, at the rate of .000001 sloths, but hey, it’s coming down! Including Oil prices, Hamas-Israel conflict on the record for let’s see……um…. Over 2000 years, only the name of the people and army change, but not the people, YIKES! 🧐🤨😂
The stock market holding strong with the S&P 500 charting powerfully and slower, like 100 slugs in an upward trend.
So relax, kick your feet up, grab a bucket of popcorn, an ice cold Coca Cola, and watch The Son of Fred, The Almighty America Savior Donald J Trump continue his God given mission to restore America and re-awaken the American Dream. 🤩
Mr. Bonner: If you were away on a business trip and a group of "terrorists" broke into your home in France and brutally killed your wife and much of your family, would you be preaching restraint? If they slipped into a neighborhood with other like minded people hiding among locals who would not disclose their whereabouts, would you be against securing the area to force the people to produce the offenders?
Yes Pancho, I don't believe Bill is preaching restraint, but trying to explain both sides of a double edged sword. Either side you touch will cut you...better to keep the sword in it's sheath, and focus on less divisive story telling...
Yes Bill, it seems you opened a can of BS with the leftist on this site.
As we have wittnessed throughout history, the left loves nothing more then to create a monster of decent men, and proclaim thier own insane superiority over all, while eating themselves.
How many examples do they need to see how demented they are?
It's ok Bill if you lose a few worthless/usefull idiots, because I'm sure you will triple the amount that understand what you write.
Our concern should never be with issues that will resolve themselves, as humans and nations do. We can agree or disagree with the world, but if you can't take care of your own, your opinion really doesn't matter.
Oh, but it's the "Holy Land" they scream. Really folks? I am devoted to my God, and have tried to live my life according to My common sense and good that God gave me. Not according to BS written not by God, but by man.
So continue your BS and enjoy your own self created inhalation, just remember that God gave you a choice to be as ignorant as you would like, and that is the true gift of life. We just call it natural selection...
Bill: As a person with a long eye on history I think you've missed about 3,000 years worth that influences the present circumstances. At least, from your previous writings, it is clear that your perception of the Torah (what you call the Old Testament) is thoroughly dyed with 'original sin black.' I would recommend you bleach out the black and get a fresh view.
I'm not one of the "Israel Right or Wrong" die-hards. Israel isn't perfect but they have gone to the peace table many times. It is very difficult to negotiate with someone that doesn't want to make peace with Israel. Hamas (remember they are in charge) only want peace WITHOUT Israel. There isn't much of a win-win option.
By the way, any reference or comparison to the Warsaw Ghetto is ridiculous. The Ghetto had a much denser population and it was designed to be a holding pen to then funnel Jews to death camps. There was no border with another country that refuses to let you in or a Mediterranean Sea that could have been turned into amazing resorts where your 'enemy' would come to spend their vacations.
Anyone can banty about their opinion. I challenge you to dig deeper. Let's call opinion for what it is: speculation and slant.
you better read up on the wonderful work of the Japanese ambassadeur who stamped over 38k transit visa's for ghetto folks willing to take the risk and head east to Vladivostok .. but sadly all these supposed peace loving Israeli loving countries were complicit in rejecting the transfer of these predominantly Jewish Ghetto refugees but thank God in the last moment Australia agreed to take them while all the other nations were just complicit wanna be's pretending that their countries were not equally guilty in ethnic discrimination!
Another thing. The Bible spells out the borders for Israel, about 300,000 square miles of land. Israel currently occupies only about one-tenth of that. If the Middle East were the U.S., Israel would be New Jersey, all the rest would be Arab.
And my personal Bible says that I am entitled to a plot of land that is 1000 x the size of the plot that my house now sits on. And my Bible is as valid as your Bible. So there!
I’m not done. There are four more points I would like to make about this series on hate. (I hope this is it. I have a day job.)
1. Bill often makes his points with anecdotes that are most extreme or not significant. From last week’s post:
“In Israel today, Jews from all over the world are free to immigrate and get citizenship. Arabs are not. Children of mixed Jewish-Arab couples do not have the right to immigrate to Israel either. "A thousand non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew's fingernail,” said a Council of Rabbis. Israelis are not necessarily fond of Christians either. Recent news reports tell of Jews spitting at Christians in Jerusalem. And the 11th century Monastery of the Cross, built by crusaders, was sprayed with graffiti saying: Death to Christians.”
I don’t think the point about mixed Jewish-Arab couples is accurate. The line about spitting is like me saying that someone yelled “Heil, Hitler!” at a Jew walking on the street as an example that antisemitism is prevalent in the U.S. today. Who spit? Who is the Council of Rabbis? The fact is, Israel protects sites holy to all religions as well as, or better than, any Western country. On trips to Israel, I spoke with visiting Christians who felt welcomed and at home by the locals. I’d like to hear Bill’s comments about this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yznFT4-2dKI of rival groups of Christian monks in an all-out rumble at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, and what conclusions he draws from it.
2. I wrote an op-ed that was published in our local paper, Sunday edition, in August, 2005, when Israel pulled its citizens and soldiers from Gaza, known as the Disengagement. This is the end of the op-ed:
“Withdrawal from Gaza will bring larger towns and cities in Israel, including the Ashkelon power plant, within 10 miles of terrorists’ rocket launchers. Israel already is planning to defend against rocket attacks in what will become the new border towns.
“Egypt and the Palestinian Authority have shown that they cannot be relied upon to stop terrorism, to put it mildly.
“The Disengagement Plan is a disaster for Gaza. It is a disaster for Israel. It is a disaster for the world.
“The Disengagement Plan will turn Gaza into the terrorist capital of the world.”
‘Nuff said.
3. To understand the Israeli – Arab conflict, you have to know about Haj Amin El Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. While there were moderate Arab groups in Palestine who were interested in working with the Jews immigrating from Europe for the economic benefit of the region, El Husseini was opposed to Jews in Palestine. According to O’ Jerusalem by LaPierre and Collins, in the 1930s El Husseini’s henchmen killed several thousand fellow Arabs that he saw as threats: academics, scientists, community leaders, etc. During WW2, El Husseini was in Germany, consulting with government officials, including Hitler. El Hussieni instigated several pogroms against Jews in Palestine, and set the tone for the fierce anti-Jewish sentiment among Arabs that still exists. Had the British appointed a moderate as Grand Mufti, chances for co-existence among Jews and Arabs would be much greater, in my opinion. I shared just a few points about him, for those interested in learning more, it is worth your while to do more research.
4. Finally, many residents of Gaza are victims of Hamas, just as residents of Afghanastan are victims of the Taliban. Times of Israel reported that Hamas employed Gazans to dig their tunnels under extreme secrecy, and then executed about 100 diggers to prevent them from sharing the location of the tunnels. Hamas has an intricate tunnel system under Gaza, referred to by Israeli soldiers as “the Gaza Metro”. Israel is not carpet bombing Gaza. Every bomb is strategically planned. Any building or location bombed by Israel is used by Hamas as offices, to store weapons, where they shoot from, an entrance to a tunnel, etc. Hamas owns the deaths of the poor innocent Gazans.
Trapped. “Every bomb is strategically planned“. Yeah I know, that’s the way all wars go.
Would you still write the same nonsense today. February, 2024
Please explain your question.
I predict that when the Israel-Hamas war concludes, the victors will be the (mostly American) arms manufacturers , and the losers will be the thousands of Israelis and Arabs killed or suffering life changing wounds. Billions of dollars of valuable resources will have been wasted to achieve practically nothing. Israelis will be safer? I doubt it. Hamas will destroy Israel? Don't make me laugh! What a sick time we live in.
Pretty much on the money Tim imo, and the hugely divergent views expressed here support that notion. There's no obvious pathway out of all this - well, maybe at least a go at a two state solution, might be worth a shot; but no doubt even that comment will create an indignant response from someone - otherwise as you say, the arms manufacturers will be the only winners. What useless "leaders" we have, and generally speaking what a feral, nasty little creature we can be.
Hi John -
No wish to be indignant, but somebody should probably point out that the citizens of Gaza have consistently rejected a "Two State Solution" whenever polled, and the Hamas "government" (duly elected by the same citizens) says flat out they are not interested. They are only interested in 𝗼𝗻𝗲 thing.
While two states living in harmony looks "good" on paper, there IS one trifling sticking point in that the Gaza side wants nothing less than the complete 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 of the Israeli side. And as they recently proved, they have no moral, ethical, religious or humanitarian qualms about trying to make that happen - in spades.
So there's that...
You may well be correct Starboard, I wasn't suggesting it's a good idea btw - just better than what's currently happening. Hamas are obviously a bit of a problem, to put it mildly, but given their rise to power was, at least partially, because the Israeli Government of the time gave it their tacit support, then maybe, just maybe, they could be made to be as irrelevant as a lot of the shadowy groups from a few years back, ISIS etc, appear to be now. You'll need to try harder if you think that was indignation too btw - just a reasonable alternate view to mine is how I saw it., but appreciate the humour
you're right Hamas won't on their own but the 'Black Kites' of Persia are at full alert and they have 50% of the US war fleet bottled up in the smallest sea battle area of the Med ..
just ask the Brits/Aussies/French about how trapped they were by the Germans/Turks in 1916 .. it's a historical replay but that of course won't happen .. will it ?
Hey Alt -
You weren't supposed to notice that...
That sums it up !
What interests me is how immediately the US citizens will get so worked up over what happens in foreign countries all the while their own country is disintegrating out from under them.
Am I to presume we are spinless cowards, afraid to get our hands dirty cleaning our own septic tank? Yet we are so easily ready and able to judge another man's point of view. Ah yes! Disagreeing with another's point of view is tantomount to doing nothing. Just like not cleaning out our own septic tank.
Question?
Prior to the attack:, what would happen if;
1) The terrorists laid down their weapons - Peace
2) The Jews laid down their weapons - Israel would cease to exist
How do you negotiate?
How does one negotiate, when there is no real desire, by either side/entity, to seek peace ??
Or with entities that constantly break and/or re-nig on their solemn word ??
The agendas of both sides, do not allow for reasonable. rational, nor logical compromise.
A little history.
In 1948 there was no state of any kind in the area today known as Israel. When the partition was put on the table there was no political entity representing the Arabs living in the area. The Jews accepted the land area offered to them. The Arab states surrounding this area said no. They would not allow another Arab state along with a neighboring Jewish state. They said there could be one state and the Jews were welcome to live there but they could not control it. Control would have to be by Arabs.
In May of 1948 when the Jewish state became a real entity, the surrounding Arabs declared war.
20% of the Arabs decided to stay in Israel. They became citizens of Israel.
And at the height of the war in 1941-1942, when German troops entered Muslim-populated territories in the Balkans, North Africa, Crimea, and the Caucasus, and approached the Middle East and Central Asia, Berlin began to see Islam as politically significant. Nazi Germany made significant attempts to promote an alliance with the "Muslim world" against their alleged common enemies — the British Empire, the Soviet Union, America and Jews, and succeeded with most.
Germany and it's allies in the Middle East lost the war.
To the victor belongs the spoils... And so the State of Israel was born, along with the constant State of laundering monies thru the constant State of War...
Yupp-er Mr. Steve. Spittin' FACTS, first sentence to last...
The Ottoman Empire made a strategic mistake a few decades earlier. That’s when the possibility of Israel became politically viable.
Yes brother Scott, since the Balfour Declaration constitutes the beginning of Israel’s legitimation by other nations, the declaration’s own legitimacy has been the subject of unending attacks. This is made easier with each passing year, as the world that produced the declaration draws ever more remote. Few people today are sure why World War I was fought at all, and Britain circa 1917 is best known through PBS costume dramas along the lines of Downton Abbey. The Balfour Declaration? In the mind’s eye, one imagines back-and-forth negotiations in the palaces of Whitehall and the gilded drawing rooms of the Rothschild dynasty, with white-gloved servants delivering urgent sealed missives. Surely the declaration was stirred by similarly antique passions and interests, from safeguarding England’s route to India to satisfying the Christian Restorationist imperative of returning the Jews to the Holy Land.
The content of the declaration seems no less distant or downright baffling. The prominent Jewish intellectual Arthur Koestler, repeating a frequent mantra, would call it “one the most improbable political documents of all time,” in which “one nation solemnly promised to a second nation the country of a third.” The fact that it included no explicit rationale for itself has also fueled the suspicion that its authors had dark or disreputable motives. After all, it was issued in the name of the largest empire in history, embracing (or, perhaps, gripping) almost a quarter of the world’s landmass and population. In the guilt-sodden litany of imperialism at its apogee, the Balfour Declaration has enjoyed a certain preeminence as (in the words of the British Arabist Elizabeth Monroe) “one of the greatest mistakes in our imperial history.”
There's no doubt that the Balfour Declaration was very helpful to the Zionist movement. But there had been a significant increase in immigration to Palestine starting in the late 19th century. Given the horrors of WWII, it's reasonable to conclude Israel would have come about. without the declaration.
If ever there were a stupid war, WWI was it. It's fun, even entertaining, to speculate how different the world would be had it never happened, But, reality is where we live. And reality is serious.
I could say more but it's late and I'm tired.
just think all of this could have been avoided is only .."The establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 fulfilled the long-standing Zionist goal of creating a national home for the Jewish people. While the idea of Australia as an alternative Jewish homeland has historical roots, it is not a current or widely discussed proposal. The State of Israel remains the recognized homeland for the Jewish people, and discussions about Jewish identity, homeland, and diaspora continue in various contexts." the whole problem could have been part of in Terra Nolis of the Northern Territory .. I wonder how that would have affected the Yes Vote of thiis past weekend ?
Bill,
Ever since the culmination of the unfortunate events surrounding Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the vast majority of mankind's decisions have turned into an IMPURE mixture of good and evil, also sometimes known as love and hate. None of us, including me, can claim to be ABSOLUTELY good. All of humanity will continue to suffer the consequences of that fateful event until such time as God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit decide that it is finally time to end humanity's suffering.
I have just one question that I would like you to answer and for which I would like to see documented evidence: Are Hamas' own actions designed to protect the lives of the common folk living in Gaza, or are those acttions more likely designed to expose these same common folk to increased danger in order to score political public relational brownie points?
Oh.... and by the way! The noun for God in the Old Testament, Elohim, is stated in its PLURAL form (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?), and not its singular form. And ALL the pronouns that refer back to this proper noun are also stated in their plural form.
There is no third person, it's simply the Father and the Son. They have a spirit, of course, and that spirit is holy, unlike satan's spirit. But it's not a separate person. More at www.discourseonagape.org, go to Booklets, start with Discourse On Agape.
There are several instances of words that refer to someone in charge, or in control, in the plural form. This is not just when referring to G-d.
First of all, El-him is a plural form, but the predicate / verb that accompanies it is always the singular form. It remains in the plural form even when it does not refer to G-d. The word El-him, in the plural form, is used to refer to Moses as "judge" or "leader", as in Exodus 4:16 and 7:1, and there the accompanying pronouns are singular.
Another name usually referring to G-d, Ad-noi, which means "chief" is also plural. Another form of this word is used in reference to Pharoh, also in the plural, Genesis 42:33. A third word "baal" meaning "owner" is used in plural form Exodus 22:13, referring to someone who lends an object.
Gaza is Israeli land. The Palestinians are Arabs and don't belong there. They voted Hamas into power. They are terrorist sympathizers who hate Israel. Israel needs to flatten Gaza and kill-destroy Hamas. The Palestinians need to find Arab land to live on. The Arabs own 99% of land in the Middle East. If your body was the Middle East, Israel would be one of your little fingers, the rest would be Arab. The Arabs can give the Palestinians some land. The Palestinians are Arab, not Jewish.
The Gazans, as you note, elected their prison jailers, Hamas, whose job is to keep the Gazan draftees on the task Islamist Arabs drafted them to perform: destroy Israel. These draftees are not welcome in Arab countries, where they would be viewed as AWOL deserters from their assignment in the Islamic Martyr Brigade.
Hamas was promoted, aided/abetted, assisted, and funded by none other than Bibi Nutinyahoo himself !! (See speech 2919) as a foil against Aradfat's PLO, (a nationalist Palestinian political entity) which was at that time, the prevailing political entity promoting the Palestinian cause, prior to the rise and subsequent election (by deceit/duplicity, mis/dis-information) of Hamas, and their zionist led agenda handlers.
Do your own research, of the ample factual evidence of this matter.
Note; This info won't be found in any of the 'Legacy', lame-stream ('fake') news media.
because we all know who repeatedly brags about owning & controlling those mal/mis/dis-info media outlets.
Hey C. I was wondering when someone would say this. Thank you. To say Netanyahu did not know this was coming is disingenuous in the extreme.
If Bibi thought replacing the PLO jailers with Hamas jailers was a good idea, events have proved him wrong, and he is taking steps to rectify the mistake. Curing the Gaza inmates' eliminationist mind virus planted by their PLO and Hamas jailers and their enablers in the UN swamp culture may be a tougher task, especially the children.
Fully disbanding the Martyr Brigade and relocating it's members to rehabilitation camps in some corner of the Arab territories might be the best path to creating a functional noneliminationist system.
Bingo
This is also true, Palestinians are made up group. When the Israeli state was brought into fruition, about 250,000 Jews were expatriated out of their lands in Arab countries and about 500,000 Arabs were expatriated out of Jewish lands. The big difference is that the Jewish people were welcomed in as one of their own. And the Arab people did not welcome their brothers and sisters, and kept them in camps and called them Palestinians. This is all an Arabic tragedy, made by the Arabs.
Israelis die as they try to spare Gazans while targeting Hamas. Yet you still have the grotesque temerity to say they are preparing “ethnic cleansing”. It’s official now Bill - your anti-Semitic inner freak is on full display.
That's Bill's guess. What's your non-antisemetic guess? Recalling that both Jews and Arabs are semites.
Guess about what? No rational non-Jew hater needs to “guess” about whether Israel is preparing “ethnic cleansing” or not. The Jews unwillingness to do such a thing is costing them many lives right now as it has many times in the past. The true evil of anti-semites using the Israelis virtue against them by is in full display. If they really were that hostile to life (as are their enemies) it would be a simple matter to flatten Gaza indiscriminately without regard to Gazans, hostages or terrorists. Even simpler: Seal off Gaza completely without risking a single Israeli casualty and wait for everyone to starve.
'the Israelis virtue' ...
hahahaha, are you for real ??... 'Chosenitis', arrogance, hubris chutzpah, bombing of neighboring countries, stealing resources, and almost constant warmongering (Bibi's, Acme Bomb, No Palistine on map @ UN GA drawings) are not considered virtues by most civilized humans.
Please all amateur historians of Israel's history
also read FINAL JUDGEMENT by Collins Piper. And please remember the attack on the USS Liberty.
Hey Pete, thank you for bringing up the liberty. That has gone down the memory hole.
100 percent completely for real. It is absolutely an extreme virtue to risk your own life to save the lives of others while targeting your enemy in defense of your life. Please describe the rational case for viewing it otherwise.
Love YHWH, love yourselves, and your neighbor the same as you would wish, and love your enemies, ... pray for (not curse) them !!
Hey c. I prefer the book of Luke chapter 6 verse 27 and 28. “To those of you who are listening, I say, love your enemies. To go to those who hurt you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you“. As they say much easier said than done.
Don't waste your time on these wackos. You give reasonable arguments; they just spew hatred.
Good advice John.
Hey Dr. B I believe they’re doing that now.
Nope.
Doc, I see they have upped your dose of delusionol.
All righty then Dr. Good talk.
No, it wouldn't be a "simple matter." Act in that fashion and the Israelis would be the pariahs of the world. That couldn't stand.
Extremely simple. Logistically simple and expedient not morally or politically. Then again, if you are truly dealing with anti-semites who frame defending yourself as synonymous with “ethnic cleansing” then you are already being regarded and treated as a “pariah”. In that case - and without true moral standards - what would be lost besides the swell regard and excellent support of Jew haters?
I don’t think so. The ethnic cleansing argument actually covers both sides. And since the Israelis get a free pass, I think he’s coming down harder on them because of that, but all in all, it’s very fair and balanced. Nobody is in the right.
I believe these are the end times. Yes, I know. Many others have said this before. But this is the only moment in time where it is actually possible for every prophecy to come true. And so it will.
DNA proves otherwise.
Khazarian-Askenazi ,originating from Turk-Caucasis region, vs. M.E.,N.A semitics.
Massive difference between secular Zionists, and Torah worshiping followers ... the God of Abraham, Jacob, Issac & Moses Hebrews
you are just parroting the party propaganda that we Israelis are just peace loving people who have always had the best interest of Palestinians in mind for the past 75 years .. just keep on preaching that fiction as Goebbels said eventually the lie will become the truth ..
Time to raise the Palestinian flag over your properties Bill.
The French would especially love that.
"With all of their sophisticated monitoring…and so many Israeli agents infiltrated within Hamas itself… it is almost unbelievable that they didn’t see this coming. Perhaps they did." The question none of the self-professed elites want answered.
Hey Craig, of course, Prime Minister Netanyahu knew. It would’ve been impossible for him not to know.
I would like to see the proof that the army attacked hospitals. Furthermore there is no doubt that it is not an ethnic cleansing. Israel has always tried to minimize civilian casualties. What would be your plan? It think you have lost a lot of credibility.
"Israel has always tried to minimize civilian casualties" ... maybe ... and I stress maybe ... their own' lesser (Torah following Hebrew) brethren' citizens !!
Who (pray tell) is this, 'Israel', that you speak of ?? The citizens, or the ZOG ??
What rock have you been sleeping under for last 7 decades + Ripvan??
Do you get your talking points from JP, NYT, WaPo, WSJ, CNN, etc., etc., et. al.
Both the Dr'.s, and Your(s) hubris, and chutzpah are rising to the surface for all to witness.
Lots of keyboard farts from you but: Still waiting for your rational explanation as to how risking one’s life to spare innocents while defending your life from an enemy who values no one’s life isn’t a virtue.
Projecting again are we ??
Just take a deep wiff ... breath deep the gathering gloom, watch lights fade from every room ... forwarded to all murderous, bolshevik, ideological supremacist, zio-nazis !!
As Pogo once so poignantly proclaimed, "we have seen the enemy, and they is us" !!
Still waiting mouth breather….
You are arguing with an idiot!
Full of sound and fury. Signifying nothing.
Send some facts. Your rant is wothless.
https://www.lewrockwell.com/2023/10/lew-rockwell/the-wisdom-of-ron-paul-on-the-middle-east/
A true American.
Yes brother Farmer! We had the chance to place a true conservative, American intellect into office, but the Foreign powers that are could never let that happen.
Now all we can do is watch the insanity from our beautiful sanctuary's and let them destroy each other...we will be there to clean up the mess, and rebuild, the American way:)
Steve, I truly believe this depression is over. We will get a chance to rebuild from our small local economies. I pray that I am right, my friend!
Hey brother, I also pray you are right, but believe we are just getting started into something that none of us are ready for.
I have at least six months left before my mountain home is complete, and believe we have at least a year or two before the total financial collapse takes the world, followed by world war. I hope and pray i'm wrong on all fronts, and our national debt disappears, all wars end, America wakes from it's slumber, and ends the lawlessness, indoctrinations, communist takeover and all woke communist perish from the jab. Dream on we may, but I think we are better off praying for the best, and getting ready for a really tough battle ahead...Boyscout motto my friend, be prepared...and then some:)
Hey Steve. I actually assumed you were already there in the mountains. My brothers house is halfway finished, my sister is in her home. I should have a foundation by Thanksgiving. We are refugees from New Jersey or I mean new Germany. I expect my house to be totally buttoned up by June. I told my brother and sister I wanted to go last and now I am wondering did I make a mistake? I am with you I still think we have a couple years till the absolute bottom falls out. we’re expecting a cold winter in West Virginia which concerns me as well. We all have wood, stoves, and cisterns. Plus, of course we also have all the “essentials“. Good luck getting yours finished as well!! Godspeed, my friend.
Hey GF. What we have is the end of the empire, total degeneracy. An absolutely disgusting crap show. I remember scuba diving in Bahamas about 05 or six. I met some BRITs at the bar and I literally told them I was Canadian. I lied. I was so embarrassed by Bush had done in the Middle East. Another war criminal.
Hey Mark. I am diving in as we speak. Thank you my friend!
The level of vitriol in the comments makes them unreadable. I suppose there are constructive comments here, but I really cannot tolerate all the other stuff. Signing off.
One man's vitriol, is another's hard truth !! hasta luego !! Vaya con dios !!
Hi Flier -
Do you not get out much?
While passionate, compared to the rest of the interweb comment sections, these boards are generally genteel, even tipping into the benign typically. Including this thread...
Do I get out much? Let me see. I'm 80 years old. I lived and worked for 20 of those years in Africa, 10 in Asia, and 5 in Latin America, plus short stays in Europe and New Zealand. I regularly read news aggregators in three languages. I have only last year given up writing op-eds for a variety of news outlets, but I have to admit I think every once in a while about getting back to writing more of them. It's a virus that gets into your system.
So yeah, I guess I get out a little, even though I am officially retired.
My comment had to do with people writing essentially ad hominem attacks, or supposing their opinion is the only one with validity. After having written several hundred op-eds, I guess I think there's a better way to make your point. And that was sorely lacking from a good number of the comments in this string.
My point is, we might think we know "truth," but there is no lack of people with a different opinion. So tell us what you think, but don't pre-emptively suppose others don't have an equally valid alternative opinion. And don't bad mouth them.
Back to you.
I wasn't trying to personally attack you in any way. I was only pointing out the BPR comment boards are, well, extremely tame compared to most other political sites. With all those years and worldly experience one would think you had a bit thicker skin, sir.
;)
Yes, I know BPR is supposed to be about Finance, but BB often veers into the mud...
Thank you Flier, as you are much more world traveled then myself, and I'm sure, after your experiences with many cultures, truly understanding of many, and still a gentleman.
We hopefully are here to learn from smarter men then ourselves, and from each other. Unfortunately, we live in extremely divisive times.
I believe we should be focused on survival in each part of the world in which we live. Money is such an important part of that, and we are all here to save what we have worked for our entire lives.
At the end of the day, we are all mostly the same here. We can agree to disagree without such animosity, of which i'm guilty, because it's so hard to watch our world collapse into another useless, Hegelian war, because the communist never sleep...
Perfect reply to this string ..
Mr. Star. I so agree. I have not seen a single F bomb as of yet. Trust me, we all want to do that. It’s just we are compelled by our faith not to. Not always easy!😂😂😂
Nothing much happening around the world, just a few pigs fighting each other on the outskirts of the flatfoot sand haven Eastern taverns, somewhere in the middle of butt fudge Egypt, what a beautiful name! Hahaha
No black swan events happening, Israel has absolutely no idea what the hell they are shooting at, there’s nothing out there! A pure impulsive action play/plan! 😂
Kinda like a bum getting shoulder checked in a crowded subway, pulls out an Uzi and fires in every direction until the clip is empty.
Financial and market decline, stay away from day trading, haha, you are better off with zero returns than with negative -50 returns! 🥸😂
The coming recession is currently on hold, it cannot be reversed, but it needs Yellen’s approval before it is actuated. 🙃
Gasoline and inflation is sky high, mountain peak, but everyone is still spending and cussing like Sailors! 🥹🤣 Airports across the globe are packed with happy traveling spenders, long lines at amusement parks, the kids are happy.
The Consumer Price Index continues to decline, at the rate of .000001 sloths, but hey, it’s coming down! Including Oil prices, Hamas-Israel conflict on the record for let’s see……um…. Over 2000 years, only the name of the people and army change, but not the people, YIKES! 🧐🤨😂
The stock market holding strong with the S&P 500 charting powerfully and slower, like 100 slugs in an upward trend.
So relax, kick your feet up, grab a bucket of popcorn, an ice cold Coca Cola, and watch The Son of Fred, The Almighty America Savior Donald J Trump continue his God given mission to restore America and re-awaken the American Dream. 🤩
Shadowstats, reports that; inflation as measured using 1980 formulas is currently at ... 12.3%.
absolutely beautiful .. and funny in a sad sort of way .. well said Solomon!
Mr. Bonner: If you were away on a business trip and a group of "terrorists" broke into your home in France and brutally killed your wife and much of your family, would you be preaching restraint? If they slipped into a neighborhood with other like minded people hiding among locals who would not disclose their whereabouts, would you be against securing the area to force the people to produce the offenders?
Yes Pancho, I don't believe Bill is preaching restraint, but trying to explain both sides of a double edged sword. Either side you touch will cut you...better to keep the sword in it's sheath, and focus on less divisive story telling...
Yes Bill, it seems you opened a can of BS with the leftist on this site.
As we have wittnessed throughout history, the left loves nothing more then to create a monster of decent men, and proclaim thier own insane superiority over all, while eating themselves.
How many examples do they need to see how demented they are?
It's ok Bill if you lose a few worthless/usefull idiots, because I'm sure you will triple the amount that understand what you write.
Our concern should never be with issues that will resolve themselves, as humans and nations do. We can agree or disagree with the world, but if you can't take care of your own, your opinion really doesn't matter.
Oh, but it's the "Holy Land" they scream. Really folks? I am devoted to my God, and have tried to live my life according to My common sense and good that God gave me. Not according to BS written not by God, but by man.
So continue your BS and enjoy your own self created inhalation, just remember that God gave you a choice to be as ignorant as you would like, and that is the true gift of life. We just call it natural selection...
Bill: As a person with a long eye on history I think you've missed about 3,000 years worth that influences the present circumstances. At least, from your previous writings, it is clear that your perception of the Torah (what you call the Old Testament) is thoroughly dyed with 'original sin black.' I would recommend you bleach out the black and get a fresh view.
I'm not one of the "Israel Right or Wrong" die-hards. Israel isn't perfect but they have gone to the peace table many times. It is very difficult to negotiate with someone that doesn't want to make peace with Israel. Hamas (remember they are in charge) only want peace WITHOUT Israel. There isn't much of a win-win option.
By the way, any reference or comparison to the Warsaw Ghetto is ridiculous. The Ghetto had a much denser population and it was designed to be a holding pen to then funnel Jews to death camps. There was no border with another country that refuses to let you in or a Mediterranean Sea that could have been turned into amazing resorts where your 'enemy' would come to spend their vacations.
Anyone can banty about their opinion. I challenge you to dig deeper. Let's call opinion for what it is: speculation and slant.
Scott Bernstein
you better read up on the wonderful work of the Japanese ambassadeur who stamped over 38k transit visa's for ghetto folks willing to take the risk and head east to Vladivostok .. but sadly all these supposed peace loving Israeli loving countries were complicit in rejecting the transfer of these predominantly Jewish Ghetto refugees but thank God in the last moment Australia agreed to take them while all the other nations were just complicit wanna be's pretending that their countries were not equally guilty in ethnic discrimination!
All (((their))) previous 'Peace plans', are merely subterfuge for the Yinon, (Yinon Plan:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEeVkvp2dKQ
refers to an article published in February 1982 in the Hebrew journal Kivunim ("Directions") entitled 'A Strategy for Israel in the 1980s'.
Greater Isn'treal agenda !!
Another thing. The Bible spells out the borders for Israel, about 300,000 square miles of land. Israel currently occupies only about one-tenth of that. If the Middle East were the U.S., Israel would be New Jersey, all the rest would be Arab.
And my personal Bible says that I am entitled to a plot of land that is 1000 x the size of the plot that my house now sits on. And my Bible is as valid as your Bible. So there!
1000x wider or deeper?
ambose, largo Y ancho !!
Stultus pedit ab ore suo.