Trump encouraged "promoting a culture that cherishes innocent life" in his speech against abortion.

@LeopoldBloom I do not claim that those people represent the opinions and beliefs of the Israeli people. They are, however, people who decide what Israel as a government and a nation does, just as how Trump does with America. Even though you and I oppose him, his actions are what America does on a world stage.

It is by no means a misuse of the word "genocide." The state of Israel has declared that all people of Palestinian ethnicity are their enemy and that Israel is not at war with the country of Palestine but at war with the Palestinian race. Those lawmakers you named have explicitly stated that their goals do not include targeted strikes or attempts to identify and eradicate terrorists and insurgents, which means that what they DO intend to do is indiscriminately kill people in another country. What would you call that if not genocide?

I by no stretch of the imagination support, encourage, condone, or excuse Palestinian aggression or acts of violence carried out against Israel. Like I said, I would be much harsher on them if it weren't for the occupation. But I'm a war refugee from Yemen; I know what it's like to be unfathomably impoverished and living in a dirt poor fucked up nation that's being attacked and bombed indiscriminately by a larger, wealthier, better equipped nation. When you feel as if you're going to be killed no matter what you do, your reaction is to resort to violence. The UN won't recognize Palestine as a state and insists that they are just people illegally living on Israeli land. Hamas, as despicable as they are, have even made statements that they would entertain the idea of returning to the 1968 borders.

If I'm not mistaken, didn't American Indians originally come across the Bering Strait from Asia?

@BlueMetalChick I'll admit that there are elements in both the Israeli government and in Hamas that want to obliterate the other side, however, neither one is having any success at achieving that goal. So "intentions" should apply to both sides, or neither. I would reserve "genocide" for policies that are actually carried out, not just "intentions." And yes, I'm aware of your background, so your position is understandable. But the situation in the Occupied Territories is only superficially similar to that in Yemen.

You are correct that Native Americans crossed the Bering land bridge at various times over the last 20,000 to 6,000 years, when the Ice Age lowered the sea levels. They're still the aboriginal inhabitants of the Americas, as far as we know. I only brought that up to defuse the common view that the Palestinians are the original inhabitants of that area, while Israeli Jews are recent invaders. What's more important is where people live now, rather than dwelling on past offenses. Israeli citizens (of which 25% aren't even Jewish) are just as entitled to live on their land in safety and autonomy as are Palestinians. Blaming the Israelis for the situation just because they're better at protecting themselves is nothing more than sympathy for the underdog.

I support a solution that would achieve safety and autonomy for everyone, and so far, Rivlin's federation idea looks the most promising. The U.S. needs to take more of a lead in this, but so do the surrounding Arab countries and Iran, who have been exploiting the Palestinian tragedy for far too long, for their own selfish reasons.

Many Americans are not aware that Israel has been building closer relations with China for decades, in anticipation of the U.S. eventually losing its status as the preeminent world superpower, as well as concerns that a far-left or far-right U.S. government might decide to sever ties with them. Anyone who thinks the Chinese will have any concern whatsoever for the Palestinians is delusional.

@LeopoldBloom [quote]I'll admit that there are elements in both the Israeli government and in Hamas that want to obliterate the other side, however, neither one is having any success at achieving that goal.[/quote]
Israel's succeeding pretty damn good at it right now. Since September of 2000, there have been a confirmed 10,105 Palestinians killed by Israeli military in comparison to 1,260 confirmed dead Israelis. In the year 2014 alone, 2,285 Palestinians were killed to just 84 Israelis. And keep in mind, almost every death on the Israeli side have been soldiers, while a significant portion of Palestinian deaths have been civilians killed by untargeted airstrikes and bombings, including a group of children who were [i]intentionally[/i] killed by a drone while swimming on a beach. The drone even missed its first shot and the controllers made the decision to turn it around for a second pass. All of the victims were under the age of 13.

Not to mention that two American teenagers of Palestinian ethnicity who were in the Gaza to see family were killed, one beaten to death and the other lit on fire.

[quote]Blaming the Israelis for the situation just because they're better at protecting themselves is nothing more than sympathy for the underdog.[/quote]
Defending oneself does not include occupying land from someone else, nor does it include the purposeful murder of civilians. Were this a war between armies, I'd feel different. If Palestine had an actual military, or even a volunteer militia or something, and they were fighting the IDF, my opinion would be different. But that is not the reality of the situation and you know it.

[quote]The U.S. needs to take more of a lead in this[/quote]
The United States is so beholden to Israel that there is actual domestic legislation that punishes people who denounce Israel's actions. I wish I were lying but I'm not. Pro-Palestinian activist groups or student groups can legally be punished by law, as can businesses for this matter. America is selling weapons to Israel that have been illegal since World War One. That's not taking a lead.

@LeopoldBloom I get the moral discrepancy of a late-term abortion. But the pro-life base is, like you said, a fucking disgrace.

@BlueMetalChick There is no moral discrepancy. Late-term abortions are an act of love. Anyone who would oppose what the woman in ths article did, doesn’t deserve to be called human.

https://slate.com/technology/2019/02/late-term-abortion-support-group-lessons-trust-myself-women.html

@KaiserSolze You got the right idea.