@Ozymandiaz Well when the IRA blew up those kids in Warrington shopping for Mother’s Day, we didn’t use it as a reason to use the RAF to flatten Dublin like the Israelis did.
I mean, we could have….but that just wouldn’t be cricket.
@WintaTheAngle The US wouldnt have let you or you might have considered it. But you surely did flatten Iraq a kill hundreds of thousands of civilians based on nothing but lies. You are in the RAF how much innocent blood is on your hands?
@Ozymandiaz The U.K. is a NATO country, Ireland isn’t. If we’d been hell bent on destruction like Israelis are, they would have had to grudgingly allow it or try to stop us and make their own treaty bull.
As for Iraq. If you’d actually been there you’d know you’re hard pushed to find innocents. Why do you think it so quickly turned to Mad Max once NATO left?
Of course in your usual biased way you’re turning a blind eye to the fact that my squadron also played a significant contribution to Shader, the air campaign against Islamic State. But they didn’t wear uniforms so I’m sure you will be telling me they were more innocents.
@WintaTheAngle I know that is what you think but you are wrong.
I didnt need to be in Iraq. The whole world knows exactly what happened. Exactly what you personally had a hand in. A war based on lies. Tell yourself that there are no innocent Iraqis if that helps you sleep at night.
Its just the same old jingoist nonsense. It is why every time your head of state visits a country from Jamaica to Kenya the word reparations is brought up.
Even this current conflict can be laid at the feet of your country.
Ps what you done in Iraq directly created the Islamic State
@WintaTheAngle There are those who would question the seeming premise of your comments that Hamas is comparable to the IRA. In significant ways, Hamas and the IRA are not comparable.
[quote]One of the main differences between Hamas and the IRA is the role played by religion in their ideologies. While most IRA members were Catholic and religion was a factor, its political platform and vision was the unification of the island of Ireland, not defined in religious terms. The religious beliefs of its members did not block the way to a political compromise.
By contrast, the ideology of Hamas is defined in absolutist religious terms, that of a radical version of Islam, which is not open to influence or change. The political vision and religious belief of Hamas are one and the same; therefore, change is unlikely.
At the core of this belief is the desire to create an Islamist state based on Islamic law over all the land, not just the West Bank and Gaza, but Israel as well. There is no acceptance of the notion of coexistence, no support for the idea of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace, but an exclusive demand, based on fundamentalist interpretations of religious texts, for control of the entire territory.
The Hamas Charter, adopted in 1988 and still very much in effect, defines the land of Palestine as "an Islamic Waqf" (trust territory) consecrated for future Muslim generations. It adds: "Until the Day of Resurrection, no one can renounce it or part of it, or abandon it or part of it" (Article 11).
The Charter's preface states "Israel will arise and will remain existent only until Islam eliminates it as it has eliminated its predecessors." Furthermore, it defines the enemy explicitly as an ethnic-religious group - the Jewish people. Hamas officials continue in their refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist. In contrast, the IRA never questioned Britain's right to exist.
The difference also applies to the practical level. After the IRA ceasefire of 1994, U.S. Senator George Mitchell, called in as a mediator, laid down ground rules for participation in the Northern Ireland talks. All the parties to the conflict then agreed to a code of conduct. The first principle was a commitment by all sides to "democratic and exclusively peaceful means" of resolving political issues. The second was a commitment to "the total disarmament" of all paramilitary groups. Sadly such principles cannot be reconciled with the Hamas Charter, its religious ideology and the concept of the duty to wage holy war (jihad), which will inherently always take precedence.
In fact, the whole idea of a peace process and the use of mediators are ruled out by the Charter. Mediators would not be welcome, since "those conferences are no more than a means to appoint the unbelievers as arbitrators in the lands of Islam" (Article 13).
What then is a prudent policy for the international community towards Hamas, especially in the aftermath of its takeover of Gaza? The answer is a united front and a consistent policy, demanding and insisting on the acceptance of the three principles laid out by the Quartet (United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia): recognition of Israel's right to exist, renouncing and ending terrorism, and accepting all prior agreements and understandings achieved between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
These are sensible principles. If Hamas were to accept these principles, abandon its radical beliefs and, like the IRA transform itself into a partner for dialogue, it could join the peace process and put an end to the suffering of the Palestinian people. Indeed, if Hamas stops rocket attacks on Israeli towns and villages and releases the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, it can pave the way for an immediate and stable ceasefire in the Gaza region.
Unfortunately, given the intransigent ideological and religious foundations behind Hamas' violent actions, such an expectation is quite unrealistic. Instead, Middle East peace would better be served by supporting the moderate Palestinian leadership in their effort to lead their people to a reasonable compromise - a path which Israel as well is willing to take.
[i]Zion Evrony is Israel's ambassador to Ireland. He was previously head of the policy planning bureau at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[/i][/quote]
@flipper1966 In short Isrealis and Palestinians want revenge more than they want peace. So this will go on forever. Therefore no reason to get invested or involved.
@Ozymandiaz You’re wrong again. And I could write paragraphs on why, but it’s easier just to accept your a bitter little Irish guy who follows me around like a bad smell. 👋🏻
@Ozymandiaz I’m not an idiot or uneducated. I’ve a long employment history of engineering occupations - it’s just you throwing around words to save yourself having to actually think.
Nor am I angry or upset. I was just busy in the school run this morning trying to heard the girls from home to school, and I clocked the fact that I’m spending more time talking to you than I really want to.
People with nothing useful to say always turn to insults to fill the gaps - and why voluntarily would spend any more of my time on that? You can continue to follow me around SW if you wish. I’m flattered by my time is too precious to respond on reading or replying to you.
@WintaTheAngle That is very precious and also funny. Funny because you started with the insults and now you are complaining about getting them back. Don't be so delicate. If you can't take it don't give it out. So take your own advice and stop filling gaps 😂
You might be the world's best engineer but we are not talking about engineering are we? You are ill-informed about anything relating to history or politics while wading into posts with your typical condescension. I wouldn't mind if you could back any of it up but you can't. You just cry about being picked on then run away when challenged. 😂
@WintaTheAngle To be fair I think that’s one of the most even handed responses to trolling I’ve seen on SW. You don’t owe this person your time. Just do as you said and ignore him.
@WintaTheAngle[quote] In short Isrealis and Palestinians want revenge more than they want peace. So this will go on forever. Therefore no reason to get invested or involved. [/quote]
That's probably true. They're in a death grip with each other.
