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Abstraction · 61-69, M
My organisation works in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
On one hand you have Hamas and groups that can be very corrupt. They have a history of using violence to resist Israel. I don't support any of this.
On the other hand, you Israelis illegally occupying and constantly taking Palestinian land. All the time. Settlers move in, take land, and the Israeli troops support it. I was in a village where they lost their well - had it for centuries - to Israeli settlers. They lose farming land with olive trees that belonged to their father's father's father's father. You wouldn't believe what it's like to try to live peacefully there, which MOST Palestinians want to do. They can't take their fishing boats out to where the fish are. They can't move from one location to another. They have electricity, water, sewage, etc switched off and on at the whim of Israelis. A guy I knew hadn't seen his mother in six months because the checkpoints, on a whim, stop him crossing. I could go on for hours. It's inhuman. I've been where most Israelis can't or don't go on the Palestinian side.
I work with the world's most vulnerable children. I've never met children with less hope than the Palestinian children. It's like apartheid was in South Africa.
And any criticism is called antisemitic. In this context, that's little more than a manipulative use of an important term. My criticism is political - I have no criticism of Jewish people at all.
On one hand you have Hamas and groups that can be very corrupt. They have a history of using violence to resist Israel. I don't support any of this.
On the other hand, you Israelis illegally occupying and constantly taking Palestinian land. All the time. Settlers move in, take land, and the Israeli troops support it. I was in a village where they lost their well - had it for centuries - to Israeli settlers. They lose farming land with olive trees that belonged to their father's father's father's father. You wouldn't believe what it's like to try to live peacefully there, which MOST Palestinians want to do. They can't take their fishing boats out to where the fish are. They can't move from one location to another. They have electricity, water, sewage, etc switched off and on at the whim of Israelis. A guy I knew hadn't seen his mother in six months because the checkpoints, on a whim, stop him crossing. I could go on for hours. It's inhuman. I've been where most Israelis can't or don't go on the Palestinian side.
I work with the world's most vulnerable children. I've never met children with less hope than the Palestinian children. It's like apartheid was in South Africa.
And any criticism is called antisemitic. In this context, that's little more than a manipulative use of an important term. My criticism is political - I have no criticism of Jewish people at all.
naturefarmer · 41-45, M
@Abstraction 😰😡 why the world is letting it happen?
Abstraction · 61-69, M
@naturefarmer Because any government that is seen to not support the Israeli government will be under political pressure from Jewish and some Christian lobbies. The pressure is significant and can turn an election.
Many Jewish people have told stories, written books, created documentaries, movies... to tell the story of the holocaust. This is something that I listened to and it shaped me. It taught me to value all human beings - particularly those who aren't necessarily my ethnic group or nationality.
It's ironic that many Jewish people haven't learnt the same lesson. I hasten to add that many have, but if their information sources are biased, they may believe that Palestinian people are mostly terrorists who want to destroy Israel. (Such people do exist, but it isn't the majority.) Of course, many German people believed propaganda about Jewish people as well. I don't know how they can be blind though to the inhuman and unjust treatment that their government enacts. Eyes wide shut, I guess.
Many Jewish people have told stories, written books, created documentaries, movies... to tell the story of the holocaust. This is something that I listened to and it shaped me. It taught me to value all human beings - particularly those who aren't necessarily my ethnic group or nationality.
It's ironic that many Jewish people haven't learnt the same lesson. I hasten to add that many have, but if their information sources are biased, they may believe that Palestinian people are mostly terrorists who want to destroy Israel. (Such people do exist, but it isn't the majority.) Of course, many German people believed propaganda about Jewish people as well. I don't know how they can be blind though to the inhuman and unjust treatment that their government enacts. Eyes wide shut, I guess.
Miram · 31-35, F
I don't follow but based on my experiences I know about Islam more than most Muslims.
Ask away.
Ask away.
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naturefarmer · 41-45, M
@Miram okay then why do Israelis claim it is there's God's given land which they were kicked out off and want it back?
And why cannot Palestinians get United if it is there land and ask the world to help them?
And why cannot Palestinians get United if it is there land and ask the world to help them?
Miram · 31-35, F
@naturefarmer They have united and asked the world to help them more than a dozen of times. The world is mostly busy with their own.
Israel uses an interpretation of a verse in the Tanakh to make that claim for political reasons, even some Israelis and Jewish religious people disagree with it, the interpretation takes Abraham's offspring to be the Jews whereas it is evident that Abraham's offspring include the Arabs living in the area and they are all mixed.
If you read into history as far back as Abraham, it is easier to see that his son Ismail which is the ancestor of Arabs has inhabited the land rather than theirs Isaac and his offspring.
It is just a justification to rob people out of their right to live in their own areas.
Israel uses an interpretation of a verse in the Tanakh to make that claim for political reasons, even some Israelis and Jewish religious people disagree with it, the interpretation takes Abraham's offspring to be the Jews whereas it is evident that Abraham's offspring include the Arabs living in the area and they are all mixed.
If you read into history as far back as Abraham, it is easier to see that his son Ismail which is the ancestor of Arabs has inhabited the land rather than theirs Isaac and his offspring.
It is just a justification to rob people out of their right to live in their own areas.
naturefarmer · 41-45, M
@Miram thanks, i would look it up.
It is too bad then for Palestinians, their leadership really is not doing an effective job for the past 30 or 40 years.
It is too bad then for Palestinians, their leadership really is not doing an effective job for the past 30 or 40 years.