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Jordan you’ve been so helpful through this. I love your work.

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The same question applies: how do you make peace with people who rather be dead than letting you be? All these people who are clamoring for Israel to show restraint (which goes without saying), offer no realistic solutions for this conflict. They insist on imposing their own moralistic ideology on a situation that the supposed “victims” have worked since the mid-20 century to create. Many “Palestinians refugees” living in Gaza do not, DO NOT want a two-state solution to this crisis because they rather be dead than living alongside Jews. This is by their own declaration and their votes in favor of Hamas. Remember, when someone tells you who they are, you better believe them. It’s time to stop trying to impose our own ideology on people who think and basically are different from us. It’s the same mistake Bush/Rumsfeld made with Iraq/Afghanistan. Arabs/muslims living in the Middle East are different from us, and we must understand and accept their mentality and values. They believe it’s their sacred duty to do their part to ensure the nonexistence of Israel. That’s fact. Ofc, that doesn’t mean they should be exterminated, OF COURSE NOT. However, wishful thinking won’t cut my fellow humanitarians liberals. Wishful thinking will not work/help/make the problem go away. Time to stop the pity party and behave like grownups, offering realistic solutions and not just complaining about the situation. Keeping in mind ofc, what the situation actually is and who the people involved in it are, crucially including how they think and what they believe. Anything other than that is hot air and adds to the problem, offering nothing in terms of a realistic solution.

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Respectfully, I think this doesn't fully appreciate the reasons for the antipathy, or the brutality of the past 18 years of the embargo and Hamas's leadership, both of which were instituted and upheld by the Israeli government.

That said, half of the population of Gaza is 18 or under. I do not believe people are born with such rigid ideologies. Their lives will be shaped by experiencing either the wrath of the scorched earth Israeli military campaign or receiving humanitarian aid and being allowed to go back to their homes.

The question really isn't how to solve the entire situation, which, you're right, has no easy answers. But at this point, there must be ways to create a ceasefire that allows for humanitarian efforts and diplomacy, which has to include other Middle Eastern countries willing to put pressure on Hamas as well. Detonating the entire region of two million people to kill terrorists is not a solution, but an invitation for new generations of terror.

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This is the deal friend, the question still remains how do you deal with people who doesn’t want peace and stability, who sees your existence as illegitimate, and who hates you more than they love their own? With people who take all and any opportunity to do harm to you, or to plan on doing harm?

It’s us in the West who insist on imposing our values upon entire communities who don’t think like us, have different values, and don’t care about our values. They only care about destroying the Jews, not bc I say so but bc they have been saying so for decades, both by their own statements and clearly by their actions. It’s not the current situation that radicalizes the youth, they do that since birth, in a society where you grow up to hate the Jews as the main reason for their existence. They don’t want to see their kids grow up and go to school and become all they could be, nope. Not if it means living in a world where a Jewish state exists. By their own logic/admission.

That’s for chumps, that’s how we think in the West and perhaps other cultures. Not there, there your “sacred duty” is to eradicate the existence of the Jewish state.

So you talk about embargos and all the other things being “done” to them, but then again, how do you deal with them if they don’t even care if they live or die, not as long as a Jewish state exists. Every time you look/think about them and all the other things, try doing it not through your own logic but through their logic, and ofc, that of Israel as well. It’s sad, tragic, shameful to think about how much suffering and trauma exists, but then again, what would anyone do given the circumstances. Not looking at it as an American or any other nationality, but as a Palestine Arab and an Israeli living there. When no matter what your neighbors wants you dead, even more than they want to live themselves, what the heck do you do? Until one answers that question, I don’t think it’s fair to judge the actions of the Israelis. Are all of their actions justified, perfect, measured beyond reproach? Ofc not, at least I don’t think so, but then again I’m not the one living with such a neighbor, nor I wish it to the worst person in the world. It’s maddening. I believe it’s actually a miracle that they haven’t done worse given what I just said. Most people have done worse, a lot worse for a lot less. So think about that too if you can stop looking at it through your own values and beliefs, if you can stop wishing things were different for just a moment, and instead look at it objectively by what Hamas and the majority of the Palestines have been doing/saying.

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I of course can be wrong, BUT I have to agree, there can be no “two state existence” if one side simply refuses! And with their refusal continues to do everything in their power to obliterate their neighbour! I agree that truthfully, I am amazed by the tolerance of Israel. Even if all of Palestine were made up of only children, if their soul cry is the obliteration of the Jew, how does peace exist! I suspect Israel learned a long time ago that compliance (getting on the train) is not the answer! I wish and yes pray it not to be true, but I strongly believe it is!

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I think we simply disagree on the idea that Palestinians "don't even care if they live or die, not as long as the Jewish state exists."

A vast majority of Palestinians simply want to live their lives in peace with their families. There are certainly cultural differences, and some animosity has become ingrained, but most people on both sides just want to live in peace.

There are competing interests and a lot of animosity, but I don't believe it's unsolvable precisely because people on both sides are far less extreme than their leaders.

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Ok friend, if you say that “most Palestinians simply want to live their lives in peace with their families” you must show where/when/how did they say it. Bc in the last referendum Hamas got more than 80% of the vote against the PLO, not against Israel or the west but against the very organization setup in the 60’s as their resistance vehicle. Ofc, once the PLO softened their stance then they were not serving their purpose. Actions friend, words and actions.

I know you think that, for you as a reasonable person, it must be that way. Still, I don’t know. You know what most people who love their family and wish to live in peace have done when in impossible situations throughout history? Leave. That’s how America was born. That’s how the current Israeli state was born. That’s why there are many people from all over the world in America, including Palestinians btw.

Now, do you know why isn’t even a feasible solution for them to go to Egypt? Bc the Egyptians don’t want them there. Do you know why? Bc they fear they will destabilize their country. Now, why would Egypt, from where many of them trace their ancestry 100-years back, have such fear? Could it be that they know that what you think they want isn’t true? Could it be that the Egyptian government knows that the current Palestinians at least in Gaza hate the Jews more than they love, not even their own people but their own children? They see their children as future soldiers to do their duty, and for whom there is no higher calling than giving their lives in the fight to eradicate the Jewish state. (Again, by their own admission.)

So as you can see this isn’t a matter of opinion, at least not yours or mine, but words/actions/deeds. It’s tragic? Certainly so. That I wish they would behave/think differently? you bet. But it’s not what we want/think/believe, it is what it actually is over there.

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The last election was held in 2007, and Israel has been propping up Hamas for years as a proxy against other elements.

Do you really think it's logical to ask two million people to leave their homes? To force out a million people who weren't even alive during the last sham election? Where would you like them to go? And how should they get there?

Egypt's unwillingness to take more refugees is a political decision as well as one framed by the realities of the resources it requires to take an immediate influx of a million people.

I believe that you are conflating Hamas with all Palestinians. The debate can go no further so long as your baseline is that "they all exist to destroy Israel" and that it is a land of a million barbarians. You're setting it up to justify mass ethnic cleansing.

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I’m not setting up for anything friend, all I’m saying and have been saying is that we must ponder on the reality of the Palestinians refusals and historical context before we dare to opine on Israel actions and the current situation as a whole.

I have never given any opinions on an answer bc I’m not in their shoes, in neither of their shoes.

I would like for them to grow the heck up and give up militaristic solutions. I’m a pacifist at heart. But clearly the Palestinians don’t share this sentiment.

I just also find unfair to criticize Israel and label them as many things they clearly are not, once again based on evidence, facts, and historical context. My issue is with us, the ones not in their shoes, questioning their actions without first walking a mile in their shoes.

That’s all I’ve done so far. I have not, and never will call nor be comfortable with any solutions that includes the eradication of the Arabs living in Palestine. Never. I find that barbaric and despicable. Now, it’s starting to appear to me that they know that. That the Arabs know that no one in the West nor Israel would ever be okay with simply doing to them what they have been trying to do to the Jews, and that they have been taking advantage of what they see as a weakness in our part to create this untenable situation. I believe this too should be called out. Remember that they have received millions of dollars in aid from all around the world, from people who sympathize with their conditions. But what do they have to show for it? Where does anyone so chocked and with such an embargo get so much weaponry? How, why, and from where? They have been given millions to rebuild the infrastructure knocked down by war. Where is such infrastructure? So all the people outside the area rallying to their side should be able to answer that, or at least have them account for it. Bc it surely smells like they have been using all aid to simply rearm and to continue to rearm themselves, and if that’s the case then they should say so. I believe they have been manipulating a lot of good hearted people and that too is truly despicable. I hope I’m wrong about that, but it surely doesn’t pass the smell test.

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Agreed, I've heard much heated rhetoric, but few solutions.

Those who insist they will not vote for Biden due to Israel's response:

1) displace their fury at Netanyahu's administration onto Biden.

2) Biden has helped to delay a ground war, negotiated the release of 2 hostages, and begun the process of humanitarian aid. What he can't do is unilaterally force a cease-fire, abandon our one ally in the Middle East, or demand a 2-state solution with security guarantees.

3) I don't believe that 2% of those demanding the latter understand the complexities of this conflict or have any idea what "security guarantees" entail.

4) Any hope of a cease-fire will require the coordination of multiple countries in the Middle East. I tire of reminding people that Biden doesn't possess a magic wand to force a solution that brings peace, while providing security. This requires intense and prolonged diplomacy with many heads of state.

5) I'd encourage people to read today's "SpyTalk" newsletter for an understanding of how Hamas was able to use human intelligence sources to plan their massacre.

6) Netanyahu's administration won't survive this tragedy, but the question is what will replace his authoritarianism.

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Dear Soul, I am not Jewish, I am Canadian, I don’t even know if I know any Jewish people, however, the impossible position that Israel is in, calls for the obliteration of Hamas- I do not see how anything else is possible. I have watched the Middle East for many, many years- it is my humble opinion that the Israelites have done everything humanely possible to appease or live peaceably with surrounding countries THAT WISH to annihilate them. I confess I say NO to WAR, all WAR, so perhaps the only possible situation if there is to be NO WAR< is for a third party to smack itself straight down in the Midst between Palestinians and Jews -I suppose something similar to a no go zone between north and South Korea? The differences between the Jewish country and the Palestinian country is too vast! Perhaps those who beg for a cease fire would be prepared to be a “safety buffer” between? I don’t believe their is a country in existence that has had to fight or its very survival as much as the Jewish country has! BUT I could be wrong!

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Your position is one of a wise, well intentioned person. After looking at the history, how can you say or think any different from what you elaborated? This is a catastrophe, but the worst thing about it is that there’s no solution to it. Israel has won several wars against their neighbors and I believe it’s the rest of the world that has helped create this current situation. The existence of Palestine is political, not cultural or historical, it’s political. The PLO and the Palestinian refugees were setup and artificially manipulated by the Arab world to create a war again Israel. It was created to ensure the Jewish people could not live in peace. This isn’t my opinion but several historical documents leave no doubt. The majority of the current Arabs living in Palestine arrived there from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt about 100 years ago after the Ottoman Empire was defeated and collapsed after WW1. They’re not natives living there for thousands, not even hundreds of years. That’s the biggest lie. Moreover, after a partition was suggested after WW2 in the same fashion on which the states of India/Pakistan were created along religious lines, the Arabs said no and went on the offensive against the Jews in 1948. They lost. Even though Israel increased their side of the pie as a result of the war, they didn’t annihilated the Arabs and the West Bank/Gaza Strip stayed. But then again in 1967 and then in 1973 Arabs nations once again attacked Israel and lost. At that point it was very clear that they were not going to be able to eradicate the Jewish state. Many Arabs war refugees went to Jordan, Syria, and Egypt, but instead of allowing them to become part of their countries they kept them in camps and committed atrocities against them. The message was clear, we don’t want you here and don’t come back. The PLO itself wasn’t created as a result of the war in 1967 like many people believe. They were created in Egypt in 1965 as a political strategy to fight the Jews, and their constituent manifesto says as much. All of these are historical facts. One just needs to look it up. Basically, the current situation with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the sole reason for their existence is to be a thorn in the side of Israel. That’s why a peaceful, stable two-state solution is not feasible for the Arabs bc they will never abide by a permanent cease fire. Not as long as Israel exists. Hamas is just the latest off-shoot bc the PLO soften their stance and negotiated a self governing territory. (Which is highly corrupt btw, but that’s another issue.) Point is, you’re right about everything you said, and that’s just by looking at the last 30 years of the current situation. Once you widen the lenses to encompass the last 100 years the whole thing becomes clearer, and it’s even sadder.

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The numbers opposed to Israel would be much higher if the news stopped reporting propaganda and lies such as Hamas beheading 40 babies. Biden did this and had to walk it back but as usuall the recant got little attention. Such is the nature of propaganda.

There was a large silent protest of the American UN representative at a Human Right committee--it was spontaneous as people stood and turned their back on her. The video showed a huge % of those present participated. Even the cowardly and bought off MSM has begun to thwart the govt narrative.

If you had any honesty you would be writing about the illegal 75 yr Occupation of Israel that has been brutal murderous and genocide in slow motion as if that would cover up that State's criminality.. I have been standing in vigil in every venue locally to me and it is not just young people but many older people who are Jewish. One woman, perhaps in her late 30's spoke to me about how hard it was dealing with her family that are devout Zionists but she has stood her ground. She has a lot of company in the country and the world. This protest is growing event tho the media is still not as honest as it needs be. Netanyhu just threatened to blow up another hospital but it already had bombed it 3? days before this last one that hit the news. It really take people with cognitive dissonnance to refuse to understand the horrors of Israeli policy and actions.

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