Israel Declares War For The First Time Since 1973.

Hamas is now much in the news, but before Hamas there were other Palestinian organizations. First there was the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) that vowed, along with most of the Arab sympathizing nations, to push Israel into the sea. There was no compromising, no negotiating. Israel ceasing to exist was the only acceptable answer. The Camp David Accords negotiated by Jimmy Carter in 1978 didn't bring peace, and neither did Bill Clinton's attempt in 2000. Israel was as much under threat as ever.Why can't there be peace in the Middle East? While the Palestinians bear significant responsibility for the lack of negotiated compromises, they are not the ones with the power. Israel has almost all the power, and they've made an industry out of mistreating Palestinians. They've taken their land and blown up their homes. They subjected Gaza to a blockade. Some Palestinian families are entering their fourth generation of living in refugee camps. Until Israel demonstrates sincerity and commitment in improving the lives of Palestinians they will continue to live under threat of Palestinian retaliation.I admit to not following the region closely, so if there are any responses I expect they'll contain corrections and additional context.--Percy

Hamas, as the details of their recent incursions into Israel made abundantly clear, is a terrorist organization that is also the dominant political force in the Palestinian territories.In a way, Hamas, as well as Fatah and Hezbollah, are the creation of Israel. They only exist in their current form as mostly military organizations opposed to Israel's existence because Israel inflicts unending suffering and hardship on Palestinians, which only perpetuates an unending cycle of violence. Just as the Serbs and Croatians fight battles over wrongs from centuries ago, the Israelis and the Palestinians are marching down a similar path. Who would find it surprising if in 2452 when Israel punishes Gaza yet again that they cite as one of their reasons the Hamas incursion of several centuries before in 2023? Israel's moral ground couldn't be lower. I don't know what the consensus at the UN is, but Palestinians in Israel are treated in a manner not all that dissimilar from black Americans living under Jim Crow laws and southern prejudice. I'm sure we all have wonderfully warm feelings for the Israelis who cannot even treat Palestinians as if they were human.It is wrong that the most influential Palestinian organizations want Israel to cease to exist, but Israel is the strongest power in the Middle East because of the luck of history, not because of any moral high ground. If the fall of the Ottoman Empire hadn't led to Britain ruling the Middle East in the years before WWII, and if Britain's history didn't make it far more familiar with Jews than with Arabs and Palestinians, Jews would never have been able to carve out the Israeli homeland. Might does not make right, as Israel's many moral wrongs can attest.If any single individual is responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel it is Benjamin Netanyahu. His hard line stance on Palestinians made their situation intolerable. The answer is not ever greater security and ever increasing military power. The answer is to make peace with their neighbors, and that work begins at home by treating Palestinians as human beings.Israel is not our ally because we admire their morality and humanity. They are our ally because they occupy a strategic location in the Middle East. A less moral and humane ally we could not have.--Percy

I don't think anyone realizes you're referring to around 3000 years ago.It was the modern state of Israel that displaced the Palestinian people, who bear some significant responsibility for their plight due to their refusal to negotiate. The formation of a Jewish state was anathema to them. They refused to even consider the possibility and so declined to participate in the process.Even after Israel became a legal state they had to fight the Palestinians for control of the land. Menachem Begin was head of what was widely considered a Jewish terrorist organization before he became a politician.--Percy

Why do you say crazy things like this?Both parties bear responsibility for the cycle of violence in the Middle East. Israel has all the political and military power, so Palestinians living under Israeli control are second class citizens. Israel takes their land, destroys their homes, arrests and jails their people. Gaza has been under blockade. The Palestinians fight back in the only way that people without power or hope can.--Percy

I can't decipher this. There has never been a recognized state of Palestine. It's a region. The power that did the most to force the Jews into the diaspora was the Roman Empire when they destroyed Jerusalem in 70 AD.--Percy

History is full of tales of brilliant men of enormous accomplishment who as they grow older seem to inexplicably divert down senseless paths. Ken Chesebro, who once worked for Al Gore's campaign, is a very recent example. Fred Hoyle would have won a Nobel Prize for his astrophysical work if he hadn't so embarrassingly clung to ideas about a static universe and later pursued creationism (the OEC variety).I think people's minds lead them whither they will and that people have no choice but to follow helplessly along. I'm sure we all hope we're one of the ones who get to maintain sense and rationality as we age.--Percy

Why do you keep repeating this same mistake over and over again. Non-Christians and atheists are not "against Jesus Christ." Believing there was never any such person as Jesus Christ is no different than believing there was never any such person as Robin Hood. Non-believers in Robin Hood are no more "against Robin Hood" than non-believers in Jesus Christ are "against Jesus Christ." How much sense would it make to be against someone you believe fictional?Even severe criticisms of Christianity do not mean that one is "against Christianity." Issuing criticisms does make one against something. For example, all the recent criticisms of the House of Representatives do not mean people are "against the House of Representatives," so why should it be assumed that criticizing Christianity means one is "against Christianity."There are definitely things people are against. Many people are against dictatorships, abortion, budget deficits and genocide, but people are not often against things they believe fictional. Were zombies and vampires real I would definitely be against them, but they're not. And neither is Jesus Christ.--Percy

This mischaracterizes the position. The key issue is how long a people can be expected to stand idly by while their people are systematically destroyed. Hamas's recent terrorist acts against Israel cannot be justified, but neither can Israel's daily injustices against Palestinians. But it sure helps. Your race-centric views are showing again. This hash of illogic defies rational interpretation. The only clear thing that emerges is your racism.--Percy

Don't sweat it, you've got lots of company. There are few racists who realize it and fewer who admit it. Yours is obvious from the things you say and the arguments you make, e.g.: That the fact that many Jews are of the Hebrew race is relevant to your broader argument displays your racism.--Percy

Not all followers of Judaism are Hebrew. A convert to Judaism is a Jew (a follower of Judaism, a religion) but not a Hebrew (a racial category).It was clear from context in your earlier statements that you were using Jews as a racial category, which is a very common use of the word, but I wanted to be more precise, giving you an opportunity to say that you actually meant something other than the racist comment you appeared to be making.--Percy

You don't behave with humanity because you want to win over hearts and minds. You behave with humanity for its own sake because that is the right thing, the humane thing."Mighty vengeance" promised Netanyahu. The evil that men do has dispossessed Israel of its humanity and there's nothing to be done.--Percy

What's relaxing depends on your tastes, but here are some high quality works of fiction: --Percy

They all come in audio versions.--Percy

How does Audible work? Do you borrow or buy? If borrow, how much and how long is the borrow period? If buy, how much? And is TUSLOTW free for all Audible users, or just as part of the sign-up deal?I did go to the site, but once I got to "get 2 credits to get you started" and was left figuring out what a credit was, I stopped.--Percy

If some combination of Hamas forces and materiel are under a hospital then there is only one way for Israel to act that is not a war crime: they must first evacuate all civilians in the hospital to another medical facility that is adequately safe and appropriate for each patient's care. If the hospital is destroyed then Israel is responsible for finding permanent safe and appropriate medical facilities for the patients.But if Israel commits war crimes while combating Hamas then our political leaders, Biden first and foremost, must step up to the plate and treat Israel as the war criminal nation that it is.Having atrocities committed against you does not confer upon you the right to commit atrocities in return, not against the principals who committed the original atrocities, nor against those who are merely in the way. We know this, it's what our humanity requires, and if we fail to acknowledge this then we lose our humanity and remain the enablers of evil that we have been for decades.--Percy