Quote:
Originally Posted by Lomac
Shit, Civicblues... you're alive!  |
Yeah I pop up every couple years now to see if I left something behind
Far be it from me to make any sort of call on this conflict. I was just a tourist. There's people far more educated and involved first hand on the subject. I can't imagine what it's like to have to be humiliated day-in-day-out at a check point by a gun-totting 18 year old Israeli just to go to work, or have to duck into a bomb shelter next to my house when I hear an air raid siren because some Palestinian feels he was slighted.
I did however, get a taste of it and it sort of reinforced my slight leaning towards the Israelis. For all it's faults (of which there are many), they've created a Democracy - one that includes Jews of all ethnicity (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, hell even Ethiopians) and from across the religious spectrum. They've even included in their nation the "enemy" - Arabs which at least on paper are equal citizens. I don't think the average Palestinian is given even the slightest consideration by Hamas, who seem to delight in their use as human shields to further their cause.
It's easy to root for the underdog. But I can't root for an underdog that has religious extremism as a state ideology. Or one that is inherently misogynistic and homophobic. Call the Israeli state racist if you must, but I bet you Dollars to Shekels that if given a choice between living under them or under the PA/Hamas, you'd be donning a kippah in no time. Heck, the Jews were the underdog for the last 70 years or so, which is why the Great Powers - ahem excuse the term - "conspired" to give them the arid wasteland which is now Israel. They, as Israelis like to say, made that desert bloom. Cross the border from Israel proper to the West Bank and there's a stark change from 1st world to 3rd world. It's like crossing the US/Mexico border on foot, which I've also done and DO NOT recommend. You sure as hell wouldn't expect the US Army to tolerate Mexicans digging tunnels and firing rockets into San Diego.
Sorry Palestinians, you poke a bear in the eye with a stick expect to get mauled.