The Jew made sense.

[Midwest Spy]

We aren't talking about Israel & Palestine.

I'm very empathetic to the plight of the Palestinians. Their situation sucks, and I'm all for finding a way for them to receive equitable treatment.

[username]

God was really pissed off and ready to smite people until he sent his son to die for us and then we all (sort of) became fuzzy bunnies. If the bible is the word of God, I think God could suffer from bi-polar disorder.

Menop-Aussie??? WWJoelSay??

ETA: if it were Joel Olstein (one damn letter!), he might be singing another tune.

[HairOfTheDog]

If most people just tried to emulate Christ's life, even if you don't believe he's the Son Of God, the world be 1000x better than it is.

'Love your neighbor', 'help the poor' 'feed the hungry'.

It's all so basic, and yet is met with such skepticism.

No one has to emulate Christ's life in order to love their neighbors, help the poor, or feed the hungry. Those are humanitarian ideals, they weren't invented or patented by Christ or Christians, for God's sake.

But, the irony of you preaching them is amusing. You've complained about your smelly immigrant neighbors many a time. You contended that the killing of one of your proverbial neighbors -- a 12-year-old boy -- was a good thing for society because you and Christ knew he woulda just grown up to be a thug anyway, given that he'd waved a toy gun in the park and all. You argue against the pursuit of diplomatic negotiations to ease tensions between neighboring countries in favor of maintaining or increasing hostilities... And, if memory serves, you've posted your disdain for governmental subsidies and programs meant to assist those living below the US poverty line.

If it's so basic, why do you apparently have such difficulty embracing and practicing it? And, who are these skeptics to whom you refer?

[HairOfTheDog]

This thread is about Iran, Israel and what's being done to ensure that Iran doesn't make good on their desire to create a nuclear weapon.

Why are Israelis so much more deserving than Palestinians when it comes to the land and freedoms?

I posted a little about this in the Israel vs. Palestine thread a while back, but I think it should be posted in this thread since we've been discussing here the Israeli election taking place tomorrow.

Netanyahu does not believe the Palestinians deserve to rule themselves and he wants them kept under Israeli occupation in an apartheid model. Today, he finally came out and said so directly.

Why would he say that after years and years of agreeing to pursue a two-state solution in peace talks with the US, UN, Europe, the PLO...? Because, IMO, he can't alienate those who want diplomacy over war more than he already has and his party is trailing in election polls. So, he's pandering to the far right in attempt to deter them from supporting Herzog (who has attracted some of Netanyahu's traditional supporters on other key domestic issues).

Bibi's Likud party needs every single seat it can get to win tomorrow's election and I think he thinks he can swing a couple his way with this admission, IMO.

In an interview with the daily Maariv newspaper today, Netanyahu said that withdrawing from occupied areas to make way for a Palestinian state would only ensure that territory will be taken over by Islamic extremists. When asked if that means a Palestinian state will not be established if he is elected, Netanyahu said "indeed."

Still, while his party might well lose in the voter election, it's possible Netanyahu would remain PM at the head of a more central/left government if he gets more thumbs-up from the various party leaders than Herzog. It could happen -- Herzog is seen more as one who unites but does not have a lot of Bibi's commander-in-chief charisma. And, even though a lot of today's Israelis criticize Netanyahu for focusing so much on war/security and so little on social and economic issues, national security is still a foremost concern.

It's politically very hot in Israel today; tomorrow will be even hotter.

Related story: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/world/....html?_r=0

[Duchess]

Netanyahu does not believe the Palestinians deserve to rule themselves and he wants them kept under Israeli occupation in an apartheid model. Today, he finally came out and said so directly.

Sounds somewhat dictator-ish to me.

[Duchess]

More than somewhat actually.

He needs to be kissin' some United States ass given we are paying for a number of his Iron Domes. I don't like that we help war mongers.

[Maggot]

Palestine would turn out OK if they would just stop lobbing bombs over the fence. Every time there is some kind of peace accord they break it. Why?

[Duchess]

Every time there is some kind of peace accord they break it. Why?

I see it as retribution for Israel trying to screw them one more time. Israel is not without blame.

[Maggot]

But why agree to peace then break it? I sometimes wonder if the other powers that be do not want peace between them. It's usually some radical element that sends a missile.

[Duchess]

But why agree to peace then break it? I sometimes wonder if the other powers that be do not want peace between them. It's usually some radical element that sends a missile.

I don't think that the powers that be who make the deals are always responsible for what goes down and then there are those who will never consider any kind of peace with Israel. So many of those people are just like you & I. They simply want to live in peace.

[Duchess]

I do have something nice to say about Israel though. They have the gold standard in airline security and if we had that here I would fly again.

[username]

I'm very curious about the outcome of this election. BiBi is making some ugly last minute statements to try and pull out the right wingers to vote. THE ARABS ARE VOTING, THE ARABS ARE VOTING!!

[Maggot]

Bibi won so the Arabs helped.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, "The Arabs are voting! The Arabs are voting!" last minute Paul Revere impersonation and campaign cry seems to have been a successful strategy.

Jesus -- the Arabs he was screaming about are Israeli citizens. It would be like a conservative GOP candidate tweeting, "the blacks are voting, the blacks are voting!"



He said and did a lot of things during his campaigning that can't easily be forgotten and can't be taken back.

It'll be interesting to watch what happens in Israeli over the next couple of years.

I wish he'd lost -- I think he's dangerous and tunnel visioned (no pun intended). But, at least the centralist political groups gained more exposure and support as a result of the election.

[Maggot]

Well they have a Democratic society so it's better than some Mullah with unlimited personal power guiding the horse. And there were no politicians assassinated or kidnapped during the elections.

[HairOfTheDog]

The Israeli people spoke and Netanyahu won, that's the way it works. No objection here.

What I hope is that Netanyahu heard the opposition voices and doesn't ignore them -- there were more of them and they spoke louder than I believe he imagined when he called the general election.

Personally, I do not believe he's listening to anyone but those who agree with him, domestically and internationally. But, there are more left wing and centralist party seats in the Knesset as a result of the election than there were before, I believe. So, he might at least give a little when it comes to domestic and social issues, even though fear will probably always be his predominate motivating factor and top priority.

[Maggot]

Sounds like someone I know.............

[Duchess]

It would be like a conservative GOP candidate tweeting, "the blacks are voting, the blacks are voting!"

Hahaha! That tickled my funny bone.

That may have been done here during Obama's second election.

Poke Poke Poke.

[Midwest Spy]

Listening to Hannity on Fox Radio. Not always, but today I did.

Obama trying to transform Iran from enemy to friend and do the opposite with Israel.

Says Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are not afraid to kick Iran's ass while at this very moment John Kerry sits at a negotiating table with Iran's mullahs bending over and giving them the nuclear weapon they so deeply covet.

It's not just Fox reporting this stuff either.

Is it paranoia, or is Obama's foreign policy endangering America and its allies?

[Maggot]

I'm tellin ya Iran wants Iraq. And this administration will give it to them as they kick the nuclear can down the road. Sanctions were working too, they want all sanctions removed no matter what other countries in the area say. This is like negotiating with Mexican drug cartels.
The negotiating team is trying to play nice like many others tried and failed to do. It just doesn't work. But we shall see if it kills us.