Israel has about 20% of Arab population, of the Jewish population, over 50% are Sephardic which come from the same areas that the Arab population come, so the majority of Israel is not "white". Sorry man, you once again are trying to insert race into a place it is not a part of. This is about security against terror, not race. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mazzig-mizrahi-jews-israel-20190520-story.html
This is clearly a violation and disgusting. Please do not put words in my mouth, Bombing a tunnel near the border and missing and hitting over the border is an accident. This is no accident, just as the attack on a music festival is not an accident. Once again, I never once claimed that there were no violations on one side or another, I have publicly said in this thread that I think the settlements are an abomination, but I tried to get to the crux of the problem. I hate it when people try to subvert from the issue at hand by using anecdotal evidence. There is shit all over the place, but the crux of the issue is that one side has repeatedly been opposed to a 2 state solution. That's where it starts and until this is fixed, it will not end. Sad, but true.
Like the computer in War Games said, the only winning move is not to play. But there is non-miniscule chance this will spark WW3. It would be interesting to see what kind of advanced weaponry countries have up their sleeve. The US is deploying DEWs, which I suspect may be a counter to the hypersonic missiles our rivals have in their arsenal.
DEW weapons have developed to be an effective weapon against slower moving targets, such as drones and sub-sonic cruise missiles. However, due to a variety of conditions, they can not now, and probably will never be able to destroy hypersonic missiles. Particles in the air, such as dust and moisture, limit DEWs max accurate range to around 5 miles. The laser beam needs to hit the exact same moving spot for a long enough time to heat up, and then destroy the target. DEWs on ships today need about 15 seconds on target to destroy it. Hypersonic missiles travel too fast.
@AmirIcon - Could you tell us about your background? I am a fairly typical liberal American Jew, although I don't fit every stereotype . For example, I raised my kids to be independent thinkers. Both were Bat Mitzvahed and now, both are intensely anti- Israel, pro-Palestinian. Hoisted by my own petard! Where do you live? Are you Muslim? What are your politics?
Hey man, sure. I'm a progressive Persian who was raised without religion. I was atheist until very recently. Not religious but can see the value in it. My parents frowned upon it since they fled Iran during the 79 revolution so they dislike religion. They've always been more on the conservative/Republican side unfortunately because they blame Carter for ruining their country. I try to tell them that pretty much every nation has wielded religion to get their population in line. All the major religions have mutated. Very interesting to hear about your kids!
So the debate I have with my kids almost every day (kids, ha! They are in their late 20s) is about this conflict. My take is that both sides are guilty. You can only say one side is if you stop looking backwards because it is action, reprisal, reprisal, action, etc. My kids see only how the Jews have treated Gaza since, say, 2006. And yes, of course it is reprehensible. But so was the Palestinians murdering the Israeli Olympic team in 1972 - in Germany no less! At Camp David, Arafat was offered 94% of Gaza and the West Bank for peace and he turned it down. That is reprehensible too. The only answer imo is a two-state solution, and for that to happen, Bibi must go! But so too must Hamas.
I absolutely agree with it. I am on record as saying that Bibi's ability to reappear over and over again as a cockroach is mostly because of the Hamas and the Palestinians inability to commit to peace and even with that, let's remember that there were 4 or 5 elections in the last 2? years in Israel because so many people do not like him (and their absurd political system where everyone can run to the parliament). At the end of the day, until both sides are willing to accept the 2 state solution (which Israel was on board with many times in history), nothing will happen. We just need the Palestinians in some way shape or form to commit to it. I have no doubt that Israel will happily go into this direction as I do not see any reason for them to actually want the Gaza strip and / or the west bank unless you are a religious nut.
A lot of people seem to be most interested in assigning blame to one side or the other. I think I know enough to understand that I don't take either side, only the side of wanting the killing to stop. And the conflict will never end until both sides recognize the role they play in perpetuating the hate, which is much easier said that done. But an even greater problem, is that we're now in the cusp of WW3. Hold on to your shorts folks.
