Does anyone here understand the "other side?"

[dilloduck]

Why doesn’t the world build a “Great Wall of China” or a Berlin wall? When neighbors can’t get along, they build tall fences. I think that this is what the Palestinians and Israel needs. I don’t know much about the geography of that region, but I think that some type of giant tall and think wall would work. Lets have a demilitarized zone (DMZ) as there is between North Korea and South Korea but with strong walls. I think that you get the idea. Any comments?

Missles go over walls

 

[mattskramer]

Missles go over walls

Duh. It was my mistake for forgetting about the missiles. Oh well. What was that line from Shakespeare - "a curse on both your houses"? My view now is that we should keep out. Let’s just have the Palestinians and Israel destroy each other. Honestly – I just don’t care any more. I see blood on both of their hands. In a way, hasn’t this war gone on ever since Abraham’s two sons went their separate ways? You know – I don’t know and I don’t care. This war will never end. I suggest that the "reasonable" nations of the world just stay out of it and let these old brothers blow each other up. After the dust settles, we can work things out with what’s left of the “winner”.

 

[dilloduck]

Duh. It was my mistake for forgetting about the missiles. Oh well. What was that line from Shakespeare - "a curse on both your houses"? My view now is that we should keep out. Let’s just have the Palestinians and Israel destroy each other. Honestly – I just don’t care any more. I see blood on both of their hands. In a way, hasn’t this war gone on ever since Abraham’s two sons went their separate ways? You know – I don’t know and I don’t care. This war will never end. I suggest that the "reasonable" nations of the world just stay out of it and let these old brothers blow each other up. After the dust settles, we can work things out with what’s left of the “winner”.

Well, while you sit on your ass and don't give a shit, the US spends billions over there.

 

[Gunny]

Syria is a beautiful country with wonderful people. It is certainly not the United States, but it is not a hellhole by any means. The Syrian people do not embrace terrorism. Only the government embraces terrorism.
Hamas, Hizbollah and their ilk are terrorist groups. They respect no nations and no governments. No one controls them but their leaders. Their wealth, military strength and influence far exceeds the governments of Syria and Lebanon. I would love to see a world without Hamas and Hizbollah. I would also love to see a world without Israel. Neither wants peace.

Give me a break. The Middle East is a sandbox and I wouldn't give two wooden nickels for it.

I hate to break the news to you, but generally where a government goes, so too does its people.

I would love to see a world without people like you so steeped in discrminatory hatred that it's you and your ilk that have caused every war since the dawn of time.

 

[manu1959]

Syria is a beautiful country with wonderful people. It is certainly not the United States, but it is not a hellhole by any means. The Syrian people do not embrace terrorism. Only the government embraces terrorism.
Hamas, Hizbollah and their ilk are terrorist groups. They respect no nations and no governments. No one controls them but their leaders. Their wealth, military strength and influence far exceeds the governments of Syria and Lebanon. I would love to see a world without Hamas and Hizbollah. I would also love to see a world without Israel. Neither wants peace.

why do the syrian people not rise up and vote out their terrorist leaders and thus their support of terrorist groups....

oh yea....who is attacking syria again?

 

[insein]

Why doesn’t the world build a “Great Wall of China” or a Berlin wall? When neighbors can’t get along, they build tall fences. I think that this is what the Palestinians and Israel needs. I don’t know much about the geography of that region, but I think that some type of giant tall and think wall would work. Lets have a demilitarized zone (DMZ) as there is between North Korea and South Korea but with strong walls. I think that you get the idea. Any comments?

Its a different situation. The one side doesnt acknowledge the other sides right to even exist. I don't think a fence will solve that problem.

 

[mattskramer]

Well, while you sit on your ass and don't give a shit, the US spends billions over there.

What a waste of money. It has accomplished practically nothing but continue the strife – prolong the inevitable war. As I said, everyone should pull back and let them fight it out on their own.

 

[rtwngAvngr]

What a waste of money. It has accomplished practically nothing but continue the strife – prolong the inevitable war. As I said, everyone should pull back and let them fight it out on their own.

I agree with you matt. While the war on islamic fascism is real, having israel there is not that valuable an asset. Let's switch to a containment strategy and give the jews part of utah. maybe then they'll get some sense on the immigration policies they espouse for america. IF they have to live with their goy underlings, maybe they'll quit recommending such asswipey political ideas.

 

[CSM]

Anyone who believes Syria is run by another country is completely ignorant of the current situation.

As you point out, Syria is currently ruled by a bunch of despots; those despots have ties and are greatly influenced by Iran. If this were not the case, then Syria might not have been a terrorist state.

What was the cause of the current Israeli assault on Lebanon? Because someone kidnaped a soldier? In West Bank, individuals "disappear" on a regular basis. Perhaps it was the 750 plus missiles fired into their country at the same time; maybe it was the failure of Lebanon to live up to it's side of the bargain when Israel withdrew from there six years ago; and maybe it was the Palestinian attacks coming out of Gaza once Israel left there.The Israeli military and secret police regularly terrorize those in other countries. They use military force whenever they see fit. Israel is a soveriegn state and has the right to protect itself. Of course, since you already deny Israel's right to exist, I dont think you will recognize that at all.I have heard since Mr. Bush took office that he wishes to end Global Terrorism. Yet he himself sanctions terror operations by other countries. I am sure that to the terrorists and their supporters, Israelli actions are terrifying. Methinks you are listening to too much propaganda.

I find it interesting that you propose others try to understand "the other side" (in this case Syria)and yet you arbitrarily dismiss any thoughts of understanding Israel. I suspect that little piece of hypocracy may lead some to believe that you are a troll.

 

[dmp]

everyone should pull back and let them fight it out on their own.

Best reply yet.

 

[KatarinaZ]

DMP, you are indeed correct. The Middle East issue will never be resolved until the warring factions are allowed to fight it out for themselves. Israel does not need assistance from other nations. Let it fight its own battles. The U.S. government need to restrain its colonial interests. Iraq does not need the U.S. to intervene.
Anyone believes that Syria is a "worthless sandbox" is drowning in their own excessive ignorance of the situation. Any country that would allow one of its major cities to drown should not be commenting on the worthlessness of another country.

 

[CSM]

DMP, you are indeed correct. The Middle East issue will never be resolved until the warring factions are allowed to fight it out for themselves. Israel does not need assistance from other nations. Let it fight its own battles. The U.S. government need to restrain its colonial interests. Iraq does not need the U.S. to intervene.
Anyone believes that Syria is a "worthless sandbox" is drowning in their own excessive ignorance of the situation. Any country that would allow one of its major cities to drown should not be commenting on the worthlessness of another country.

And just what, pray tell, has Syria done to make the world a better place in the last 1000 years or so?

 

[Hobbit]

Katrina, you may be a nice person or whatever, but you have no grasp of reality. You may know some good Syrians, but compare being a Jew in Syria, which is pretty much a string of assassination attempts ended by a success, to being a Muslim in Israel. Sure, Muslims in Israel don't live as well as Jews in Israel, but they live better than Muslims in Syria. And to be fair, Israel is supposed to be a country by Jews, for Jews. Now that you claim Israel is such an evil country, let's examine the facts.

Thousands of years ago, the Hebrews, led by Joshua, conquored the land then known as Canaan and renamed it Israel, after the father of the twelve tribes (originally Jacob). According to the Bible, this was the chosen land of the Hebrews, and with no Canaanites left that hadn't been integrated into Hebrew society, the Hebrews had all rights to the land. After that, they had to fight off an invading army of Mideanites, Philistines, Babylonians, and tons of other stuff about every 20 years or so just to keep from being enslaved. This kept up until the Roman Empire moved in, ending the idea of an Israeli state and instead making it the providence of Judea. When the trouble really arose was during the rise of Islam. Jerusalem is a holy city to the Muslims, as well, and Mohammad didn't exactly treat the Jews well. During the Crusades, armies of fanatical Muslim barbarians and land-mongering 'Christian' nobles were slowly exterminating the Jewish population, so most of them scattered.

Skip ahead to WWII. European Jews had to flee Europe to get away from the Nazis. Not all of them could get to America, so they moved to Jordan and settled in their ancestral homeland, the place given to them by God. They did so peacefully and didn't force out any 'Palestinians' (who were actually Jordanian). After the war, a conflict was brewing. No matter how nice the Jews were or how much they just wanted to live in peace away from the Nazis, the Arabs refused to live in the same neighborhoods with them. The U.N. got together to come up with a solution, so they took the part of the land that was mixed and divided it, giving land proportional to the population and in areas that were inhabited more by those types of people. It was actually a pretty good deal for the Arabs, as few of them had to move to get to 'Palestine,' and they got the land along the Jordan River. This, however, wasn't good enough for the Arabs, who all ganged up and launched a massive, unprovoked military campaign against Israel. During this, everybody made land grabs for parts of 'Palestine.' Israel captured the areas being used as bases for the Arab militaries. This included the Golan Heights of southern Lebanon, since they were the perfect vantage point for the Syrians and Lebanese to launch their rockets. Oh, and by the way, there were two areas the Israelis didn't conquor, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Those parts were taken by Egypt and Syria, respectively, who both pretty much laughed at the idea of giving them to the 'Palestinians.' Later, the Arab nations tried it again, so Israel took the Gaza Strip and the West bank, meaning that between them and their enemies were a desert, a river, and a mountain range.

Then came the Munich Olympics of 1972, in which Israeli athletes were captured and executed. This was the first terrorist act by Yassur Arafat and the Fatah terrorist group (by the way, Arafat won a Nobel Peace Prize for sitting down at a table and telling Israel that they had to leave the Middle East forever and would get nothing in return). Since then, Arabs from all over the Middle East have been obsessed with killing as many Jews as they could lay their hands one. It didn't matter if they were 2 or 102, the Arab terrorists bombed school busses, nursing homes, day cares...anything they could maneuver a suicide bomb to. The worst of the organizations were Hamas, Fatah, and Hezbollah. All three of these were funded and got recruitment from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Bahrain, Afgahnistan, and probably even Pakistan. As a result, Israel stepped up their security measures, building walls, fences, and checkpoints, and training their police in anti-terrorist tactics. In response to this, Arafat jumped up and down, screaming that these security measures were oppressive to Palestinians. Israel caved to international pressure, and, once again, people from all over the Middle East, including, no, especially people from Syria and Iran, enjoyed the pasttime of killing innocent Israelis (I know, there's no such thing as an innocent Israeli, right? Well humor me). By the way, that lovely dictator Saddam Hussein, who was no threat to anybody but himself, remember him? Yeah, he offered retirement packages to the families of suicide bombers.

And just so nothing went to waste, the propogandists often failed to report the names of suicide bombers, instead citing them as 'missing,' and claiming that they had been snatched by Mossad, further heightening anti-Israeli sentiment.

Eventually, the U.S. was caught up in this whole thing. It started with the Iranian Embassy in 1979 and escalated until we watched the twin symbols of capitalism come crashing down. The good, proud, oppressed, peaceful people of Syria, Lebanon, 'Palestine,' Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the UAE, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, were seen on CNN celebrating in the streets, claiming that 3,000 ordinary businessmen had 'gotten what they deserved.' Now, Israel has been provoked again. In response to their extending of the olive branch by forcefully removing all Israeli citizens from Gaza, the Golan Heights, and the West Bank, they have terrorists crawling in through secret tunnels to kidnap their soldiers and then launch missiles into residential neighborhoods of Haifa. The Israelis respond by using precision weapons to destroy the rockets and the bases of the terrorists while causing as little collateral damage as possible.

So, we have Arabs launching rockets into civilian towns and blowing up apartment complexes while Israelis tries to harm as little as possible while taking out these rockets. So, who gets called the cruel oppressor? Why, Israel, of course. Arabs get a free pass because they have a religion of peace. Israel, on the other hand, must stand by while its soldiers and civilians are blown up by the hundreds if there's even the smallest chance that their counter-offensive could wound anybody who isn't wearing a uniform. Of course, this is why Hezbollah and Hamas make sure to surround their rockets with civilians, to provide CNN ammo against the Israelis.

Your good, peaceful, pround people of Syria are the ones primarily behind all this bloodshed. You have no excuses. If you've still got family there who are the exception to this trend of hatred, get them the hell out before they get hurt, because even if they don't want to kill Jews, Hezbollah and Hamas are not beyond gunpoint conscription. They might also set up a missile launch pad next to your mama's house or grandma's house or whatever and threaten to kill her if she runs for the sole purpose of displaying her body on CNN if Israel takes out the missiles.

These people are cold, cruel, heartless barbarians. Israel has them on the ropes, but the U.N. will try to tighten their leash again so Hezbollah and Hamas can regroup and come back stronger than ever, as has always been done in the past. One of these days, it'll go nuclear. What, then, will be your excuse when the good people of Syria send a suicide bomber in to turn Tel Aviv into a radioactive wasteland?

 

[OCA]

Speaking of Munich like tragedies and of the American mindset that only Palestinians commit acts of terror against Jews:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/25/newsid_4167000/4167929.stm

 

[OCA]

Here are the actual facts and a timetable of history concerning Palestine and Israel without the spin:

http://www.palestinefacts.org/

 

[Hagbard Celine]

My mother was Syrian. I have been there. I love the people and respect their struggle.
I have no sympathy or respect for Israel at all. I think the world would be a much better place without them.
Has anyone here ever taken the time to understand both sides?

I understand that Muslims think they are better than everyone else and want to impose their beliefs on others through force. I also understand that Arabs have been shooting rockets into the Israeli border for years. And I also understand that three Israeli troops have been kidnapped by Arabs for no apparent reason. I think I understand both sides and I think Israel's retaliation is understandable, considering the fact that it is my understanding that Hezbollah is a part of the democratically-elected Lebanese government and Hezbollah is responsible for the kidnappings and rocket fire. I also understand that when a people elect a government, those people are responsible for the actions of that government. So the Lebanese are getting what they asked for. Did they really think they could elect terrorists into their country's leadership positions and not experience negative repercussions? Somehow I don't think that people are that naive.

 

[KarlMarx]

I would also love to see a world without Israel. Neither wants peace.

We once did have a world without Israel. It was a world in which the Holocaust took place, Stalin and the Czars regularly persectued the Jews

and the Jews had no place to go

now they do

 

[KarlMarx]

I understand that Muslims think they are better than everyone else and want to impose their beliefs on others through force. I also understand that Arabs have been shooting rockets into the Israeli border for years. And I also understand that three Israeli troops have been kidnapped by Arabs for no apparent reason. I think I understand both sides and I think Israel's retaliation is understandable, considering the fact that it is my understanding that Hezbollah is a part of the democratically-elected Lebanese government and Hezbollah is responsible for the kidnappings and rocket fire. I also understand that when a people elect a government, those people are responsible for the actions of that government. So the Lebanese are getting what they asked for. Did they really think they could elect terrorists into their country's leadership positions and not experience negative repercussions? Somehow I don't think that people are that naive.

Wait a minute, I think you are confusing the Palestinians with the Lebanese. Palestine elected Hamas, not Lebanon. Or did I miss something in the news?

 

[Relay]

My mother was Syrian. I have been there. I love the people and respect their struggle.
I have no sympathy or respect for Israel at all. I think the world would be a much better place without them.
Has anyone here ever taken the time to understand both sides?

I try to understand both sides.You asking if any of us taken time to understand both sides, then you say that the world would be better without Israel. Where did both ways sympathies really go?

 

[rtwngAvngr]

We once did have a world without Israel. It was a world in which the Holocaust took place, Stalin and the Czars regularly persectued the Jews

and the Jews had no place to go

now they do

Actually karl, this is factually incorrect. Jews are welcome in america. It's just not good enough. They want what god promised them. This is religious-based nationalism, bad for everyone else, fine for the jews.