O/T please read

[DaveP67 is back!]

I don’t normally do politics but please have a read and make your minds up, if you don’t want to sign I’m happy to have a sensible conversation about it.
https://britishfriendsofisrael.org/

[soulman101]

I don’t normally do politics but please have a read and make your minds up, if you don’t want to sign I’m happy to have a sensible conversation about it.
https://britishfriendsofisrael.org/

I've signed it , thanks for posting Dave

[Omegstrat6]

The actions of Hamas have certainly been heinous and surely no one can doubt that their attacks on innocent civilians are acts of terrorism but I personally think that all the "stand with Israel" rhetoric from the West is not helpful and actually plays into Hamas's hands and perpetrates an us/them narrative that extremist Islamic groups feed on and a division which non Western powers like Russia and China will also seize upon for their own ends.

By all means I would sign up to condemn the actions of Hamas but I would equally sign up to condemn the actions of Israel over the past decades and their treatment of Palestinians.

It's almost like people are afraid of criticising any actions taken by Israel for fear of being called anti-Semitic or maybe the ghost of the Holocaust makes them wary? Perhaps one question to be asked is if Israel's expansionist policy and their treatment of Palestinians over decades had been different would an extremist group like Hamas flourish today?

The situation is driven by hard liners on both sides and in the meantime innocent Israelis and Palestinians alike suffer.

[WBA123]

Its such a polarising topic. If you come out in favour of Palestine, some accuse you of being anti semitic. If you condemn Hamas, some say you are encouraging Israel to commit war crimes.

I'd like to think I'm pretty balanced. What Hamas did was beyond evil. Equally, its hard to justify how Israel are bombing Gaza and cutting off their power and water.

The only hope for the region is that each side start negotiating and compromising, and stop killing innocent people. Unfortunately all I see from both sides is a thirst for vengeance and revenge, and I see it getting a lot worse before it gets better.

[TipperaryBaggie]

I have to agree 123 but unfortunately, Hamas have only one way of negotiating and that is with violence. The Palestinian people deserve much better representation than Hamas. Although we shouldn't always believe what we read, I have a sneaky feeling that negotiations were taking place to try to resolve the Palestinian land issue but a political settlement would not suit the terrorist ambitions of Hamas and that is why they carried out their blood thirsty atrocities in Israel a couple of weeks ago. Let's hope the moderates win out in all of this but I'm not holding my breath.

[kettering_baggie]

Its such a polarising topic. If you come out in favour of Palestine, some accuse you of being anti semitic. If you condemn Hamas, some say you are encouraging Israel to commit war crimes.

I'd like to think I'm pretty balanced. What Hamas did was beyond evil. Equally, its hard to justify how Israel are bombing Gaza and cutting off their power and water.

The only hope for the region is that each side start negotiating and compromising, and stop killing innocent people. Unfortunately all I see from both sides is a thirst for vengeance and revenge, and I see it getting a lot worse before it gets better.

That pretty much sums up the situation!

[Leicesterbaggie]

Its such a polarising topic. If you come out in favour of Palestine, some accuse you of being anti semitic. If you condemn Hamas, some say you are encouraging Israel to commit war crimes.

I'd like to think I'm pretty balanced. What Hamas did was beyond evil. Equally, its hard to justify how Israel are bombing Gaza and cutting off their power and water.

The only hope for the region is that each side start negotiating and compromising, and stop killing innocent people. Unfortunately all I see from both sides is a thirst for vengeance and revenge, and I see it getting a lot worse before it gets better.

Also agree, but I don’t see the situation improving any time soon. Both side are entrenched in their views and, unfortunately, I don’t see them altering.

[baggiematt]

It’s a really complex one and the more you read, the more you go backwards and forwards with who is most culpable for a really dire situation.

A lot of deaths incoming and I just hope Iran and others stay out of it and a peaceful solution is found.

[DaveP67 is back!]

You cannot negotiate with them, they have one doctrine and that is the eradication of the state of Israel and all Jews, they are the elected government of Gaza. During the troubles the government of Ireland condemned the IRA as a terrorist organisation, in Gaza they danced in the streets after the attacks. Ask yourself who is the bigger threat to our way of life is it Israel and Jews or the Islamic death cult running rife throughout the middle east and our inner cities?

[wbaliquidator]

Both sides hate each other and have little regard for anyone in the world other than themselves.
In some ways they deserve each other.
There is little to no grey areas between them.
I cannot support any of them or their proxies, both backward looking ideologies.