Israel/Palestine Thread

there was an Israeli on drivetime saying exactly what you say. There are Israelis and Palestinians who do not need to be persuaded that this is the only way forward for both peoples.

As soon as a majority on both sides are persuaded, it will happen.

I think there will always be a hatred - so much wrong has been done to and by both sides that some will not forgive. But even then, if they can't or won't forgive, if they can still see the only chance for peace is to not pursue retribution, then peace will happen.

There are examples close to home where it has been shown to be possible - and there is still hate…

The biggest danger is the Israeli Govt. They have dragged their State and their people into Pariah status worldwide.

For 737 days, it is only Israel that has been Genociding.

Only the "Palestine" version of that is widely chanted in the West, especially by those on the Left. You don't have mass rallies especially on college campuses chanting the Likud version. Nobody in the West champions it and it is not widely accepted in Western discourse on the matter.

So it is safe to assume that the Western Left wants the total destruction of Israel - the worlds only Jewish state and < 1% of the MENA region. And that they would be pursing this objective regardless of which party is in the Israeli government.

The challenge for me therefore, is to work out which criticisms of Israel are well-founded, and which are either fabricated by Pallywood - e.g. the booby trapped meat tins - or come from people who just want Israel to be completely wiped out. The latter being an enormous group.

So you condemn all the pro-Palestine mobs chanting "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free?"

As to Likud's version, that came later and isn't widely accepted in Western discourse. If a 2 state solution works, great, but there are problems from Israel's perspective that I've touched on before. These problems would exist regardless of which party is in power there, hence no sane government of Israel would make large scale withdrawals from, for example, the West Bank, absent serious security guarantees. It should also be noted that Israel is the worlds only Jewish state vs. the proposed State of Palestine being only one of many Islamic and Arabic states, at least 40 or so in each case.

As to the assertion of genocide, I dispute it. As to the killings of civilians, I condemn any that had no military purpose, i.e. people that were just murdered for kicks and giggles.

More whataboutery. Will you, or will you not condemn pro-Palestine mobs chanting "From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free?"

And yet here you are, posting personal abuse…

As I said - predictable.

opinion piece from Haaretz

"The explanation for the applause that Witkoff and Kushner enjoyed at Hostage Square, in contrast to the boos Netanyau's name elicited, is simple enough. It was not simply blind political hatred.

The anger of many hostage families and activists is due to the behavior of Netanyahu, that of his family and those around him over the past two years.

Netanyahu is careful to wear a yellow hostage pin on his lapel, but in practice, he has given a cold shoulder to the hostages and their families and has shown a lack of compassion towards those who did not identify with him politically… here is no reason to expect the families to change their attitude towards Netanyahu now that Trump has finally forced an agreement on him.

The person who refused to take even minimal responsibility for the enormous disaster that occurred on his watch cannot now expect applause for the achievement. 

What should worry Netanyahu is how the incident will be viewed in Washington"

Amos Harel

Seems Israel was not initially invited to the Egypt summit.

Perhaps those invited were afraid they'd be bombed.

• Netanyahu declined an invitation to attend the summit, citing the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah. 
  Israel was not initially invited to the meeting, but following a phone call between Netanyahu, Trump and Egyptian President al-Sissi, Cairo said the Israeli PM would be invited. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is taking part in the summit.

Israel just can't help being the belligerent, can it?

Seems some doctors are being released…

• Palestinian prisoners released to the West Bank were welcomed by their families.Shortly before departing from Ofer prison, Israeli security forces used tear gas against those waiting for the prisoners, including journalists.
  
  
• The Israeli government approved five extra names overnight into Monday to be added to the list of Gazan prisoners who are expected to be released, Haaretz has learned, including Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, detained by the IDF in December 2024.

And how will that be attained?