AIBU to worry about telling colleagues that I’m going to Israel?

[Doubtfulso]

I’ve got a close friends wedding in Israel in 2 months and I am a bridesmaid. She is Israeli and so of course having her wedding in her home country.

I need to book the time off work now, and I work in the kind of company where everyone asks where you’re going or where you’ve been when you book leave.

there’s a lot of anger and strong feelings against Israel at the moment, and I’m worried that colleagues will turn against me or start treating me different when they know that I’m going to Israel.

would I be unreasonable to lie and tell them I’m going somewhere else, or should I be honest?

And the IDF always tell the truth?

@0@pleasehelpwi3 that is a stupid thing to say. Hamas started it and it's Israel keeping it going? Laughing at you right now.

Why would Israel back down when there are still hostages being held on the West Bank?

Why would Israel stop something they didn't start? How about Hamas give the prisoners back and then start maybe Israel will be talking about peace.

And no I'm not Jewish. I just happen to have a lot of solidarity with our Jewish community right now.

Do you always laugh at people who have a different political opinion to you? That's a rather odd reaction, and doesn't make for an adult conversation.
Unfortunately the Arab-Israeli conflict wasn't started by the Hamas atrocities of last year- this was one small part of an ongoing conflict in which both sides have done terrible things. Safe to say you can't say one side 'started' it- that sounds like the language of a primary school child.

I think you've mixed up the West Bank and Gaza, but it's well-documented that the IDF is turning a blind eye to land theft and murder committed on a daily basis by the illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

How about yes to both Hamas returning the hostages, and Israel making amends for the 14,000 children the IDF have killed in Gaza?

And yes, I am partly Jewish, and I also happen 'to have a lot of solidarity with our Jewish community' not just right now, but always.

Yes, Israel has killed 14,000 children and absolutely no men of fighting age.... Make sense,.got it.

And 7 October was a very significant, horrific event where women in particular were terribly raped,.brutalised and.murdered, don't diminish it.

I'm not 'diminishing' anything, and 'got it' ....not really, I don't see the need for the flippant tone.
You clearly want a scrap with someone -sorry I'm not interested.
Happy to discuss the ins and outs of the events in the Middle East, not interested in arguing with someone who replaces intellect and reason with insults.

1. "The Hamas atrocities of last year- this was one small part of an ongoing conflict"

You did diminish 7 October

2. Sure I expressed some frustration about the naivety of many people believing whatever figures Hamas releases, but there was a serious point made - one which you clearly do not want to respond to

Don't try to distract from what you said by making this about my tone.

How could Israel be killing more babies in our lifetime when our lifetime includes Russian bombing? Cambodia mass murder, Sudanese genocide and child soldiers. There are members of this site who spread misinformation.

Your arguments are not intellectual. They have a non-factual, Immature understanding of geopolitics. You are a Maga supporter screaming nonsense in pseudointellectual terms. It's the intellectual dishonesty people are pointing out.

It's equally terrifying how passionate supporters of Israel try and police the use of the word genocide. It's insane the situation in Gaza is genocidal BIBI has stated 1 state solution. Likud can state views that mirror, in exact terms, the views of the nazi. My point is the situation is nuanced. But please, if your mate 9r colleague says their hoong on a piss-up for a mate, don't get sanctimonious. As though OP is responsible for Bibi's genocidal intent. Look we are all living in the UK lets knock (bow) our heads and give thanks to god (or whomever you look to in times of stress and silliness)

Naive. Also untrue.

Just go and have a wonderful time!

They should. Hamas are terrorists.

The term “antisemitism” was coined by German writers to refer to their own opposition to Jewish people and culture. It was basically a term that sounded more formal and respectable than “Jew-hatred”.

”Semitic” is obsolete as a racial category. It’s only used as a linguistic one now, and it refers to languages like Arabic and Hebrew. So, indeed, Arabs are also “Semites” in the sense that they speak a Semitic language.

But the term “antisemitism” was never intended to be a general catch-all for opposition to all peoples who speak Semitic languages. It has, from the first, been used exclusively for anti-Jewish sentiment. It has a specific meaning that doesn’t only rely on the meaning of the parts that make it up.

It’s like how “homophobia” is fear of homosexuals. But if you just took the etymology of the parts, you could argue that it means fear of sameness, or of identical things. That’s a literal translation of the parts that make up the word, but it doesn’t capture what people actually mean when they use the word.

I might look shocked when you say where you are going but 100% thatbwould be me being concerned for your safety x
I'd probably ask if you thought it was safe/sensible to go! I wouldn't judge you negatively.

Think you may have missed out a couple of anti semitic tropes there.

Unless it's family of Netenyahu then remind any colleagues who make xenophobic comments that a blanket hatred of other countries is xenophobia and will be reported to HR.

Got to respect the effort though. Crammed a lot of them in, while retaining a outwardly pleasant colloquial tone.

Just how drunk were you last night?

Why lie? If somebody says anything say you're not going to bring war ammunition you're simply visiting a friend fgs

If you are going to Israel at the moment, whether to tell other people is the least of your worries, I should say.

Looking at this thread there are plenty of extreme views and why bother letting people think they can air them over op's personal life

Not the best example. Yitzhak Rabin was the last Israeli PM who was assassinated - 1995 if memory serves. His efforts to reach a peace deal and a two state solution were seen as forfeiting the occupied territories and capitulating to Israel's enemies.

Ehud Olmert was instrumental in the administration of a partial withdrawal of Jewish Settlers from the West Bank and negotiations between Olmert’s government and the Palestinian Authority in 2007–08 made significant headway towards a two state solution. The process was derailed after allegations of corruption - which he always denied, but for which he was later tried and jailed. So it seems that historically the Palestinians are not the only ones not thrilled by the idea of a two state solution.

Mate i had tge bestttttttt evening

Please specify. What is worse the a, bullies in libral clothing are people who shut down discourse by alluding to potential offence.

It's weird to see both odious sides here. Israel is never wrong, and I'm not antisemitic, but. Get a life.

When I meet a person like you, I imagine standing up straight looking into what I imagine your face looks like and saying clearly, I'm not afraid to speak, I'm not afraid to question, I'm not afraid to think, and I am not afraid of you.