Now is the time Hamas

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Hamas need to gather together all the hostages and dead bodies of hostages and hand over.

No more playing games.

Really uncharitable interpretation of the previous poster. Different cultures do indeed result in different mindsets. It's not the rhetoric or slavery or colonialism, it's just the nature of the human brain.

@dairydebris I can assure you brains look pretty much the same whatever your nationality or religion. I believe racial supremacist scientists did some dodgy science around 'inferior' ethnicities, but I am sure nobody is ignorant of where that sort of misinformation can lead.

I would imagine they all do look similar yes, but do you really think environment and culture has no effect on the way people think? I'm thinking of the studies done that show differences in attitudes to individuality or community between Asians and North Americans for example?

@dairydebris What I know is that to say a whole nation/religion thinks in a particular way and that they are not like us, is dangerous rhetoric. So were people made slaves, other countries colonised, the Jewish and Romany people persecuted amongst other incidences. Get out and see the world. You will find nations are made up of all kinds of people, with diverse ways of thinking. You will also find that the majority of people want and care about the same things. Ideas of fairness, love of family, being part of a community are also fairly universal.

If people of other cultures didn’t think differently why would there be so many differences between countries in terms of structure, organisation, religion, cultural beliefs and attitudes to equality, democracy, freedom of expression and so on and so on?

Sorry but I think you are being disingenuous. I have been lucky enough to get out and see a lot of the world as you put it. Yes of course there are things that unite us, love, stories, ritual etc but to suggest that we all think in the same way is just not correct. Just to pick a few random examples, many people in Madagascar place huge importance on their ancestors and believe their spirits are amongst us, this informs a lot of their behavior. Many people in the US believe that an individual right trumps everything else including any duty to community, and this informs their behavior. Many people believe in Karma and this informs their behavior. Etc etc. We do not all think the same. More than half of Palestinians in Gaza think that Israel has no right to exist- there's a thread on it- and those beliefs inform their behavior. These aren't controversial views. It's just part of human variation, and has everything to do with the way our brains develop. It's perfectly fair to say Gazans think differently than we do.

@dairydebris I am not being disingenuous. I genuinely think that saying entire nations, ethnicities or religions think differently and are not like us is divisive and harmful. I would not comment unless I felt that this is not something that should stand. I genuinely believe it is the language of othering and furthers division and strife in the world. I do think you will find more individual differences in a population than overall commonalities. I could not say I think all British/Christian/ White people think the same and are different to other ethnic and religious groups. I could not pinpoint one universal commonality in thinking in all British people amongst those I know, let alone the other 68 million or so.

Most British people believe a democracy is the best form of government we've come up with so far.
Most British people believe women should have equal rights with men.
Most British people believe that Friday night is a good night to go out.

Common British ways of thinking not always shared in other countries.

Etc etc.

I take your point that othering can further divisions and strife. But I believe we can accept differences in others as long as basic human rights are respected.

We're not a million miles apart really. I just felt you were a bit unfair to the previous poster.

I have to say I've met quite a lot of British men who are sexist, and many people who don't go out on Friday nights. As for democracy, Reform is quite popular and I'm not sure their views are that democratic. It's true most British people are in favour of voting themselves, but I've met many who would rather other people didn't! Anyway, I do not intend to be unfair, I was alarmed by the language and wanted to highlight the dangers of seeing others as vastly different to ourselves. I shall bow out now.

I believe your response to my post was disingenuous and antagonistic.

As a biologist I know that genetically we have more in common with other Homo sapiens than divides us (within 0.1% or so allowing for differences in gene expression). We also create thoughts in exactly the same way (although how just a bunch of neurones firing creates memories still remains a bit of a mystery to me). That's what we have in common with every member of the human race - our ability to have empathy with other humans is something that I believe makes us human. I agree with you.

Where I disagree is that my reference to diversity of thought is directly acknowledging the religions, cultures, beliefs, experiences, history, laws, traumas and so on, that inform and shape ideas within a particular group or nation which may be unique to that group. Thank you @dairydebris for expressing what I was trying to say, but more eloquently.

I think this is why I find the concept of 'countries without borders' hard to fathom. No-one has really been able to explain to me how it would 'work' in reality. Although I feel my comment has rather derailed the OPs thread now.

I'm guessing you haven't travelled and don't mix with people of other cultures. Mindsets, attitudes etc are very much shaped by cultures, religion, environment. As anyone who has travelled or engaged with different cultures knows.

@UnaGatita I agree, if you don’t have a border I don’t understand how you have a country.

Who was it said that a country is a language with an army?

@UnaGatita So which country doesn’t have a border so? Literally nobody has that and nobody calls for that.

I mostly agree with @wordsworthundercover . Although I think different countries/cultures can think vastly differently to each other. But racism starts when you start thinking other groups of people are inferior to you and yours. Which is the road you have explained that you went down.

When you start writing I don’t like to see people killed BUT … you have to start to wonder about yourself.

is it ok to kill some groups of people? Only the ones that think in an inferior way, I guess.

It's shameful. If it is confirmed the Bibas family are dead all hell will break loose. They have ZERO reason to have abducted and probably killed a 9month old baby and his toddler brother and their mother. It's the ultimate horror and anyone who defends that can get in the bin with the terrorists.
I just cannot imagine the Bibas children are alive or they would be out now surely.

@Anyoldshoe yes, the horror is really unimaginable. How anyone could abjuct a 9 month old baby is beyond comprehension. Pure evil.

@Fifiworks there are various movements that call for the abolition of borders. I think No Borders Network is one from memory,

Are we hinting towards cultural relativism here? The idea that we Westerners shouldn't interfere with frankly barbaric practices like FGM, because we simply don't understand their culture?

Bollocks.

Apols - it's "A language is a dialect with an army and navy", sometimes called the Weinreich witticism.

I haven't been able to stop looking at pictures and footage of them...I'm shell shocked by it, and utterly heartbroken. I'm a granddaughter of a holocaust survivor and I think you described it very accurately, the generational trauma is definitely real and hard to describe to others.

@BaMamma eh no. I think we shouldn’t kill people just because they belong to a different group to us, even if you have decided that they think so differently to the rest of humanity that they deserve it.

I think you projected the inferior thinking when you read something that wasn't in my comment. Nowhere did I mention that western thinking is 'better' than anywhere else, if anything, the arrogance of westerners not understanding diversity of thought in different cultures is the issue. I believe your comment says more about you, if you can't accept diversity that's a you issue, not mine.

UnaGatita

I agree. As humans we are biologically and genetically more or less the same. Where it goes awry is different ideologies, cultural and religious beliefs, our histories and our geography.

Im 100% Ashkenazi Jewish according to my DNA test. I would love nothing more than for Israel to be a 2 state nation, with all of us living side by side in peace. Do I believe it will happen - no - not for the foreseeable future. For two people and neighbours, we share so many family and religious values and traditions. Centuries of persecution, war, Ill-thought out peace treaties, brainwashing by extremists and crazed megalomaniacs , have driven so many civilians, deeper and deeper apart. Until all we have become to one another, is something to rid ourselves of.

Don’t underestimate the amount of hatred there is on both sides. There are only a few Jewish people I would dare share my deep belief and hope that we should respect and look out for one another and be good neighbours. That we deserve to share our resources and be equals. My family all feel the same but I fear too many Jews, do not feel this way now.

Hamas have vowed to repeat 7/10 over and over until the Jews are removed. After seeing so much destruction and needless death and unbearable suffering, many Muslims worldwide hate Jews too. Not just the Israeli government - Jews in general, wherever they happen to be. On the other side, many Israelis and Jews worldwide want Palestinians out of Israel particularly after 7/10, and feel it is absolutely necessary for their survival and that a 2 state solution would mean no end to the fighting and tirade of bombs and always knowing where the nearest bomb shelter is .

Where on earth you start to work towards a future for us both, I just cannot see. On both sides, the hatred, need for vengeance and the view that their neighbour is their enemy, has spiralled over thousands of years to where we are today - deeply scarred, hellbent on vengeance, and seeing each other as something necessary to expel or expunge. It’s heartbreaking and such a terrible legacy to keep passing on.

Thanks @Ravensperch that’s a very well thought out post. Depressing but explains things very well.

Thanks Fifiworks. It’s only my view based on what I see and hear around me and from Israeli friends. I hope I’m very wrong and that many more Jews and Palestinians than I think, want what I want too.