Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

News

Part 6: Israeli-Palestinian conflict

985 replies

AndHarry · 15/08/2014 17:12

Sorry, lost the end of the thread there!

Thread 5

OP posts:
somewheresafe · 17/08/2014 08:00

It's great to see the peace March in tel aviv.

Israel are resisting lifting the siege of Gaza during negotiations. Citing security reasons. What a load of bull. Israel must life the siege and end it's tyranny.

TheHoneyBadger · 17/08/2014 08:21

part of why 'we are all palestinians' is because we are all civilians. we are all people caught up in the power games of powerful elites and we all have the right not to be slaughtered in their games. we are all human beings who could end up herded in somewhere without our basic needs even being met and having weapons tested on us and having the world stand by and do nothing. we are all just people wanting to raise our children and live in dignity but vulnerable to the kind of psychopaths who develop and deploy weaponry designed for actual war upon civilian targets.

we are all just little pieces on the board who are increasingly seen as dispensable with our rights being eroded. we are all stuck with leaders who say they give their unconditional support to children being murdered in their beds by military level weaponry. if collective punishment is now 'ok' with our governments then we all face that threat too. if disagreeing with oppression or voting for the 'wrong' party means you can be reclassified as terrorists or 'human shields' then we're all under threat.

if what we believe, fight and march for makes zero difference to the people intended to represent us then we are all powerless. if it is ok to blow up a school full of children if it's deemed a potential weapons storage then all of our children are at risk.

if you're so shortsighted that you can't see that your 'side' is the weaponless civilians rather than militarised psychopathy then i worry for you. it matters not which tribal banner they're firing under. i'm not jewish/christian/muslim, i'm not british/israeli/russian - i am a normal civilian human being who is against the slaughtering of other civilian human beings.

did you see not long back loads of people got letters reminding them that their land belonged to the crown though it had never been mentioned before when they bought their homes and land in england? and it turned out to be the area where the natural gas for fracking lays? will you be cool when they come to turf them out from their homes and steal their land so they can access the resources there? will you be ok if someone bombs your child's school with them in it because there was a rumour that some group who disagreed with the governments plans had stored some weapons there?

the 'we' of we are all palestinians refers to us, the little civilians of this world without armies or tear gas or billions of dollars or the power to change laws and reclassify the value of human life by claiming 'there is no such thing as innocent civilians anymore', the little people who if we find ourselves being repressed and dare to resist we can be called terrorists and lose any human rights with the magic of one word.

i'm sorry people feel the need to identify with a tribal banner over and above identifying with their own humanity and that of others.

TheHoneyBadger · 17/08/2014 08:29

but maybe there are tribes and we're all beginning to form them and take our side - with one side being against killing and murder and barbarsm in the pursuit of natural resources and power and the other side? the other side mystifies me unless they think that by being good lapdogs to the right master they'll get some treats Confused

runes · 17/08/2014 08:46

Brilliant post Honeybadger, sums up my feelings exactly.

TheHoneyBadger · 17/08/2014 09:18

thanks. i just don't 'get' how anyone not in possession of a military can be on the wrong side on this. it's like someone on less than 100k voting tory. wake up - when they say 'us' they don't mean you.

MajesticWhine · 17/08/2014 09:39

Why do people have to take sides? I do not identify with a tribal banner. I am not a palestinian. I am not an israeli. Do not worry for me or my lack of humanity please.

TheHoneyBadger · 17/08/2014 09:44

why do people have to take sides? well let's see, what would have happened if no one took sides when the jews were being exterminated? what would've happened if no one took a side on south africa? or if no one had taken a side when gay people were being imprisoned for making love? or no one had taken a side when women pregnant out of marriage were sent to laundries to work and have their babies stolen from them?

some things require sides.

winkywinkola · 17/08/2014 09:45

Exactly majestic.

Incredibly patronising to 1. make all those assumptions about people and 2. To "worry" about people who might not think exactly like you because they don't understand what it is to be part of humanity.

winkywinkola · 17/08/2014 09:51

And I'm not sure anyone did particularly take sides because the Jews were being exterminated.

We didn't go to war because of the Nazis attitude to Jews.

I don't need to declare I am Palestinian to feel empathy with those innocent people and utter disgust with Hamas and the Israeli government.

Personally, I think that's kind of a wanky thing to say.

TheHoneyBadger · 17/08/2014 10:09

what about the people who dared to hide jewish people in their homes, risking their own lives in the process? or the people who smuggled people out? clearly when i say 'people' you assume i'm talking about nations and governments and armies. i'm talking about people.

Springheeled · 17/08/2014 10:46

I agree with you honeybadger, there are two 'sides' in opposition here, there, everywhere and a need to take your side.

winkywonkola many people took sides- hiding people, feeding them, refusing to serve, joining the resistance. In 1930s England, seeing off the blackshirts at Cable Street. But indeed, not their governments.

Springheeled · 17/08/2014 10:49

Yes Yraupita those are the stickers.

winkywinkola · 17/08/2014 11:23

I never said not to take sides.

I said calling us all Palestinians was wanky.

Those helping Jews in the war wouldn't cal themselves Jews.

And as for sides well, I detest Hamas I believe they are more driven by hatred for Jews than concern for their own people.

So whilst I deplore and condemn the Israeli government's actions and feel angry thatthe ordinary Palestinian people have suffered unnecessarily, it is not that easy just to take sides as it were.

winkywinkola · 17/08/2014 11:34

For me anyway

TheHoneyBadger · 17/08/2014 12:28

well i'm glad you decided to contribute by calling a slogan that has been used for years by people trying to support the palestinians in their plight as, 'wanky'. maybe make it known to all the various peace activists and action groups that use it as i'm sure your opinion will mean the world to them and the biggest worry they'd have would be whether they looked wanky to you or not.

winkywinkola · 17/08/2014 13:16

You are funny.

It's of no interest to me what others think of or if they care about my opinion.

Many slogans are wanky. Just because they are well established doesn't make them any less so.

We are most certainly not all Palestinians. That is bollocks.

winkywinkola · 17/08/2014 13:18

And just because I think it's bollocks and you think it's marvellous doesn't make you holier, more empathetic or more humane than anyone else.

TheHoneyBadger · 17/08/2014 13:46

i just don't know what to say, i'm sorry. i don't know what the internet version of glazed smiling and nodding whilst backing away is.

Yruapita · 17/08/2014 15:04

In all the death, destruction and oppression, all you could say was that the phrase is wanky. Nice!

Taking the side of the oppressed is never 'wanky'.

There is nothing more 'wanky' than not daring to challenge an oppressor and placing the blame on the oppressed.

Honeybadger, i agree with everything you said.

Backinthering · 17/08/2014 15:19

In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians.
I have always found that very moving, and hoped that the people suffering in Gaza would take a small amount of comfort knowing that people in all parts of the world do care, and are supporting them. And saying that, for me, encapsulates that support and solidarity.
But well done winky for coming on here and trying to piss on that.

Backinthering · 17/08/2014 15:22

This is very moving. It's an article about the zoo in Gaza. Some of the animals survived because nearby residents bought them food and water in between the bombardments.

LondonGirl33 · 17/08/2014 15:42

"Their dream is to live in peace and security for 10 years, but we will keep giving the Zionists nightmares" - Hamas spokesperson Mushir Al-Masri.

unitedwithisrael.org/hamas-ceasefire-prepare-future-battle-destroy-israel/

winkywinkola · 17/08/2014 15:48

Suddenly you're all Palestinians? Sure. For the last god know how many years too?

Whatever. Christ.

AndHarry · 17/08/2014 16:17

For goodness' sake.

OP posts:
Backinthering · 17/08/2014 16:29

LondonGirl that's not a biased source of information at all, oh no, not with a name like United with Israel....