political post
I've been nagged at to make this post for a while now. I've caved in b/c...I don't know really. Posts on Gaia annoying me I suppose?
If you read this, be warned that this contains a lot of political opinions you may not like. This is the truth as I know it, and is not meant to be offending to any party.
So how did it all start again?
The Palestinian/Israeli conflict has been going on longer than I can remember, way before I was born. The short condensed version is that the people Hitler put in his camps had no place to stay, and England offered Palestine. That's the basic truth; Israel invaded Palestine. The conflicts since then have been numerous and not known to most of the world. What did stand out though, was when Muhamed El-Durra, the young Palestinian boy who was walking home with his father, was shot and killed for no reason.
I'm sure a lot of people will remember that incident since it was all over the news. I won't bother to rehash it, but I will say that from that time, more people started paying attention to what was going on. It also increased the rate of suicide missions. I know a lot of people think Hamas goes too far, but think about this for a moment. It's their only way of fighting back against an oppressor.
Lebanon/Israel is another thing entirely. I don't know as much as I would like about how it started, but from what I have heard Hezbollah took captive an Israeli officer, and Israel retaliated with missilles. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about this, like I said I don't know many details.
Preconceptions that piss me off.
-Muslims do not equal Arabs. This is not a 'muslim' thing, it's an arab thing. The two are mutually exclusive; we have christians, jews, buddhists, etc here too you know. There are muslims in America, all over Europe and East Asia, and they're not always arabs.
-Not all muslims are fanatical. Not all muslims are terrorists either. That's like saying, 'all americans are white, all europeans are stupid, all africans are poor'. Does it sound insulting from the other side? Saying all muslims are fanatical is extremely insulting. Sure, some people are. But then, you have those in every religion. Stop generalizing.
-Israel is not the victim. They started this, be it with Palestine or Lebanon. If they stopped, if they actively worked at a peaceful solution, the conflicts would stop. Hezbollah and Hamas would have no reason to attack them anymore.
-Islam is not a violent or intolerant religion. Saying that "muslims view anyone who isnt muslim as infidels" is a load of crap. One of the main principles of Islam is tolerance. There is a verse in the quran that translates to "you have your religion, and I have mine".
-Hamas and Hezbollah are not terrorist groups. They are fighting for their freedom. Resistance groups. If someone invaded your country, wouldn't your country do the same?
-Arabs don't hate America, England, Jews, Christians, etc. Some people do, of course, but not the majority. A lot of people do hate Israel though. Can't blame us for that.
What it all comes down to, really.
The basic truth of the matter is that the land belongs to the Palestinians. The other basic truth is that Israel doesn't want peace.
It is sad that people find it so easy to forget the real victims in this. You pick up a paper or check the news, and if an Israelian died it'll be front page, bold headlines, public outrage. But dozens of Palestinians die every day, and all they get is a small news article. Israel has made itself into the victim, successfully so.
A lot of the mistakes people make would go away if they actually bothered to sit down with a muslim and asked about their religion. It's not as strict as it seems and does make sense.
Post is public, comments will be enabled. Just don't start flaming, I warned beforehand.
If you read this, be warned that this contains a lot of political opinions you may not like. This is the truth as I know it, and is not meant to be offending to any party.
So how did it all start again?
The Palestinian/Israeli conflict has been going on longer than I can remember, way before I was born. The short condensed version is that the people Hitler put in his camps had no place to stay, and England offered Palestine. That's the basic truth; Israel invaded Palestine. The conflicts since then have been numerous and not known to most of the world. What did stand out though, was when Muhamed El-Durra, the young Palestinian boy who was walking home with his father, was shot and killed for no reason.
I'm sure a lot of people will remember that incident since it was all over the news. I won't bother to rehash it, but I will say that from that time, more people started paying attention to what was going on. It also increased the rate of suicide missions. I know a lot of people think Hamas goes too far, but think about this for a moment. It's their only way of fighting back against an oppressor.
Lebanon/Israel is another thing entirely. I don't know as much as I would like about how it started, but from what I have heard Hezbollah took captive an Israeli officer, and Israel retaliated with missilles. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about this, like I said I don't know many details.
Preconceptions that piss me off.
-Muslims do not equal Arabs. This is not a 'muslim' thing, it's an arab thing. The two are mutually exclusive; we have christians, jews, buddhists, etc here too you know. There are muslims in America, all over Europe and East Asia, and they're not always arabs.
-Not all muslims are fanatical. Not all muslims are terrorists either. That's like saying, 'all americans are white, all europeans are stupid, all africans are poor'. Does it sound insulting from the other side? Saying all muslims are fanatical is extremely insulting. Sure, some people are. But then, you have those in every religion. Stop generalizing.
-Israel is not the victim. They started this, be it with Palestine or Lebanon. If they stopped, if they actively worked at a peaceful solution, the conflicts would stop. Hezbollah and Hamas would have no reason to attack them anymore.
-Islam is not a violent or intolerant religion. Saying that "muslims view anyone who isnt muslim as infidels" is a load of crap. One of the main principles of Islam is tolerance. There is a verse in the quran that translates to "you have your religion, and I have mine".
-Hamas and Hezbollah are not terrorist groups. They are fighting for their freedom. Resistance groups. If someone invaded your country, wouldn't your country do the same?
-Arabs don't hate America, England, Jews, Christians, etc. Some people do, of course, but not the majority. A lot of people do hate Israel though. Can't blame us for that.
What it all comes down to, really.
The basic truth of the matter is that the land belongs to the Palestinians. The other basic truth is that Israel doesn't want peace.
It is sad that people find it so easy to forget the real victims in this. You pick up a paper or check the news, and if an Israelian died it'll be front page, bold headlines, public outrage. But dozens of Palestinians die every day, and all they get is a small news article. Israel has made itself into the victim, successfully so.
A lot of the mistakes people make would go away if they actually bothered to sit down with a muslim and asked about their religion. It's not as strict as it seems and does make sense.
Post is public, comments will be enabled. Just don't start flaming, I warned beforehand.