General Discussion

Thank you for that, it is so refreshing and good to read. It's the "understanding" part that I wish more people could at least attempt to do. Every time I tried to say that here, you would think people thought I had two heads for even mentioning it!

Neither side is all good or all evil, I agree with that assessment! They are each dealing with the cards they've been dealt in different ways. Now if only they could see the other side as not purely evil - "animals"! - that would be a start.

When I criticize Israel it is not because I think Israel is "evil". It is because, based on the evidence I see, Israel is doing things that by any measure would be considered "wrong" at least, if not "evil". I did the same thing during GWB's Iraq war. Though I did think Bush was evil as I think Netanyahu is too.

It doesn't matter to me which side is doing the "evil", it needs condemning. If tomorrow Hamas started bombing civilians or starving them, I would condemn that too. As I condemn the killing and torture of civilians on October 7th and the rockets that indiscriminately killed during and afterward. I'm an equal opportunity condemner, you could say. It just seems like I am "biased" against Israel, but only because it is the one doing all the killing of innocents since October 8th!

Unfortunately Israel is not going to withdraw from Gaza nor is it going to let the Palestinians remain on their land. Every fact on the ground points to that. The time for speaking up against Israel's occupation and war on Gaza is past. It's too late. Had more people spoken out, say 18-20 months ago, when it was already becoming clear what the real plan was, it might have made a difference. But now, it makes no difference what your position is, it's already a done deal. Gaza is gone.