Israel/Palestine
In reply to the discussion: WATCH: IDF Soldier Screams At Israeli Activists: 'You Are Worse Than The Arabs' [View all]TheMadMonk
(6,187 posts)One sided TV gave me the impression that it was the "terrorists" leveling whole neighbourhoods in Lebanon/Beiruit, and elsewhere throughout the conflict zones.
Indoctrinated by my thouroughly English grandmother, I also hated the IRA with a passion, until I was exposed to the other side of that story, and I discovered just how badly my English ancestors have treated the Irish for centuries.
And still I hated "ragheads" right through the First Gulf War, until I finally learnt how thoroughly that situation had been manipulated to justify the US "intervention" and I started paying a little attention to more of what was going on in the Middle East.
Facts are slippery things. I don't believe there is anything patently false in what I've said, although I can certainly see how interpretations can differ.
Quite frankly I doubt, there's going to be any meeting of the minds between you and I. And I'm probably going to really piss you off with the following observations.
Israel gets a lot more traction out of monsterising the Palestians, than Palestine could possibly ever hope to gain from martyrising its own people.
Whatever evils the Palestinians might commit against Israelis, Israel's practice of massive "collective responsibility" is absolutely abhorent. Best face you can put on Israel's strikes into the Occupied Territories, is that you just plain do not care how much collateral damage gets done in pursuit of those actually responsible for attacks on Israel. (And I've heard more than a few Israelis express such sentiments on YouTube vids.) Worst case... Well I think you can figure it out.