I am also terrible at it. In a Zombie apocalypse, I'd be zombiefied in two minutes flat - I'm just not going to run, even for a zombie. I apply this sense of resignation to all major world-altering events.

I'm not anti prep. It makes a lot of sense for people who live where they will regularly deal with short term disasters. I did some limited prep during Covid and swine flu. I'm just very cynical about the ability of the average person to prep for WW3. Or for the long term effects of climate change. And I guess it raises questions of how we use our time - maybe we should be out protesting against fossil fuels, for example, instead of canning. Idk.

Many people don't have the capacity to do this. Personally, I have found that once labour, water, and soil remediation (ours is high in lead) is taken into account, it's more expensive to grow food than to buy it. It's a great hobby for people with the space, soil, time. Agreed. Also agreed that it has mental health effects for those who enjoy it. It's just not going to help anyone survive WW3! I am definitely pro-gardening (for other people) though.

OK, well this just feels like fuel on the fire to me. I have explained that where I live, it is not the Jews who are safe on the streets, as per the police. That is the context in which I feel reactive. Suggesting that it's lack of compassion for Palestinian civilians is....OK. As I said, I'm out.

OK, banning myself now, or trying to - I tried to get back on track re history resources. Don't really trust myself not to be reactive given context here as above. Hope you get some more good resources, Terabith.

But we would know. 'We' being university educated women with an interest in current affairs.

You will see more books than you can responsibly buy 🙂 Just a heads up!

I think it's really understandable people don't know much about the establishment of Israel as a modern nation state. History education is poor, generally, and I know from personal experience how many gaps I have. Many, so many. I'm surprised people don't know about contemporary terror attacks, though. Bataclan interests me as a comparator - there was no hand-wringing about standing with the French people, or cities displaying the French flag etc. And yet, there is surely 'context' re Algeria. It is hard not to think that yet again, Israel is singled out as an exception to empathy.

The world is full of historical enemies of the Jews, sadly.

Existential need for safety + massive failure of the West to grapple with their own antisemitism.

I honestly think that it's a good idea to do an overview of world history of the region before trying to understand the detailed complexity. It's hard enough to assess sources for bias with an overview, let alone without one. I really like the links above. I also did not get a great history education (though I did study Modern History), and I have appreciated filling in many gaps over time using those resources and more. More and more I think we need to understand all antecedents. For example, if you don't know anything about the Ottomans (I didn't, for a long time), how can you know anything about, say, the birth of Turkey as a nation state? There is a site I really like called Five Reads. They have experts recommend five books on a topic - a mix of fiction and non-fiction. That can be a really good supplement to history studies. There will be Five Reads on Israel-Palestinians, I'm sure.

I think we need to remember, speaking of context, of the reasons why there may have been a rush to find security for Jews, post WW11.

https://www.facinghistory.org/ This is a good history site, aimed at secondary. I think you would like it, Terabith. https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history https://www.oerproject.com/Origins-to-the-Present https://www.oerproject.com/1200-to-the-Present

Perhaps I ought to have used Pulse attack as a comparator for Re'im.

What do you think they should have done instead?

Two terrorist massacres that also took place at music events.

I'm not being rude, but if people actually haven't studied much history, Khan Academy has free resources that give an overview of how, for example, the Middle East ended up where it is today. Not talking about this thread, but I am struck by the lack of historical literacy among many - many, many people seem to believe that there has long been a nation-state called Palestine, and that Jews came and invaded this land and are now settler-colonialists. That's not correct. ETA I think this is why history study is so important. We understand the past to better understand the present. Khan is good, it really is. I'd go back to ancient history and work my way through the history of the region from there.

Yes - our family too.

You can't prep your way out of climate change, nor out of a world war. Prep is useful for short term issues eg a weather event, where you can expect to be without access to normal resources for a few days/weeks. I'd suggest that people with the capacity to prep for longer instead help their local communities prep for those short term issues - the ability to prepare for a weather event is a privilege that many people don't have.

Going by yesterday's WTM discussion, this does belong in politics, unless you are literally just asking for sources for books by subject experts etc. The other thread was locked. As a bonus, if you discuss in politics, you won't attract our resident holocaust denier/Nazi. However, I won't be reporting the thread. It's an extremely complex area of history, however, and I really hope it doesn't veer into falsehood and anti-Semitic tropes. (I may be sensitive - men in a suburb 2 min from here were out celebrating Hamas' great victory with fireworks, pro-Palestinian marches went ahead last night with police warning Jewish people to stay home, people burning Israeli flag at the Opera House, man arrested for carrying an Israeli flag etc). I do think it's interesting to compare how soon people were 'asking questions about context' after Bataclan, for example, or Manchester. There's always context. Be careful it doesn't become more about blaming the victims. Blood barely dry in this particular terrorist massacre.

The OP wanted a church that doesn't practice homophobia, though. So knowing there are plenty of people/churches that do doesn't really help her.

Yeah, definitely some can live with what others can't. I wouldn't go to a church that was 'working towards' gay equality, for example. I'd choose a church that would marry my dd and be happy about it, because hey, it's 2023.

I hope your friends and their families will be ok. This last paragraph. 100%. Israel will not allow itself to be destroyed. Nobody should be cheering on the destruction of an (imperfect) democracy that provides refuge from one of humanities oldest and most enduring forms of prejudice and hatred. Action predicated on the basis that it must be destroyed will not win human rights for Palestinians. After Hamas murdered and desecrated the corpse of a young German woman, Germany is rethinking ALL its aid to the Palestinians. How does that help Palestinian women and children? I'm appalled that there were people in my city out celebrating Hamas last night. They had the same access to news I did. No decent human celebrates terror.

I think the problem is, there is nowhere safe to go.

What did Hamas expect? Regardless of the justice of Palestinian human rights, Hamas knew this would be the outcome, not only for Israelis, but for ordinary Palestinians. Terrorists cause terror, and it is indiscriminate.