poppy Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Part of the problem in the US is that it's really hard to talk about, full stop, unless you are passionately devoted to one side or the other. I'd rather discuss abortion and politics all day than broach the Israeli-Palestianian conflict. Strong opinions are all over my Facebook page and no one even ventures a "it's just a shame for all sides" in reply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I can understand that. And I can bet you that if you do a poll in one week, one month, three months, whenever…that 90% of Americans will still believe that Hamas kidnapped and killed the three teens, which is part of the problem. Well it's not like Hamas condemned it or tried to distance themselves from it or openly tried to find the culprits. I think there have been discussions all along that it may have been Hamas members working outside the express command of Hamas leadership. I know that I had read before that the Israeli gov't knew more than it was letting on in the beginning. ..and, as I mentioned, the Israeli gov't has also made clear all along that they saw this as an opportunity to try and neutralize Hamas. I guess I'm not surprised by anything in that article, other than the person writing it seems surprised, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 OP, another way to 'explain' is in fiction form. I know my dd16, when younger, read ten or so novels set in Israel/Palestine, from varying perspectives, and this gave her quite a broad sympathy will all sides of the debate. That is what I did with dd13. These books cover a range of ages, but all in some way look at the conflict or the misunderstandings between people. I can't say that they're unbiased, but they all strive for reconciliation, compassion and understanding. That seems a good place to start. Samir and Yonatan (Daniella Carmi) One More River (Lynne Reid Banks) Broken Bridge (Lynne Reid Banks) Where the Streets Had a Name (Randa Abdel-Fatah) Message in a Bottle / Bottle in the Gaza Sea (Valerie Zenatti - 2 names for the same book) Can anyone add any others? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 This was put out by the American Friend's Service Committee, a Quaker org. I don't know if it will help anybody or not: http://afsc.org/gaza And yes, this link is probably considered bias. It's called Humanize Palestine…and they show you the name/stories of some of the people killed. I think it's around 850 now…roughly 70% are civilians according to the UN and others (so 595 people…think two jumbo jets going down.) http://humanizepalestine.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 That is what I did with dd13. These books cover a range of ages, but all in some way look at the conflict or the misunderstandings between people. I can't say that they're unbiased, but they all strive for reconciliation, compassion and understanding. That seems a good place to start. Samir and Yonatan (Daniella Carmi) One More River (Lynne Reid Banks) Broken Bridge (Lynne Reid Banks) Where the Streets Had a Name (Randa Abdel-Fatah) Message in a Bottle / Bottle in the Gaza Sea (Valerie Zenatti - 2 names for the same book) Can anyone add any others? I found The Source by J. Michener to give a really great historical sort of overview Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I found The Source by J. Michener to give a really great historical sort of overview It has been a really long time since I read "The Source". I should really pull it out again. But in general James Michener did a great job of researching his novels, and they are quite accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melissa in Australia Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I re-read it a few weeks ago and it comes across as very well researched, I highly recommend it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Please don't make this political. If you have strong beliefs either way, please be respectful, or refrain from commenting if you can't. Can anyone give me a very simple and unbiased rundown of the the whole Israel/Palestine conflict that is currently going on? I am overwhelmed when I watch or read the news, and each one had a slant to one side. Can you please explain it? Indy asked me, and I really can't really give him a good explanation. I would really appreciate it. this might be a good place for indy to start. it begins by defining terms. eg. what are israel and palestine? why are they fighting? it has a series of 26 cards/screens. its hard for there to be no bias, but they've tried. http://www.vox.com/cards/israel-palestine/intro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nd293 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I found The Source by J. Michener to give a really great historical sort of overview Thanks! I haven't read that one, but years ago I read his novel about South Africa, and felt that it gave a good historical overview of the South African story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamzanne Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 One of the most disturbing and problematic parts of this is many Christians' blind support of Israel to fulfill a bunch of OT texts. I have actually heard it spouted over and over, that "God blesses America because they support Israel." My ex-husband is currently thrilled with what is going on in Israel because he says it means end times are here. Lovely. ETA: I am a Christian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 One of the most disturbing and problematic parts of this is many Christians' blind support of Israel to fulfill a bunch of OT texts. I have actually heard it spouted over and over, that "God blesses America because they support Israel." My ex-husband is currently thrilled with what is going on in Israel because he says it means end times are here. Lovely.And the evangelical Christian "support for Israel" includes these components:1- disinterest in the well being and rights of Christians in the area (Palestinian Christians) 2 - their own reason for wanting Jews to gather as part of second coming of Jesus (and the anticipated outcome) I found this 2013 article by an evangelical Christian that addresses some issues with evangelicals' support for Israel: Evangelicals and Israel: What American Jews Don't Want to Know (but Need to) By Robert W. Nicholson http://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/2013/10/evangelicals-and-israel/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Something I have not seen mentioned. The US has a large amount of influence and interest because in large part there is a relatively large Jewish population in the US with many Jewish people having a great deal of financial and political influence. If, for example, you look at stats regarding how many in congress are Jewish it's disproportionately high considering the overall population of Jewish people in the US. Same goes for the amount of money they have. It's not quite accurate to say that the average American likes what is going on and would support it. I think the strategic position in the Mideast is at least as big a factor, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I was mostly referring to your 2nd paragraph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I think that a lot of Americans don't really know about Palestinian Christians. The news here is always about 'Muslim extremists' wrt Arabic nationalistic aspirations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 I think that a lot of Americans don't really know about Palestinian Christians. The news here is always about 'Muslim extremists' wrt Arabic nationalistic aspirations.Maybe, but that doesn't include Christians who travel there either to support Israel in whatever capacity, or to go on religious pilgrimages or whatever. I have seen interviews with Christians during the lead up to Easter and Christmas. Catholics seem more aware of this and the Pope discusses it from time to time. e.g. http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2014/05/christians-israel-palestine http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/19/easter-palestinianchristians.html http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=55042 I also know American women whose (Christian) families felt the husbands are very "foreign" and were not aware that their homelands are mentioned heavily in the Bible. There is an apparent disconnect between Jesus' place of origin, and the locations in the Bible, and knowledge of current geography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 For those still looking for information, I wanted to recommend the debates on Intelligence2 regarding Israel/Palestine. If you aren't already familiar, they conduct debates on a range of current event topics and they generally bring qualified and experienced people to represent each side; for example, in one debate about Palestine they had a former candidate for Palestinian president and a former Israeli UN ambassador. If you go to their website you can search for "Palestine" and pull up all the past debates regarding this topic. I have spent the last couple of weeks going back over all the relevant debates, what I found particularly helpful were the questions from the moderator and the audience -- often they were questions I had, and it was helpful to have answers from both sides in a cogent and well thought-out manner, as opposed to emotional or hyperbolic. I just found it interesting, maybe it would be interesting to someone else... http://intelligencesquaredus.org/component/search/?searchword=palestine&searchphrase=all&Itemid=132 Oh, and I've also been listening to some of the other debates, I find I rather like this format, although I don't always agree with the choice of debater or the outcome :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 I have really appreciated this respectful discussion. I learned a lot here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Rob Posted November 4, 2023 Share Posted November 4, 2023 It breaks my heart too see so many children hurt. But not only children... It's sad people use human shields to hide. Hospitals to hide business other than health and healing. Regardless, all the hostages should be freed. All parties should see that is right. Human hostages gain no leverage. Thousands of years of human history and we are all still doing the same stupid things. It's sad. Sad we have not grown to be wiser as a human species. May God, or no God is you believe that, have mercy on all on us. May we have mercy on each other and learn to forgive so we can move on to be better human beings who share this one earth we all call home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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