Meanwhile on the International front....

I think you hit on one of the reasons this situation seems impossible. I can't see the two sides ever reaching an agreement about Jerusalem. Even if there could be a serious negotiation, I imagine that being a sticking point and things ending with Israel wishing them good luck taking it and walking out.

 

I met my daughter's Israeli boyfriend for the first time today. They were stopping by quickly, so the conversation was no more than 10 minutes. He was polite and friendly, mostly talking about nonsense until I asked him about his trip home. He is getting conflicting information. The airline is telling him the flight will take off and land as planned, but someone he spoke to in Israel told him that is not the case. He is probably going to have to cancel and re-book, which is going to get expensive, but he is determined to go home tomorrow as planned. He repeated it more than once. "I have to get back."

He said his family is fine as are his civilian friends, but friends of his in the military have been killed in the fighting. I was taken by how matter-of-fact he was about it, as if it is just a thing that happens. Of course, he had just met me, so he was definitely putting on a good facade. I found out later that he was in the car with my daughter when he found out about one of his friends being killed and he was crying. I have no doubt he is struggling with the guilt of being here while his friends are fighting and dying back home. He has served three years already, but of course, he has been recalled. I don't know how I would be able to function, to turn it off and try to enjoy a day with friends, because he can't get back before tomorrow anyway. I told him that he's going to hear all sorts of noise here, but as a whole, we do support Israel. I told him I certainly do. I said I was sorry for his losses and I hope that he and his family come through this safely. He said he has been met with so much love while he has been here. At one point, I acknowledged that we live in different worlds and he agreed.

I'm blown away by this 21-year-old kid who wants nothing more than to fight beside his friends and defend his home. I doubt I will ever see him again regardless of what happens in this war. I don't think he and my daughter are that serious. I know I will worry for him anyway, and not just because it would hurt my daughter if something happened to him.

I get that I'm rambling a bit, but this all seems a hell of a lot more real after just one conversation that was no more than 10 minutes.

 

The problem with expelling/eradicating Jews is that once a country has no Jews to scapegoat, they can only turn on themselves.

 

Wow. Helluva day, man, helluva day.

Also (I was in the process of writing this when this latest of yours popped up), only in the last couple of years have I learned of the "immovable ladder", and having learned of it, I think you're absolutely right about Jerusalem. There've been two, three ... five, fifteen! ... sides fighting over Jerusalem for sooooo long, I just can't imagine it not being fought over.

 

Thanks for this.

 

WTF? The problem with expelling/eradicating Jews is that it's absolutely fucking monstrously wrong.

 

All I was saying was what happens when there's no one left to scapegoat. Which reminds me of an old joke:

It's Soviet Russia, and everyone's lined fup or food. A party apparatchik appears and advises, "No food for Jews, you leave!"

A few hours later, the apparatchik reappears. "No food for immigrants! You must leave!"

Another several hours pass, and the party official is back. He motions the people left in line to listen closely.

"Actually, comrades," he says in a quiet voice, "there is no food for anybody!"

At which point someone speaks up.

"As usual, the Jews get the best of the bargain!"

 

I’m a Reformed Jew, been bar mitzvahed, was the first in my family to go on to confirmation class (Hebrew school graduation), although I had to be bribed into doing so (got my Mom to take me to my first WWF show, and we went to a Mets game). I’m far from strict, don’t keep kosher (I actually love bacon), generally go to High Holy Day services and maybe one or two Sabbath services a year.

I won’t pretend that I know a lot about Mideast tensions or Palestinian-Israeli relations. I firmly believe Israel has a right to exist and I don’t blame them for occupying territory to use for their own defense that they gained against countries that have wanted them wiped away from the earth.

I also feel bad for people who are being pushed out of their homes if they’re not doing any wrong. And I don’t think Israel should needlessly provoke anyone either.

And maybe it’s because I’m getting older, or maybe it’s because I’m tired of the American Christofascists, but I’m just getting more and more cynical about people who are fighting wars and killing people because they think their imaginary friend is better than the other person’s imaginary friend. It’s stupid and tiresome.

 

I think it's important to note that Israel gained that territory when other countries tried to wipe it off the map. It's not just what those countries wanted, it's what they were actively seeking.

 

True, although my understanding (and feel free to correct me if I’m wrong), is that Israel, after a lot of being provoked by the other countries, got that territory by attacking the other countries first. Or, to put it more crassly, the other countries fucked around and found out.

 

No, you've got it right. I had my timeline of action-result wrong.

 

I’m far from a hawk, but Israel has a right to exist, and most of the Palestinians support Hamas and its militant right wing.

I don’t like Netanyahu or his policies, but if I’m Jewish — and I don’t even know what that means — it’s fucking go-time.