Israel

[TheBoss]

For a start, I would not show it to her.

[razor]

For a start, I would not show it to her.

I didn't, she was after seeing it before I got home from work.

[dahamsta]

I'd guess the point TheBoss was trying to make was that she shouldn't be seeing that sort of thing in the first place, unless you're ready and able to explain it. Keep the newspaper out of reach, turn the telly off if there's a risk, etc.

adam

[OneRedArmy]

What do i tell my 5 year old when she asks what happened her?

Tell her the world is, on the whole, a much less dangerous place that it has ever been but the all pervasive nature of the media these days doesn't make it seem that way.

Neil McD hit the nail on the head a few posts above.

Just to be clear, I'm not in any way belittling the suffering that Israel is meting out at the minute (or indeed the suffering it has historically been on the end of).

More than any other conflict, the Middle East (for its not just about Israel/Palestine, it goes the whole way to Iran in one direction and Egypt in the other) seems absolutely intractable. There doesn't seem any common ground for negotiation. Very, very depressing stuff.

[razor]

I'd guess the point TheBoss was trying to make was that she shouldn't be seeing that sort of thing in the first place, unless you're ready and able to explain it. Keep the newspaper out of reach, turn the telly off if there's a risk, etc.

Believe me I always do and 99 times out of 100 its grand but she saw it in passing in her Grannies house and being an inquisitive 5 year old was wondering what had happened.
I'm a model parent I swear

Tell her the world is, on the whole, a much less dangerous place that it has ever been but the all pervasive nature of the media these days doesn't make it seem that way.

Thats exactly what I did and she was quite happy with that.

[dahamsta]

Believe me I always do and 99 times out of 100 its grand but she saw it in passing in her Grannies house and being an inquisitive 5 year old was wondering what had happened.
I'm a model parent I swear

Probably better than me then!

[razor]

Probably better than me then!

I do the best I can.

[Cymro]

Whilst carefully trying to avoid inadevertantly detonating the masses of metaphorical dynamite that always seems to be involved in any discussion with the word 'Israel' in it, I'd like to disagree with those who say that the Jews should not have a homeland or should be moved from where they are.

This does not mean I always condone the actions of the Israeli state, but it is quite clear that the situation is far from one-sided. Hamas (along with the leaders of many other nearby states, such as Iran) are at least as guilty for giving the Israelis reasons to constantly live in fear and thus be left with little choice other than to support their leaders or be bullied like the kid with the thick-framed glasses in the school playground.

I understand that some people may not agree with the reasons why the state of Israel was founded or the way in which its founding was effectively pushed through by foreign governments, but that was 50 years ago and if people like LimtilIdie say we should forget about, or at least move on from, the Holocaust, then surely we should all move on in this regard too, after all plenty of states have been founded in circumstances which are far worse than Israel's. It's time for everyone to accept that the Jews are there to stay and try and work out some kind of resolution. Sadly a few egos in high places will prevent this from happening, but political realities do not determine what is right or wrong in any given case.

[SkStu]

interesting article from BBC website. The disillusioned Israeli soldiers accounts of the "religious war" waged on Gaza and the murder of innocent civilians. Anyone else doubt that the IDF's promise to investigate will uncover much?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7952603.stm

[brianw82]

Religion poisons everything, again.

[shantykelly]

Religion poisons everything, again.

disagree. blaming religion, or orders, or circumstance is all too easy when it comes to violent disputes and actions. the problem is the choices that individuals make.

[Wangball]

Religion poisons everything, again.

I'd disagree with that, religion just add's an extra dimension to what is essentially a land dispute

[SkStu]

I'd disagree with that, religion just add's an extra dimension to what is essentially a land dispute

agreed, with one addition. War boils down to one of, or a combination of, any of the following elements:

Religion
Land
Economics

[Da Real Rover]

“We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation, and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population.”
Israel Koenig, “The Koenig Memorandum” in 1980

“ [The Palestinians are] beasts walking on two legs.”
Menahim Begin, speech to the Knesset, quoted in Amnon Kapeliouk, “Begin and the Beasts”. New Statesman, 25 June 1982

“When we have settled the land, all the Arabs will be able to do about it will be to scurry around like drugged cockroaches in a bottle.”
Raphael Eitan, Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces, New York Times, 14 April 1983

“Israel should have exploited the repression of the demonstrations in China, when world attention focused on that country, to carry out mass expulsions among the Arabs of the territories.”
Benyamin Netanyahu, then Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, former Prime Minister of Israel, tells students at Bar Ilan University, From the Israeli journal Hotam, November 24, 1989

"If we thought that instead of 200 Palestinian fatalities, 2,000 dead would put an end to the fighting at a stroke, we would use much more force….”
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, quoted in Associated Press, November 16, 2000