Thanks for your remarks! It pains me to see so many young people who try to justify the actions of Hamas by claiming some weird ideas like decolonization.
I appreciate the subtlety and nuance of your comments. Too much of the tension between the student protestors and the reset of the nation (and world) are a direct result of a lack of nuance in today's discourse.
It's totally acceptable and reasonable to have what appear to be conflicting views on the surface. One can be anti-Hamas and pro-Palestinian. One can appreciate the anger the families of hostages and victims feel and be pro-peace. One can accept the fact that the people of a Jewish faith and those of a Jewish ethnicity and those of an Israeli nationality (which is a Venn diagram with three distinct but highly-overlapping groups) have a right to a safe existence, as do Palestinians and citizens of Gaza.
War is hell, and I can appreciate the anger and fear and dismay felt by the Israeli side of the conflict as well as the Gazans who have endured a very difficult set of circumstances over the previous decades, due to the actions of both terrorist activities and the response to those activities. But I also appreciate the parallels drawn between this conflict and Vietnam (which does predate me) and 9/11 (which I have lived through).
As a humanist, it pains me to see that such cruelty can exist and flourish in a world where there's no reason to. We don't *have* to have a fight over all of this; some of us choose to, as a subset of the human species. I hope that we can make a better choice and end the cycle of violence and injustice which has been perpetrated by humans, against humans, for exceptionally insignificant reasons, in the grand scheme of things.
“I may disagree with every word you say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it.” —Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire.)
So many things women have said or accomplished that were somehow attributed to or co-opted by men.
It occurs to me that this disservice to women sits at the crux of what's happening today - wars all over the place, heavy-handed policies of despots like Putin and whatever we want to call Netanyahu, men who cannot seem to control their blood lust or "allow" women into leadership positions where women would listen, talk, and facilitate peace. And an erosion of women's rights across our nation. Why do I think women would be so much better at men than what we are seeing today? Because women are the ones who create and nurture human life.
Just noting that Golda Meier was Israeli Prime Minister back in the early 70s. She successfully managed Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War. I am certainly not saying that sexism is not prevalent--because it is--just like antisemitism. But neither was the topic I chose to cover here.
Thanks for your remarks! It pains me to see so many young people who try to justify the actions of Hamas by claiming some weird ideas like decolonization.
I appreciate the subtlety and nuance of your comments. Too much of the tension between the student protestors and the reset of the nation (and world) are a direct result of a lack of nuance in today's discourse.
It's totally acceptable and reasonable to have what appear to be conflicting views on the surface. One can be anti-Hamas and pro-Palestinian. One can appreciate the anger the families of hostages and victims feel and be pro-peace. One can accept the fact that the people of a Jewish faith and those of a Jewish ethnicity and those of an Israeli nationality (which is a Venn diagram with three distinct but highly-overlapping groups) have a right to a safe existence, as do Palestinians and citizens of Gaza.
War is hell, and I can appreciate the anger and fear and dismay felt by the Israeli side of the conflict as well as the Gazans who have endured a very difficult set of circumstances over the previous decades, due to the actions of both terrorist activities and the response to those activities. But I also appreciate the parallels drawn between this conflict and Vietnam (which does predate me) and 9/11 (which I have lived through).
As a humanist, it pains me to see that such cruelty can exist and flourish in a world where there's no reason to. We don't *have* to have a fight over all of this; some of us choose to, as a subset of the human species. I hope that we can make a better choice and end the cycle of violence and injustice which has been perpetrated by humans, against humans, for exceptionally insignificant reasons, in the grand scheme of things.
“I may disagree with every word you say, but I will fight to the death your right to say it.” —Evelyn Beatrice Hall (often attributed to Voltaire.)
So many things women have said or accomplished that were somehow attributed to or co-opted by men.
It occurs to me that this disservice to women sits at the crux of what's happening today - wars all over the place, heavy-handed policies of despots like Putin and whatever we want to call Netanyahu, men who cannot seem to control their blood lust or "allow" women into leadership positions where women would listen, talk, and facilitate peace. And an erosion of women's rights across our nation. Why do I think women would be so much better at men than what we are seeing today? Because women are the ones who create and nurture human life.
Just noting that Golda Meier was Israeli Prime Minister back in the early 70s. She successfully managed Israel's victory in the Yom Kippur War. I am certainly not saying that sexism is not prevalent--because it is--just like antisemitism. But neither was the topic I chose to cover here.