Originally Posted by gothicusmaximus
Wow, Jack. That was such a masterful implementation of syllogistic reasoning that I lost my balance and the beach ball fell off my nose. Will you-- will you shake my flipper?
An ethnic homeland, or a lack thereof, is at the core of what it means to be a Jew. Our culture defines us, and we are largely conceived by others, not as a group united in a similar trait, but as a people-- a people from somewhere. I won't pretend to trace the numberless sources of antisemitism to a single factor, but, in modern history, hatred of Jews has manifested in much the same way as that of, for instance, Mexicans manifests in contemporary America: "You don't belong here. You're messing up the way things are supposed to be. Go home." Until the foundation of Israel, we were eternal exiles, the unwanted children of a ghost nation. Although I'm still staggered beyond expression that you were able to not only cogitate this remark, by contrast with which xjin's past indiscretions seem like Invisible Man, but actually render it in words while maintaining that you don't oppose Zionism, the sad truth of the matter is that, for a long time, pinnipeds had it better than the Jewish people. If, in 1933, you dove into Artic waters and started fucking with Leopard Seals, you'd get what was coming to you. The same couldn't be said with regard to us.
Only a brazenly partisan douchebag would assert one side of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to be unequivocally in the 'right'. Both governments have conducted themselves shamefully, as have certain members of both civilian populations. Consider, though, how swiftly the people of the United States might be condemned were one allowed only our country's foreign policy as enacted in the last ten years by which to judge. Most Israelis, as well as most Palestinians, do favor a two-state solution. The situation is complicated, and I am not apologizing for Israel, but the humanitarian records of fledging states in hostile territory are rarely spotless-- this country, in my opinion, hasn't forfeited its right to exist.
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