Hyperreality

not the middle East…

If you re-read my comment, you'll note I said that something like a third of Israelis are (originally from) from the middle-east or arab countries.

Wikipedia:

Mizrahi Jews (Hebrew: יהודי המִזְרָח), also known as Mizrahim (מִזְרָחִים) or Mizrachi (מִזְרָחִי) and alternatively referred to as Oriental Jews or Edot HaMizrach (עֲדוֹת-הַמִּזְרָח, lit. 'Communities of the East'),[2] are a grouping of Jewish communities comprising those who remained in the Land of Israel and those who existed in diaspora throughout and around the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) from biblical times into the modern era. ... Regions with significant populations ... Israel ... 3,200,000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizrahi_Jews

3.2 million / 9.5 million = 33.7%.

Most of Israeli immigration has been from the former Soviet Union

Wikipedia:

Russians in Israel or Russian Israelis are post-Soviet Russian citizens who immigrate to Israel and their descendants. As of 2022, Russian-speakers number around 1,300,000 people, or 15% of the Israeli population. This number, however, also includes immigrants from the Soviet Union and post-Soviet states other than Russia proper.

So 33% from the MENA.

15% Soviet.

Ashkenazi(mainly Europe): 2.8 million / 9.5 = 29.4%

IRC the rest are non-Jews.

That took far too long to google, which is why most people debating the whole conflict simply don't bother. Why would they when they've already come to a conclusion and chosen a side? Why let the facts get in the way?

Honestly, this is why I'd rather swim in a septic tank, than spend too long debating the whole thing.

People will claim it is, but it really isn't. Honestly, you'll read a lot of biased answers here.

The safest bet is to condemn the rape, murder and torture of civilians, but accept that there are no 'good' guys in this conflict.

To give you an idea:

You'll read a lot of comments about how Israelis stole land from the Palestinian Arabs. But Palestinains also stole land from Palestinian Jews.

Many middle-eastern countries had significant Jewish populations before that, but almost all were forced to flee to Israel. Something like a third of Israelis are 'Arab' Jews or Mizrahi as the prefer to be called. They're not 'foreign invaders'. They're (the family of) locals or refugees from neighbouring countries.

Hamas are horrible, and what the last few days have been deplorable, but arguably Israel helped create them.

Also, recent right-wing Israeli governments have consistently undermined any hope of a peace deal, meaning there's no real alternative for Palestinians.

But, back in 2000 Israel did offer far reaching concessions to the Palestinians, so much so that IRC the Saudi ambassador said it would be a crime not to accept them or at least continue negotiating. But Arafat, the Palestinian leader at the time, did just that.

Also, neighbouring Arab countries claim to support Palestine, but often only on paper. When they accepted Palestinian refugees this caused them huge issues. For example in Lebanon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damour_massacre

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karantina_massacre

Also, a lot of arab nationalist groups, including Palestinian ones, are virulently anti-semitic and have actual historical ties to the nazis who supported them in their fight against the colonial powers (Britain, France, etc.):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mein_Kampf_in_Arabic#Mein_Kampf_and_Arab_nationalism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amin_al-Husseini#Ties_with_the_Axis_Powers_during_World_War_II

But then the current Israeli government contains ultra-nationalists. One of the ministers once belonged to a banned far right terrorist organisation, labeled as such by the US and Israel. They were openly racist and supported terrorist attacks against Palestinians.

I suspect the whole geographic thing also plays into it.

Where I live, you're never more than 15 minutes from a police station. Maybe half an hour if you live in the middle of nowhere. There are also more than enough cops to go around. I can imagine if you live 4 hours from a police station in the middle of nowhere, or somewhere with 24hr response times, you would want a gun for protection. I certainly would.

It's a cult classic. It really isn't particularly underrated.

I mean, three sea shells jokes are everywhere.

Also, and it saddens me to say this, I don't feel it's held up that well as a movie. I really enjoyed watching it at the time, but when I rewatched it a few years back it felt very dated and very much like a product of its time.

Gaza is something like 300km^2. Israel has more than enough to level it a thousand times over. They have hundreds of artillery pieces, hundreds of fighters, an entire navy, something like a thousand tanks, ...

Hell, given they likely have hundreds of nukes, they could level the entire middle-east and end global civilisation as we know it.

The US giving Israel more military aid now, is politics. Not much more.

It should infuriate us all. Some of the most intelligent people on the planet are cleaning toilets, while complete dipshits run entire countries or huge corporations.

Imagine how far we would have come, if it wasn't for the fact that cunts are still running the world. We'd likely have colonized the solar system by now.

I suspect that if you work in retail, little things like this make the day just slightly more bareable.

AI is now training itself with data often produced by AI.

Behold the result of incest.

The Guardian is still a good newspaper in their factual reporting, especially as they're still not paywalled, but their opinion pieces (comment is free) have been very click baity for years now.

It's always best to take them with a large pinch of salt.

That means they’re playing the optics for a western audience in a self serving, hypocritical way. ... Hamas doesn’t have a PR strategy for the west. They’re just attacking. It’s not right but at least it’s not theater.

I'm less worried about the hypocrisy and theatrics, than I am about civilian deaths.

But you do you.

“We announce the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and we announce that the first strike, which targeted enemy positions, airports, and military fortifications, exceeded 5,000 missiles and shells,” Mohammed Deif, head of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said.

Wikipedia:

Hamas published its charter in August 1988, wherein it defined itself as a chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood and its desire to establish "an Islamic state throughout Palestine" ... It declares all of Palestine a waqf, an unalienable religious property consisting of land endowed to Muslims in perpetuity by God ... The charter rejects a two-state solution, stating that the conflict cannot be resolved "except through jihad".

Oh, I do apologize. You are correct. They didn't declare war. They declared jihad.

My mistake.

Bonus:

On May 2, 2011, Hamas leader and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh condemned the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by the United States. Haniyeh praised Bin Laden, the founder of the jihadist organization al-Qaeda, as a "martyr" and an "Arab holy warrior"