Udi

I get that, but if you look back you were responding to *me* talking about what led to 7/10 and I wasn't talking about that. Perhaps that word triggered you and I'd understand completely. I've also been swimming in a cesspit of online anti-semites.
BTW. I love your use of "darling".

BTW. When there finally is a state inquiry into 7/10, as for the Yom Kippur War and the First Lebanon War, do you really think the findings will be: it was all Hamas's fault? No, because the whole point of Zionism is that we aren't just helpless victims, we're responsible for our security.

... The conceptsia, which has now been shown to have been false group think, collapsed on 7/10.
The father/chief architect of the conceptsia was Bibi.
The fact that Bibi allowed Qatari cash to go to Hamas while his office also took Qatar's money also adds a bitter taste to that equation.

OK. In Israel we talk of the "conseptsia" (like the English word "conception"): the idea prevalent in security circles, eg esp the IDF, shin bet and the PM that Hamas was deterred, ie. that they wouldn't act due to fear and that it was good to keep them in place and Fatah weak in the West Bank...

Why? Please explain.

Exiting as a response/reward to terrorism strengthens those who support/commit terrorism. If you want to divide and rule, that's a theory (which led to 7/10). But to do so by strengthening those who want to attack you (and had murdered many civilians) seems bonkers.

...You get security cooperation and agreements with Arab states in exchange for some prisoner releases ('twas after the 2nd intifada) and withdrawals in stages on the understanding that the IDF enters if necessary, but as an army rather than as a police force protecting/dealing with settlers.

I think Sharon did know. He set it up to strengthen Hamas, the same reason that Netanyahu let through all those suitcases of cash from Qatar (assuming it wasn't all just corruption).

As I say, the idea was to do it in such a way which would strengthen those who want a negotiated peace:
...

Yes, it's one of the best words.
Most of the kids starting school this year in Israel are from non-Zionist homes (mostly Arab and Ultra-Orthodox).

...For clarity: the thought after Oslo collapsed/2nd Intifada was to do it unilaterally while either pretending that it's negotiated and/or coordinating it in a way which would strengthen the Palestinians who wanted to negotiate. The manner of Sharon's unilateralism was not a peacenik idea.

Withdrawing unilaterally wasn't a peacenik idea—it was Sharon (the "father of the settlements"). It weakened the Palestinians who wanted to negotiate & strengthened the grip in the West Bank (and also Hamas). And yet, controlling Gaza or South Lebanon was never good for us. No-one sane wants it now.

(I took this picture, btw)

I hadn't been out there since my son was born 14 years ago.
I've only gone twice over the past month, but you can feel that the fear and general anxiety (vis the violent settlers) are both greater and more widespread than in the past.
Those I trust also say it's esp. bad this year (due to Gaza etc).

I hadn't been out there since my son was born 14 years ago.
I've only gone twice over the past month, but you can feel that the fear and general anxiety (vis the violent settlers) are both greater and more widespread than in the past.
Those I trust also say it's esp. bad this year (due to Gaza etc).

People (teachers/management) who watch Dead Poets Society and think that Robin Williams's character is the villain. 😡

I went to a couple of their protests in Tel-Aviv. Good people.

To compare it to an English context, to be a Zionist in Israel now is (very roughly) equivalent to being an anti-disestablishmentarian in England.

I'm still thinking about how terrible that trumpeter was. #Arsenal

Just for the record, I was born in 1982 making me Gen Y, AKA Gen, "Why are you lumping me in with these millennials?"

Natanya, last night.

Ahhh thought he was 89. I checked my maths three times, but not my reading 🤦‍♂️
In other news, Shabbat shalom.

My new base level for a good day:
The sky is blue and there are no living hostages rotting in tunnels in Gaza...
Actually, I don't care that much about the blue sky (as long as it's blue beyond the clouds).

One brave seven-year-old!

Only 1000 😂

I'm all for this... as long as we start it from 925, just to give it a nice round number of 1100 years ago. Anyone who came before Aethelstan united England, including the Danelaw of course, should be allowed to remain. It'll be a nice homogeneous country, (despite the Danes). No Normans though.

Isn't this quite old and within a slightly different context?

🤷‍♂️

...Just checked. I got the name right.
I'm a fan of Kurt Vonnegut and a fan of Kurt Cobain (who of course kept changing the spelling) hence a fan of these two Kurts.

I was still looking. (Trying hashtags)
I just came back here to say that I think I should stop otherwise I'd end up doing it all night.
Thanks for the note. Despite being an English teacher, I'm also good l dyslexic/ADHD.
This is doing me head in...!

I've been looking for about half an hour, partly trying to use chatGPT. Still trying.

They were the ones responsible for kidnapping British journalist Alan Johnston in 2007.