It is unique in having a near half-century illegal military occupation of the people it’s having a problem with though, isn’t it?
I mean Canadian troops aren’t occupying Quebec and Canadian citizens haven’t spent decades illegally building all over land they don’t own, have they? So there’s a significant uniqueness about what Israel are doing.
You make a very good point. If a survey was to ask the citizens of a country, “do you believe your country has a problem with bigotry?” would a high “yes” response be a bad sign, or a good sign?
That would depend. It could demonstrate an awareness among the population that bigotry is a bad thing, to be fought against - a good sign. Conversely, a low “yes” response could indicate that the population is in fact very bigoted and does not regard this as a problem - a bad sign.
OTOH a high “yes” response could demonstrate that the country does, indeed, have a bad problem with bigotry - a bad sign.
Correction: I think (not absolutely sure) that Israeli Arab life expectancy is higher then the average US one, including everyone. Maybe only for males, though.
Actually, the “Idle no more” movement is a deirect response to Canada’s apparent unwillingness to make good on native Canadian land claims - native Canadians form soverign nations, and their complaint is, in part, that their lands have been expropriated illegally, contrary to treaties signed with said native nations. Only it has been going on for rather longer than 50 years, of course.
The paralells are not exact. But it is silly to deny that they are there.
Seems to me that if that poll shows anything, it’s that there’s a disturbingly high minority of Israelis that harbor bigoted views. Complaints that the country is under a microscope and that other nations have problems with racism shouldn’t keep the situation from being addressed.
Oh damn, he knows about the shoulder insignias and the secret countersign - the game is up!
Yeah… We hold the right to bigotry to be self-evident. We’re really equal-opportunity in that, with no sector spared.
Regarding racism, I wouldn’t be so sure. Race and is not such a big issue. Remember that over half the Israelis originated in Arab countries and many have indistinguishable features from Arabs. Actually their original culture is Arab (and by the way, they are mostly right-wing). Still the rate of inter-marriage between Jews originating in the east and Caucasian types is 28% - so most 3rd generation youngsters are mixed in origin. That’s why our girls are so beautiful :). Even relatively newcomer black Ethiopian Jews intermarry with non-black at a 11% rate - and if I would show you some pics, you’d understand why.
No, the conflict is territorial, national and religious. Neither Jews nor Arabs want to live together. Close to 75% of each party wants its own independent state.
OK, We have elections today. I should go and vote. I vote for Meretz. We’ll have preliminary results in 4 hours. Don’t expect anything good, the weasel will still remain in office.
Fair enough, which is why I’d point out the real issue is bigotry. “Racism” is seeing the matter through a primarily American lens, as “race” is the form of bigotry most familiar to Americans - they have a tendency to see all forms of bigotry as “racism” and to use that term imprecisely to refer to bigotry generally.
They also have to be reminded repeatedly that Israelis tend to see Jewishness as a matter of ethno-nationalism and not necessarily one of religion - hence, some ultra-Orthodox are anti-Zionist and many athiest Jews are pro-Zionist.
Well, well, well. The weasel has perhaps 21 MP’s, maybe a third of them belonging to Benett really. The ten others are Liberman’s (who may go to jail soon). Bibi is hanging on a thread.
Shas has three heads and the old guy that said that the Bennetts are goyim. And don’t forget Kahalon and the kahane couple.
We look soooo stupid from abroad.
Let’s bomb Iran. Or somebody.
The results do legitimize your original claim that people like you are not so far from the mainstream as others like to portray. Though the rise of The Jewsish Home Party is certainly worrying:
and the kahane couple.