Each side claims to have a right to the land, based on religious texts
add to that the collective guilt-tripping of the Jewish side, which gave them 'their' homeland, together with the massive financial support from the USA. Then take the Muslim/Arab side. The support from other Arab/Muslim states and the hatred of anything Jewis will perpetuate this conflict well beyond our lifetimes.
They each claim a divine right to the land.
There are no divine rights.
There are no gods.
There are only stupid, pig - headed gullible weak people that need an imaginary friend in the dark. If they only killed each other I'd be indifferent, but they don't. Their stupid spat has spilled over into my world. I really don't care who 'wins'. We ALL lose.
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:02, Share, Reply)
And they've been at each other's throats for over two hundred years, long before there even was an Israel
The Ottoman Empire couldn't deal with it, not the British; they simply hate each other in their squabble over a tract of land no larger than Wales, one side conveniently supported by some on the manor in which they broadly share a religious faith, and the other for the same hideously stupid reason.
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Jahled Three shades of black, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:11,
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They're not really imaginary friends though, are they?
They're Gods. With centuries of hatred, war, sacrifice and torture to make them real. It's a profoundly complex struggle and your facile internet age wisdom doesn't make it any easier to understand or solve.
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After you my dear Alfonse No. After you., Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:12,
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what a profound and insightful analysis...
i can see you've done your research.
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:14, Share, Reply)
It would be naive to assume they wouldn't find a reason to kill each other
if there were no religions.
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maninahat Too many cocks spoil the brothel., Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:17,
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Yep , they've been killing each other for years -and most likely they will continue to do so
As to the 'smug, liberal atheists' thing - I have never been called a liberal before! As an atheist I find it hard to understand religious fanaticism (or religion per se) can't see how that makes me or my views smug but there y'go.
I agree. it has been going on for ages, I agree the real reasons are lost in the tangle of religious hatred and mutual distrust but the irony is, both Judaism and Islam are both Abrahamic faiths, with the same god.
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:35, Share, Reply)
from one atheist to another...
distilling this whole middle east shitstorm down to 'religon' is beyond facile, it's off the fucking scale fatuous. and as for your 'i just don't get it, they're both Abrahimic faiths' line, that's plain ignorant. know your enemy.
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:43, Share, Reply)
Religion isn't my enemy
The power struggles over Israel/Palestine are historically significant, when the area had what lots of people wanted, everyone wanted to control the area. Now there's nothing there worth killing for except the history.
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:52, Share, Reply)
'when the area had what lots of people wanted'
elaborate on this and enlighten me, Israel and Palestine have never been significant oil producers so i don't know what you're talking about.
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 12:59, Share, Reply)
Huge mystical significance to three of the major religious faiths of the world?
The place is littered with 'holy' places precious to all of them, that ultimately are but motes of gravel and dust
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Jahled Three shades of black, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 13:18,
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i guess it really is just about religon then...
that and motes of gravel and dust. mote is a new word for me. i thank you, although i think you used it tautologically.
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 13:50, Share, Reply)
Haha
I was trying to sound deep and thoughtful
Some fat, bald bloke said this long ago. Carl Sagan said more or less the same thing more recently in a Pale Blue Dot:
"Buddha said: "I consider the positions of kings and rulers as that of dust motes. I observe treasures of gold and gems as so many bricks and pebbles. I look upon the finest silken robes as tattered rags. I see myriad worlds of the universe as small seeds of fruit, and the greatest lake in India as a drop of oil on my foot. I perceive the teachings of the world to be the illusion of magicians. I discern the highest conception of emancipation as a golden brocade in a dream, and view the holy path of the illuminated ones as flowers appearing in one's eyes. I see meditation as a pillar of a mountain, Nirvana as a nightmare of daytime. I look upon the judgment of right and wrong as the serpentine dance of a dragon, and the rise and fall of beliefs as but traces left by the four seasons."
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Jahled Three shades of black, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 13:59,
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this is GC from a week ago...
but i think the man represents Israel and the woman Palestine, or it could be the other way around, not quite as highbrow as your reference but hey ho.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVBYwntkiFA
(, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 14:05, Share, Reply)
Hahahahaha
Yes, I remember that; spoken with such sincerity as well
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Jahled Three shades of black, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 14:13,
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I heard once at one of his talks he just held up a flower for the duration
I would have angrily demanded my alms back, or something
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Jahled Three shades of black, Sat 17 Nov 2012, 15:35,
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