THE WAR IN GAZA

Foofie wrote:

...Israel never, nor wanted to, colonize(d) any lands that Palestineans thought of their own...

idiot

Foofie wrote:

To be perfectly candid, I wonder how much of the world-wide anti-Israel sentiment, and pro-Arab sentiment, is based on some primal fear, that in some future century, Israel, left to its own devices, could take over enough of the region to support a population (of Jews) of a few hundred million. In other words, is there a paranoia about how the world would be if there were many more Jews acting independently in their own country. I believe there are portions of the western world that would not be comfortable with that thought. And, Arabs have proven themselves to be less of a threat, in the eyes of many, I believe.

In other words, rather than say world-wide anti-Zionist rhetoric might include some anti-Semites, it may also include Judeophobia (Jews are okay, as long as they cannot become a threat by increasing in great numbers).

Interesting. However, the Jews of Israel and those of the United States as well have shown no inclination to achieve such fertility. Indeed their behavior in this area has mimicked that of middle class and prosperous people all over the world. Absent any indication of rapidly rising Jewish population, your speculation about motives appears a bit ridiculous -- particularly in the face of the many real and serious problems the world faces as a result of the Israeli Palestinioan controversy.

Au contraire, guvnor. You do not know about the birthrate of the Orthodox or the Ultra Orthodox? Eight children is what many have. Six is what many have. Few have only four. Given peace and land and you can do the math. They would multiply, since they are not the secular Jews of Hollywood, or the suburbs of our large metropolises.

For a nice goyisha guy that spent your life in one career, you do know much about many things. God bless you.

okie wrote:

I still do not believe Israel and Palestine can be compared to Northern Ireland.

Well I DID compare them and offered powerful analogies and a profound lesson from history.

You are merely asserting, without any proof or rational argument, that the comparison is somehow invalid and the lesson of history inapplicable in the case of Israel. OK by me if you wish to believe that. However, don't try to pretend you have offered any reasonable argument to support your case.

You have no rational argument to assert that Northern Ireland is anything like Israel or Palestine. The religious, historical, and cultural differences are starkly different. That should be obvious to anyone.

Foofie wrote:

Au contraire, guvnor. You do not know about the birthrate of the Orthodox or the Ultra Orthodox? Eight children is what many have. Six is what many have. Few have only four. Given peace and land and you can do the math. They would multiply, since they are not the secular Jews of Hollywood, or the suburbs of our large metropolises.

For a nice goyisha guy that spent your life in one career, you do know much about many things. God bless you.

Must be my goyishe kop !

I don't know any ultra Orthodox, but I grew up near the border between the Jewish & Irish neighborhoods in Detroit where there were lots of Orthodox, and even us Goy could detect the tensions between the German & Russian Jews. By age 11 I was as adept at sneaking my Jewish pals into the CYO gym as I was at replacing my sacred heart medal with a mezzuza and going with them to the nearby JCC (sometimes we had to attend Hebrew instruction before the basketball, but memorizing incomprehensible stuff in a strange language wasn't a big deal for a Catholic altar boy).

All kidding aside, while Irish and Jewish neighborhoods were often literally adjacent to each other, back in the earlier part of the 20th century, the two groups had learned from overt hostilities in the turn of the 20th century to basically avoid each other, from what I heard.

And, the German and Russian (Eastern European really, including Polish) were only co-religionists, in name only, in my opinion. I think both groups picked up more of the non-Jewish culture from their respective countries (Germany/Russia), than they might want to always admit. They just appeared to avoid each other for the most part, in my opinion. However, it was the German Jews that owned the companies in the garment industry, in the early part of the 20th century, that the Russian Jews worked in. Only today, have Jews of Russian descent (third generation born American) might marry someone of German descent?

But, then again, today over 50 percent of young American Jews are supposed to be marrying out of the faith. That does not just mean that the U.S.A. will have a smaller Jewish population in the future (not accounting for the birthrate of the Orthodox), but there then is an exploding population of people who do not identify themselves as Jews, yet have some relative that is/was. Perhaps, similar to the Irish, since many Americans in the "hinterlands" start counting off the different ethnics groups in their families, and so often include "Irish."

Speaking of Irish, you do know who was just "knighted" by the Queen.

ok foof I apologise, I should not have called you an idiot. Thats direct personal abuse and isnt very gentlemanly. So thanks for not raising to the bait.

Regarding the "d", no you did not use it but I thought I had to add it to make grammatical sense, but on re reading it it wasnt necessary. So thats another apology...dammit

THAT is the lesson history provides us concerniong the likely outcome of the conflict in Palestine.

ok foof I apologise, I should not have called you an idiot. Thats direct personal abuse and isnt very gentlemanly. So thanks for not raising to the bait.

Regarding the "d", no you did not use it but I thought I had to add it to make grammatical sense, but on re reading it it wasnt necessary. So thats another apology...dammit

Steve 41oo wrote:

ok foof I apologise, I should not have called you an idiot. Thats direct personal abuse and isnt very gentlemanly. So thanks for not raising to the bait.

Regarding the "d", no you did not use it but I thought I had to add it to make grammatical sense, but on re reading it it wasnt necessary. So thats another apology...dammit

These WASPs are a cranky bunch Foofie, but sometimes they can impress !

Steve 41oo wrote:

ok foof I apologise, I should not have called you an idiot. Thats direct personal abuse and isnt very gentlemanly. So thanks for not raising to the bait.

Regarding the "d", no you did not use it but I thought I had to add it to make grammatical sense, but on re reading it it wasnt necessary. So thats another apology...dammit

If you really want to ingratiate yourself, start writing with American English spelling (i.e., "apologize," not "apologise"). Paraphrasing the joke I heard on radio, that is going around British financial markets, is that the economy in Britain will be getting better, as Britain will become the 51st State.

It's not only humour that foofie is lacking..

Foofie wrote:

Steve 41oo wrote:

ok foof I apologise, I should not have called you an idiot. Thats direct personal abuse and isnt very gentlemanly. So thanks for not raising to the bait.

Regarding the "d", no you did not use it but I thought I had to add it to make grammatical sense, but on re reading it it wasnt necessary. So thats another apology...dammit

If you really want to ingratiate yourself, start writing with American English spelling (i.e., "apologize," not "apologise"). Paraphrasing the joke I heard on radio, that is going around British financial markets, is that the economy in Britain will be getting better, as Britain will become the 51st State.

no I should not have called you an idiot. Now thinking of a more appropriate word...

Really have you no sense of humour foof? or even humor? Foofypuss?

.. Foofie has humility, not humor..

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Hamas's popularity among Palestinians has risen sharply since a three-week Israeli war in January devastated the Islamist-ruled Gaza Strip, an opinion poll released Monday showed.

If an election were held today, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh would beat Mahmoud Abbas, the Western-backed Palestinian president and leader of Fatah who advocates a peace deal with Israel.

The face-to-face poll of 1,270 people by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research was conducted on March 5-7 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as the factions tried to reach agreement on a unity government with Egyptian mediation.
[...]
The survey said Haniyeh would garner 47 percent support, beating Abbas with 45 percent, if a presidential election was held today. Three months ago, Abbas received 48 percent and Haniyeh 38 percent.

But if the competition were between Haniyeh and Marwan Barghouthi, the popular Fatah leader currently imprisoned by Israel, Barghouthi would win by 61 percent to 34 percent, the survey showed.

Fatah, however, remains the most popular faction with 40 percent of overall support, compared to 42 percent last December, it said. The popularity of Hamas in the same period increased from 28 percent to 33 percent in the latest poll.
[...]