Just out of interest, what's your take on Israel? I am not just asking because you're jewish, I was thinking about it the other day and I am pretty sympathetic to the arabs and Palestine in general, and Israel don't exactly go out of their way to make themselves appear in a sympathetic light in their actions. At the same time, I can see the reasoning and historical logic which gives the Iraelis their conviction in a Jewish state.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12347050]
I watched this Louis Theroux doc on ultra Zionists who have settled on the Palestinian westbank, and there's really horrible Sydney Jew who sells property to families in this area who he interviews who is so unlikable and whose ideology is so extreme I 'd like to get your take on it to see if I'm not just being anti-Semitic.
i dont really have one actually, I've never been there and never really engaged with the issue in a big way.
ReplyDeleteI think most of the religious stuff is a ruse and for those that believe in it there is a degree of false consciousness. If i look at the events through a lens of economic power politics it starts to look indistinguishable from other conflicts.
I do think it is pretty terrible that the Israeli state throws out liberalism when its convenient - but i basically think that is characteristic of all present nation states. I think all states defend their sovreignty in a terrifyingly unprincipled way.
The palestinians definately get treated like crap and it is not right - but i think the reason for that extends far beyond the Isreali state alone.