Bob

I didn't know about those stories from Malmo. It's really sad. In all seriousness, though, that's just the kinda thing I expect from most places in the world. Even in Canada Jewish groups are often intimidated, and Jewish properties vandalized. It's especially true on university campuses which are hotbeds of anti-Semitism masked under some guise. I have personal anecdotes about being assaulted by "fellow" students who did it because they knew I was Jewish. Anti-Semitism is a big part of the Arab/Muslim psyche, globally.

Again, exactly. Not. One. Squeak. What they do is hijack institutions like the UN and its affiliates to justify and "legalize" their racism/prejudice. Using fancy-sounding language like "demographic changes" instead of "judenrein". It's so fucking sick and transparent. If some of the lands across the Green Line where we have Jewish settlements will eventually become part of a future Palestinian state, what's the problem? You'll acquire a developed towns of (largely) productive people. The problem is - they want a state free of Jews. Although, I'm quite certain that the vast majority of these Jews would never accept living under Palestinian sovereignty, with good reason. I would consider voting for an Israeli leadership that would deliver that, and dismantle some of the Jewish settlements across the Green line, as long as we can return the favour and remove some of the Arab population from Israel.

Well, it should be common knowledge that Arabs/Muslims have a license to kill each other. There is never Arab/Muslim outrage in the streets when they butcher each other for belonging to the wrong sect of Islam. When Arabs/Muslims are killed in legitimate military actions by non-Muslims, however, that's a crime against humanity and time for emergency sessions at the UN and its affiliates. This is when we resume hearing the hate-filled vitriol against Crusaders, Zionists/Jews, The Great Satan, and all the other cheap rhetoric we've all heard over and over.

I just read through the report, and it is filled with leftist rhetoric. Find it here. "Racialized" is a term found throughout the paper, with a leftist definition at the end. Of course being "racialized" places one at a disadvantage, according to the authors of this report and other leftists. And of course being "racialized" is something that is done to one person or a group of persons by others, and not something done by a person or a group to themselves. Of course, being "racialized" necessarily means one will be be discriminated against, because "white Canadians" are racists. Leftist think-tanks with leftist propaganda - it never gets old.

Most of my friends in Canada are visible minorities, and most of them did very well academically and professionally. All of my experience from Canada tells me that discrimination is very small in Canada, and certainly not systemic from one group to another. The suggestion that somehow visible minorities are systemically discriminated against in Canada, to me, is ridiculous. Get an education, get a career, stay motivated and work hard, and there is no way you'll hit some glass ceiling because your last name is Patel, El-Sharifi, or Wing-Sun-Yoo and you bring your own cultural food lunch room. As has already been mentioned, the fact that this study doesn't control for factors such as age, education, and experience tells us what we need to know - these are worthless and politicized "studies", in order to drive a bullshit agenda. Perhaps those who conducted these "studies" want jobs with the government doing "social research". This is typical leftist social-scientist garbage.

If your point is that much of the world focuses on and unfairly condemns Israel when we do what we have to, while ignoring real problems around the globe - then I agree.

How many times did the USA attack and attempt to destroy Canada and murder its citizenry? Let's not even touch on terrorism and incitement... Moreover, the USA is a legitimate country for a legitimate people, as opposed to the recent creation of the "Palestinian people" pining over a state that never existed.

Exactly. I've been saying that for years. Why is their presence so offensive to you-know-who? Let them become citizens in the event of Israel relinquishing some of these territories to a hypothetical future Palestinian state.

"Moderates".

Actually, I'm pretty sure there are ICJ rulings that invoke shock-terms like "ethnic cleansing" in order to demonize Israel. it's important to understand that with respect to Israel, the UNHRC, ICJ, and other international "justice" institutions are highly politicized, anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist, and anti-Israel. It's the natural consequence of Jews being an ultra-minority in this world, with the "other side" being quite large.

What the hell are you talking about? Arabs live all across Israel. Yafo (just south of Tel-Aviv is probably almost 50% Arab. Why in the world would they need to militarily enforce anything when they already live here with full political and human rights in their own "settlements"? Arabs live here. As DogOnPorch has implied, the Arabs tried several times to destroy us, so your comment looks especially stupid. They tried to do much more than use "military force to establish civilian settlements", all across Israel.

There is no such thing as "1967-borders". They were armistice lines drawn after the War of Independence in 1949, and they're no longer relevant. Moreover, they were never acceptable for many practical (and security) reasons. We will never see those "borders" again. Lastly, popular world opinion doesn't mean much. This is the same world that, for the most part, looked the other way when we were being executed en masse and being placed into ovens. Also, considering that the Jewish people compose perhaps 0.00001% of the world population, with about one and a half billion Muslims and plenty (~55?) Muslim majority states, it stands to reason that our needs and rights aren't well represented in world opinion. The Arabs in Judea and Samaria are occupied because they need to be.

The Mavi Marmara didn't peacefully allow itself to be inspected, hence the confrontation. They wanted violence, and some of them achieved their ambitions of becoming martyrs. Also, Israel made repeated efforts to stop the Mavi Marmara from trying to break through the blockade, even prior to its departure. The Mavi Marmara had more opportunities than its deserved to end its provocation peacefully and reroute through another Israeli port. They got some of what they wanted and some of what they deserved.

Gaza isn't occupied.

I thought the rockets, bombs/IEDs placed along the fence and floated north to Israeli beaches, shootings and abductions at the border, and other forms of terrorism were the argument for inspections? Unfortunately, most people don't know these things and are perhaps learning for the first time that the restrictions on imports to Gaza from Israel's side aren't being implement because we're big meanies.

There certainly is room for ignorance and naivete, but that's not what I was talking about. I was addressing intentional misrepresentations that others make towards obfuscating the truth and create a false narrative - not people who make seemingly innocent mistakes simply because they are ignorant or misguided.

Relations with Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt are very cold. Especially at the governmental level and in the international arena.

Long before the withdrawal of 2006, there were many terrorist attacks that came from Gaza for decades. Before that, these are the same people that fought, or supported the fight, towards attempts to destroy Israel in 48/49, 54, and 67. They don't deserve our trust.

This is a ridiculous assessment of the situation. Basically, in your view, we're the aggressors. We're to blame. I'm not surprised, though... it's the same shit we've always seen from you.

The occupation is a response to wars and terrorism. It's a defensive measure. If it wasn't for the wars and terrorism beforehand, there'd be no occupation. They simply cannot be trusted to have full autonomy given their history and current behaviour.

With respect to the story bud is referring to in the OP, it's just another anecdote reinforcing the fact that Hamas and other terrorist organization are inextricable from the civilian population. Hamas official acknowledged that its own people were killed in some of the Israeli airstrikes, as well as some children (bear in mind that children can and often are instruments of terror). Assuming the children are innocent (which isn't an assumption I make), what does it tell you about the fact that they were killed alongside the terrorists? It tells us what we've all known for decades... that the terrorists embed themselves in the civilian infrastructure. Apartments and hospitals and mosques and schools with all serve as scouting points, weapon storage, and operations centres. The terrorists are indistinguishable from civilians until they pull out their weapons or reveal themselves in some other way. This is the nature of combating modern terrorism with the Arabs/Muslims. Anyways, the OP omits the context of Hamas terrorists also being killed in these strikes alongside the children/youth, which tells us all we need to know about how the terrorists operate alongside these children/youth (and use them as instruments of terror).

You're making the mistake of describing this century-old struggle as a sequence of tit-for-tats, and not as part of a larger historical context. "Israel generally doesn't shoot first", what exactly does that mean? Does that mean that one week without shooting is some sort of fresh start? How are you defining the beginnings and the ends of these conflict episodes? Let me tell you something that perhaps you and many others don't seem to grasp or don't want to understand - the terrorist don't stop planning and readying themselves. They never stop trying. We don't need to regularly provide fresh spilled Jewish blood in order to renew our rights to self-defense. If Israel strikes terrorists, we don't need to have a fresh Jewish casualty from last week to point to as a justification. Unfortunately, the Israeli government often behaves in this manner, waiting for Jewish victims to be murdered before protecting us. It is insane how the Israeli government seems to regularly wait for a refill of Jewish victims before doing what needs to be done, and this has been the method of Israel for decades. The statement about Israel always responding to all terrorist attacks in a "heavy handed fashion" is just something you made up on the spot. It's not true, and it's funny coming from someone who certainly couldn't name five terrorist incidents in Israel without running to Wikipedia. Stop pretending to know the first thing about the history of terrorism in Israel and Israel's dealings with this ongoing threat. Unfortunately for you, there's someone like me in here who knows much, much, much more than you and will call on your bullshit when you pretend to know things you don't. There have been thousands of terrorist attacks on Israel, and many on the Jewish communities in the pre-Israel decades before 1948. "Disproportionate response" is just politicized filth intended to deny Israel and the Jewish people the right to self-defense, that bullshit has been destroyed repeatedly in this forum. Israel, like all other states, has the right to defend itself and secure its citizens. Body counts aren't measurements of justice, or "proportion". When terrorists in Gaza launch rockets into Israel, Israel has the right to stop these rockets. Israel will do what it reasonably can to reduce the likelihood of civilian causalities in its efforts to defend itself, but given the nature of the terrorist infrastructure being embedded within the civilian infrastructure (and populations), it just isn't possible.

Go ahead and pick an article, and I'll show you the bias through either massaged language or omission of important context.

That's probably the most despicable post you've ever made.

If "pro-Israel" means supporting Jewish independence in Israel, and defending our basic national rights, then that is a balanced, honest, and moral position.