Rafman
07-30-2002, 07:30 AM
When i first found this forum a couple of weeks ago, i really liked it. First, it seemed like a great place to get some knowledge, and ask questions and get good and accurate answers from people who know more about the Middle East conflict and its history than i do.
And then, you have conflicting opinions, obviously. Not everyone is pro-Israel, there are some pro-Palestinians on this board (which is a good thing), there are some pro-europeens who try to argue the best they can for thier neutrality, there are pro-americans, pro-peacemakers, pro-just about everything. I'm really impressed with the internationality of this board to say the truth.
Also, I'd say that at the very least, 85% of posts, and posters i've read from are well-educated, smart people, who have a relatively good overall grasp of the situation in the Middle East. Basically, I'm saying at least 85% of you are intelligent beings :D
I'm Jewish, and pro-Israel also. I could endlessly argue against Palestinian terrorism, claim that they don't deserve an independent country so long as they commit murderous terrorism and i could argue for that point and be sure never to loose an argument no matter what. I was tempted to respond to some posts, and do just that argue the hell out of the person knowing i was right and couldnt loose.
The problem is, i can also imagine myself being a pro-Palestinian, and i think i could even manage to argue thier point of view without ever loosing an argument. They want an independent country, they don't have good living conditions and, well i could use much harsher words to express how they would describe thier situation.
there are two sides of this conflict, and both have understandable arguments.
Personally i always see both sides of a conflict, and i generally try to understand the conflicting points of views. I am not blindly pro-Israeli, if ever Israel would do something wrong i would oppose it. For example, i was very concerned when i heard about the so-calle Jenin massacre, I didnt want to believe it was true because if it had been true I wouldn't have approved of it and I defeintely would have been upset at Israel. (As it turned out, Arab media greatly exagerated it and it wasn't true)
What i'm trying to say is that, it's so very easy to argue on a message board on the internet. I'm sure many of you probably do other things in your community to try and help as well other than this, but i suggest that instead of mindlessly arguing, and flaming each others points of view we try to come up with a way to come to peace.
Peace has to start somewhere, and it's not starting anywhere in the world right now, so it might as well start on this Internet website. Why don't we try to first come up with some ideas, some initiatives we can take that will contribute to bringing peace to the region. It can be anything, from changing the world public opinion (you couldn't find one Israeli or Palestinian alive which would tell u he is 100% satisfied with the media coverage about the conflict) through the media, to starting programs with Jews and Arabs combined in your respective countries to work together for peace.
We should form an international Internet alliance, of Jews and Arabs combined, to show the world that violence is not the way to settle things. Our goal should be a combined goal, of having Israel living in peace with its neighbour Palestine.
Well if anyone thinks this is a good idea, and would like to add to it or give suggestions or even criticize, feel free to post :cool:
And then, you have conflicting opinions, obviously. Not everyone is pro-Israel, there are some pro-Palestinians on this board (which is a good thing), there are some pro-europeens who try to argue the best they can for thier neutrality, there are pro-americans, pro-peacemakers, pro-just about everything. I'm really impressed with the internationality of this board to say the truth.
Also, I'd say that at the very least, 85% of posts, and posters i've read from are well-educated, smart people, who have a relatively good overall grasp of the situation in the Middle East. Basically, I'm saying at least 85% of you are intelligent beings :D
I'm Jewish, and pro-Israel also. I could endlessly argue against Palestinian terrorism, claim that they don't deserve an independent country so long as they commit murderous terrorism and i could argue for that point and be sure never to loose an argument no matter what. I was tempted to respond to some posts, and do just that argue the hell out of the person knowing i was right and couldnt loose.
The problem is, i can also imagine myself being a pro-Palestinian, and i think i could even manage to argue thier point of view without ever loosing an argument. They want an independent country, they don't have good living conditions and, well i could use much harsher words to express how they would describe thier situation.
there are two sides of this conflict, and both have understandable arguments.
Personally i always see both sides of a conflict, and i generally try to understand the conflicting points of views. I am not blindly pro-Israeli, if ever Israel would do something wrong i would oppose it. For example, i was very concerned when i heard about the so-calle Jenin massacre, I didnt want to believe it was true because if it had been true I wouldn't have approved of it and I defeintely would have been upset at Israel. (As it turned out, Arab media greatly exagerated it and it wasn't true)
What i'm trying to say is that, it's so very easy to argue on a message board on the internet. I'm sure many of you probably do other things in your community to try and help as well other than this, but i suggest that instead of mindlessly arguing, and flaming each others points of view we try to come up with a way to come to peace.
Peace has to start somewhere, and it's not starting anywhere in the world right now, so it might as well start on this Internet website. Why don't we try to first come up with some ideas, some initiatives we can take that will contribute to bringing peace to the region. It can be anything, from changing the world public opinion (you couldn't find one Israeli or Palestinian alive which would tell u he is 100% satisfied with the media coverage about the conflict) through the media, to starting programs with Jews and Arabs combined in your respective countries to work together for peace.
We should form an international Internet alliance, of Jews and Arabs combined, to show the world that violence is not the way to settle things. Our goal should be a combined goal, of having Israel living in peace with its neighbour Palestine.
Well if anyone thinks this is a good idea, and would like to add to it or give suggestions or even criticize, feel free to post :cool: