Antisemitism on the Rise
Antisemitism is on the rise in this country and around the world. I loathe bigotry of any sort, but antisemitism is particularly galling. How did we get to this place? The war between Israel and Hamas has a lot to do with it. Hamas knew exactly what it was doing when it struck on October 7. They knew Israel would unleash fury upon Gaza. As they use civilians as human shields, collateral damage is inevitable. The more carnage the more world opinion turns against Israel and sympathy rises for the Palestinians. This is exactly what Hamas wants and it is winning the propaganda war. I don’t like to see civilians killed in war, especially innocent children. It breaks my heart every time I see a small broken body being carried in a parent’s arms. There doesn’t seem to be any good solution, but I would like to see a cease-fire, the hostages released, and negotiations begin for a two-state solution. Big ask. I know Israel won’t stop until Hamas is obliterated. This is understandable as they face an existential threat, but they must do everything possible to limit civilian casualties and abide by the rules of war.
One more thing. Just because you criticize the state of Israel does not make you an anti-Semite. Every country in the world is subject to criticism. That is the very basis of free speech. It’s when that speech crosses over to hate speech is when we have a problem, and that speech could be interpreted as anti-Semitic. Let’s keep it clean. We should be able to discuss these issues without devolving into hate speech.
Ghost Dog 
In my opinion neither side wants a two state solution. Israel wants to include Gaza and the West Bank as part of Israel, and they are on the way to achieving that. Gaza and the West Bank want to be restored to their homes and lands that were taken from them. Looks like Israel is going to win and get what they want. Until they achieve that goal, violence will continue.
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Yes, it looks like an intractable problem.
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People need to read prophecy in the Bible. I guess when it comes to this situation, ignorance seems acceptable. Israel has every right to exist and to thrive. Hamas represents a portion of the Palestinian people, not all of them, but enough to claim the land as their base of operation. Wanting every Jew dead and Israel extinguished is not a good plan, or look. The amount of vehemence in our country is astounding and should be a call to arms for us Christians because we are next. Good points.
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I am a Christian but I don’t believe Israel’s way is the right way. Hamas cannot be eliminated by indiscriminately killing Palestinians. The human shield issue is being used by Israel as an excuse to ‘mow the lawn’. if the true intent is to rid Gaza of Hamas, they have to do the difficult task of surgically eliminating them, avoiding the death of innocent civilians. Because the more innocent civilians die, the more Palestinians will go to the extreme and join Hamas. As for Palestinian sympathizers, their relatives who are not Hamas, Israel should find ways to convince them that coexistence is not just possible, but a far better option than killing each other. This will be long and tedious, but that’s the only way you can reverse their mindsets – by making them see they are treated equally and there’s a vision of a shared bright future ahead. Tall order, but if the Israelis think they can have peace by being the bullies to their neighbors, the peace they are achieving is simply a temporary peace while the neighbor bides his time until it gets the opportunity to get back at the bully. Israel should be able to accept and treat the Palestinians as equals, nothing less.
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