baleen

Palestine was considered the butt crack of the Muslim world and its people disposable slaves for most of its history. And guess what, it still is and they still are! Only now there are Jews on the land and they've fucked it up with their drip irrigation and prefab housing.

This just goes to show you that the people who are fucking up Israel and Palestine are foreigners. Rightwing Jews from the United States with nationalist blood and fascist Muslims who don't actually want to see Palestine win (but they have every interest in seeing Israel lose).

Dinanukht
Doesn't the Israeli government subsidize settlement housing? I agree that any foreigner who moves to Israel just so that they can dispossess a Palestinian from their home is a dipshit. But there are governmental polices which not only allow but *encourage* them to do exactly that.

The fact that Arab dictatorships could care less about, say human rights, should be pretty self evident. Won't argue with you there.

baleen

It's extremely complicated. It's REALLY complicated. It's so complicated that I want to say, "As foreigners, we probably shouldn't be talking about it." Some settlements are condemned by the government, some are encouraged because they date back a long time.
There's no doubt that dispossessing Palestinians of their homes any further is wrong, but most settlements don't actually do that.
If you want to point the finger at the worst possible people on the issue of Palestinian persecution, look at Kuwait, our greatest allies in the Middle East.

Dinanukht
"It's extremely complicated" seems like a cop out. As a foreigner, I'll gladly start ignoring the issue the minute my government stops giving Israel billions of dollars. It would be great relief to have the luxury to ignore such issues. Also, pointing out the flaws of Arab regimes, as fun as that is, seems like just an easy way of changing the subject. I will gladly discuss the human rights record of any country but... since we are talking about Israel at the moment, let's talk about Israel.

Dinanukht
Also any suggestion that there are good settlements and bad settlements in the West Bank is ludicrous. ALL settlements create misery for Palestinians because they are safeguarded by an occupation that chokes Palestinian social and economic activity through a system of checkpoints and settler only roads. I may be a foreigner, but I've spent considerable time in the Occupied West Bank and I've seen the impact firsthand.

China, if you ask them about, say, Tibet, is likely to whine that "It's complicated" and "foreigners could not possibly understand and so shouldn't interfere." Really it's one of the primary, go-to arguments of any human rights abuser.

Jet Bin Fever
Complications aside, I think we can still influence positive social changes with a good discourse. The problem is that many aren't allowed a voice, and those with truly valuable opinions on the matter are usually suppressed by the powerful. It is sad that we, being dirty foreigners, have all the ability but none of their importance.

I don't know too much personally about Palestine, but I am sure the issue IS extremely complicated. I do know a great deal about Tibet though, but me saying anything about it here doesn't do a great deal, I don't believe.

To the video, this guy is ridiculous and a huge flaming asshole. This is what happens when meaningless separations between people become focal points for arrogance. Either way you slice it, this behavior won't mend fences.