tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post3220281795167350045..comments2024-03-07T15:32:53.014+02:00Comments on Yehuda: Fraternizing with the Enemy: Israeli and Palestinian Bloggers MeetYehuda Berlingerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16038826060312027387noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-59348883192785498732007-09-05T02:10:00.000+03:002007-09-05T02:10:00.000+03:00Hi Yehuda,I'm proud to call you a friend and respe...Hi Yehuda,<BR/><BR/>I'm proud to call you a friend and respect your opinions.<BR/><BR/>I speak often with Palestinian-Arabs in the US and abroad, but I don't know if I'd feel comfortable in Ramallah without a tank around me.<BR/><BR/>May you and yours be blessed.<BR/><BR/>Shalom,<BR/>Maksim-Smelchak.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-83405485445873543432007-09-04T16:30:00.000+03:002007-09-04T16:30:00.000+03:00Re: right/leftJust to add my opinion on this subje...Re: right/left<BR/>Just to add my opinion on this subject because it has been bothering me lately- I am no longer a believer in right and left. What does it now mean in today’s Israeli context? I am not even sure it had a meaning in yesterday’s Israeli context. If I am left I have a conscience but willing to make peace at any cost? If I am right I see the Arabs as untrustworthy but believe in the long term security of my people and country? Most of us and you included would claim your values stem from a mixture of both. As a family friend once said, some days he feels ‘mafdal’, some days he feels ‘meretz’.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-35020895582179514792007-09-04T11:46:00.000+03:002007-09-04T11:46:00.000+03:00Yehuda it was so fantastic to meet you finally, an...Yehuda it was so fantastic to meet you finally, and Ramzi, Dalia, and Tsedek. Your write-up of the meeting is also fantastic (hey, can you post it on GN as a post?! --I'm hoping all of us will write a post about it, showing our various thoughts and reactions but I myself am a bit hampered at the moment --my net connect has gone out at home and since I'm in the middle of moving apartments my forays to the nearest net cafe are very brief). Sending a virtual hug.<BR/><BR/>PS. The baseball cap looked great on you and your gesture was much appreciated by all! If it is any consolation, I kept making sure my magen David was hidden under my shirt when we were in public:)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-54399151649804674672007-09-04T08:16:00.000+03:002007-09-04T08:16:00.000+03:00gnome: That's why I avoid talking about politics, ...gnome: That's why I avoid talking about politics, for the most part. Most people disagree with my views.<BR/><BR/>Solomon: You're right. My position was simplistically developed.<BR/><BR/>Friendless: While I still hope for peace in the ultimate future, I don't hope for peace in the near future, i.e. within a century or so.<BR/><BR/>YehudaYehuda Berlingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16038826060312027387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-27644466832462654582007-09-04T05:43:00.000+03:002007-09-04T05:43:00.000+03:00Yehuda, I applaud your participation in this. With...Yehuda, I applaud your participation in this. With regards to the small compromise on your kippah, it seems to me that for there to be peace in the Middle East there will have to be many large compromises from everyone involved.<BR/><BR/>I don't believe you will ever destroy hope. People never give up hoping. Will you ever give up hoping for peace? I think best you can do is organise for people from all sides to start hoping for the same thing. The same practically achievable thing.<BR/><BR/>Like you, I really don't understand why cruelty must be inherent in authority. Australia has had an issue for the last 10 years or so about detention of illegal immigrants / refugees. In general, Australians agree that illegal immigrants should be detained. However the government implemented that detention with such cruelty and callousness that Australians were shocked. But the problem was always presented as a choice between the cruelty we objected to or letting terrorists enter the country at will. How does a nation of educated people fall for that? How does cruelty continue to flourish under the watchful eye of caring people?Friendlesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05302241085168424095noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-2677000092007615602007-09-03T22:24:00.000+03:002007-09-03T22:24:00.000+03:00The Christian Reformation wasn't particularly easy...The Christian Reformation wasn't particularly easy on the Jews, either. Martin Luther was a total anti-Semitic nut in his later writings, which would later be used to justify first massacres, then oppression. It was first the Calvinist-inspired Christians, and later the secular Enlightenment, that really opened the doors for Jews in Europe. Yet even that did not prevent the Holocaust.<BR/><BR/>In other words, "Reformation" may be necessary but not sufficient to bring peace between states and peoples.Solomon2https://www.blogger.com/profile/15341059223792174505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-40161291126601356182007-09-03T20:59:00.000+03:002007-09-03T20:59:00.000+03:00Even though I don't agree with all your political ...Even though I don't agree with all your political views dear Yehuda I have to salute both you and your fellow bloggers on this innitiative. If only people were calm enough to see beyond hysterical nationalism and war...<BR/><BR/>Bravo & good luck!gnomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03497613771780431048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-77394798438635143872007-09-03T20:15:00.000+03:002007-09-03T20:15:00.000+03:00Chris: It's not that I'm not in favor of (or again...Chris: It's not that I'm not in favor of (or against) two states, it's that I don't think it will be a "solution" for peace. I don't think anything Israel does will bring peace. Islam has to bring peace by cleaning up its house. The only thing we can do is damage control.<BR/><BR/>I believe the discussion of land and nationality should center primarily around the issues of security and humanity. There is a special need for the Jews to have their own state since they haven't got any other place and historically they don't fare well in other people's countries. Apart from that, whatever works best for the best of all citizens.<BR/><BR/>I just don't think it will bring peace.<BR/><BR/>Noga: I'll grant you that the extreme left believes in the disillusion of the Jewish state.<BR/><BR/>Personally I don't believe that there is any way "out of this mess" as you put it. I would support two states only insofar as it can be proven to serve Israel's interests of security and prosperity and Palestinians needs for security and prosperity.<BR/><BR/>But any argument to the effect that two states will effect less violence on the part of Islamic radicals is a non-starter for me. It won't.<BR/><BR/>YehudaYehuda Berlingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16038826060312027387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-23052750274141086152007-09-03T19:32:00.000+03:002007-09-03T19:32:00.000+03:00"The other Israeli's on the site are, I believe, f..."The other Israeli's on the site are, I believe, far-left in one degree or another, which means that they believe that a two-state solution, "<BR/><BR/>Yehuda: As much as the Left/Right divide still applies, the "Far Left" (represented by the likes of Ilan Pappe, Meron Vensinsti in Israel, and the likes of Tony Judt and Chomskey in the "Jewish Diaspora") does not believe in a two-state solution. It believes in the dissolution of Israel as a Jewish state and constructing the bi-national state. In this they make common case with those on the Far-Right in the Arab world, who refuse any rapprochment or acknowledgement of the legitimacy to the existence of Israel.<BR/><BR/>The sane and resonable Left (Like Meretz in Israel, The Eustoninstas in Britain and America, and the Bush Administration, whether conservative or neo-con), the Political Center (like Kadima) and even some in the Likkud, support normalization through the two-state solution. <BR/><BR/>Most Israelis support the two-state solution as the only viable way out of this mess. Israel's interests demand this solution. And putting an end to Palestinian suffering is as much a matter of pragmatic consideration as it is ethical.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9319479.post-75547836257369214402007-09-03T19:01:00.000+03:002007-09-03T19:01:00.000+03:00I've fascinated and encouraged by this 'Good Neigh...I've fascinated and encouraged by this 'Good Neighbours' blog. This is truly making the internet work for us.<BR/><BR/>I'm also interested in the idea that you don't believe in a two state solution. Or is it rather that you don't believe that the two state solution has the capacity to lead to peace? Or that you believe in a twin territory solution that does not involve two separate states? Do you see any solution at all?<BR/><BR/>Even though I don't live in this part of the world, I am hugely invested in exploring a solution to the problems in the region. Whatever this will be, it will by necessity be some kind of compromise. <BR/><BR/>Best wishes!Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07550565723765898399noreply@blogger.com