Yuyutsu

The problem for Israel is the lost memory of almost two thousand years since Bar Kochba and the recent reestablishment of present day Israel.

A direct cause of that long exile was internal discord, and bingo, today the internal discord is attributed to leftist agitation against its established diplomatic strength which as in the West is leading to a calamitous end.

You and your selfish little group of traitors are bringing it down!

Dear Critic,

«A/ Bad things done by Israelis for which they will be punished in the next life; or
B/ Bad things done by Palestinians in a past life for which they are now punished for in this life?

Is it A, B, or both?»

Both, but then it is also possible for one to be punished in the very life they commit crimes, one need not always have to wait for the next life.

And yes, Israelis suffer as well from this bloody war, in this very life, not just Palestinians.

«Going with that line of thinking, one might say if you do bad things, you might come back in the next life as a Palestinian?»

Quite possible.

«Everybody has the right to live however they choose so long as it doesn't harm to others.»

This is an ideal, but was it ever like that?
The people of Gaza would rather not be there.
People with disabilities would rather be whole.

«Don't you want a better world, where lives have value?»

You cannot have a better world than the one we have, otherwise you would be blaming God for a sloppy creation.
Of course one should try to improve life, but one may not always succeed.
Earth was never meant to be heaven: while it is most good, it is on purpose not the most pleasant.
Lives have a value, human lives in particular, but that value is finite, not unlimited.

«Or should we just accept things the way they are?»

If you do, then you will find peace. Now the choice is yours.

«Even when pensioners and toddlers are killed for no particular reason.»

Again, nothing happens for no particular reason, even if we fail to know what it is.

«And don't subjugated people have a right to live free and be happy with dignity as much as the next person?»

If they make it to freedom, happiness and dignity, then they deserve so. Otherwise we must conclude retrospectively that they didn't. That is not to say that they should give up and not try, again and again.

Dear Dan,

«The problem for Israel is the lost memory of almost two thousand years since Bar Kochba and the recent reestablishment of present day Israel.»

2,000 years is highly exaggerated - about half.

I am presently reading a fascinating book titled "When have we become Jews".

Accordingly, following the string of Judean revolts, including in North Africa and Cyprus (115-117), no Judean historians were left and we have no accounts to explain how Judeans spread in Europe, nothing was known about them until 882 and still very little until 1096 AD, about the time when they morphed into Jews as we know them today.

«A direct cause of that long exile was internal discord, and bingo, today the internal discord is attributed to leftist agitation»

The original Zionists were peace-lovers who wanted to share their new modern land equally with the local Arab population. Indeed, many of whom were socialist, not all. They came to build, not to fight.

Much later on, they were joined by fanatic Jewish Messianic zealots (most with American background) who overturned the spirit of what the Zionists wished to build and effectively robbed them of the country they built.

Discord need not be violent - since there are completely opposing visions for the "Jewish state", I see no other way but splitting Israel in two. This split was about to occur, but is now postponed due the events of October 7th: it is bound to surface again.