Dear Foxy, but this is for everyone:

You mentioned in passing that "Even Jewish teenagers are going to take part", as if that matters. That is just one example of adding irrelevant information, in fact it resembles the example I gave you earlier about the media reporting, "A pile of books fell on a Catholic librarian".

This may not be a conscious habit, but every time you mention Jews with regard to the Middle-East conflict, every time you connect the two, you only complicate things and push any resolution further away.

This mental knot which ties Israel with Jews, complicates things unnecessarily and is detrimental to peace.

If only you (plural, not just you, Foxy) could ignore the propaganda from both sides and see Israel as a normal country like any else, which it is, and its people like any other normal people, which they are, considering it on its own merit/demerit rather than involving whatever thoughts and feelings you may happen to have about Jews and their history, if only you could see yourself in their place and think of what you would likely be doing in their situation, then everything would become so much easier.

The same goes for seeing all Arabs as "Muslims".

Please break this useless habit, please break this unnecessary and painful knot.

Premier Minns has voiced his objections to the brainwashing of school kids. Whether or not he will put a stop to the nonsense is another matter - probably not. Might lose some votes. It's well past time that politicians on both sides realised that teachers in public schools are public servants, paid by the public, and they should be told what they can and cannot do on matters not directly connected to education in subjects designed to get kids to a job-ready stage. Everything else should be left to parents and/or the kids themselves outside of school hours.

I know that's a big ask with the likes of Albanese only too pleased to have impressionable youngsters brainwashed and drilled by the Communist teacher unions, and the last non-Labor PM wasn't interested in the so-called culture wars.

It's still not clear that the Coalition is prepared to rid itself of the nasty smell of Morrison, but it won't get back into power unless it does.

Yuyutsu,

There are deep layers of history that will need to be
addressed if a genuine attempt is to be made of a resolution.
Nothing like that will happen if we continue to fall into
the trap of treating mythologies as truths.

Colonised people, even under the United Nations Charter, have
the right to struggle for their liberation.
And the successful ending to such a struggle lies in
the creation of a democratic state that includes all of its
inhabitants.

A genuine discussion of the future should be liberated from
all the myths about Israel. Then hopefully this would help
bring peace to both Israel and Palestine.

"To paraphrase Golda Meir...."

That's not a paraphrase....its a complete altering of the meaning.

Dear Foxy,

Yes, I agree that a genuine discussion of the future should be liberated from all the myths about Israel.

Israel's past behaviour has been faulty at times and that needs to be methodically addressed and corrected - but this is not the time for it, because that might be interpreted as a Hamas victory and encourage other terrorists around the world, existing and emerging, giving them cause to believe that they can achieve whatever they want through extreme violence and atrocities.

Once Hamas is eliminated and all hostages returned, then it will be the proper time to address all regional grievances.

As for your suggestion of a single democratic state, you may already be aware that I do not favour large states (including Australia), more so when the people who are supposed to live there do not want them. I believe that people ought to be able to determine their own destiny and laws locally and not be controlled at long distance by others they are unlikely to ever meet in person - but that does not exclude peace and cooperation between them.

I like to see a smaller Israel, within its pre-1967 borders and with equal citizenship to all within these borders, yet without compromising its ability to defend itself.

Yuyutsu,

Constructed fallacies about the past and the present
in Israel and Palestine hinder us from understanding
the conflict. Meanwhile, the constant manipulation of
the relevant facts work against the interest of all
those victimized by the ongoing bloodshed and
violence.

What's to be done?

Clarification of some of the deepest misunderstandings
at the heart of the Israel-Palestine problem, in the
past and in the present needs to be done. History lies
at the core of every conflict.

As long as distortions and inherited assumptions are
not questioned, they will continue to provide an
immunity shield for the present regime in the
land of Palestine.

By examining these assumptions in the light of the
latest research, and setting the historical record
straight - this might have an impact on the chance for
peace and reconciliation to both Israel and Palestine.