Hi ttbn,
"But I am not aware of Palestinians doing any fighting with Anzacs."
- I honestly don't really know much about it either.

What I'm lead to believe is that Laurence of Arabia promised the Palestinians the right to self determination if they rose up against the Ottomans, though I've never really dug into the topic seriously.

The Anzac-Palestine Connection
http://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-anzac-palestine-connection/
"Some of the heaviest fighting took place in Gaza during the Palestine Campaign when ANZACS and Palestinian soldiers fought the Turks to free Palestine from Ottoman rule."
- This was long before Israel became a modern state, the moment the Ottomans were conquered Jewish migrants started arriving in numbers.

I heard something yesterday that there were plans to reconstitute the Israeli State going back as far as 1865, but I was starting to nod off and didn't pay full attention to it.
http://www.youtube.com/live/KKI5L_lmIF0
The video itself is mostly about analysing the attempted Trump assassination, and there's some interesting info there.

Hi Foxy,
"Why can't they all be allowed to be represented if they excel in sport?"
- I'm sure Russians are asking themselves the same question, right?

I don't see why ones sexual identity or preferences have to come into it at all.
- It's sport, not the Mardi Gras.

Dear Banjo,

Talking about Christianity:

Lithuania was the last state to Christianize.
It happened in the end of the 14th century. The continuous
attack from the side of Teutonic Order and their "Crusades
against non-believers" signalled for Lithuanian leaders to
implement Christianization.

Many still follow pagan customs even today.
My Gran used to sprinkle holy water around the house during
severe storms when it thundered to appease the God of thunder-
Perkunas. She took no chances.

Armchair Critic,

Russia is mostly absent from the Paris Olympics.
It is fielding just 15 athletes which is a result
of ongoing penalties for past doping violations
as well as Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.

Armchair Critic,

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants to
highlight how the Olympic Games is a powerful platform
to foster inclusion, diversity, and non-discrimination.

How it is a place where Olympic platforms can inspire the
world through powerful messages - such as doping being wrong
and also the invasion of sovereign countries such as Ukraine
and waging a war is unacceptable.

Palestine is fielding 7.
Apparently 345 Palestinian athletes were killed since Oct 7.

"How it is a place where Olympic platforms can inspire the
world through powerful messages - such as doping being wrong
and also the invasion of sovereign countries such as Ukraine
and waging a war is unacceptable."

Why does everything these days have to be a 'powerful message'?
- They should seriously stop the endless nannying and social engineering.
It's like they're such control freaks they need to micromanage everyone's brain for them.
I'm not going to worship do-gooders and bureaucrats.
I can think for myself, for better or worse.

As for Russia we shall disagree there.
- It wasn't the invasion that was the problem.
The problem itself is 'what caused the invasion', not the invasion itself - and that was the US.

It was the fact that the US caused the situation with it's infinite meddling in other nations internal affairs, in its quest for maintaining capitalist exploitation and global hegemony.