tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-314880072011-04-22T04:44:27.039+03:00This blog has become a discussion between myself and several honest, talented young Muslim Arabs. They are not afraid to speak their minds - and I am not afraid to listen. I have learned much from this process. <br><br> The comments are an inseperable part of the discussion.Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.comBlogger561100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-60930100039416297932009-02-07T21:55:00.001+02:002009-02-07T21:58:57.342+02:00

To the author of http://ingaza.wordpress.com/2009/02/04/next-time-it-will-hurt-more/: you mistranslated the writing in the first two pictures that have writing in them, and you obviously misunderstood what the soldiers who wrote them meant. Perhaps I can give you a better understanding of why the soldiers left this specific writing on the wall. Maybe it will also explain to you a little of

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-40658423597585012862009-01-17T01:38:00.006+02:002009-01-17T02:49:47.696+02:00

Sumaiya left a very emotional comment on a previous post of mine. The comment was phrased as a series of questions.Sumaiya - I understand your pain. I feel much of it too. Nevertheless, I wish to give you my point of view by answering some of your questions.Why are the Palestinians border closed? => because Hamas, which has basically declared a war on Israel, took over Gaza, and the Israelis

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-63861891358758366312009-01-17T01:16:00.004+02:002009-01-17T01:36:53.584+02:00

First part is in Hebrew. English translation below.קראתי חלק מהתגובות של גולשים לכתבה ב-ynet, והוספתי בעצמי תגובה.הנה היא.האסון הנורא של ד"ר עז א-דין אבו אל-עייש הוא אחד מתוך כמעט 1000 אסונות כאלו בעזה, שלא לדבר על מאות אלפי ילדים תמימים שבשארית חייהם ישאו את הצלקות הנפשיות של הטראומה של שלושת השבועות האחרונים. אין לי מושג לכמה עשרות אלפים מהם יש הלם קרב.לכל מי שהגיב כאן והרגיש צורך להאשים את

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-30808366328623872322008-12-30T22:07:00.012+02:002008-12-31T08:47:48.239+02:00

For the last 8 years, several thousand regular Israelis were living in constant fear. Every few days they were shocked by a siren and had to run to the shelter. The other 6 million Israelis were angry and somewhat afraid, but mostly in the background of their lives. With the exception of the Lebanon war, which disrupted things for a while and hurt the national pride, life went on as usual. But

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-5972937558113263572008-05-29T23:53:00.003+03:002008-05-29T23:59:21.793+03:00

If you understand Hebrew, read this link: http://thehub.cafe.themarker.com/view.php?t=449802If you don't: http://www.emergingfutures.org/files/GVS%20invitation%20June%202008.pdfHighly recommended.-IB

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-77536297952826003042008-05-15T12:41:00.006+03:002008-05-15T19:56:07.109+03:00

The common Israeli point of view:The latest killings and woundings of Israeli civilians by Hamas rockets are making the situation intolerable. The Hezbollah takeover of Lebanon is more proof that Iran is becoming a real threat to Israel. If we don't do something quickly, we'll be trapped between two Iranian entities: one in Lebanon and one in Gaza. We Israelis have to do something.What can we do?

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-13803325493064709202008-05-10T23:21:00.002+03:002008-05-10T23:22:12.862+03:00

I don't know the people behind this one, but it looks promising: http://gnblog.com/

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-14854881874609275132008-01-27T18:23:00.000+02:002008-01-27T19:00:33.614+02:00

Two friends of mine have started a joint blog. It's called Life must go on in Gaza and Sderot. Usually there's nothing special about joint blogs. But this blog is being written by two people who live on opposite sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, and their lives have been directly impacted by the violence. Peace Man lives in Gaza. The Israeli blockade on Gaza made Peace Man walk 30

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-16655862396342784272007-12-02T00:40:00.000+02:002007-12-02T01:08:20.305+02:00

"...Then one of my favourite students - a lovely, charming girl with a great sense of humour - said in a low, warning voice: “Teacher, we can’t joke about the Prophet Mohammed.” This was the experience of Blake Evans-Pritchard in Khartoum. Not of Gillian Gibbons, who is now in a Sudanese jail awaiting deportation. Her students didn't warn her that Islam is easily offended, and now hundreds of

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-70626193729628385702007-07-24T12:12:00.000+03:002007-07-24T12:14:56.187+03:00

... and it's probably not going to improve soon.At least I'm in good company!Truth is I've got a writer's block. A few weeks ago I started writing a post about my visit to Khaled's Holocaust Museum, but I can't get myself to finish it.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-35465940575050413132007-06-20T08:37:00.000+03:002007-06-20T09:20:45.456+03:00

Charles Levinson brought more amazing impressions from Gaza.Here's an excerpt from a post he wrote 2 days ago:... At the Erez crossing today we met a Palestinian looter who made us look at some of the looters at least in a slightly different light. He was tearing out copper wiring from under the pavement at the Erez border tunnel. He was working his way down the walk, and at every spot where an

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-57836691362301410722007-06-17T01:57:00.000+03:002007-06-17T08:34:53.180+03:00

I ran across this video today and just had to share it. If there are any Palestinian women who undergo this kind of treatment and do not become active supporters of violence against Israelis: you have my personal admiration. [(update): I'm adding the following clarification because of Stefanella's comment below] I'm not suggesting that the Arab women should turn to violence. On the contrary.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-11402948073752571842007-06-14T21:32:00.000+03:002007-06-14T23:30:05.059+03:00

Conflict Blotter is an amazing blog by Charles Levinson, the Mideast Correspondent for the Sunday Telegraph. He is currently in Gaza, and reporting from there.From his latest post:Hamas TV broadcast disturbing and gruesome footage of Fatah commander Samih al Madhoun, famed for ruthlessly confronting Hamas in northern Gaza, being dragged into the streets, shot repeatedly and the stomped by a

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-62775082074322413142007-04-28T20:45:00.000+03:002007-04-29T00:50:09.342+03:00

Yet again, I find myself learning a lot by trying to listen to the people behind the comments posted on my blog.A few days ago I tried to answer a question raised by Nizo: "What do Israeli Arabs need to do in order for them not to be perceived as a threat?"I thought that Israeli Arabs understand the fears of the Israeli Jews, and can become a bridge between Israel and the Arab world. I thought

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-81825436546529445052007-04-25T01:33:00.000+03:002007-06-17T01:41:53.104+03:00

UPDATE 28/4/07 - Everything I suggested here: I take it back. It can't happen - at least not in the foreseeable future. But I'm glad I wrote this post. I learned much from the Arab response to it. [end of update]The Azmi Bishara videos inspired Nizo to raise several very interesting questions regarding the pervasiveness of the perception that Arabs are a demographic time bomb.His 8th question

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-58774513741147091382007-04-18T10:51:00.000+03:002007-04-18T21:29:09.540+03:00

I read an interesting article an Ha'aretz today. Here's the Hebrew version, and here's the English translation. - didn't find an English version yet (anyone who finds it - please let me know).(Thanks Lisa)The article says that the IDF has appointed an officer to investigate why the a major Hebron street (the Shuhada street) is closed to Palestinian pedestrians since 2000. It is open to Jewish

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-90461930384507567422007-04-13T00:15:00.000+03:002007-04-13T01:11:24.570+03:00

Dr. Azmi Bishara is an Arab Israeli member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset).The Israeli media has lately been publishing very incoherent and non-informative articles about Dr. Bishara's intentions (or non-intentions) to resign (or not resign) from the Israeli Knesset, due to his being persecuted (or not being persecuted) by various government security agencies (or not). It seems there is a

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-85183969898529492762007-03-24T16:44:00.000+02:002007-03-24T17:15:08.903+02:00

A group of people at MIT "hope to encourage new ways of thinking about the many difficult issues and hardships faced by Jerusalemites, regardless of their faith or ethnicity". So as part of their "Jerusalem 2050 project", they recently launched a competition for visionary ideas for the city called Just Jerusalem. The submissions to the competition must be "Well Specified Projects" that support "

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-12324021986108276902007-03-18T22:59:00.000+02:002007-03-21T00:13:22.607+02:00

The film which had enraged the Egyptians will be shown again this Wednesday at 21:40, on Israeli Channel 1.Having written about it, I guess I should make an effort and actually see it, shouldn't I?Update (March 21, 2007):Nominally.Challanged has commented here that the rescreening has been cancelled. Shame indeed - I too wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-61674293149090761512007-03-11T08:42:00.000+02:002007-03-11T10:50:33.501+02:00

As usual, the Israeli media and the Arab media have two completely different descriptions of the same event.A few days ago, Mohamed Maher said: there is some news which was spread in all the egyptian newspapers , two days ago.it says that, the israeli "channel one", released a new documentry film, which says that in the war of 1967 , a troop had a leader called " benjamen aleaazer" (who is an

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-35356177689193216562007-02-26T23:38:00.000+02:002007-02-26T23:41:15.088+02:00

I hope this will make it easier to follow up on the discussions that emerge in the comments section of many posts.I've never used this service before, so I'll be happy to hear from you if it is indeed useful...-I.B.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-53198563954682383232007-02-22T21:33:00.000+02:002007-02-22T21:43:03.550+02:00

To answer Abe's question:you also wrote: "..it's not our existence - it's the way our existence is perceived by the other side..."i don't understand the differenceWhen I say "how our existence is percieved", I am talking about how Arabs interpret our actions. The problem is usually not the actions themselves, but the perceived intent of those actions. This is perfectly human. Imagine your own

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-29601447128890436312007-02-22T00:03:00.000+02:002007-02-22T22:12:44.228+02:00

I'm not surprized by the Al-Aqsa events. Not by the stupidity displayed by the Israeli government, not by the Arab hysteria, and not by the dismissal of these riots by most Israelis as "a bunch of fanatics spreading ridiculous antisemitic propaganda".Many Israeli governmental institutions see themselves as the responsible protectors of civilization and Jewish heritage.In the eyes of the Arab

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-74364074263498191552007-02-21T00:36:00.000+02:002007-02-21T00:51:23.183+02:00

The Isreali right wing thinks Arabs hate Israel and want to destroy us. The left wing would rather ignore this.What the right wing doesn't understand, though, is that we should not only defend ourselves from those who hate us: we must also fight the hatered itself.הטעות של מדינת ישראל היא שאנחנו נלחמים רק בשונאינו - במקום להילחם גם בשינאה עצמהThe paradox is that by fighting those who hate us,

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-60682050772831542612007-02-20T23:32:00.000+02:002007-02-20T23:43:44.541+02:00

I heard about this in the news on the radio today, and then found an article in Ha'aretz (english: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/828233.html, hebrew: http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/828291.html).The Hebrew article is a bit more informative than the English one, and explains the neutral wording that the station's news department is planning on using. So, for example, instead of

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-73363499253501167152007-02-09T22:48:00.000+02:002007-02-10T12:37:17.652+02:00

The Isreali/Palestinian conflict is emotional. To understand what's going on, you must understand the feelings.To help you do that, I have listed some basic Israeli emotional patterns.These are not opinions - these are feelings. I know many of them are wrong (correction: I personally identify with some, and think others are misplaced), but there's no point in arguing with them. You can't

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-84204995971049078902007-02-08T20:51:00.000+02:002007-02-08T22:58:22.273+02:00

A must-read article:http://www.forward.com/articles/a-plea-for-peace-from-a-bereaved-palestinian-fathe/The article was written by Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian who lives in Anata, near Jerusalem. Bassam's 10 year old daughter, Abir, was shot and killed several weeks ago by an Israeli soldier.Having read Bassam's article, I find that words cannot express my awe and admiration for this brave

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-64203225477069735772007-01-22T01:20:00.000+02:002007-01-22T22:25:09.570+02:00

Dan Russell from the wonderful Creating Passionate Users asked "How do you make sense of something that’s big and complicated?". He wrote that he "has been thinking a great deal about sensemaking" ... i.e., "what you do when you’re trying to organize your taxes, or when you want to understand what’s going on in the Middle East".This immediately reminded me of the process that I went through on

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-13542354070309976752007-01-18T00:44:00.000+02:002007-01-18T00:54:01.702+02:00

There are so many articles about this. I heard that the Hezbullah are celebrating.Well, I'm glad Halutz resigned, but I don't think I share Hezbullah's reasons. I'm glad Halutz is leaving because, unlike many previous IDF chiefs of staff, Halutz seemed mentally incapable of showing the slightest bit of compassion towards other people. I think that Halutz is so full of himself that he sees

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1163015453500618752006-11-08T21:49:00.000+02:002006-11-15T20:52:37.274+02:00

In the aljazeera article about the Beit Hanoun tragedy: 'Ghazi Hamad also said that Israel was an inhuman state that "should cease to exist."'Personally: I am extremely sorry about this tragedy. I truly and sincerely wish it did not happen. No one deserves such deaths. Not Palestinians, and not Israelis. Not innocent Palestinian civilians, and not Hamas militants.But Israel is not an

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1162682879734685752006-11-05T01:24:00.000+02:002006-11-15T20:52:37.183+02:00

Mohamed Maher pointed me to a film which I found intriguing. I feel that contrary to its title, this film demonstrates a total misunderstanding of the philosophy of Zionism and Israel. I wonder how this film is understood by Arabs.Zionists are portrayed here as murderers with a racist agenda. The film explains that "devout Jews oppose Zionism", and are against Israeli violence. I was very glad

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1161216375907097502006-10-19T02:05:00.000+02:002006-11-15T20:52:37.110+02:00

Daily Show - Even Stevphens - Religion

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1160942795620861352006-10-15T21:25:00.000+02:002006-11-15T20:52:37.011+02:00

It's been a while since I last posted - I'm really busy, so my posting frequency is low (and will probably remain so) - but at least it's not zero.Mohamed Maher said:> try to see and hear new media other than urs , try to hear the arabic mediaAnd I promised him I will read Arab media.In keeping with my promise, I read "Does the Palestinian issue fuel extremism?" on AlJazeera.I think the author

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1158274851147993362006-09-15T02:00:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.938+02:00

I stumbled upon How Israeli Textbooks Portray the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Elie Podeh - Indiana University Press, March 2000.I didn't read the entire article (it's very long), but I found the few bits I did read very interesting - especially because they opened my eyes to the political manipulations that I was subject to when I was in school over 20 years ago.I was also very glad to learn that

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1157150872739082632006-09-02T01:36:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.707+02:00

Mohamed Maher said in a previous comment to DGListen:> try to see and hear new media other than urs , try to hear the arabic mediaMohamed - I think this is a great suggestion. I have started doing this, and I hope more Israelis do too. But it has to be done with great care.Why great care? Because when we Israelis read Arab newspapers: we are immediately put off. We see what is written - and it

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1156975840914350592006-08-31T01:10:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.636+02:00

Survivors invite Iranian pres. to Auschwitz, ask for Tehran invite - Haaretz - Israel News: "Holocaust survivors on Wednesday invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to tour the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and called on the leader in Tehran to invite survivors to a planned conference on the subject of the Holocaust in Iran."

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1156276153088648802006-08-22T22:41:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.521+02:00

2 comments to previous posts that deserve a post of their own:A comment by Zeinobia:@I.B I agree that we both see ourselves as the good guys and that is the problem in any conflict no one wants to be the bad guyA comment by DGListen (addressed to Mohamed Maher and Tarek):the israelis are not only warriors and killers.there are many like me and IB that really wantto find a way to live together

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1156023761045866842006-08-19T23:37:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.444+02:00

Zeinobia recently wrote that in her opinion, Hezbollah won the battle.@Zeinobia: this may surprize you, but I think most Israelis would agree with quite a few of the things you wrote in that post. Israel certainly underestimated Hezbollah's abilities. There is one thing, however, which I feel I must respond to. You wrote that:"The fighting spirit of Hezbollah fighters is much greater than

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1155471698798616422006-08-13T15:16:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.363+02:00

The discussion so far hasn't been easy for me. It is emotionally straining, and also takes a lot of time. As a result, I fell back on some of my responsibilities (work related and a few personal issues) - but I will post again soon.Thanks for waiting - I really appreciate it.-I..

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154676398189206082006-08-04T10:22:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.202+02:00

My 5 year old son heard some news about the war in the radio today.He then asked me: "Are the good guys winning?"I replied: "My dear son, there are no good guys in this war"He then said to me, with absolute and total conviction: "But Daddy! In a war there are ALWAYS good guys and bad guys!!!"For this conflict to end both sides must stop seeing themselves as the good guys.-I.B.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154637463429007002006-08-03T23:19:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:36.127+02:00

I think my earlier explanation about fear and aggression was not clear enough. Let me try again:We Israelis HAVE ALMOST ALWAYS BEEN AFRAID of Arabs. Hizballa is not doing anything new.I remember being afraid as a 4 year old child in the bomb-shelter during the 1973 war.During the first days of this war, we Israelis were certain that our country and our homes are about to be completely destroyed

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154549417699285172006-08-02T22:45:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.965+02:00

Part 1: Responses to previous comments@ba3kawy: you are right. I take my words back. It just shows how difficult it is to communicate when we don't share the same beliefs. I promise to try harder!@EngineeringChange: you said "I.B--What do you mean your perception has changed?". I'll try to explain this in Part 2 of this post.@Mon 0eil: your comment will not be understood correctly by Arabs.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154465628300480042006-08-01T23:33:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.883+02:00

Following the exchange of words of the last few days, I have totally changed my perception of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Please correct me if I'm wrong here, but I got the impression that most of you sincerely believe that Israel is a truly evil entity, and that almost all Israelis are lying, blood-thirsty killers. It's almost as if we're living in the world of "The Lord of the Rings", and

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154371151278156992006-07-31T21:09:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.791+02:00

Zeinobia, Mohamed, Blue,To hear that you do not believe Hizballa are hiding behind children comes as a great surprize to me. I did not know that this is how you see things, because to me the truth is different. But opening my mind, and accepting that you believe differently from me, has done much for me. I am awed and amazed by how much we do not know about each other.Neither you nor I were at

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154254336304471352006-07-30T12:18:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.719+02:00

I have just heard the terrible news about the tragedy in Kafr Qana, and rushed to write this post. The civilized and relatively calm discussion we have started here has quickly become more important to me than I had originally imagined it would. I hope we will not let it die along with those innocent children.I think it is important that you know how I feel about this terrible event. While I

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154197689190593232006-07-29T20:19:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.653+02:00

Wow. I really appreciate the comments - from all of you: Zeinobia, Blue, EngineeringChange, march14yuppi and Mohamed Maher.You all wrote so much, it will take me a while to digest everything you said. The time I can allocate to blogging is somewhat limited, as I also have a family and a job... so what I plan to do is to address your comments across several posts - a few points in each post,

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154130723462021162006-07-29T02:52:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.576+02:00

I have a message to the Arabs: we are afraid of you.There, I said it. Anonymously, but I said it.I actually first said it while replying to an anonymous comment on Zadigvoltaire's post Beirut Notes: Unite. The commenter said:> You make it seem like your retaliation made> you suffer less?And I replied:We retaliate because WE ARE AFRAID.We hear Hizballa's leader threaten us. We see him carrying

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154125463706144732006-07-29T01:01:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.499+02:00

Hello Zeinobia,You and I are different in many ways. We have completely different beliefs: you are Muslim, while I am an atheist of Jewish origin. You believe that Israel is evil, while I see it as my only home. You are happy when Israeli soldiers are killed, while I mourn their deaths. But I decided to approach you because we seem to share at least one common value: neither you nor I can

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154121348292980722006-07-29T00:06:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.420+02:00

A CNN reporter questions whether Beirut was really detroyed, or if this is simply Hizballa propaganda. Includes maps of Beirut.Some more video proof that Hizballa is hiding behind civilians.A Lebanese blogger is fed up with fellow Lebanese who support HizballaAnd last: a place for Israelis, Palestinians and Lebanese caught up in the violence to exchange experiences and opinions.AddendumWow.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1154111127241653342006-07-28T21:13:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.332+02:00

An awesome animated description of the situation. BTW, I found this link on the site of the lebanese bloggers.The cartoon ignores the top strategic issue for Israel, though. The Arab countries around Israel have never dared fire rockets at Israeli civilians. Israel cannot allow such a precedent, where a country fires rockets at Israeli civilians, and comes out clean. Israel's leaders decided

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1153955583736141932006-07-27T02:13:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.181+02:00

A Blog with No Title: InterestingAmazing. I just hope she isn't assasinated.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1153949669168302462006-07-27T00:34:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:35.041+02:00

I just stumbled upon Ramzi's post about the Cycle of Violence. Short and to the point.Ramzi - you end your post with the words:STOP VIOLENCE NOW!But how? We seem to be trapped in a vicious cycle, with no way out.Every time our government finally decides to confront our own warmongers (e.g., the pullout from Lebanon in 2000, the pullout from Gaza last year): the warmongers from your side manage

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1153861907724706302006-07-25T23:25:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:34.811+02:00

In a comment to my previous post, EngineeringChange said:If I may ask, what is your view on the situation of the Palestinian refugees that once lived in present day Israel and were not allowed to return? Most of them can now be found in the dilapidated refugee camps in Lebanon or Syria or Jordan. I assume you believe in the Right of Return for Jews to Israel, so what is your view on a Right of

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1153769342636016782006-07-24T21:56:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:34.667+02:00

Anton Efendi points to an eye-opening article in Le-Figaro, showing how deeply Iran is involved in the current conflict. (And here's another interesting post hinting at this involvement).Some of the user comments to Anton's post criticize Israel's attacks on civilian infrastructure.According to the IDF, the Hezbolla are using the civilian infrastructure in Lebanon for their own purposes. This

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1153594105023481312006-07-22T21:44:00.000+03:002006-11-15T20:52:34.594+02:00

I just read Zadigvoltaire's touching post: I left for a smile.

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31488007.post-1153554297235629182006-07-22T10:12:00.000+03:002006-11-16T00:52:10.848+02:00

I'm against violence. Really. I belong to that 50% of the Israeli population that would be very happy to see a Palestinian state neighboring Israel: a free, democratic state, which respects human rights and the right of Israel to exist. And I think many actions taken by the Israeli governments over the years have needlessly hurt and alienated the Palestinians.But I'm really angry at all the

Israeli Bloggerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510331752624241336noreply@blogger.com0