Politics & Stuff

[nadavTKL 1,787]

I read that settlements around Gaza all voted Likud which was a big part of the 'surprise' results.

Really, is Bibi still considered right? He's so far off the charts. Even the Labor can hardly be considered left anymore, especially after the alliance with Levny.

But what about the joint list? I heard they produced a good campaign and really tried to reach not just Arab audience but also Jews and minorities.

The Labor aren't really left I agree, but as oppose to the Likud and the other radical parties they come across as left, in a simplistic way. But I do think if they would have won there was a chance for some important changes.

Wasn't too attentive too the Joint list campaign but yes they did things differently, the criticism about the Arab parties was always about them talking and doing more about the Arabs in Gaza, not trying to change the life's of Arabs in Israel, they promise to change that. They look very positive for me, I think the main reason I didn't think about voting for them is that I don't hear them critisizing some horrible actions like the killing of 3 young Jewish boys last year by a group of Palestinias (probably Hamas but they don't say), when Hanin Zuabi, one of them, saying the people who did this aren't terrorists and they didn't criticize her too. I think that like me many others would ask them to be more clear in those aspects. They avoid those questions so far.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The Labor aren't really left I agree, but as oppose to the Likud and the other radical parties they come across as left, in a simplistic way. But I do think if they would have won there was a chance for some important changes.

Wasn't too attentive too the Joint list campaign but yes they did things differently, the criticism about the Arab parties was always about them talking and doing more about the Arabs in Gaza, not trying to change the life's of Arabs in Israel, they promise to change that. They look very positive for me, I think the main reason I didn't think about voting for them is that I don't hear them critisizing some horrible actions like the killing of 3 young Jewish boys last year by a group of Palestinias (probably Hamas but they don't say), when Hanin Zuabi, one of them, saying the people who did this aren't terrorists and they didn't criticize her too. I think that like me many others would ask them to be more clear in those aspects. They avoid those questions so far.

Side not: I'm surprised you don't know this, but the Israeli police have said, through spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld, that the 3 boys were kidnapped and killed by a "lone cell" that acted without the knowledge of Hamas. In fact, Natanyahu's government probably knew exactly who did it and that the boys were dead from the first hours but purposely misled the Israeli public.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/hamas-didnt-kidnap-the-israeli-teens-after-all.html

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jul-26/265229-hamas-not-complicit-in-teens-kidnap-israeli-police.ashx

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/07/misleading-kidnapping-almoz-hamas-vengeance-hatred.html#

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2014/jul/25/gaza-crisis-israel-strike-un-shelter-palestinian-protesters-west-bank-live-updates

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Side not: I'm surprised you don't know this, but the Israeli police have said, through spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld, that the 3 boys were kidnapped and killed by a "lone cell" that acted without the knowledge of Hamas. In fact, Natanyahu's government probably knew exactly who did it and that the boys were dead from the first hours but purposely misled the Israeli public.

Probably just forgot, its hard to keep up sometimes. Doesnt change what i said about the Joint List though.

[Fernando 6,376]

PBS: Former US soldier joins militia to defend Christian faith in Iraq. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwxenI_SA

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I laughed too much at this. It's just that look on his face...

[Fulham Broadway 16,417]

MEMBERS of a British family headed for Syria have confirmed they were just sick of the Midlands.

The would-be Syrian citizens initially flew to Turkey to get as far away from Stoke as physically possible and still be in Europe, but decided it was not far enough and kept going.

Family spokesman Tom Logan said: “Their young children were starting to develop a Stoke accent.”

He added: “The Home Office needs to stop persecuting people for fleeing to Syria and start asking why they’d prefer to live in a pile of rubble with a bunch of religious maniacs, rather than Stoke.”

The family asked Turkish authorities if, rather than returning them to Stoke, they can have all their belongings burned in front of them and be left to wander the countryside

[BlueLion. 21,491]

MEMBERS of a British family headed for Syria have confirmed they were just sick of the Midlands.

The would-be Syrian citizens initially flew to Turkey to get as far away from Stoke as physically possible and still be in Europe, but decided it was not far enough and kept going.

Family spokesman Tom Logan said: “Their young children were starting to develop a Stoke accent.”

He added: “The Home Office needs to stop persecuting people for fleeing to Syria and start asking why they’d prefer to live in a pile of rubble with a bunch of religious maniacs, rather than Stoke.”

The family asked Turkish authorities if, rather than returning them to Stoke, they can have all their belongings burned in front of them and be left to wander the countryside

I'd be sick if I lived in Stoke as well.

Sorry to any Stoke-dwellers on here, but it's like driving through the 1970s.

[Special Juan 27,104]

They weren't sick of it they were going to do what they all do, and that's turn into terrorists if they already aren't.

And why this government is stopping them is beyond me. Let them go, let them blow themselves up and it's less to worry about in this country.

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

It's like the parents of that geezer who went to Syria to commit jihad. They told the police so when he gets back he gets 14 years or something. The parents then criticise the police saying the sentence was to severe. They do realise that only a few months earlier he was prepared to kill himself and others?. They should be thankful he's still alive and he'll have 14 years to dwell on what a colossal twat he's been.

[Amblève. 4,995]

The Turkish community in Austria is absolute bonkers, my fucking god. As if it wasn't enough that they wrote that pathetic letter a few days ago now they're planning a demonstration "against the lies of a genocide that never happened" for tomorrow on the very same day that's the official remembrance day for said genocide on the Armenians.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The Turkish community in Austria is absolute bonkers, my fucking god. As if it wasn't enough that they wrote that pathetic letter a few days ago now they're planning a demonstration "against the lies of a genocide that never happened" for tomorrow on the very same day that's the official remembrance day for said genocide on the Armenians.

Instead of feeling ashamed and guilty....and the general ignorance of common people and lack of effort from politicians and diplomats towards it is shocking. I mean imagine if these were Germans doing a similar demonstration about the holocaust.

Late 19th early 20th Ottoman empire was one of the most ruthless, blood-thirsty empires of the time, and that's actually quite an achievement. In Lebanon during the first world war, they literally starved the people for no reason. The region was under their control and they just stopped allowing any food into it and confiscated what was already there. Something between third and half of the population starved to death in 2-3 years time.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Was gonna write something about the incredible hypocrisy of the sudden interest in blind drone strikes, but I guess this sums it up well:

[Fernando 6,376]

Can someone explain to me why Turkey is against the Armenian Genocide thing?

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I see Charlie Hebdo are still as vile and racist as ever:


(Title reads something along the lines of "Family reunion in the Mediterranean)

As some one who participated in the "Je suis Charlie" campaign though, I must say that I do not regret my participation at all as some are suggesting today. That is simply because the campaign, at least for me, was never in support of their material which I well aware was racist and disgusting, but for their, and hence everyone's, rights of freedom of speech even when that speech is racist propaganda. The way to eliminate racism, imo, is not to make it illegal and certainly not by violence but by bringing it to the public eye and explain and expose its vileness so that society itself kicks it out. You should be unable to express racist views not because it you would get jailed or fear for your life but because no one will listen to you and the community itself reject you.

Can someone explain to me why Turkey is against the Armenian Genocide thing?

Because they committed it?

[Fernando 6,376]

I see Charlie Hebdo are still as vile and racist as ever:

(Title reads something along the lines of "Family reunion in the Mediterranean)

As some one who participated in the "Je suis Charlie" campaign though, I must say that I do not regret my participation at all as some are suggesting today. That is simply because the campaign, at least for me, was never in support of their material which I well aware was racist and disgusting, but for their, and hence everyone's, rights of freedom of speech even when that speech is racist propaganda. The way to eliminate racism, imo, is not to make it illegal and certainly not by violence but by bringing it to the public eye and explain and expose its vileness so that society itself kicks it out. You should be unable to express racist views not because it you would get jailed or fear for your life but because no one will listen to you and the community itself reject you.

Because they committed it?

So they are just being hypocrites?

[CHOULO19 24,332]

So they are just being hypocrites?

It would be a hit ti the nationalist rhetoric of the government if they admit to horrors the 'empire' has committed, even if long ago because all the official propaganda is that the state is always moral, their wars all righteous and their soldiers all heroes.

Same, for example, why the US would not admit to massacres committed in Vietnam, Iraq, Cambodia...etc.

[Emir 105]

Look at here we have great history teachers, well done boys, well done.. If Armenians really think that way why the hell they're keep coming to live in our lands..

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Hey you hypocritical aussies, Je Suis Scott McIntyre, anyone?

Look at here we have great history teachers, well done boys, well done.. If Armenians really think that way why the hell they're keep coming to live in our lands..

1) It's their land, not yours. They've lived there for over 2500 years, long before the Ottoman Empire ever existed.

2) No one here has any interest for or against Turkey or Armenia, while the people telling you it didn't happen, namely your government, have every interest and hide the facts. Think about it, who is more likely to be lying?

3) If you really are interested in history, there have been some incredible academic work, especially in the past 30 years or so, on this subject. There have also been some incredibly well researched books. I'd recommend "The Burning Tigris" and "Black Dog of Fate" or you can even read "A Shameful Act" that is actually written by a Turkish historian if you want to learn about the motivations behind the genocide.

4) As a Lebanese, I naturally know a lot of Armenians and have spoken to children of survivals. And hearing the accounts from survivors from all over the world, you can see that the stories are always very consistent and hence are incredibly unlikely to be made up. Actually, I don't know of a single notable neutral historian who does not recognize the Armenian genocide simply because the evidence is overwhelming. As is the case for several other atrocities committed by the Ottoman empire during that period including right here in Lebanon.

Bottom line is, if your only source of information is what you are told and taught by the authority that has an interest in lying to you then you are hardly an expert on the subject. And this isn't aimed as an attack on you and certainly doesn't make the Turkish people "bad", every nation has its "black history", but there is no sense except in living up to it.

My point is: ALWAYS question what authority tells you, my friend.