Ariel Sharon

[wphsmike]

Oh snap, you guys are so cool. You talk like best friends. How long until im initiated? Heh, well now I'll say something about the topic...

No matter what people think about Sharon, whether he is good or bad; he has accomplished bringing some peace to the Middle East. He did pull out of the West Bank.. There is always going to be fighting over the Holy Land and there has been for thousands of years. There won't ever be peace over there in my opinion and NO leader can bring peace upon the land.

Mike

[goyincognito]

Originally posted by SuDz@Jan 6 2006, 11:42 PM
And if we don't have anyone good to do that for us, we settle for Goy. hehe*

SuDZ

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bwahahaha.

bastid!

[goyincognito]

I'm glad everyone came to a level of civility over this. Regardless of whether or not you hate Sharon, the guy is paralyzed on his entire right side and probably can't speak anymore. That has to at least tug one or two of your heart strings, come on!

There is a certain salient facet of life here that you can't grasp from the news; it sounds and looks like a warzone on TV, not because it IS one, but because--and studies have shown this--people only tune into the news in the West (and thus the news only gets advertising revenue) when chaos is happening. We call it the "CNN Effect." By only reporting what's happening in Gaza or the Territories (in fact, only reporting the bad stuff that's happening in Gaza and the Territories), everyone thinks Israel is this psychotic warzone similar to the Lebanese civil war: getting shot at when one goes to get a taco on the street or something. That's totally and complete false.

Yes, there is terrorism here, and yes, people have to be very careful and can't become complacent for a second, but I dare you to come to Tel Aviv or its suburbs for a week; these politics seldom reach Tel Aviv--it's almost like Tel Aviv is a country apart from the goings-on in the Palestinian Authority. You can walk down the street at night and be completely safe here...there's far less crime here than many large cities. Suicide bombings happen more infrequently than people think, and the government improves its counterterrorism measures every single day.

I have friends who were in ha'Tsahal (the IDF) for their mandatory draft period and never got into a firefight once.

That said, will there ever be peace here? The first thing I learned about Israel is never to talk in terms of absolutes, because the middle east changes at a rate so fast as to be completely indescribable, and Israel is at the center of the turmoil. One day at a time, one step at a time; everyone said the Gaza pullout would never happen. It did. Everyone said Kadima would be the most hated party in Israel because of the disengagement. It's not...it's the most popular according to every opinion poll run by even the most visceral, blood spitting, Sharon-hating of parties.

And yet, I called my friend who lives in Tel Aviv and we talked about her shitty roommate, I met up with a few friends a while back to go to an irish pub and make fun of people, and a few days ago I watched the sunset over the Mediterranean with a drink in my hand at a beach-front bar. Politics be damned.

If this is war, sign me up. :P

[chelseafc05]

perhaps he should of lived a more healthier lifestyle....

[Rozza]

Originally posted by wphsmike@Jan 7 2006, 01:48 AM
Oh snap, you guys are so cool.* You talk like best friends.* How long until im initiated?*

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Straight away

[wphsmike]

Awesome, thanks.

[Sijuki]

Originally posted by wphsmike@Jan 7 2006, 04:50 PM
Awesome, thanks.*

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But now you have to start paying your yearly dues ($19.95) for us to be friends.

[goyincognito]

Originally posted by Sijuki@Jan 8 2006, 08:07 AM
But now you have to start paying your yearly dues ($19.95) for us to be friends.* *

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I was going to type something like that. Cheers for beatin me to it

[chelseafc05]

Originally posted by Sijuki@Jan 8 2006, 04:07 PM
But now you have to start paying your yearly dues ($19.95) for us to be friends.* *

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and all this time ive been payin $29.99 + $9.99p&h fuckin scammers

[TheJake]

Yeah we charge the people we don't like more danielle!


SNAP!

[wphsmike]

Originally posted by Sijuki@Jan 8 2006, 06:07 AM
But now you have to start paying your yearly dues ($19.95) for us to be friends.* *

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Damn, I knew you had to pay for sex in Europe, but not for friends.

[Sijuki]

Originally posted by chelseafc05@Jan 8 2006, 03:45 AM
and all this time ive been payin $29.99 + $9.99p&h fuckin scammers

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Well Australia inclues a surcharge. Its far away.

[chelseafc05]

Originally posted by TheJake@Jan 9 2006, 01:54 AM
Yeah we charge the people we don't like more danielle!
SNAP!

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Godfather , jake is bullying again i think, he should read the terms and conditions thing ......or perhaps you should ban him!!!

[SuDz]

Originally posted by goyincognito@Jan 6 2006, 10:29 PM
There is a certain salient facet of life here that you can't grasp from the news; it sounds and looks like a warzone on TV, not because it IS one, but because--and studies have shown this--people only tune into the news in the West (and thus the news only gets advertising revenue) when chaos is happening.* We call it the "CNN Effect."* By only reporting what's happening in Gaza or the Territories (in fact, only reporting the bad stuff that's happening in Gaza and the Territories), everyone thinks Israel is this psychotic warzone similar to the Lebanese civil war: getting shot at when one goes to get a taco on the street or something.* That's totally and complete false.

That is not just a Middle East thing. The local news casts are always the worst for that. They pretty much have the saying "If it bleeds, it leads" and thats why fires, gunshots, war, etc is always first on and then somewhere sprinkled in is human instrest stuff and weather.

Yes, there is terrorism here, and yes, people have to be very careful and can't become complacent for a second, but I dare you to come to Tel Aviv or its suburbs for a week; these politics seldom reach Tel Aviv--it's almost like Tel Aviv is a country apart from the goings-on in the Palestinian Authority.* You can walk down the street at night and be completely safe here...there's far less crime here than many large cities.* Suicide bombings happen more infrequently than people think, and the government improves its counterterrorism measures every single day.

Are there certain things you do differently or watch for differently than you did back hom in Arizona? Are there things you were doing for your own sence of safety at first that you have dwindled down on or forgot about as you got to feel more comfortable in the country/ areas of the ocuntry? I am just kind of curious if you went over kind of worried about terrorism or safety and have since felt a change in the way you did at first.

I met up with a few friends a while back to go to an irish pub and make fun of people

Why Goy, that doesn't sound like you AT ALL


On a side note, I haven't seen you in chat for a while. Hope everything is going well although it sounds like it is.

SuDZ

[goyincognito]

Originally posted by SuDz@Jan 9 2006, 07:36 PM
Are there certain things you do differently or watch for differently than you did back hom in Arizona?* Are there things you were doing for your own sence of safety at first that you have dwindled down on or forgot about as you got to feel more comfortable in the country/ areas of the ocuntry? I am just kind of curious if you went over kind of worried about terrorism or safety and have since felt a change in the way you did at first.

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Sort of. The biggest threat is of course like you said from terrorist activities, which is a somewhat different set of things to watch out for as opposed to crime (since it's more organized), but a lot of it is similar!

When I got here I was absolutely worried (most everyone is unless they already have been here or know someone here), but beyond common sense there are things you're told to watch out for (even though those things are pretty much common sense too) that are telltale signs of surveillance or an impending attack or something like that. Following those personal security procedures in tandem with a healthy bit of street-wisdom--in fact, those procedures are just extensions of street-wisdom! it's wholly applicable to areas with 0 risk of terrorism also--is what pretty much kept my ass out of trouble thus far.

So I haven't gotten less worried, it's just that practicing good personal security every day has made it a natural part of life. I've already been in situations where I've felt that something is just WRONG, that I'm not supposed to be there, etc--It's a really weird feeling! Total adrenaline rush and scary!--so now that I know what to expect there's no "what ifs" anymore, and thus I'm not tense, but I'm just as aware as I was when I was new. Know what I mean?

Hey, drop me a PM and let me know your AIM or MSN name. I don't use the chat thing anymore since I'm on dayshift and can't be on when people are chatting cause of the time diff. Peace!

[tumblezweedz]

Back to boring old politics, isn't the appeal of Kadima because it attracts people from such a wide variety of viewpoints? Maybe that will help it last despite Sharon's inability to lead it anymore. I, for one, wish him well, and think it's appalling that people see this as God's retribution for "giving up" the Holy Land. How vile.

[goyincognito]

Originally posted by tumblezweedz@Jan 11 2006, 04:55 PM
Back to boring old politics, isn't the appeal of Kadima because it attracts people from such a wide variety of viewpoints?* Maybe that will help it last despite Sharon's inability to lead it anymore.* I, for one, wish him well, and think it's appalling that people see this as God's retribution for "giving up" the Holy Land.* How vile.

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That's a big part of it--there's also a large support base for leftist/centrist views in Israel that is growing since lots of people (especially ones like us in Tel Aviv and the "heathen" North ) are predominately secular and tired of living in fear of being blown up in a nightclub or getting pelted in the head with a rock when they drive to Jerusalem. Militarism is only partially effective and in the long run exacerbates the fighting (crackdowns have led to an intifada, or popular uprising, not once but twice in 20 years, and both have lasted multiple years), and I think Israelis are thinking it's time to try something different.

Another note on the "God's Retribution" thing--our favorite addled preacher buddy Pat Robertson went on 700 Club and said that same thing in front of his national TV audience, drawing sharp condemnation from other evangelical movements and just about every other Christian group in the United States.

But that's not all - this morning in the JPost it was reported that there was this evangelical center that the Israeli government and one of the American Christian groups led by Pat Robertson were collaborating on building near Galilee, and after that statement Robertson made, Israel unilaterally cut off all funding and shut the project down Should have seen that coming a mile away.

Politics and crazy preachers aside, Sharon is doing much better than originally expected, but it will take some more time to know fully how he will recover from this. Bezrat hashem, he will be 100% recovered.

[tumblezweedz]

Yeah, I didn't want to name the crazy preacher's name, but that was my reference. Honestly, how do people say stuff like that and not expect a backlash. Sounds like cutting off funding was a responsible decision, the world doesn't need a lot more of that kind of "evangelization".