I don’t often make political statements on this blog. But the wars in Syria and now between Palestine and Israel sometimes hit a little close to home. At first glance this video looks like merely a statement about the strength of the Lebanese people through years of conflict. But really it’s a statement about the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel. And yes, I do blame religion.
How I survived the clown revolution in Beirut
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I believe religion is used to justify the conflict, and while it may also be partially the cause, one could equally blame the Romans for expelling the Jews from the area about 1900 years ago, or Hitler for adding fuel to the desire for a Jewish homeland.The issue is very complex, and religion is just one aspect of it.
I also believe the actions of Israel in the current conflict will do more harm than good. The only definite outcome I can see is increased radicalisation of the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip.
Religion is indeed only one aspect of it, but when we ask the people (for some reason even atheists in the Palestine and Israel), it becomes all about their ethnic religion. I wish it were more than religion. But it’s really not. It’s existential security along sectarian lines. If we bring this into politics, it’s classic (strike the previous word) Waltzian structural realism. Otherwise we would’ve seen the Democratic Republic of Greater Judea replace the British Mandate.
Actually strike all of that. Although I stand by my comment, I’m finding it difficult to find the connection between your comment and my video. If you were commenting on the video can you clarify?
I like it. Some observations:
* where the center lies depends on the status quo, which is fine
* it might be informative to look at each issue the Dems or Repubs differ over in turn, within those axes.
Incidentally, what do you think of the Horseshoe Theory?