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I'm old and I remember a different Israel. It was an Israel I liked much better than the one I see today. I remember people like Golda Meir who were Jews in an ethnic, rather than religious sense. I remember Yitzak Rabin who tried to make peace with the Palestinians before he was assassinated by a radical among his own people. I remember a small country that was not power hungry, but simply sought a place for itself and its people in a hostile region of the world. As an American, I was proud to associate with and support this "underdog".
Israel does not have to be weak to be the underdog.
You just say that when they were weak, they had your support. That is the problem for many problems. What wrong with being right and strong at the same time.
It was very sad that Rabin was murdered by an Israeli, and I think and believe that had Rabin stayed alive he would have stopped the fiasco with Arafat.
Now, Israel largely seems to be run by religious nuts and hawks. Where did the moderates go? Where did all these religious fundamentalist nuts come from? What justification in the modern world is there for closing all businesses on either Saturday or Sunday?
Israel is a Jewish state that keep Sabbat at least in the main areas, like no public buses etc.
It is agreed that in area with very religious Jews places are kept close. I don't like it when the Haredi Jews force it. Some of them The Meah Shearim type, don't support the country don't serve in the army, and are even meeting with enemies of Israel to help them.
The article was not available so I an not reacting to it.
I am not a Jew or an Israeli. I am simply an interested observer. I don't like what I am seeing in Israel and alot of it has to do with these ultraorthodox nuts. I wish Israel the best. I fear for its future based on what I see right now.
There is an interesting demographic shift underway in Israel, as ultraorthodox Haredi Jews now make up 25% of children entering school, and total about 700,000 members overall (out of a total population of 7.28 million), with a fertility rate of 8.8 children per woman.
The rise of the Haredi class has led to confrontations and clashes with secular Israelis, with businesses being attacked for not closing on the Sabbath, or women being assaulted and spat on for wearing skirts in certain areas. In turn, this has caused some secular Israelis to expatriate altogether, fearing the eventual rise of a Haredi-driven social theocracy of sorts.
This article describes the situation in greater depth:
What will a future Israel look like if the Haredi percentages continue to rise? Will children begin to leave their austere faith, and form a new secular class? Or will the secular folks increasingly be pushed away?
Why is this a issue??????
What about terrorism?
I know the far left dislike the jews...
Why is this a issue??????
What about terrorism?
I know the far left dislike the jews...
This is an internal issue in Israel as the ultraorthodox political parties are able to force religious legislation on a mainly secular Israeli Jewish population.
Also it is the ultraorthodox Israelis that believe in the concept of biblical Israel and therefore believe it is their right to live in areas such as the West Bank, etc. where there is an Arab Palestinian majority.
Anybody ever wonder what became of the Philistines the Jews kicked out of Israel after David did his thing on Goliath? They eventually became Palestinians. Now the want their land back.
I have been toying with writing a novel set in a world where David's sling stone missed.
Anybody ever wonder what became of the Philistines the Jews kicked out of Israel after David did his thing on Goliath? They eventually became Palestinians. Now the want their land back.
I have been toying with writing a novel set in a world where David's sling stone missed.
Greg you are basing this on what exactly? Similar names? The romans named their conquered region after the long extinct people "Philistines" to take away the Jewish identity on purpose. Todays Palestinians have no relation to ancient Philistines.
Except they are getting screwed over by the Israelies.
Again you are wrong. They are getting screwed over by their corrupt leaders who have no interest in bettering the lives of their people.
If you continue spewing out more nonsensical rubbish you are only exposing your own ignorance on the matter.
What caught my eye here is the conflict with the stats I have seen. They say the only cultural shift being seen in Israel is the shift to the non religious, not the ultra-orthodox. The last I saw 25% of their population was non-religious. There was no breakdown if those non religious were of Jewish, Christian, or Muslim background. I think some of the confusion is when people think of Jews, they see only religion, but there is a large group who are of the Jewish culture, but don’t follow any religious view. This is a trend world wide in more than just the Jewish culture. The non religious are statically the forth largest segment of the world population based on religious views, and they are growing faster than any other group. I think after reading the stats I would have to ask what affect will the non religious have on the future of Israel and the world. It might be a better out come than endless wars over who picked the right god.
What caught my eye here is the conflict with the stats I have seen. They say the only cultural shift being seen in Israel is the shift to the non religious, not the ultra-orthodox. The last I saw 25% of their population was non-religious. There was no breakdown if those non religious were of Jewish, Christian, or Muslim background. I think some of the confusion is when people think of Jews, they see only religion, but there is a large group who are of the Jewish culture, but don’t follow any religious view. This is a trend world wide in more than just the Jewish culture. The non religious are statically the forth largest segment of the world population based on religious views, and they are growing faster than any other group. I think after reading the stats I would have to ask what affect will the non religious have on the future of Israel and the world. It might be a better out come than endless wars over who picked the right god.
In Israel there is a conflict of interests between the secular Jewish Israelis and the untraorthodox Jews who live there. Secular (Jewish) Israelis are like non-religious Americans. They identify with their country rather than their religious background. In Israel all the national holidays are Jewish holidays (except the Israeli Independence Day) much like the USA where Christmas is national holiday.
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