My thoughts on Israel

[accelafine]

I wasn't expecting that, I must admit. I rest my case.

Indeed. The liitle creep is showing his true colours.

Who and/what is the so-called 'little creep', exactly?

And, what are those so-called 'true colors', exactly?

Fuck off nazi c*nt. You can't hide behind your alleged 'autism' now. Autism has nothing to do with being a c*nt.

[accelafine]

I wasn't expecting that, I must admit. I rest my case.

Indeed. The liitle creep is showing his true colours.

Wow! I had to do a double-take and go back to find the actual quote myself just to confirm he wasn't being misquoted.

Age really did say that. That's "over the top", I think.

Yes, it is, but no doubt you will do an about turn as soon as he slithers back and gaslights you into believing you've seen something else altogether. You are so predictable.

[Gary Childress]

Indeed. The liitle creep is showing his true colours.

Wow! I had to do a double-take and go back to find the actual quote myself just to confirm he wasn't being misquoted.

Age really did say that. That's "over the top", I think.

Yes, it is, but no doubt you will do an about turn as soon as he slithers back and gaslights you into believing you've seen something else altogether. You are so predictable.

You always think the worst of me, thanks a lot...

[accelafine]

Wow! I had to do a double-take and go back to find the actual quote myself just to confirm he wasn't being misquoted.

Age really did say that. That's "over the top", I think.

Yes, it is, but no doubt you will do an about turn as soon as he slithers back and gaslights you into believing you've seen something else altogether. You are so predictable.

You always think the worst of me, thanks a lot...

Prove me wrong then (we live in hope ).

[accelafine]

Anyway, back to the travelogue. I think I skipped over Jerusalem a bit in my opening post.

What has where people have travelled to, or want to travel, to, got to do in a 'philosophy forum', of all places?

Would they be better written and expressed within a 'travel forum' instead?

The hotel we stayed at was on top of the Mount of Olives, outside the Old City walls, and adjoined the Church of the Ascension, from which spot, allegedly, Jesus ascended to heaven. From there, there was an extremely steep road, enclosed by high walls, leading down to the Old City. About half way down was the entrance to the Garden of Gethsemane, which we had a brief walk round. It had some extremely ancient olive trees in it, warm to the touch, in neat little square allotments. At the bottom of the hill we came to the Valley of Kidron, and had to cross a busy, multi-lane motorway to get to the Old City, which we entered via St. Stephen's Gate. My overriding impression of the Old City was of an enclosed, very crowded sort of place, which I didn't much like. I appreciated the history, of course, walking in the footsteps of so many famous people and events. We didn't get a chance to go up onto the Temple Mount, sadly, as there was a huge queue. We did, however, have time to go in a Pizza Hut right in the centre, for much needed refreshments.

We also visited the Hebrew University, and met up with a group of blind students, who told us what it was like there. And then, later, we went for a meal.

Early on both mornings, at the hotel, we heard church bells ring out from very close by, presumably the Church of the Ascension, though the whole area was full of churches and monasteries, so it could have been any of them. Then, just a few minutes later, we heard the Muslim call to prayer, also from very near. And then, a few minutes after that, the church bells again. They must have had some sort of agreement to take it in turns, rather than trying to drown each other out.

I think Jerusalem is one of those places that anyone interested in history should visit at least once, and I'm very glad to have been able to. It was a bit rushed, as we only had one full day there, but even so, it was worth it.

Okay.

In case you hadn't noticed, this is the lounge, nazi freak. If you don't like it then don't use the lounge.

[Gary Childress]

Yes, it is, but no doubt you will do an about turn as soon as he slithers back and gaslights you into believing you've seen something else altogether. You are so predictable.

You always think the worst of me, thanks a lot...

Prove me wrong then (we live in hope ).

By what means would you like me to prove you wrong? Should I condemn Age to the fiery gates of Hell? Should I rebuke him in the name of Jesus?

Age is no favorite of mine to begin with. What can anyone do? There are messed-up people in the world. Maybe it's not their fault (according to BigMike). Or maybe we're all "messed-up" (according to Age). I honestly don't know. I think modern science, especially AI is full of nut jobs, and they've got me bonkers too. I don't know where Age gets his relentless power from, but he drives me insane half the time. Apparently, Age the nazi is more intellectually powerful than Gary the basket case.

[accelafine]

You always think the worst of me, thanks a lot...

Prove me wrong then (we live in hope ).

By what means would you like me to prove you wrong? Should I condemn Age to the fiery gates of Hell? Should I rebuke him in the name of Jesus?

Age is no favorite of mine to begin with. What can anyone do? There are messed-up people in the world. Maybe it's not their fault (according to BigMike). Or maybe we're all "messed-up" (according to Age). I honestly don't know. I think modern science, especially AI is full of nut jobs, and they've got me bonkers too. I don't know where Age gets his relentless power from, but he drives me insane half the time. Apparently, Age the nazi is more intellectually powerful than Gary the basket case.

Moronic response. I'm saying he will spin you some bs and blow you like the weathervane that you are. It's so pathetic and predictable.

[Gary Childress]

Prove me wrong then (we live in hope ).

By what means would you like me to prove you wrong? Should I condemn Age to the fiery gates of Hell? Should I rebuke him in the name of Jesus?

Age is no favorite of mine to begin with. What can anyone do? There are messed-up people in the world. Maybe it's not their fault (according to BigMike). Or maybe we're all "messed-up" (according to Age). I honestly don't know. I think modern science, especially AI is full of nut jobs, and they've got me bonkers too. I don't know where Age gets his relentless power from, but he drives me insane half the time. Apparently, Age the nazi is more intellectually powerful than Gary the basket case.

Moronic response. I'm saying he will spin you some bs and blow you like the weathervane that you are. It's so pathetic and predictable.

See, I can't say anything to suit you anyway. It's pointless for me to even respond to you.

[Scott Mayers]

Those who have read my memorable trips thread will know that I spent a fortnight in Israel in 2009, when I was 17, but given the current situation, I thought I'd elaborate on that a bit, and share my thoughts.

It was a school trip, comprising members of the Upper and Lower Sixth, about 20 of us altogether, plus members of staff. I was in the Upper Sixth, my final year. It was January, the off season I suppose, but we needn't have worried about it being too cold, as it turned out to be one of the hottest places I've ever been. It was certainly cold in the UK, though, but this didn't really hit us until we flew back into Manchester, two weeks later, from Ben Gurion. We had been warned, beforehand, that while getting into Israel was easy, getting out was another matter, and they regularly strip searched tourists who were leaving. While they didn't actually subject us to this, there was definitely a lot of waiting around. I'm still not sure why this was the case, though. Why were they more worried about people leaving, than entering?

We spent the first two days at a hotel in Tel Aviv, which is a busy, modern city, just like any other. The main thing I remember about it is the boardwalk, a long promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean, with a seemingly endless row of outdoor restaurants and bars, and a whole load of delicious, tempting smells of food. It was impossible to choose which one to go in, so we just went in one at random. A guy at the entrance, fairly young, I think, said something to me in Hebrew, so I said, I'm sorry, I don't speak Hebrew, and without skipping a beat he switched immediately to flawless English, and took us to a table, and was really attentive to us the whole time we were there. We must have seemed like complete fishes out of water, having split off from the main group, four blind English girls, still in our school uniforms, at that point. Hearing about all the recent missile attacks on Tel Aviv, I couldn't help thinking about that time, and how friendly and helpful he was to us.

From Tel Aviv we took the bus to Eilat, in the extreme south of the country, and this is where the heat really hit us. The bus journey took us through the Negev Desert, and my ears popped, as we went though it, as we were apparently below sea level. We stopped for a break on the way at a small group of shops with a McDonald's, where I got a large coke. It was quite an eerie experience standing outside, in the desert, a sense of complete, desolate isolation and emptiness, despite the nearby shops. In Eilat we stayed at a hotel called Migdal Towers, which is, of course, a tautology, as migdal means tower, in Hebrew. Eilat was our base for most of the time we were there. On one of the days we took a boat trip on the Red Sea, as far as the Egyptian border, then back to Eilat. It was an old fashioned boat with a wooden deck, on which they had laid out a whole load of really nice food, olives, sun dried tomatoes, all good healthy stuff. On another day we went to a place, a little outside Eilat, called Dolphin Reef, a dolphin sanctuary on the shore of the Red Sea, and we swam with the dolphins. On another day we were supposed to go to the famous rock city of Petra, just over the border in Jordan, but we were advised not too, as tensions were high, at the time. And a lot of the rest of the time, we just lazed around on the beach and in the sea, sampling lots of different restaurants, and so on. I particularly liked all the different seafood you could get.

It goes without saying that Israel is a completely secular, Western country, but there are, nevertheless, a lot of devout Jews there, as I found out at the hotel when I realised that the lifts were going up and down, doors opening and closing, but no one was getting in or out. I asked our guide about this, and she said that since it was a Saturday, the sabbath, devout Jews were not allowed to press the button to call for a lift, as this was considered to be work, so the lifts were laid on for them.

We spent the final two nights in Jerusalem, at a hotel on the Mount of Olives, the cellars of which were apparently built by the Knights Templar, as I was recently reminded when I started reading a novel about them. I found the Old City very claustrophobic, all enclosed and full of people. We also spent a bit of time at the Hebrew University, since the trip, ostensibly at least, was supposed to be educational.

Anyway, this has turned out to be a pretty long post, but I do like writing travelogues, as some here may have noticed. Israel is a really interesting place, full of friendly people, and I sincerely hope that it all turns out well for them, as I'm sure it will.

Glad to hear you had a nice trip.?? But....are you aware of....umm....what's Israel's been up to, lately.? I know the U.S. President was speaking about setting up a nice resort not too far from there. You should check it out if you get chance.... ! ....after you've finished dining first, of course.

[accelafine]

Those who have read my memorable trips thread will know that I spent a fortnight in Israel in 2009, when I was 17, but given the current situation, I thought I'd elaborate on that a bit, and share my thoughts.

It was a school trip, comprising members of the Upper and Lower Sixth, about 20 of us altogether, plus members of staff. I was in the Upper Sixth, my final year. It was January, the off season I suppose, but we needn't have worried about it being too cold, as it turned out to be one of the hottest places I've ever been. It was certainly cold in the UK, though, but this didn't really hit us until we flew back into Manchester, two weeks later, from Ben Gurion. We had been warned, beforehand, that while getting into Israel was easy, getting out was another matter, and they regularly strip searched tourists who were leaving. While they didn't actually subject us to this, there was definitely a lot of waiting around. I'm still not sure why this was the case, though. Why were they more worried about people leaving, than entering?

We spent the first two days at a hotel in Tel Aviv, which is a busy, modern city, just like any other. The main thing I remember about it is the boardwalk, a long promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean, with a seemingly endless row of outdoor restaurants and bars, and a whole load of delicious, tempting smells of food. It was impossible to choose which one to go in, so we just went in one at random. A guy at the entrance, fairly young, I think, said something to me in Hebrew, so I said, I'm sorry, I don't speak Hebrew, and without skipping a beat he switched immediately to flawless English, and took us to a table, and was really attentive to us the whole time we were there. We must have seemed like complete fishes out of water, having split off from the main group, four blind English girls, still in our school uniforms, at that point. Hearing about all the recent missile attacks on Tel Aviv, I couldn't help thinking about that time, and how friendly and helpful he was to us.

From Tel Aviv we took the bus to Eilat, in the extreme south of the country, and this is where the heat really hit us. The bus journey took us through the Negev Desert, and my ears popped, as we went though it, as we were apparently below sea level. We stopped for a break on the way at a small group of shops with a McDonald's, where I got a large coke. It was quite an eerie experience standing outside, in the desert, a sense of complete, desolate isolation and emptiness, despite the nearby shops. In Eilat we stayed at a hotel called Migdal Towers, which is, of course, a tautology, as migdal means tower, in Hebrew. Eilat was our base for most of the time we were there. On one of the days we took a boat trip on the Red Sea, as far as the Egyptian border, then back to Eilat. It was an old fashioned boat with a wooden deck, on which they had laid out a whole load of really nice food, olives, sun dried tomatoes, all good healthy stuff. On another day we went to a place, a little outside Eilat, called Dolphin Reef, a dolphin sanctuary on the shore of the Red Sea, and we swam with the dolphins. On another day we were supposed to go to the famous rock city of Petra, just over the border in Jordan, but we were advised not too, as tensions were high, at the time. And a lot of the rest of the time, we just lazed around on the beach and in the sea, sampling lots of different restaurants, and so on. I particularly liked all the different seafood you could get.

It goes without saying that Israel is a completely secular, Western country, but there are, nevertheless, a lot of devout Jews there, as I found out at the hotel when I realised that the lifts were going up and down, doors opening and closing, but no one was getting in or out. I asked our guide about this, and she said that since it was a Saturday, the sabbath, devout Jews were not allowed to press the button to call for a lift, as this was considered to be work, so the lifts were laid on for them.

We spent the final two nights in Jerusalem, at a hotel on the Mount of Olives, the cellars of which were apparently built by the Knights Templar, as I was recently reminded when I started reading a novel about them. I found the Old City very claustrophobic, all enclosed and full of people. We also spent a bit of time at the Hebrew University, since the trip, ostensibly at least, was supposed to be educational.

Anyway, this has turned out to be a pretty long post, but I do like writing travelogues, as some here may have noticed. Israel is a really interesting place, full of friendly people, and I sincerely hope that it all turns out well for them, as I'm sure it will.

Glad to hear you had a nice trip.?? But....are you aware of....umm....what's Israel's been up to, lately.? I know the U.S. President was speaking about setting up a nice resort not too far from there. You should check it out if you get chance.... ! ....after you've finished dining first, of course.

Heard what woke yank ***** have been up to lately?

[Maia]

Those who have read my memorable trips thread will know that I spent a fortnight in Israel in 2009, when I was 17, but given the current situation, I thought I'd elaborate on that a bit, and share my thoughts.

It was a school trip, comprising members of the Upper and Lower Sixth, about 20 of us altogether, plus members of staff. I was in the Upper Sixth, my final year. It was January, the off season I suppose, but we needn't have worried about it being too cold, as it turned out to be one of the hottest places I've ever been. It was certainly cold in the UK, though, but this didn't really hit us until we flew back into Manchester, two weeks later, from Ben Gurion. We had been warned, beforehand, that while getting into Israel was easy, getting out was another matter, and they regularly strip searched tourists who were leaving. While they didn't actually subject us to this, there was definitely a lot of waiting around. I'm still not sure why this was the case, though. Why were they more worried about people leaving, than entering?

We spent the first two days at a hotel in Tel Aviv, which is a busy, modern city, just like any other. The main thing I remember about it is the boardwalk, a long promenade on the coast of the Mediterranean, with a seemingly endless row of outdoor restaurants and bars, and a whole load of delicious, tempting smells of food. It was impossible to choose which one to go in, so we just went in one at random. A guy at the entrance, fairly young, I think, said something to me in Hebrew, so I said, I'm sorry, I don't speak Hebrew, and without skipping a beat he switched immediately to flawless English, and took us to a table, and was really attentive to us the whole time we were there. We must have seemed like complete fishes out of water, having split off from the main group, four blind English girls, still in our school uniforms, at that point. Hearing about all the recent missile attacks on Tel Aviv, I couldn't help thinking about that time, and how friendly and helpful he was to us.

From Tel Aviv we took the bus to Eilat, in the extreme south of the country, and this is where the heat really hit us. The bus journey took us through the Negev Desert, and my ears popped, as we went though it, as we were apparently below sea level. We stopped for a break on the way at a small group of shops with a McDonald's, where I got a large coke. It was quite an eerie experience standing outside, in the desert, a sense of complete, desolate isolation and emptiness, despite the nearby shops. In Eilat we stayed at a hotel called Migdal Towers, which is, of course, a tautology, as migdal means tower, in Hebrew. Eilat was our base for most of the time we were there. On one of the days we took a boat trip on the Red Sea, as far as the Egyptian border, then back to Eilat. It was an old fashioned boat with a wooden deck, on which they had laid out a whole load of really nice food, olives, sun dried tomatoes, all good healthy stuff. On another day we went to a place, a little outside Eilat, called Dolphin Reef, a dolphin sanctuary on the shore of the Red Sea, and we swam with the dolphins. On another day we were supposed to go to the famous rock city of Petra, just over the border in Jordan, but we were advised not too, as tensions were high, at the time. And a lot of the rest of the time, we just lazed around on the beach and in the sea, sampling lots of different restaurants, and so on. I particularly liked all the different seafood you could get.

It goes without saying that Israel is a completely secular, Western country, but there are, nevertheless, a lot of devout Jews there, as I found out at the hotel when I realised that the lifts were going up and down, doors opening and closing, but no one was getting in or out. I asked our guide about this, and she said that since it was a Saturday, the sabbath, devout Jews were not allowed to press the button to call for a lift, as this was considered to be work, so the lifts were laid on for them.

We spent the final two nights in Jerusalem, at a hotel on the Mount of Olives, the cellars of which were apparently built by the Knights Templar, as I was recently reminded when I started reading a novel about them. I found the Old City very claustrophobic, all enclosed and full of people. We also spent a bit of time at the Hebrew University, since the trip, ostensibly at least, was supposed to be educational.

Anyway, this has turned out to be a pretty long post, but I do like writing travelogues, as some here may have noticed. Israel is a really interesting place, full of friendly people, and I sincerely hope that it all turns out well for them, as I'm sure it will.

Glad to hear you had a nice trip.?? But....are you aware of....umm....what's Israel's been up to, lately.? I know the U.S. President was speaking about setting up a nice resort not too far from there. You should check it out if you get chance.... ! ....after you've finished dining first, of course.

I haven't heard about anything that Israel has done that isn't justified as self defence, and trying to get their hostages back (or "sausages" as our esteemed prime minister called them on one occasion). Bear in mind that the Palestinians started this war by invading Israel, capturing civilians at a music festival, killing babies, raping women and generally acting in the most barbaric way imaginable. You don't get to start a war and then cry foul when you start losing.

[promethean75]

"You don't get to start a war and then cry foul when you start losing"

That's what the arabs have been telling the jews since like 1940.

... and if it weren't for the U.S. protecting its new satellite state in the Middle East, the arabs would have erased the jews by now.

[accelafine]

"You don't get to start a war and then cry foul when you start losing"

That's what the arabs have been telling the jews since like 1940.

... and if it weren't for the U.S. protecting its new satellite state in the Middle East, the arabs would have erased the jews by now.

True, because the Arab states are known to love plasticinians, which is why they are so keen to welcome them into their countries
Why would you like 'The Jews' to be erased?

[Maia]

"You don't get to start a war and then cry foul when you start losing"

That's what the arabs have been telling the jews since like 1940.

... and if it weren't for the U.S. protecting its new satellite state in the Middle East, the arabs would have erased the jews by now.

The Arabs conquered Palestine in the 7th century, and it had previously been owned by the Jews. Even during Roman times lots of Jews still lived there. The only real difference between the Arab conquest, and the Israelis taking over the land, is the length of time that has elapsed since it happened, and also the fact that the Arabs had never lived there before.

It may indeed be true that Israel couldn't survive without the USA, but this doesn't change the fact the facts on the ground.

[accelafine]

Not to mention the fact that Zionists PURCHASD the land legally from Arab landownders. The landowners thought they would be able to just take it back again. They thought wrong. Jews emigrated there legally. Interesting that wokies are so keen for muslims to emigrate en masse to Europe, yet say that Jews had no right to emigrate to Israel.
I don't like the 'ancestral homeland' argument though. No other country has to justify its existence so why should Israel have to? They bought land. They emigrated. They won it after multiple attacks. They built a gorgeous country from nothing in a short space of time. Why does that ENRAGE people so much? They practically foam at the mouth with rage over it.