My thoughts on Israel

[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.

[Age]

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.

What is 'it', exactly, you sincerely hope all turns out well for the human beings living on a parcel of land called "israel"?

Do you hope that they get to kill and slaughter more children and babies living on parcels of land bordering or nearing 'that parcel of land?

Or, is there something else that you sincerely hope all turns out well for 'those human beings'?

[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.

What is 'it', exactly, you sincerely hope all turns out well for the human beings living on a parcel of land called "israel"?

Do you hope that they get to kill and slaughter more children and babies living on parcels of land bordering or nearing 'that parcel of land?

Or, is there something else that you sincerely hope all turns out well for 'those human beings'?

I think if they're attacked by terrorists, and terrorist regimes, they have a right to defend themselves. What I hope works out for them is that they can live in peace, in their own country, free from such attacks.

[accelafine]

Everyone I've known who has visited Israel has loved it, and none of them are Jewish or even religious.
No wonder the 'palestinians' are eaten up with hatred and bitterness. How furious they are that Jews created a beautiful, thriving country, while 'palestinians' were spending vast amounts of money on ways to kill them instead of on making a nice place for themselves. Interesting that Israeli Arabs don't share that hatred and resentment...

[LuckyR]

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.

A perfectly reasonable anecdote... that someone could have written in 1930 about the British Mandate of Palestine.

[Age]

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.

What is 'it', exactly, you sincerely hope all turns out well for the human beings living on a parcel of land called "israel"?

Do you hope that they get to kill and slaughter more children and babies living on parcels of land bordering or nearing 'that parcel of land?

Or, is there something else that you sincerely hope all turns out well for 'those human beings'?

I think if they're attacked by terrorists, and terrorist regimes, they have a right to defend themselves.

Do you also think when people on other countries are attacked by "israeli terrorist regime" that they have a right to defend "themselves", as well?

What I hope works out for them is that they can live in peace, in their own country, free from such attacks.

Do you hope this for each and every person on earth, or only for some particular groups of people?

[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.

A perfectly reasonable anecdote... that someone could have written in 1930 about the British Mandate of Palestine.

True, because in 1930 it was a secular, Western land mass, with universities and hotels.

[Age]

Everyone I've known who has visited Israel has loved it, and none of them are Jewish or even religious.
No wonder the 'palestinians' are eaten up with hatred and bitterness.

So, the "palestinians" are not being 'eaten up' with hatred and bitterness because they are being continually oppressed, bombed, and killed, and because the lands that they lived on is being continually taken from them, but solely because other people love visiting "israel".

'This' really was how closed and blind some people really were, back in the days when this was being written.

How furious they are that Jews created a beautiful, thriving country, while 'palestinians' were spending vast amounts of money on ways to kill them instead of on making a nice place for themselves. Interesting that Israeli Arabs don't share that hatred and resentment...

Interesting that some people became as blind, closed, and as stupid as 'this one' clearly and plainly is.

[accelafine]

Interesting that some people became as blind, closed, and as stupid as 'this one' clearly and plainly is.

'This one' is correct, since it's referring to yourself. You need to get out of your AI-induced bullshit propaganda algorithm and grow a brain. I suppose you expect Israel to just forget about the rest of the hostages and sit around and wait for another depraved act of genocide from your heroes in Hamas (you know, the group that's slaughtering its own people and blaming Israel so that virtue-signalling Jew-hating cnuts like you can get their rocks off and claim the moral high ground).

[Maia]

Everyone I've known who has visited Israel has loved it, and none of them are Jewish or even religious.
No wonder the 'palestinians' are eaten up with hatred and bitterness. How furious they are that Jews created a beautiful, thriving country, while 'palestinians' were spending vast amounts of money on ways to kill them instead of on making a nice place for themselves. Interesting that Israeli Arabs don't share that hatred and resentment...

Indeed, I would recommend it to anyone. Especially those who have swallowed the anti-Israel propaganda pumped out by the media.

Places like Gaza could have been really lovely, with their Mediterranean coast.

[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.

A perfectly reasonable anecdote... that someone could have written in 1930 about the British Mandate of Palestine.

That was around the time, I believe, of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The one who was pro-Hitler and visited him a few times, to discuss their thoughts about the Jews.

[Maia]

What is 'it', exactly, you sincerely hope all turns out well for the human beings living on a parcel of land called "israel"?

Do you hope that they get to kill and slaughter more children and babies living on parcels of land bordering or nearing 'that parcel of land?

Or, is there something else that you sincerely hope all turns out well for 'those human beings'?

I think if they're attacked by terrorists, and terrorist regimes, they have a right to defend themselves.

Do you also think when people on other countries are attacked by "israeli terrorist regime" that they have a right to defend "themselves", as well?

What I hope works out for them is that they can live in peace, in their own country, free from such attacks.

Do you hope this for each and every person on earth, or only for some particular groups of people?

Israel is a democracy, with freedom of speech and belief. It is not a terrorist regime.

I wish for peace for everyone on earth who also wishes for peace.

[Maia]

Everyone I've known who has visited Israel has loved it, and none of them are Jewish or even religious.
No wonder the 'palestinians' are eaten up with hatred and bitterness.

So, the "palestinians" are not being 'eaten up' with hatred and bitterness because they are being continually oppressed, bombed, and killed, and because the lands that they lived on is being continually taken from them, but solely because other people love visiting "israel".

'This' really was how closed and blind some people really were, back in the days when this was being written.

How furious they are that Jews created a beautiful, thriving country, while 'palestinians' were spending vast amounts of money on ways to kill them instead of on making a nice place for themselves. Interesting that Israeli Arabs don't share that hatred and resentment...

Interesting that some people became as blind, closed, and as stupid as 'this one' clearly and plainly is.

The Palestinians lost land every time they launched a war against Israel and lost. This includes, for example, the war that all the surrounding Arab countries launched against Israel at the time of its creation.

And yet, even today, something like 20% of the population of Israel are Arab Muslims. Another 50% of the rest, or around that, are Arab Jews, who were expelled from Arab countries, where some had been living for well over two millennia (long before there were any Muslims), at the time of the creation of Israel. Where did the Arabs expect they were going to go?

[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.

A perfectly reasonable anecdote... that someone could have written in 1930 about the British Mandate of Palestine.

That was around the time, I believe, of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The one who was pro-Hitler and visited him a few times, to discuss their thoughts about the Jews.

Touche. The very same grand mufti who thought the Nazis weren't moving fast enough to eradicate Jews.

[Maia]

A perfectly reasonable anecdote... that someone could have written in 1930 about the British Mandate of Palestine.

That was around the time, I believe, of the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. The one who was pro-Hitler and visited him a few times, to discuss their thoughts about the Jews.

Touche. The very same grand mufti who thought the Nazis weren't moving fast enough to eradicate Jews.

Up until that time there were some, at least, among the Nazis who advocated sending the Jews to Palestine, but it was he who persuaded them not to.