Sheaf Saint

Will be interesting to hear what sort of response we get from Westminster about this. How far do Israel have to go before the government (and opposition) start calling them out?

He hasn't got a point. It's an idiotic, childish post, sarcastically ridiculing an opinion that literally nobody on this thread actually holds. As for the Brussels incident, the guy filmed himself after the attack claiming to be from IS but made no mention whatsoever of Israel, which you would think he probably would have done if his actions were in response to the current situation. Just as likely he's just a lone wolf, loose on the streets of Belgium illegally who has been planning something like this for some time. I guess we'll never know though.

Shouty wankers in the gym changing room who insist on having loud phone conversations on speaker while they're getting changed.

Only yesterday you said you don't think you are really as black and white with this as I was making out. I have to tell you that you're not really doing a very good job of convincing me of that. You appear to be firmly entrenching yourself on the side of Israel, while making false accusations against those pointing out the nuances of the situation of 'siding' with Hamas. Nobody is saying they should have done nothing. If you think that either 'nothing' or 'flattening Gaza' were the only two options available to them then that just further demonstrates your polarised viewpoint on things.

There was plenty of discussion on here about Syria while it was making headline news. And even if there wasnt, this post is pure whataboutery. I thought you were better than this Whelk.

Yeah I'd agree with all of this. I don't believe for a second that he himself is antisemitic; the support he has shown to Jewish communities over many decades disproves that IMO. But he has shown extreme naivety in a) cosying up too much to Hamas and b) failing to recognise the antisemitism that was flourishing in his party under the guise of support for Palestine.

While you've planted your flag firmly on the other side of the fence and seem unwilling to accept that it is not a simple black and white situation. For clarity, I have a lot of sympathy for the innocent Israeli people who have been killed or injured by terrorist actions from Hamas, while I also have sympathy for the great many more Palestinian civilians (see my previous post) who have suffered at the hands of Israeli occupation. You were the one claiming there is no equivalence in this scenario, and you're right, there isn't.

I've had this sent to me in a WhatsApp group - it's from a friend's other half who is Jewish... "Having visited Palestine twice and seen the reality of life under occupation and experiencing an unprovoked teargas attack by Israeli military in a peaceful civilian area I feel outraged by the sanctioning of what amounts to genocide by the governments of the UK and US and the biased reporting by much of the media. I’m sending this to all my contacts. If you want to talk about it feel free to get in touch. If you are able to share please do so. My friends in a refugee camp near Bethlehem have told me they too have had water, electricity and food supplies cut off. They are not in Gaza. They are just Palestinians. (JVP = Jewish Voice for Peace.)"

Well to bring it back to the thread topic... When I'm channel hopping in the evening and see that Jaws is on, and knowing that I'm gonna be knackered in the morning because I can't not sit and watch it all the way through to "Smile you son of a bitch".

Netanyahu has visited the massed troops (including reservists) on the Gaza border and was heard to ask them "are you ready for the next phase?" The ground assault is imminent.

I don't regularly use Twitter anymore but I would be amazed if they didn't already start on the day of the attack.

Just seen some of the latest footage from Gaza on the news. Jesus! There's no denying that what Hamas did was unconscionable, but this is most definitely not a proportionate response.

No, it would be a party with the highest number of seats but still less than 50%, hence a minority.

Is it? I thought the party with the largest vote share could attempt to form a minority government.

I don't think enough has been made of this TBH. I remember the furore a few years back when Ahmedinijad was (mis)quoted as saying he wanted to see Israel wiped off the map*. This statement from Netenyahu is no different. * - he was actually quoting the Ayatollah who in fact said that he wished the current Israeli regime could be wiped from the pages of history. Didn't stop a lot of people from frothing at the mouth about it though.

I get what you're saying Whelk, but you're still making out that it's more one-sided than it actually is. When Israeli troops demolish Palestinian homes to make room for their illegal settlements, is that them responding to aggression against them? Of course it's not. It's them proactively persecuting people whose families have lived on and worked that land for centuries for their own gain. Yes, there are many Arabs who want to end Israel's existence, but there are many in Israel who also want to completely eradicate the presence of Arabs from the region and, with the backing of the state, have been systematically going about this for decades. Don't try and make out that the desire for sole control of the land and the removal of other ethnicities is exclusive to Arabs, because it's not.

It's tragic isn't it. So much death and suffering because of some delusional bollocks written down centuries ago. I'm reminded of the episode of Red Dwarf when it transpired that the entire Cat race had obliterated each other in a holy war over whether the hats worn by the staff in the burger store in the promised land of Fujal (Fiji) should be red or blue, and Lister pointed out they were both wrong because the hats were supposed to be green. Sorry to trivialise and make light of the situation like that, but it's the way I see it.

I think this is probably spot on. The SNP will lose a fair amount of support after the recent financial scandals, but will still retain enough seats to make it difficult for Labour to win an overall majority. Lab/Lib Dem coalition is looking the most likely outcome, but despite their catastrophic handling of literally everything in recent years, the Tories will still get millions of votes and make it a closer run thing than it really should be.

I don't think you're alone in this Nick. Some of the atrocities carried out against the Palestinian people by successive Israeli governments are beyond the pale. It's little wonder there is so much hatred towards them from Gaza and the West Bank. For years I watched TV reports about it where Israeli government officials were decrying Palestinian actions and making out like they were completely unprovoked, but as I got older I realised that they are basically the equivalent of a school bully who has been picking on the same weedy little kid for years on end that goes running to the teacher complaining it's not fair when he finally fights back. BTW, I'm not in any way condoning Hamas' latest escalation. They've gone way too far this time and have started an all out war that they can't win, which will only cause a great deal more suffering for their own people and weaken sympathy to their cause in many quarters.

Tell you what Turks, why don't you take yourself along to a local league match in an old mining town in Wales and express that opinion to some other spectators, then come back and tell us how you got on, yeah? 😉

We didn't though. We scored one goal and that's never enough with this bunch. We had quite a few chances and people are saying their keeper played a blinder, but none of our efforts really tested him that much. I just can't fathom how RM worked out that a 1-0 lead would be sufficient and he killed all our forward momentum with that triple sub. After that it was just more of the same old slow, ponderous passing it around at the back until the other team have had a chance to regroup, and once they have we know we don't have the players to unlock an organised defence. We simply don't have a strong enough defence to sit on 1-0 leads either, as has been proven time and time again. With Baz in the nets there is always the chance that the oppo will score from their first shot on target, and so it proved again on Saturday. You can say it was a freak, one-off shot, but Baz was so far off his line he basically invited it. Rotherham were there for the taking. But thanks to some poor finishing and negative second half tactics, we gifted them an ill-deserved draw. Their fans will have come away from that wondering how the hell they escaped with a point.

God that's a depressing read. It just shows that RM has learned absolutely nothing.

So it begins...

I'm with you mate. I do enjoy watching rugby, but most of the time I have no idea what the referee has given certain decisions for. I also still haven't the slightest clue what the point of a scrum is.

Perhaps they do. Unfortunately, given previous Israeli form, many more undeserving Palestinian civilians will also bear the brunt of it. And all it will do is create martyrs and the whole sorry cycle of violence and bloodshed will continue.