Since last night I’ve been watching an Israeli show on Netflix that I saw mentioned in some article I read. It’s critically acclaimed. Called Fauda, it’s about Israeli intelligence forces and their counterparts in Hamas. The article I read quoted Israelis as saying how realistic it is to the lived experience of being in the conflict, which of course is not in some distance place but it everyone’s backyard. The series is excellent in that it depicts Arab and Jew alike as fully formed humans whose frailties and courage and pain give rise to much sympathy. If you’re looking for a binge I would recommend checking it out.
Speaking of complicated family dynamics, flawed heroes and intense situations, we just finished binge-watching the Mideast spy thriller Fauda on Netflix. Netflix politely translates "Fauda" as "Chaos," but in this context I think it's more accurately rendered as "Clusterfuck." Really well written and acted, with a much more realistic illumination of the issues and players driving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I highly recommend it, and I understand there is a second season being released later this winter, and that the series has been renewed for a third season. (You can watch it dubbed in English, but I think it's much better in the original Hebrew & Arabic with subtitles; even if you don't speak the languages -- my modern conversational Hebrew is frankly terrible and I don't speak Arabic at all -- the emotional expression really carries regardless.)
Season 1 = West Bank; Season 2 = Gaza; Season 3 = Lebanon
Interesting essay on the Palestinian "Right of Return" and the difference between supporting "The Palestinian Cause" vs. supporting "The Palestinian People":
Zeroing-in on the refugee question is particularly important if we’re concerned about the state of Arab public opinion.
As I and many others have said for decades, the Arab states don't give a shit about the plight of the Palestinians except as an occasionally useful political tool, and the Palestinians themselves have been victims not only of Israel's oppressive policies but of their own factionalism and dependence on foreign support largely directed toward militias (see "occasionally useful political tool"). Israel's internal politics over the last 30 years (since the "Oslo Accords") has made the problem worse, particularly with a series of increasingly right-wing governments beholden to the settler movement and religious parties in order to maintain a majority in Knesset. But like any other country, unless there is an active war going on the Israeli electorate is generally more concerned with domestic economic issues than foreign relations -- especially with respect to the Palestinians, because actually resolving that issue will require tremendous economic and social costs that too many don't want to pay. It's been much easier to keep kicking the can down the road, and now here we are 30 or 56 or 75 years down the road (depending on which war you want to start counting from), and every year of delay makes it that much worse.
During my one week stay in Amman back in the good old days (90s?), it was clear that Jordanians were far from enamored of the Palestinians in their midst. Granted, my extensive social contacts (which involved much alcohol) were with Euro-ex-pats, Christian Jordanians (who drink like fish), Moslem Jordanians of the middle and upper class (who did not). This was hardly a cross-section of Jordanian every-day folks. But my party-going pals were keen to make the point that they were sick of the bloody "foreigners".
Future Trump voters if they ever emigrated to the USA I'd guess
I blame humanity
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
Since last night I’ve been watching an Israeli show on Netflix that I saw mentioned in some article I read. It’s critically acclaimed. Called Fauda, it’s about Israeli intelligence forces and their counterparts in Hamas. The article I read quoted Israelis as saying how realistic it is to the lived experience of being in the conflict, which of course is not in some distance place but it everyone’s backyard. The series is excellent in that it depicts Arab and Jew alike as fully formed humans whose frailties and courage and pain give rise to much sympathy. If you’re looking for a binge I would recommend checking it out.
Speaking of complicated family dynamics, flawed heroes and intense situations, we just finished binge-watching the Mideast spy thriller Fauda on Netflix. Netflix politely translates "Fauda" as "Chaos," but in this context I think it's more accurately rendered as "Clusterfuck." Really well written and acted, with a much more realistic illumination of the issues and players driving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I highly recommend it, and I understand there is a second season being released later this winter, and that the series has been renewed for a third season. (You can watch it dubbed in English, but I think it's much better in the original Hebrew & Arabic with subtitles; even if you don't speak the languages -- my modern conversational Hebrew is frankly terrible and I don't speak Arabic at all -- the emotional expression really carries regardless.)
Season 1 = West Bank; Season 2 = Gaza; Season 3 = Lebanon
I blame menopause brain!
I love the show, although it is frequently heartbreaking. I love that I love the characters on both sides, they’ve done brilliantly to show the shared humanity.
Also the lead dude with the dad bod and balding head is a hottie.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
I love the show, although it is frequently heartbreaking. I love that I love the characters on both sides, they’ve done brilliantly to show the shared humanity.
Also the lead dude with the dad bod and balding head is a hottie.
Did you watch dubbed or with subtitles?
Also, I may have misremembered the season locales, since there are are actually 4 seasons (and maybe a fifth?). And since it's been a while, I may be confusing some of Fauda with another spy thriller series starring Lior Raz ("lead dude with the dad bod"), Hit & Run. But you get the idea.
I love the show, although it is frequently heartbreaking. I love that I love the characters on both sides, they’ve done brilliantly to show the shared humanity.
Also the lead dude with the dad bod and balding head is a hottie.
Did you watch dubbed or with subtitles?
Also, I may have misremembered the season locales, since there are are actually 4 seasons (and maybe a fifth?). And since it's been a while, I may be confusing some of Fauda with another spy thriller series starring Lior Raz ("lead dude with the dad bod"), Hit & Run. But you get the idea.
I hate dubbing so much that I will typically avoid watching anything that way, even if it’s the only version. It ruins the acting to take away the actor’s voice and very few are dubbed with the original actor. Plus I love to hear the different languages and I’m a fast reader so subtitles are no issue for me. I actually watch a lot of programs in English with subtitles on these days so my brain can catch anything that is muffled in the dialogue or especially if the actors have crazy brogues like all the UK/Ireland based shows I watch.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
I just finished the excellent documentary of the life of Shimon Peres, Never Stop Dreaming - on Netflix. Highly recommend for an inspiring story that includes a great overview of the history of Israel.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
Last night I looked him up and learned about his early personal experience of terrorist violence, losing his teenaged years girlfriend to a horrible knife attack.
The stories he writes from that context are all the more remarkable. Season 3 about the Palestinian boxer was just brilliant from start to end.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
'The Fog of War' certainly applies to the information we in the USA are getting out of Gaza. The miracle of Hannukkah seems to be repeating. Has it been eight days ago (at least!) since I first heard there was only enough fuel for one more day of functions in the hospitals.? Yet I still hear 'barely enough for one more day. . . '
Israel is only permitting a few trucks in with humanitarian aid--but no fuel. Anybody looked at a map of Gaza? Israel does not surround it. Where are the trucks from Egypt?
The important question, the one we ignored in Iraq, (what do we do after we take over the country?) still applies. What does Israel do after it destroys the terrorists in Gaza?
BP--from what I have read is that Israel is permitting limited amounts of humanitarian aid to enter. Even though this is likely due to international pressure, I give them credit for it. Face it, if Egypt were to permit aid convoys to enter Gaza without some sort of agreement by Israel, the convoys could easily be destroyed by Israeli forces.
And your second question is the kicker, especially since I believe you do not destroy terrorism by violence, you only get others to step up and take the places of those killed or imprisoned--often many more will step up than were removed. Only a negotiated settlement will end it, but with both sides spouting hateful rhetoric, that is unlikely.
" But for40 years Israel has done the wrong thing." Easy for you to say. When was the last time a child propelled a rock at the back of your head via a slingshot on steroids? What would you do if a neighbor dropped a hundred pounds of high explosive into your backyard? Hindsight is always wonderful. Did you note anything about the recent centennial of the destruction of the black ghetto in Tulsa OK? Or the wonderful life of an Osage Indian in Oklahoma? Now we can all wring our hands and say how terrible after we walk out of the theater from a showing of 'Killers of the Flower Moon' Meanwhile (as Steve Corbert would say MEEEANWHLE) the Bureau of Indian Affiars and the Department of the Interior have been laughing for decades at court orders to submit an audit of oil royalties owned to the Indian Nations. The best thing right now for politicians seldom works out to be the best thing in the long run for the people. Politicians are worse than the most profit oriented CEO. The CEO looks at the next quarterly report. The politician looks at the next hourly headline.
BP--from what I have read is that Israel is permitting limited amounts of humanitarian aid to enter. Even though this is likely due to international pressure, I give them credit for it.
I'm reminded of a long-ago night on the south bank of the Thames when our friend Ken, inebriated as usual, climbed down to the river flats (the tide was low) and decided to walk on the mud to Southwark. Concerned for his safety, friend Mick decided to walk with him lest Ken stagger into a morass or even the river, which seemed very likely. The rest of us continued ambling along to the Southwark Bridge.
We waited there for a while until Mick hauled himself up and over the wall, spitting nails. He was covered in mud. Then up pops Ken, clean as a whistle, and weaving across the pavement. ""Hey," said Ken, "Mick fell into a swamp and I pulled him out of the mud. It was a good job I was there. He'd have died else". "F off," said Mick with feeling.
For Christianity, by identifying truth with faith, must teach-and, properly understood, does teach-that any interference with the truth is immoral. A Christian with faith has nothing to fear from the facts
But for40 years Israel has done the wrong thing." Easy for you to say. When was the last time a child propelled a rock at the back of your head via a slingshot on steroids? What would you do if a neighbor dropped a hundred pounds of high explosive into your backyard? Hindsight is always wonderful.
The point is, do you what to settle the dispute once and for all, or do you want retribution. Persons should want retribution, but the nation, as a collective, should be looking to end it, not go tit for tat. Sadly, most countries, including Israel, have forgotten this--if they ever knew it. I doesn't mean you shouldn't hit back, nor does it mean you have to give in to blackmail, but it does mean you have to look at the bigger picture and how this will ultimately be settled. And it also means we should behave morally and according to the rules of war even if we think they are not; "that's all they understand" has been used as an excuse for any number of horrible acts.
This is a small scale thing relatively speaking, but I decided to share it nonetheless.
A week or two ago I changed my Facebook profile pic from the Ukraine flag which it has been since the invasion to the Israeli flag, after watching remarks by secretary Blinken upon visiting Israel.
In the time since I’ve been getting a lot of really nasty comments to any public posts I’ve made, including a comment I made about the Maine mass shooting today which got me many angry anti Israel comments from people I don’t know but who are attacking me on that issue just because of the profile pic. When I counter with my pro Palestinian anti terrorism stance they come back harder and call me a Zionist ***.
I wish I could believe it was just bots.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
As the old saying goes,opinions are like assholes....; and there are plenty of jerks in the world.
But, FWIW, that's why I try to avoid the use of symbols. Posting a symbol, like a flag, can be taken by those who view it to mean many things--opinions are rarely quite so simple but more nuanced. People will just assume what they want to assume and act accordingly--and as for the jerks, don't try to confuse them with facts. Personally, there are two ways I deal with the jerks--usually, I just ignore them, but occasionally I have fun yanking their chains. Usually, the former is the best policy.
Last edited by Big RR on Fri Oct 27, 2023 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
