Oreo
If everyone would just keep their comments about the conflict in Gaza and the Israeli government to exactly that then it would be so much better for the thread.I sadly don’t think that they will.
The difficulty in keeping the discussion solely on Gaza / the Israeli government, is that the conflict did not spontaneously occur for no apparent reason.
And it is these 'reasons' that are inevitably commented on - how can it be otherwise?
Anti-Semitism is real, I think quite a few have been aware of that fact outside of the current conflict, especially if we have, as I do, a Jewish family member. Inevitably what is happening in Gaza will be seen as a licence for bigots to crawl from under their rocks.
However there is a very distinct line between such individuals and those of us who are critical of Netanyahu and the Israeli government, we are most certainly not the same species. If that's not recognised - understood - then discussions on Gaza will go nowhere. I mean, we can all ask, "what will Trump do next", etc - well, we can read the news media to find out, and just state the bald facts etc as we're fed them.
But then, what point a discussion / debate?
The OP says that, as much as she dislikes Trump, she thinks he might just have enough influence to achieve the end of the Gaza war. And as much as many of us dislike Trump, I can't imagine we'd object if he achieved that. One more dead Palestinian - or Israeli soldier - is one more too many.
But Trump doesn't act alone - in spite of the impression he gives that he does, he is influenced and pressured by lobbyists, there are economic matters to take into account, among other issues.
Unless these wider issues are allowable for discussion - and that includes as I said, very real anti-Semitism, then we are simply going to ask, "can Trump bring about the end of the war in Gaza?" To which the reply is either, "yes, I believe so", or, "no, I don't think he can"... and one might just as well read the various news media to get a view on that.
... so that's what I've been doing and will now bow out of this thread to get a wider view - not that I've contributed much anyway - but if 'staying on topic' means, as I think it does, that matters, the history, etc, that underpin this crisis, are not up for debate, then there's no further point in being on the thread, although it has been an interesting one.
I hope Trump does have the power to put an end to this conflict, I really do.
