Really? That’s what you’ve got? I am sorry for the loss of any life, but do you really presume to preach about loss of life between Palestinians and Israelis? For every one life story you can tell, there are at least 40 Palestinians whose story will never be heard. That’s a 40:1 ratio. And you want to talk about loss of life. Have you seen a “blue baby”? Go see one in Gaza, and then tell me about loss of life.

Kudos on the valiant effort to try to humanize Palestinians for Israelis.
However, based on the comments on this board, it is obvious to see that many Israelis indeed see us as an inferior race, if not an inferior life form. I read the articles at 972+ Magazine because the purpose at this magazine, the outlook of its columnists, make me believe that one day, we can be as one. We can fight about politics and representation and other things…but that we, Palestinians and Israelis can live together in relative peace and security. Perhaps I a mistaken, but I see that mission in all the writers at 972+.
And then I read with sadness the responses. It is nothing more than hatred spewed in pretty morphemes.
And I am sure, they will read this and then say something about this Palestinian guy who was hateful, or that Nazi sympathizer that wrote horrible things. Here’s what I have to say to those who would rationalize their racist speech.
What have you done to make things better?
When have you stepped outside of your comfort zone?
You guys struggle so hard to prove your point, you miss it. This isn’t about an arbitrary line in the sand created by this colonizing force, or the one before, or the one before that.
This is about the future of our children, the future of their children…and whether they will look at us with respect, or spit in our faces for leaving them with such a crappy legacy.

“it is precisely because of dialogue groups and contact between people on both sides of the border why there is no conflict between France and Germany today.”

No it is not. “Dialogue groups” have had nothing to do with relations between France and Germany today, nor at any other time. None. Sorry, it didn’t happen.

“It makes little sense to speak hypothetically but if Germans and French had known each other better than they did at the beginning of the 19th century, German men might have been unwilling to take up arms and invade France.”

Do you mean the beginning of the 20th century? Just which war are you talking about? “German men” didn’t just decide to invade France. Leaders of all those countries made certain decisions based on their perceived interests at the time. The soldiers obeyed their orders. You want to blame the leaders, go read some history and find out why they made the decisions they did.

“The fact that they didn’t know anyone on the other side made it much easier for army recruiters to mobilize.”

Why do you assume no one knew anyone on the other side? Why don’t you find out if each army was volunteer or conscripted?

No wonder you guys are such useful idiots. You don’t know anything and you dont’ even know what you don’t know. So you can’t apply any institutional wisdom to interpreting what you are experiencing now. Go look up the phrase “useful idiot” and who said it in what context, then look in the mirror.

There are many lessons we can draw from this but one thing is pretty clear.. Jews need to control their own religious sites because the goodwill of Arab neighbours can never be guaranteed!

a) it wasn’t the first massacre of Jews in Europe
b) it happened in Granada.

“IT is true that there weren’t as many outright massacres,”
Not nearly as many. Didn’t come close.

“but Jews were looked down on by the Muslim population”
Shame. Catholics looked down upon by Protestants, Muslims looked down upon by Jews, Arabs looked down upon by Jews, Christians looked down upon by Jews, and all that viced and versaed to boot. Then, to top it all, sephardim looked down upon by ashkenazim as well (& vice-versa too). What a world!