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misscamThere were riots in Oslo yesterday. Yeah, really. We haven't had any in... I can't really remember, but 'ever' sort of comes to mind. Not like these ones, anyway. Windows broken, attempts to start fire, 31 people arrested and most the population going what the fuck?
Do you need three guesses on what started this?
Did you guess Israel/Palestine? Ding ding ding! Of course, it was Israel and Palestine. And most of those arrested seem to be second-generation-immigration, as we tend to call them in Norway. Many with a history of violence. In addition, some stupid football hooligans (known as 'casuals', Norway's got a few hundred of them I believe) also got involved. That they give a shit about either Israel or Palestine, I refuse to believe. In short, a lot of people seem to have just gotten into it for 'yay! violence!' reasons.
To which I say, fuck you. Even the two street gangs Oslo have (who do all sorts of shit) have been all bitch, please. When even street gangs tell you off, you've sunk low. Low low low low.
But this whole thing undeniably started with demonstrations for and against Israel. One elderly guy who was carrying an Israel flag was attacked, though two young muslim boys apparently got him out and no serious harm done. (Props, two young muslim guys!) And ARGH. I've been discussing the conflict with various people on different sides, and probably if you're strongly for one or the other, you might not like my opinion.
Because me, I'm giving grief to the Israeli government and Hamas both, you better believe it. And at the same time, I feel so really bad for the Israeli and Palestine people both. People are dying. The situation sucks. Palestine is getting screwed over by states around it who are using it to maintain a conflict with Israel for their own reasons as well as being strangled by Israel and territory being occupied. The only options for people seem to be either Hamas, who I will lay into very shortly, or Fatah, which have not managed to govern too well and have been accused of various not so great things including corruption. (To sum up, options are 'suck' or 'suckier' and which is which just depends what you judge them on.) The Gaza Strip is one of the poorest regions on Earth, with rampant unemployment and a strong dependency on aid. Israel, on the other hand, are constantly threatened, targetted, slammed and outright attacked. Israel doesn't need conspiracy theories, it knows a lot of countries would like to wipe it off the map by any means necessary. Couple this with a very long history of anti-semitism and Israel has many genuine reasons to feel it needs to defend itself.
So, this situation sucks all around.
Hamas is full of asshats. Targetting civilians IS NEVER OKAY. All the charitable work Hamas does - and which is a huge reason for its popularity among Palestinian people - does not excuse this. They're armed and funded by extremely dodgy governments, who have their own agendas. I will have to quote Terry Pratchett here - 'what sort of creature defines itself by hatred?' I am looking at you, HAMSAS. So yeah, I do not like Hamas, but they are a reality and I don't think ignoring them will work too well. They will not magically go away. They are a part of this conflict. It's like Northern Ireland and the IRA - the peace agreement there came with the IRA as a party.
The Israeli government meanwhile, is causing suffering on a widespread scale. As mentioned above, the Gaza Strip is already poor and somewhat strangled by a blockade Israel has enacted. Some aid come through, but how much is hard to say. Israel won't allow journalists into the Gaze Strip and have at points denied there's a humanitarian crisis. BULLSHIT. You bomb and blockade a densely populated, already poor region? Fuck yeah there will be a humanitarian crisis. Norway also happen to have two doctors in the Gaza Strip, and from all accounts it's bad in there. So, how much of this can be justified by what Hamas does to Israel?
Not enough for me, I'm sorry. The scale of it is too much. I so not like Hamas, but... No. I cannot and will not defend this.
I haven't gone into the history of the conflict too much, and for a reason. Of course why and how it came to this matters, but once you get to a certain point... All sides have done so much there's blood on all hands. Once so many have died, the future has to matter more than the past. What has happened, has happened. Injustices have been committed. Children have been left parentless, and parents have had to bury their children. Pain has been endured. It can't be changed now, regardless whose fault it primarily was. There is a fine line between acknowledging wrongs of the past and getting lost in them.
I think this conflict is lost in the wrongs. (Undoubtedly, there has been many.) It's too late to right all those, because you cannot rise the dead, Palestinian or Israeli.
But you can let someone live tomorrow.
I can't really offer any great solutions - many have tried and failed. It will have to involve a lot of compromises that won't be taken happily and the will for a better future overcome the grief of a lot of suffering. It will have to mean people who wish each other dead talking to each other. That won't be easy. It will mean having to care enough for your people to give them a future and not let them die for the past.
Sometimes, I think the real hero is not the person willing to die for a casuse. It's the one who won't let others be killed in the name of it.
Now I properly depressed myself too.
In other stuff:
Among the latest to seek federal bailout, the porn industry. I dare say this seems a political thing more than anything else, but trying to get a rise out of Congress sounds like fun with all the sexual imagery you could play with.
Joe 'the Plummer' is reporting on the Irsaeli-Palestine conflict. Yes. because becoming a Republican campaign gimmick is truly a good qualifier for news reporting.
Winter is cold, and Europe is freezing with Ukraina-Russia gas conflict. Brrr. The second biggest supplier to EU from outside is Norway, so I wouldn't be surprised if we get some hints about increased production being good, yes?
With Bush almost gone, a look back at some famous 'Bushisms'.
Is "The Soup" as funny as clips like this and this make it seem? If so, WANT.
Do you need three guesses on what started this?
Did you guess Israel/Palestine? Ding ding ding! Of course, it was Israel and Palestine. And most of those arrested seem to be second-generation-immigration, as we tend to call them in Norway. Many with a history of violence. In addition, some stupid football hooligans (known as 'casuals', Norway's got a few hundred of them I believe) also got involved. That they give a shit about either Israel or Palestine, I refuse to believe. In short, a lot of people seem to have just gotten into it for 'yay! violence!' reasons.
To which I say, fuck you. Even the two street gangs Oslo have (who do all sorts of shit) have been all bitch, please. When even street gangs tell you off, you've sunk low. Low low low low.
But this whole thing undeniably started with demonstrations for and against Israel. One elderly guy who was carrying an Israel flag was attacked, though two young muslim boys apparently got him out and no serious harm done. (Props, two young muslim guys!) And ARGH. I've been discussing the conflict with various people on different sides, and probably if you're strongly for one or the other, you might not like my opinion.
Because me, I'm giving grief to the Israeli government and Hamas both, you better believe it. And at the same time, I feel so really bad for the Israeli and Palestine people both. People are dying. The situation sucks. Palestine is getting screwed over by states around it who are using it to maintain a conflict with Israel for their own reasons as well as being strangled by Israel and territory being occupied. The only options for people seem to be either Hamas, who I will lay into very shortly, or Fatah, which have not managed to govern too well and have been accused of various not so great things including corruption. (To sum up, options are 'suck' or 'suckier' and which is which just depends what you judge them on.) The Gaza Strip is one of the poorest regions on Earth, with rampant unemployment and a strong dependency on aid. Israel, on the other hand, are constantly threatened, targetted, slammed and outright attacked. Israel doesn't need conspiracy theories, it knows a lot of countries would like to wipe it off the map by any means necessary. Couple this with a very long history of anti-semitism and Israel has many genuine reasons to feel it needs to defend itself.
So, this situation sucks all around.
Hamas is full of asshats. Targetting civilians IS NEVER OKAY. All the charitable work Hamas does - and which is a huge reason for its popularity among Palestinian people - does not excuse this. They're armed and funded by extremely dodgy governments, who have their own agendas. I will have to quote Terry Pratchett here - 'what sort of creature defines itself by hatred?' I am looking at you, HAMSAS. So yeah, I do not like Hamas, but they are a reality and I don't think ignoring them will work too well. They will not magically go away. They are a part of this conflict. It's like Northern Ireland and the IRA - the peace agreement there came with the IRA as a party.
The Israeli government meanwhile, is causing suffering on a widespread scale. As mentioned above, the Gaza Strip is already poor and somewhat strangled by a blockade Israel has enacted. Some aid come through, but how much is hard to say. Israel won't allow journalists into the Gaze Strip and have at points denied there's a humanitarian crisis. BULLSHIT. You bomb and blockade a densely populated, already poor region? Fuck yeah there will be a humanitarian crisis. Norway also happen to have two doctors in the Gaza Strip, and from all accounts it's bad in there. So, how much of this can be justified by what Hamas does to Israel?
Not enough for me, I'm sorry. The scale of it is too much. I so not like Hamas, but... No. I cannot and will not defend this.
I haven't gone into the history of the conflict too much, and for a reason. Of course why and how it came to this matters, but once you get to a certain point... All sides have done so much there's blood on all hands. Once so many have died, the future has to matter more than the past. What has happened, has happened. Injustices have been committed. Children have been left parentless, and parents have had to bury their children. Pain has been endured. It can't be changed now, regardless whose fault it primarily was. There is a fine line between acknowledging wrongs of the past and getting lost in them.
I think this conflict is lost in the wrongs. (Undoubtedly, there has been many.) It's too late to right all those, because you cannot rise the dead, Palestinian or Israeli.
But you can let someone live tomorrow.
I can't really offer any great solutions - many have tried and failed. It will have to involve a lot of compromises that won't be taken happily and the will for a better future overcome the grief of a lot of suffering. It will have to mean people who wish each other dead talking to each other. That won't be easy. It will mean having to care enough for your people to give them a future and not let them die for the past.
Sometimes, I think the real hero is not the person willing to die for a casuse. It's the one who won't let others be killed in the name of it.
Now I properly depressed myself too.
In other stuff:
Among the latest to seek federal bailout, the porn industry. I dare say this seems a political thing more than anything else, but trying to get a rise out of Congress sounds like fun with all the sexual imagery you could play with.
Joe 'the Plummer' is reporting on the Irsaeli-Palestine conflict. Yes. because becoming a Republican campaign gimmick is truly a good qualifier for news reporting.
Winter is cold, and Europe is freezing with Ukraina-Russia gas conflict. Brrr. The second biggest supplier to EU from outside is Norway, so I wouldn't be surprised if we get some hints about increased production being good, yes?
With Bush almost gone, a look back at some famous 'Bushisms'.
Is "The Soup" as funny as clips like this and this make it seem? If so, WANT.
