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[squidyj]

Dude, try living in a cave in Somalia. And what about...

way to miss the point.

 

[haxamin]

My comment is simply a recognition and admission of the fact that many israelis feel this way, but please, continue on with the ad hominem attacks

way to miss the point.

. heh?

 

[Mass_Pincup]

and terrorists take advantage of these lax laws and softness on the part of law enforcement

Isn't this illegal in most countries?

I know it is (was dunno if the law past back in december) here in France.

 

[Kickz]

So what's Israel's excuse?

To busy bulldozing poor peoples homes while they sleep and then wondering why there could possibly be a backlash.

 

[haxamin]

"If in Belgium they continue eating chocolate and enjoying life, and continue to appear as great democrats and liberals, and not decided that some Muslims in their country are organizing terror, they won't be able to fight them,"

.

Aside from the obvious snarkiness of the comment, what is actually wrong with this hypothetical?

 

[michaelius]

Night raids in Belgium are illegal.

Then perhaps it's time to make them legal when country in question is biggest exporter of ISIS fighters in Europe and terrorist paradise from where their launch their attacks.

 

[Kenshin001]

To busy bulldozing poor peoples homes while they sleep and then wondering why there could possibly be a backlash.

Right. Belgium should stop bulldozing homes and oppressing Muslims.

 

[HK-47]

Seeing gutter trash go all authoritarian is hilarious.

 

[Jonm1010]

I don't agree with them now, but if I was Israeli maybe I would. You can't really understand someone's mindset until you've walked a mile in their shoes, and that is my point. There's obviously a lot of history with regards to the Israeli / Palestinian conflict and so frankly I'm neutral on the issue because I have neither the background nor the historical context to have enough perspective to take sides.

Obviously this Intelligence Minister's words were fairly insensitive, I don't think we disagree on that. But if you look through the words to the underlying message, she is saying (albeit unnecessarily crudely) that if you want to fight terrorism effectively you have to be willing to revisit some of your existing laws and "core values".

And this is another area where I mostly side with Trump (although only in principle, not in practice as I don't agree with killing terrorists' families, new forms of torture, etc). Someone earlier in this thread mentioned that they could have caught Abdeslam a long time ago but they couldn't because they weren't allowed to conduct night raids. I mean seriously? What a fucking embarrassment. The Intelligence Minister's message is that if they continue with these kind of laughable restrictions on what they can do to fight terrorism, they're going to lose.

If I play Magnus Carlsen in a game of chess, I'm going to get destroyed. If he wears a blindfold, I'll still get destroyed. Takes away 2 of his pawns, I'll still get destroyed. He loses a rook and a bishop, hey now I have a fighting chance. It doesn't matter how much stronger Belgium, or the US, or anyone else's military is than ISIS, because we don't play by the same rules. And until we close that gap, we're going to be at a disadvantage. That doesn't mean we shoudl go start burning isis members alive in cages, but we should be willing to have a discussion on how the line can be moved to make preventing terrorism more effective while making at least *some* concessions on the other side.

Her words were obviously insensitive and crass, but I don't entirely disagree with the message, which is that terrorism is a threat which has evolved from the types of threats countries saw a decade or two ago, and both law enforcement and governments need to evolve with it to effectively deal with it.



Regardless of what the wall means to Trump (i.e. if it is an actual physical wall like the Berlin wall or something), to me it means enforcing our laws and strengthening border security, using whatever method does work.

I think most people understand empathy and can apply it to Israel. I mean I get the appeal of fascism, authoritarianism and the like in the face of fear, but how does that actually justify fascist responses such as those she advocated?

It is one thing to understand where the appeal of such policies may arise from, it is quite another to begin defending and sympathizing with those arguing for such policies. There is a large gap between needing to update government defense toward modern threats and the fascist policies she speaks too.

I mean Israel isnt monolithic, the Likud party does not represent the view of the entire Israeli people, so of all the people in the country you could defend their views on, why are you choosing this party's? You say that if you were in Israel you might support this view, why? Clearly many don't in Israel otherwise the recent election wouldn't have been so contentious. What justifies it if you are in Israel but not Belgium or America? Would you apply this same sympathy to America if, say, Bernie Sanders wins or Ted Cruz? Something tells me you wouldn't, so it makes no sense to do so for a party in Israel who's views you don't support....Unless you secretly do.

 

[Kickz]

Right. Belgium should stop bulldozing homes and oppressing Muslims.

I mean Israel bulldozes Palestinian homes

 

[Ether_Snake]

The reason there are many Arabs in Belgium isn't because of a conspiracy to target a "weakly governed country", but because many Arabs speak French, and many Arabs from Germany speak German, so it attracts Arabs from north Africa, France, and Germany. There can be other reasons, but that's the number one.

After that, the police not doing a good job is a different story, seems to be true for most of Europe on this specific matter.

 

[d[-_-]b]

I mean Israel bulldozes Palestinian homes

It's Kenshin001, he knew what you meant usual suspects in a thread related to Israel.

 

[Silent Chief]

Belgium has chocolate. Israel has what? Garlic?

 

[Bonfires Down]

Yeah, yeah. Sooner or later americans are gonna wisen up to your bullshit and cut you off. Not so cocky without the worlds largest military force to back you up, I think.

 

[Gnome Scat]

 

[Dryk]

Yeah, yeah. Sooner or later americans are gonna wisen up to your bullshit and cut you off. Not so cocky without the worlds largest military force to back you up, I think.

What does Israel even have on the US that makes them follow them so blindly? Do Mossad just routinely harvest politician's dick pics as leverage?

 

[nib95]

Bloody hell...

 

[jellies_two]

Apparently silicon valley companies are as lazy as the Belgians.

Just saw this in my inbox.

 

[Kickz]

It's Kenshin001, he knew what you meant usual suspects in a thread related to Israel.

Ohhh, gotcha

 

[HK-47]

What does Israel even have on the US that makes them follow them so blindly? Do Mossad just routinely harvest politician's dick pics as leverage?

A very large Jewish population with powerful lobbies and the support of evangelicals.

 

[Dai101]

and the support of evangelicals.

But only until the rapture. Afterwards they can go fuck themselves.