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Margaret Reis's avatar

So much hatred! It boggles the mind. The right-wing everywhere just seems to believe that war is the answer, but all it does is bring destruction and genocide and the hatred is still there.

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Benjamin R. Stockton's avatar

@Margaret. Still there or made worse. Every dead father begets radicalized sons. Every terrorist attack begets right wing supporters. Doom loop. That’s part of why I say we need a multi-national peacekeeping military force to separate the combatants and de-escalate the hostilities. It’s only a prayer, no one has a plan…

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Margaret Reis's avatar

True. That is why I fear Israel is not going to wipe out Hamas, but increase its followers. Violence never solves the problems.

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Benjamin R. Stockton's avatar

@Margaret. Yes, Bibi has a very bad plan. But when there are people committed to violence (Iran, HAMAS, and yes Israel) those seeking peace can use force to suppress and limit violent acts. We saw the partition of Germany end with re-integration. We still have the DMZ in Korea keeping a kind of peace. But the Gaza border with Israel had no international supervision. Both sides violated the treaties and agreements.

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Margaret Reis's avatar

Using force to stop force sounds impossible except in war like WW2 and Ukraine. I have my doubts about it working. It only worked after WW2 and Korean War were basically over.

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Benjamin R. Stockton's avatar

@Margaret. Not a perfect solution for sure. Probably impossible too. But those difficulties don’t make any other solution more likely…

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Lynda Letourneau's avatar

There is so much irony in a peacekeeping military force....painful irony.

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Tara LeBlanc 🇨🇦's avatar

Thank you for laying this out! The simplistic condemnations of Biden's policy and my own government's (Canada) simplistic condemnation of Israel has been driving me nuts!! The only thing I can add is that both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples need to reject their current extreme governments and vote for peace and democracy. True change will elude them until then...

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Benjamin R. Stockton's avatar

@Tara. Agree!

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Elizabeth K. Baker's avatar

Thank you.

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Lynda Letourneau's avatar

Isn't a peacekeeping military force akin to what we did in Afghanistan and in Vietnam? It's like FORCING people to be kind, or quit drinking or quit any ingrained habit. I know that this may sound quite naive but I deeply believe that our best hope is for ALL who can and are willing to dig deep within and pray and put light and love into this World. It doesn't matter what faith practice. Light puts out darkness. My prayer.

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