Israel

[FarAway Sooner]

I was listening to an interview on National Public Radio this morning, where they had a panel of American-Israelis talking about the plight.  One of the participants was a retired Professor of Middle Eastern studies at Brandeis who was in Israel right now and not opting to take shelter in his house's bomb shelter.  His explanation:  "We are actually hosting a remembrance for my daughter and son-in-law who died at last week's music festival, and we have so many guests that there is no room for me in our shelter.  I'm just being a generous host."

What was striking to me was how nuanced their perspectives were.  One told the story of a Palestinian-born paramedic who was at the music festival.  When shots started happening and people were fleeing, he headed toward the sound of shooting , because he knew people would be treated.  I inferred from the comments that he was subsequently killed.

Another was talking about how complicated things are for those living in Israel.  One of them said something to the effect of, "There are good people of every kind in this region, and we can't forget about them.  If we start treating all Palestinians like they are Hamas, we'll have adopted Hamas' worldview.  That will mean victory for them."

All of them agreed that Hamas must pay.

[Redwolf]

It only took 9 to pull-off 9/11. All were in country illegally as I recall. That's why I worry about Sleeper Cells.

I don't know whether they overstayed their visa, but they did not come in illegally. They had student visa. I'm sure Wikipedia will have the details.

ETA: didn't read the previous replies to this post

[SirAndrewD]

I don't know whether they overstayed their visa, but they did not come in illegally. They had student visa. I'm sure Wikipedia will have the details.

I really don't want to get involved in this because as we see with the hospital bombing, facts and data are far less persuasive than personal biases. 

I'll just leave this and hope we get off the subject...

"This policy analysis identifies 219 foreign‐�born terrorists in the United States who killed 3,046 people in attacks on U.S. soil from 1975 through the end of 2022. Nine of them were illegal immigrants; 70 were lawful permanent residents; 22 were students; 1 entered on a K‑1 fiancé(e) visa; 28 were refugees; 13 were asylum seekers; 44 were tourists on various visas; 14 were from Visa Waiver Program countries; 1 entered on an A‑2 visa for government business or military training; and 1 was on an H‑1B visa for skilled temporary foreign workers. The visas for the remaining 16 terrorists could not be determined. During that period, the chance of being murdered by a foreign‐�born terrorist on U.S. soil was 1 in 4,338,984 a year. The annual chance of being murdered by someone other than a foreign‐�born terrorist in a normal homicide was more than 316 times greater than the chance of dying in a foreign‐�born terrorist's attack." - Cato Institute

Light reading for those that want to analyze data before making decisions..

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7926034/

https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/terrorism-immigration#introduction

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0049089X20301101

https://www.cfr.org/blog/southern-border-poses-terrorism-risks-homegrown-threats-still-loom-larger

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://whanchoi.people.uic.edu/Does-Restrictive-Immigration-Policy-Reduce-Terrorism-in-Western-Democracies.pdf

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/03/14/around-the-world-more-say-immigrants-are-a-strength-than-a-burden/

[Redwolf]

you guys worry about sleeper cells ?

the first minister of scottland Humza Yousaf
(who is humping a Palestine-offspring women btw , and so his mother in law is trapped in Gaza on family vistits ) ask for a refugee scheme and want to build a Gaza in Scotland, Europe and elsewhere 
 
https://twitter.com/HumzaYousaf/status/1714602956857757706

and here are his Hamas ties history
https://www.thejc.com/news/news/scottish-first-minister-hopeful-humza-yousaf-met-former-hamas-chief-6FYnnRGZMqczibvhaAqnpB

Technically he is correct - there needs to be a better solution to refugees than just sitting in few countries with pending asylum trials.

Of course nobody wants the population of Gaza which did (probably) vote for Hamas in a majority.

[al_infierno]

Of course nobody wants the population of Gaza which did (probably) vote for Hamas in a majority.

I believe the median age in Gaza is rougly 19, so most of the current population wouldn't have been voting age or even born yet when Hamas came to power.

[FarAway Sooner]

MikeGER, if anybody on this board were to use the phrase "who is humping a Jewish-offspring woman BTW" they'd be promptly drawn and quartered. 

I think it's fair to question the motives of any public figure, but if we don't use the same standards for how we refer to folks of all the different races, we end up being racist ourselves.

[GDS_Starfury]

the US Navy, feeling bored, decided to shoot down some missiles and drones today.
 

[Uberhaus]

Hamas has Explosively Formed Projectiles:  https://www.businessinsider.com/captured-hamas-weapons-israel-face-efp-ieds-terrified-us-iraq-2023-10  The article states that the Hamas munitions are produced locally.
However, I don't think people need to be reminded that Iran introduced these in Iraq to be used against US and allied troops.  The assassinated Iranian General Soleimani was attributed with the distribution of these weapons to Shia militias.

If a shooting war with Iran starts, it will be very likely that Iran resorts to terrorism, including trying to infiltrate terrorists into countries.  If war with Iran doesn't start, it will be unlikely that they resort to terrorism, not wanting to provoke.  Actions by proxies are a different matter.

[Gusington]

Iran entering the fray?

[Gusington]

Or not?

[Sir Slash]

OK. Temp Off-Topic reply to the Border Security issue we're not supposed to talk about here. Most Fentanyl comes in through Ports of Entry: Well known for some time now...by Mexican Drug Cartels. Mexican Drug Cartels use legal citizens to smuggle it in: Key word here is, "SMUGGLE" which is against the law and...done by Mexican Drug Cartels. Previous post listed, "Border Patrol" as source of numbers, did you miss that?

Solution: Ask anyone working for the Border Patrol or I.C.E. Hint: They work for the Federal Govt. NOT FOX News. I now return you to your MSNBC Fueled False Reality. 

[Gusington]

Please, let's rein it in.

 

[JasonPratt]

Well, whoever launched those drones or whatever toward Israel that we shot down in the Red Sea (could have been one of a few south-coast Arabian nations, and I'll bet western intel knows EXACTLY who by now), they probably didn't do it by their own initiative.

[GDS_Starfury]

Judith and Natalie Raanan, the American citizens who were kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas and were released earlier today. This picture was taken minutes after they crossed the border to Israel

[Gusington]

^Awesome.