I don't feel like setting the facts straight yet again, so I will get personal.
I served in the IDF from August '97 to August 2000. I had a friend who lost an eye from an anti-personel mine as we wewre clearing them out of northern Israel. They were there to protect us from Islamic fundamentalists who were brought up in hatred of Israel and the US.
I personally know two of the three soilders who were kidnapped by the Hezbullah on October 7th last year. Adi Avitan and Benny Avraham. If you doubt it I have the pictures to prove it. So you see, I have plenty of reason to hate, hate, hate. But as I walk down a street and pass by an Arab-looking fellow, what do I feel or think? I think:
"I wonder if he thinks that I hate him..."I do not hate Arabs. I do not hate Muslims. I
do hate Islam, the religon that has taught so many people that if they blow themselves up and take some Jews along with them, they'll be waited upon in Paradise by dozens of eternal virgins. I hate what they have done, and will do.
I recently finished a stint in the reserves of the IDF, serving at a checkpoint in the "territories". As the people passed in their cars, some Jewish, mostly Arab, and the Arabs passed on donkey-back and on foot, the little children waving "hello" and giggling, I wondered:
"Do they hate my guts yet? Would those innocent-looking children spill my blood at the first chance?" And perhaps most distressing of all:
"Would I be able to shoot through those children if there was a terrorist using them as human shields, and shooting back at us?"I pray that I never have to find out, but I expect that I will.
------------------
America, stand assured that Israel
truly understands what you are going through.
"He who laughs last thinks slowest."
"Just becase you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
"To err is human; to really screw up you need a computer."
Creator of the
Sandvich Bar, the CapShip Turret Upgrade, the Complete FS2 Ship List and the System Backgrounds List (all available from the site)