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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 12, 2026

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And the paramilitary organisations that ended up becoming Israel were trying to kill Palestinians before Israel even existed.

And Palestinian Arabs were killing Jews even earlier. Haganah was founded following the 1920 Nebi Musa riots; Irgun was founded in 1931, two years after the Hebron massacre; Lehi wasn't founded until 1940!

(Also, re your previous comment, the 'Stern Gang' and 'Lehi' were the same organisation; listing both of them is redundant.)

and the Jews lasted for quite a while without [a sovereign state of their own].

...up until the post-WWI imposition of widespread migration controls. If the United States had let in the passengers on the MS St Louis, and those following in their footsteps, the impetus for a Jewish-majority state would have been greatly diminished.

I don't think it'd be that bad if they went wandering for another thousand years

In that case, I'll be happy to see you at the open-borders-for-every-country-including-Israel/Palestine/combination-thereof protest marches!

given what they've done with the state that they actually got.

The actions of Benjamin Netanyahu, many of which I do not condone, nevertheless are not something for which future-Anne-Frank-times-six-million bears any culpability. It is her, and her 5,995,000 innocent compatriots, about whom I am concerned.

given the actions of Israel itself, I don't think they can be trusted to have a sovereign state of their own

...actions which only occurred because people were trying to kill them. Mordechai didn't just attack Haman for no reason.

I don't think they can be trusted to have a sovereign state of their own

And given the events of the MS St Louis, the Nations can't be trusted without such a state!

but I don't think anyone should have nuclear power (see my comments in other threads - it isn't a viable energy source

In a sovereign Jewish state, that would be up to its citizens; however, I'm sure many of those citizens would agree with your position on that particular issue.

No problems with them setting up a nice big solar/wind farm though!

In that case, for 'NRC' substitute 'EPA' and for 'potential radioactive releases' substitute 'disruption of endangered desert fauna by solar panels and birds by wind turbines'.

they can live in a multicultural and multi-ethnic society like the rest of the world.

I believe that that is a laudable long-term goal, and hope that is achieved someday; however, I doubt that all the necessary pre-conditions have been established, or that it would be appropriate, given the events of the II quarter of the XX century, for such to be imposed on the Jewish people from without.

A world with many multi-cultural multi-ethnic societies with no immigration controls, in which ethno-nationalism and restriction of immigration had long and continuously been outside the Overton Window, would, I suspect, find the people of Israel much more amenable to a one-state solution.

and given that most of the [J]ews I meet in person(at anti-zionist protests) don't fall into this category I'm not going to be persuaded that this is arguing for their ethnic cleansing.

Unfortunately, many people do not make such distinctions.