Soap Operas and More Israel Stuff

My new thing to do, while exercising, is watch Australian soap operas.

This week I've watched random episodes of Neighbours and Home and Away. Today I watched All Saints. 

It's funny.  Even though I don't know the characters,  the show is still very entertaining and interesting.

I guess that's the thing about soap operas. They're quick to grab you.

Well, I shouldn't speak for all of us.

I should say they grab ME. They might not grab you.

I have more soaps lined up for the coming days. Then I remembered the old 2011 Q and A's.   

I meant to get back to watching those. But I looked at the download page, and didn't have the motivation to download any.

Maybe I have Q and A burnout. 

I'll keep watching the new episodes, though. Probably. 

And yes. I do think my burn out is somewhat due to being offended. (I'm pretending you asked).

I remembered something that I meant to write in my earlier post.

A few months ago, Q and A had another anti-Israel Jew—Miriam Margolyes.  

There's so many anti-Israel people out there. Why does Q and A need to showcase two Jewish ones in one year?

I think it's that whole thing of letting people say. See. Israel IS evil. Even the Jews agree.

Really.  For those who are ignorant of the subject, there are a fair number of Jews and Israelis who are against Israel.

But not all of us are that way.

Some blindly support it without any amount of apology.

Others support its right to exist. Yet we understand it's not perfect and believe there's always room for improvement.  

I'm now reading the transcript from the Margolyes show, reminding myself what was said.

I kind of like what Barry Humphries says to her, although it's a bit harsh.

Mel Gibson but, you know, he’s a fellow anti-Semite, you should sympathise with him and, you know, Miriam, whose wonderful show of Dickens’ women is in Sydney on Thursday night at the Opera House - you mustn't miss it. It is incredible. It may not be mentioned again, so I am giving it a plug. You’ll find North London Jews will be perfectly happy with what you have to say. There's a few anti-Semites amongst them, I can tell you.

Margolyes replies, understandably so.

I find that a bit disturbing.

Although I shouldn't pick on Professor Sprout.  I've been anti-Semitic at times myself. But I wouldn't say it was understandably so. It's a prejudice like any other prejudice. Sometimes I have negative thoughts about Muslims.  Sometimes I have negative thoughts about Jews. Something I have negative thoughts about black people. Sometimes I have negative thoughts about white people. You get the picture.....

It's not something that's valid, and it's not something I'm proud of.  

It's not something that ANY of these groups deserve as a whole.  


Note-Often people question whether they can say something critical about Israel without being accused of anti-semitism.

Yes.  I think you can speak out against something Israel has done and not be seen as an anti-Semite.... if you do the following

A) refrain from denying, ignoring, and avoiding the subject of the Holocaust.  It's important to the story. Recognize that many groups were hurt by the Nazis but understand that Jews were the main target.  

B) If you're going to complain about the behavior of the Israeli's, also complain about the behavior of the Palestinians.  They may be victims in some ways, but they aint no angels.   

C) Acknowledge that your country has probably done things just as bad as Israel...or even worse.

D) Understand what it would mean to support a one-state solution vs. a two state one.  If you support the one state solution, I'm going to have a hard time believing you're a friend of the Jews.

E) Don't say you think Israel should stop existing but that doesn't mean you hate the Jews. To me that's equal to saying you don't hate homosexuals, yet you don't think they should have same-sex relationships. There may not be hatred there, but there's definitely not support and understanding. 

So here's an example of what you CAN say.   I like the Jews. I think they should have a homeland, especially because of what happened to them in Europe during the 1940's. It's awful that the Palestinians bomb buses, throw rocks, and do other antagonistic things.   BUT I think it's awful that the Israeli government killed so many people in Gaza. That was horrible and uncalled for.  

What would our world be like if we

knew for sure there 

was life after death, and 

we could easily talk to our 

dearly-departed on the Internet?

The Dead are Online a novel by Dina Roberts