Why Israel Fights. - Page 2

ballz2wallz · 08-09-2006, 11:24 AM

Originally Posted by motivez

I agree. The reality is that Americans are so comfortable with what's going on because we can sit in our comfy houses and are completely removed from the horrors of what's currently being inflicted upon the Lebanese people

we're well aware of the realities of the situation. we're just not bleeding hearts.

motivez · 08-09-2006, 11:31 AM

Well, if "bleeding heart" means that we're capable of understanding that human suffering is a bad thing, then I guess that's true, although it appears that plenty of people are bleeding heart when it comes to American/Israeli deaths, just not when those people happen to have dark skin or speak Arabic.

I also don't think that most Americans are aware. You might be. Refresh my memory again, how many times have you been in the middle of a war zone and how much time do you spend viewing pictures of the suffering and death that's going on over there from the perspective of people who live it?

Seems to me the opposite is true, people don't want to take the time to see it because it's easier to avoid it while repeating talking points.

ballz2wallz · 08-09-2006, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by motivez

Well, if "bleeding heart" means that we're capable of understanding that human suffering is a bad thing, then I guess that's true, although it appears that plenty of people are bleeding heart when it comes to American/Israeli deaths, just not when those people happen to have dark skin or speak Arabic.

I also don't think that most Americans are aware. You might be. Refresh my memory again, how many times have you been in the middle of a war zone and how much time do you spend viewing pictures of the suffering and death that's going on over there from the perspective of people who live it?

Seems to me the opposite is true, people don't want to take the time to see it because it's easier to avoid it while repeating talking points.

war is completely changed by the amount of attention and press that is available. information is known IMMEDIATELY. people know more about atrocities, warfare, etc. than ever before.

motivez · 08-09-2006, 12:14 PM

And yet they're still removed from it and told that it's not so bad because we have precision weapons, etc.. It's all relative to how explicit the coverage they see is.

avsp · 08-09-2006, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by ballz2wallz

war is completely changed by the amount of attention and press that is available. information is known IMMEDIATELY. people know more about atrocities, warfare, etc. than ever before.

so is that why some feel the need to distance themselves by joking about it?

are you saying that the reality is so 'in your face' & the feelings thus engendered so 'uncomfortable' that some need to joke about it, ..., or do you see some other motivation in such behaviours

i'd contend that there is a difference between information & empathy. we are not directly experiencing these events, (mostly), & for me at least the TV news reports are almost cliches & serve to restrict my ability to empathise, ..., its reading the first hand accounts that make me realise just what the fuck it all means.

i can find reading such stuff almost debilitating, ..., i sometimes have to have a break for a week or so, ..., but even so i feel that i've no right to comment on any of this stuff without at least feeling some empathy

i'm not suggesting that we all ought to 'wear our hearts on our sleeves' nor that ppl dont have the right to flaunt their astounding lack of wit etc, ..., its just i have difficulty imagining what the motives behind some comments are.

either way sorry for the thread hijack.

ballz2wallz · 08-09-2006, 02:05 PM

it's very possible that in light of such negative things...death, disaster, etc...that constantly covers the media that light-hearted comments and jokes are used to lighten the mood. i know i don't like to be serious all the time.

the other possibility is that we're so calloused to the death and destruction that we just can't 'cry' everytime we see it. reality is reality. the israelis don't go in fear of bombs anymore because they are used to it. we don't shed a tear anymore for what's goin on over there because we're used to it. it doesn't mean we are 'unaware' as motivez claims...we know it's there, we accept it's reality, and we continue to live.

slosucks · 08-09-2006, 04:07 PM

israelis joke about all this terrorism all the time, its ok to joke about a war, its how you deal with this. if everyone was uptight all the time and running around scared and biting their fingernails, it would be a terrible place, but israel is an awesome place because of the attitude everyone has. they know its serious, but they can also joke about it. a lot of israelis also joke about the holocaust a whole lot. and these are all people who have been in the military and been to war. so if someone makes a little crack about something (first off it was a joke about a photographer who faked pictures, boo fucking hoo), calm down, you can still lighten up.

avsp · 08-09-2006, 06:23 PM

Originally Posted by slosucks

israelis joke about all this terrorism all the time, its ok to joke about a war, its how you deal with this. if everyone was uptight all the time and running around scared and biting their fingernails, it would be a terrible place, but israel is an awesome place because of the attitude everyone has. they know its serious, but they can also joke about it. a lot of israelis also joke about the holocaust a whole lot. and these are all people who have been in the military and been to war. so if someone makes a little crack about something (first off it was a joke about a photographer who faked pictures, boo fucking hoo), calm down, you can still lighten up.

My comments arent directed at any specific post but at the frequent occurences of the 'joking' that are all over the board/net

The thrust of your post is a good one but we (mostly) arent directly experiencing these things, ..., we've no need to insert 'distance' by joking about it, especially if we acknowledge that the news reports have desensitised us to the actualities.

Relatively one rarely reads posts along the lines of 'I felt physically sick/wept at this news', but then again perhaps its taken as a given &/or isnt interesting. Possibly I'm more prone to such than some others, I dunno.

Either way i'm done with this, ..., apart from saying that without attemping to empathise with all players in a conflict then our thoughts are likely to be flawed.

Again, apologies for the inadvertant thread hijack

hsmith · 08-09-2006, 06:32 PM

Why aren't you posting pictures of what Israel is doing to innocent people in Lebanon?

Oh, doesn't fit your agenda.

SpicyMcVoodoo · 08-09-2006, 07:15 PM

Originally Posted by motivez

It's all relative to how explicit the coverage they see is.

How explicitly the media covers stories completely affects the way people see the issue. Does anyone know of a media that sanitizes and censors itself as much as the American media? I know the Europeans are pretty explicit, and I think the Arabs are as well. Maybe this helps explain why Americans are so far removed from reality.

I don't see how you can cover war without explicitly showing death and suffering, as that's the essence of what war is.

motivez · 08-10-2006, 02:58 AM

European and Arab news stations do censor less when it comes to graphic images.. we have laws and the FCC that really prevent gore and other things being shown to the public.

Concept · 08-10-2006, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by motivez

European and Arab news stations do censor less when it comes to graphic images.. we have laws and the FCC that really prevent gore and other things being shown to the public.

I think it's ridiculous.