Israelis are falling out

[strictlybroadband]

I'd guesstimate that around 25% of Jews here and worldwide are opposed to Israel's actions. That's about the same percentage of Israelis who oppose their own country's attacks on the Palestinians and Lebanon. Every anti-war demo since 2003 has had Jewish contingents.

Unfortunately, many Jews feel they must support Israel, no matter what. This is understandable given the last 80 years of Jewish history, but things are changing a bit. My own family is split in two by this debate, and I'm sure so are many others.

It's a painful process for Jews to see the "promised land" of our grandparents becoming a savage agent of American foreign policy in the Middle East. A lot of us are in denial.

[mart]

Well that puzzled me too, I'd never heard that so I Googled.
There is a reference to the dislike of the Paras when they were stationed in Palestine during the pre-Israel period. The Poppies reference relates to the red berets. But it didn't say that led to the Remembrance poppies not being worn.

Mart

[Robches]

No-one who has been on the received end likes the Paras. They don't really do peace keeping as such.

I can imagine that Hassidic Jews don't wear poppies, because they tend to have quite a strict dress code. I can't see any reason why liberal or orthodox Jews would not, since large numbers of Jews served in both World Wars.

[strictlybroadband]

Robches wrote:

> No-one who has been on the received end likes the Paras. They
> don't really do peace keeping as such.

A guy I used to know, from Derry, used to fondly recall getting hit in the nuts with a rifle butt by a British soldier, when he was 15.

Probably some teenage boys in Iraq know exactly how he felt.