Asumptions asumptions asumptions, they'll be the death of us all.

I've been seeing a rather disturbing trend on here lately that has also been ruling the US political world and amplified by GW Bush's statement of "Your either with us or against us" often also quoted as "Your either with us or your with the terrorists".

Disagreeing with Israels way of handling the situation doesn't mean you hate jews.
Disagreeing with Israels way of handling the situation doesn't mean you hate Israel.
Disagreeing with Israels way of handling the situation doesn't mean your a Nazi Wanabee.
Disagreeing with Israels way of handling the situation doesn't mean you either think the Nazi Holocaust was right or never happend.
Disagreeing with Israels way of handling the situation doesn't mean you agree with how Hesbollah has been acting.
Disagreeing with Israels way of acting in general doesn't mean you agree with how certain factions of the Palestinians have been acting and reacting.
Disagreeing with Bush's policies and ways of doing doesn't mean your a lefty liberal.
Disagreeing with Bush's policies doesn't mean you agree with the terrorisists.
Disagreeing with Bush's policies doesn't mean you ARE a terrorist.
Disagreeing with Bush's policies doesn't mean hate america.

I can go on and on for ages with this.

The world isn't as black and white as we would want it to be.

Israel did things that made the Palestinians react.
The Palestinians did things that made Israel react.
Hesbollah was originaly created as a reaction to what Israel did.
Hesbollah has since done things to Israel that have nothing to do with the invasion of Lebanon 24 years ago.
Hesbollah is now however again doing what it was created for, fighting Israel because Israel once more invaded Lebanon.
Israel however now invaded Lebanon to take out Hesbollah for its actions that fall outside their original mission.

Things are much more complicated then good and evil, black and white.

Imho the biggest problem is that people are so self rightious these days that they think their side is the good side, no matter what side they are on.
Everyone sees black and white when the world runs on grey.

I wish that the people here on ATS had denied ignorance enough to get past that and see the world from all sides instead of the black and white type they are bred and tought to believe in.

I wish people would understand that when you say you disagree with how Israel is acting now doesn't mean you hate Jews, love Hesbollah and so on.

Please everyone, just stop the one sided good vs evil line of discussions.
The assumptions you make are counterproductive and only bring more confusion to already dificult discussions.

You all should know better then that by now.

Very true Matrix. Great post. It's amazing how almost every thread involving the middle east conflict turns into pety name calling and manipulating people comments to fit ones argument.

Almost nobody seems to be able to discuss the topic without taking everything personally, and turning each thread into an argument with Israel Supports vs hez Supports or Bush Supporters vs Non Bush Supporters, instead of discussing the OP's topic.



[edit on 8/9/2006 by pstiffy]

Indeed, it is a shame that so many of the ME threads have a tendency to degenerate into name calling. That name calling also has a tendency to flow the other way too. "zionist apologist" and others of the sort ring any bells? Be as critical of Israel as you like. Not all of us who disagree with you are blind to the faults of the Israeli gov't, we've just come to the conclusion, correctly I might add, that Israel is in the right.

Originally posted by thematrix
Everyone sees black and white when the world runs on grey.

Great quote by the way. Too true, though you're still more likely to find open-minded individuals here than in the real world. The media controls the world. Before the media it was the church. I wish people just thought for themselves.

It's this same tactic that certain ideological partisans have been pulling for the last few years.

Oppose the Iraq War? It must mean you hate America and love Saddam.

Oppose the new Lebanon War? It must mean you hate the Jews and love Hezbollah.

I don't think these people even seriously believe this stuff - it's just a cheap debate tactic to shut down and shame any opposition.

To be fair, it's a tactic they learned from the left: oppose affirmative action? You must be a racist...