Shutterbugsailer Loc: Staten Island NY (AKA Cincinnati by the Sea)

Like many people around the world, I have been horrified by the events in the Mideast since October 7. Recently, I have come to the conclusion that the people of Gaza could learn a valuable lesson from a close friend's experience in the high school dating scene. During our last year of high school, my friend had his eyes set on a classmate. She went back and fourth between him and another class member. When she decided on the latter, he took his revenge by beating up his rival in front of his love interest, as well as their mutual friends. To add insult to injury, he made his rival get down on all fours and eat grass like a cow. This got him a few "high fives" from the class wise guys, as well as myself, but it got him suspended for a week, cited for disorderly conduct, and cost him his admission to M.I.T. where he was planning to study engineering. So what does this have to do with the Palestinian people? The events of October 7 got them "high fives' from Neo N**is and Hamas puppet masters in Iran. They got the pleasure of seeing Jews murdered without suffering the payback that Israel has delivered to Gaza in the same way that my class wise guys got to enjoy seeing a fistfight without suffering a black eye to either their faces or academic records. Has his rival won the fight, he would have gotten the same high fives. IMHO, any tears that either "Adolph" or "Ahmed" are shedding for the Gazans are not so much for the loss of Palestinian life, as for Israel's ability to dish out death to its enemies. In fact, Israel's extreme response fills their narrative that Israel wants to commit genocide. So what are the "wet dreams" of the people of Gaza? There were some that wished for a one state policy but after October 7, that is about as likely as merging India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh into one country. Some would love to send the Jews back to the shtetls of Eastern Europe, but they no longer exist and never will . Others would like to finish Hitler's work, but there are upwards of 100 Israeli nuclear warheads betting against that. So where does it leave the Palestinan cause? Perhaps my old friend's misadventures could give us a clue. He did ultimately gain admission to a college that was willing to overlook his behavioral indiscretion in favor of his near perfect SAT scores. Unfortunately this college valued athletics over academics. He joined a fraternity full of jocks and after a few drunken frat parties, came to realize that "sloppy seconds" beat choking the chicken while reading Playboy "hands down" So to people of Gaza and West Bank, just swallow your p***e and agree to a two state solution. It is better for all parties than what is going on now

Caribou Loc: St. Louis, MO

It's a shame to see the destruction and death in Gaza due to the actions of the Hamas terrorists but I guess Israel is trying to make a point. If I were an Israeli I would probably agree completely with what they are doing. And if I were a Palestinian who had nothing to do with Hamas I would feel that Israel is being too harsh. It's a complicated issue that has existed since the founding of Israel in 1948. Neither side has been blameless. I've been trying to find a comprehensive history of anti-semitism and the subsequent founding of the Jewish state. It is something I've never paid much attention to although I read a lot about WW II. I know Jews wanted a separate state of their own for a long time. I imagine the Holocaust was the impetus for the free world to give them that state once hostilities ended and the bad actors were defeated. But I've often wondered why it was decided to plop the new state of Israel down in the middle of hostile Arab states and, consequently, displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in doing so. Did no one anticipate what might happen? If anyone in the UHH audience knows of a balanced history of the thinking of that era would you give me the title and author? It's certainly possible that no matter where they put Israel there would be some country that would vow to wipe it out but putting it where it is seems to be asking for trouble. I understand the religious significance of that location, the Holy Land and Jerusalem, etc but has it been worth the price? The whole area has been anything but holy. There may have been a way to do this better.

Shutterbugsailer Loc: Staten Island NY (AKA Cincinnati by the Sea)

I hope my example serves to illustrate my points. My friend dreamed of being an aerospace engineer since he was knee high to a grasshopper. He had secured an early admission to M.I.T. at the beginning of his senior year and didn't bother applying elsewhere. For the momentary pleasure of hurting and humiliating his rival, he lost everything. That classmate's family had connections in with the local police department and board of education, making sure that not only did he lose his coveted spot at M.I.T. which was ranked at either number 1 or 2 in Engineering programs, but he got a police record to boot, barring him from consideration at other top schools. Out of desperation, he applied to Syracuse University, which accepted him because he was so over qualified for the standards of their institution. He graduated summa cum laude with an engineering degree but due to the fair to middling reputation of Syracuse U. was unable to land a position at NASA or Boeing as he had hoped and ended up doing Journeyman type jobs for various other companies for his entire professional life. So even if he won back his love interest, it was hardly worth it. In like fashion, few Gazans, except for perhaps the most fanatical, would think that the momentary pleasure of murdering Jews at a music festival, or the $10000.00 reward for taking a hostage was worth what they got back in return