Regarding the entire Middle East, but especially Israeli/Palestinian troubles: Frankly, I think a whole lot of people long ago shrugged and decided, "These assholes will never sort this out." You wonder why there's no international outcry about the current round of awfulness? There's yer problem, right there. Nobody but the wildest optimist or extremist thinks there is any hope of a solution. Aside from the numbers being bigger, and, perhaps, the crimes being more horrific, how is anything substantially different today, in 2026, from how it was 50 years ago? Israel still seems to think that somehow they can win a big enough military action to solve everything. The Palestinians think there is some way that they end up with a peaceful homeland. I think if I could find the right face cream, I'd look 10 years younger. We're all insane. Is there some diplomatic or military or ??? solution that will sober us all up? I'm all for it if it can be created, but, damn, it has been a long time with absolutely zero progress. Meanwhile, my outrage supply is about tapped out and I'd rather spend the little I have left on some cause with some glimmer of hope.
As someone --- admittedly, someone very cynical -- once said about Yugoslavia, "The only time these people stopped killing each other was when they had Tito to do the killing for them."
At this point, my main concern is that my (rapidly declining) country insists on propping up one of the groups of assholes to the extreme detriment of innocent folks. The IDF would have a helluva lot tougher time inflicting their atrocities if they weren't positively swimming in US money, arms, and strategic support. Is the US's support going to change? Ha.
As to the attacks on Jewish people outside Israel, and not at all to defend those attacks, but the Israeli government has worked for decades to erase the distinction between "Jewish" and "Zionist." As has been pointed out rather often in this thread, if you dare question Israel's right to do whatever god-awful thing it damned well pleases, you're anti-semitic. By that logic, all Semites are Israeli-equivalents. Is it surprising that some of society's dimmer bulbs can't tweeze out the difference?
Finally, the "chosen people" thing. According to more moderate Jewish scholars, it's almost the precise opposite of "better than" or "more deserving than" everybody else. It's about being chosen to follow The Law, no matter what, and to serve as shining examples of Mosaic Law to the rest of the world. It's a responsibility: almost -- not quite -- a burden. It's a cause for humility. Certainly, not "We're the chosen people, so we get to do whatever we want, neener, neener, neener." I don't think I need to point out how Israel is doing in this regard.
