(August 6, 2025 at 2:47 pm)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: I guess I’m not making myself clear: there is NOTHING that Israel could do or stop doing that would improve their relations with Muslim nations. They view Israel as a criminal regime by simply existing. If Israel were to change its ways immediately and do all the other things I mentioned earlier, it would not move the Muslim world a scintilla closer to making nice. Why? Because the conflict is not a political issue at heart, but a religious one, and Islam is a particularly bullheaded religion. 1/10 of the Muslim majority countries in the world recognize Israel, but recognition isn’t remotely the same as acceptance.
And Israel is no better. ‘We will never give up Jerusalem’ is less of a political statement than it is a religious one. Until and unless both sides fundamentally alter the notion that God wants them - and only them - to occupy the same worthless piece of desert, nothing will change.
And I don’t like that any better than you do.
Boru
What it could do is change the political perspective outside the conflict, which might make for movement. Indian independence got a big boost from Gandhi arguing against violence, and turning opinion against imperial desires.
It' not perfect, admittedly and of course, but such action can change outside opinion. Indeed, we see that here in America, where pro-Israel sentiment is dropping precisely because the IDF are seen as beating up on noncombatants.
