sixty.two

i have a new hobby.

i would say that both of my parents hold leftist politics. the university i went to was populated with students that were predominantly left-wing, housing its fair share of socialists and even anarchists. i'm not sure when i became aware of the conflict between israel and palestine, but the side i chose was a no-brainer. palestine all the way, baby! free palestine! i mean, everyone around me took this stance, people i respected and trusted, and that was the only reference point i needed. but if you took me to one side and asked me to explain my position...i wouldn't have known what to tell you except for a few soundbites. i mean, i could reference things i had seen in the news with my own eyes, but with a conflict so rooted in a complicated history, the news today surely needs that historical context to be properly understood.

so the other day i began trawling the web for a history of the israel/palestine conflict [whatever happened to going to the library?]. being that it is such a charged topic, it was very hard to find an impartial article. but then, nothing is impartial, so in the end i plumped for this one. it appears to have more israeli affiliations than palestinian ones, but there's not too much spin on the information it provides.

you should have seen my face as i read this. i got more animated than when i was watching the play-off games. there were dropped jaws, screams and gtfoh's aplenty. this story took soooooo many twists and turns, subtle twists and turns that you can't pick up from a report on the bbc news today. what an amazing read.

so, after all these years, has my opinion changed? no. what has changed is that i can honestly say it is indeed now my opinion. why palestine? well, my short answer would be that the ever-changing population of the area was historically decided by/down to wars and migration. the creation of israel was through ideology [without war], and this is a different beast.

anyways, this has set in motion a new, slightly depressing, hobby. i'm on the hunt for the back-stories of wars, genocides and dictators alike.

next stop: robert mugabe.