• 1 Post
  • 62 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: July 8th, 2023

help-circle
  • Wow, I just got and used a whetstone for the first time yesterday!

    Iā€™ll tell you what I did, with the understanding that Iā€™m less knowledgeable than others in this post, but can probably better relate to your situation.

    Iā€™d also be happy to hear feedback from others.

    I bought a dual King whetstone of 1000/6000 grit for a basic German knife that lost its edge after a few months of daily use. The 6000 side is probably overkill (King is made for Japanese knifes, which do require 6000 grit. 2000-4000 would do for a German knife), but the whetstone was at the correct balance of price, apparent quality and known brand.

    I mainly used these two videos as guides:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkzG4giI8To

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahaaHxhbsA

    Using a marker to see if Iā€™m holding the knife at the correct angle helped, thought I mostly used it to get my bearings. I didnā€™t bother with the whole 10, 8, 6 etc. stropping process, rather went a few times on each side, and tested it until the knife was able to cut through paper easily. Overall, Iā€™d say it took me less than 10 passes on each side.

    The main issue for me was forcing myself to hold the knife correctly and move my other hand to apply pressure at the right point (I was able to do it correctly, it just took a bit of work). I also had a hard time keeping the angle of the knife constant.

    The whole process start to finish took me about half an hour, Iā€™d say about 5-10 minutes were due to me being a noob.

    When inspecting the edge, I noticed it was convex, which makes sense as the angle wasnā€™t uniform. From what I understand, this might actually be better than a straight V edge (the most common type), soā€¦ yay for me, I guess?

    After finishing the knife easily passed the paper test, and cutting through a tomato was more a matter of placing the knife on top of the tomato and sliding it back and forth, allowing the edge to drop down and slice it. The knife is at least as sharp as when it was new, if not sharper. There is one spot where I think the edge isnā€™t as good, but I only noticed it because I was looking for issues and it isnā€™t noticeable with regular use. Overall Iā€™m very happy with the results.


  • Every day until the Pandemic.

    Cool, good for you (seriously). Do you honestly think theyā€™ll say theyā€™re against the freedom of the individual, or is it that you think theyā€™re against it? Not saying youā€™re right or wrong, just asking if youā€™re describing what you think theyā€™ll say, their own beliefs or the beliefs/consequences of their party. Itā€™s an important distinction, especially when trying to engage in dialogue with them.

    Iā€™m just looking at what Iā€™ve spent the past several months witnessing via news reporting and video clips.

    Maybe I donā€™t follow enough news outside of Israel, but I do read quite a bit and there wasnā€™t anything about Zionism. Could you maybe link to one or two sources?

    Iā€™m not debating what the dictionary says about it.

    Iā€™m actually not debating at all, right now Iā€™m trying to understand you, and Iā€™m having some difficulties. My best guess is, you seem to have issues against the Israeli army and government (me too, btw), and somehow decided thatā€™s Zionism. Zionism is more than a century old, and there are plenty of people who call themselves Zionists, yet donā€™t support all the IDF and the Israeli government did during the past few months (youā€™re talking to one right now, and Biden is another example). Do you think these people are wrong in what their opinions are? That theyā€™re lying? That theyā€™re not using the correct word, even though thatā€™s the same usage as in the dictionary?


  • I donā€™t think they say this much anymore since all Republican policies are explicitly about restricting the will of their fellow citizens.

    Thantā€™s not really the point, though it does kinda feed into a general issue with the way both out countries (assuming youā€™re from the US) are divided - When was the last time you had an actual talk with a republican in order to understand what he/she thinks?

    I never used it this way or considered it this way until the past few months. šŸ¤” Now youā€™d have a hard time convincing me that itā€™s not what it means.

    Errā€¦ thatā€™s just the definition of the word? You can look it up on any dictionary.

    We could talk about the current government, itā€™s policy or the opinion of Israelis but saying the entire concept of Zionism equals support for Israeli control over the west bank and Gaza is not only factually wrong, it collapses the Israel-Palestine issue into a winner-take-all situation, where both sides are encouraged to beat each other in the hopes one of them will give up before both are dead.


  • Iā€™m from Israel, and no one is using ā€œZionismā€ in the second meaning.

    Zionism is, by definition, support for Israel as a Jewish state.

    There are those who say ā€œreal Zionismā€ is supporting settlements in Gaza and the west bank, but there are also those who say ā€œreal Zionismā€ is an Israeli state existing alongside a Palestinian state. Thatā€™s like a US democrat saying a ā€œtrue patriotā€ would support supplying a social safety net for the well-being of all citizens, while a US republican would say a ā€œtrue patriotā€ would support a small government that doesnā€™t restrict the will of all citizens.

    Personally, I feel that referring to Zionism in general as support for Israeli control over the west bank and Gaza started as a (partially successful) tactic to de-legitimize the existence of Israel. Not saying everyone who uses the term incorrectly is an antisemitic or whatever, but thatā€™s basically where it came from.


  • To help the people caught in the middle, from both sides, one has to understand the interests of the Israeli government and Hamas. I think the last actions Biden did have the best chance of stopping the war.

    Hamasā€™s interests are a full retreat of Israeli forces and keeping as many hostages. They donā€™t really care what happens to the general population. The ā€œpoliticalā€ leaders in Qatar also have an interest of staying there. They are also OK with keeping the war going since as time goes by the public opinion turns more and more against Israel. The latter part can be dealt with by not letting Hamas of the hook for whatā€™s going on in Gaza (if you want to say ā€œBut no one is saying theyā€™re not to blame!ā€ - yes, but most arenā€™t stating clearly the ARE to blame. In practical terms, thatā€™s about the same). Also, pressure can be put on Qatar so they can put pressure on the political leadership, as Biden has reportedly done.

    The Israeli government is a bit more complex, as itā€™s a coalition with three ā€œlegsā€ - Netanyahu/Likud, that mainly want to stay in power and nothing else (the war is good for them, since they donā€™t have to answer for their part in how it started), the far right that want to take over Gaza (and therefor welcome international sanctions, as it ā€œprovesā€ that the whole world hates Israel and therefore the only solution is to disregard what the world thinks), and the ultra orthodox parties that want to keep certain privileges for their voters.

    The international arrest warrants, while not desirable on Netanyahuā€™s part, actually increase his power. He spins them as warrants against ā€œthe entire countryā€. And in fact, right after they were issued Likud rose in the polls.

    So what can be done regarding the Israeli government? Well, Netanyahu is playing all sides against the middle, telling everyone different things while trying to change the situation, no matter what the situation actually is, as little as possible (since any change can result in him losing power). Biden, by stating the offer currently on the table came from Israel tore the mask from Netanyahuā€™s double speak and makes it harder for him to keep the current situation.


  • Small children (under 6-7) are exempt from Jewish law. Making breast milk kosher isnā€™t exactly neccsery, but it makes things much easier (how to keep it, making sure it wonā€™t get mixed with other foods by mistake, what happened if it does etc.) The neat part is that breast milk isnā€™t considered milk accordingly to Jewish law, so it can be drunk with/right after/before eating meat (otherwise forbidden). This means a person can, and I know at least one who actually did, add breast milk to their coffee after eating meat.





  • No, this is not uplifting for anyone (except maybe people who hate Netanyahu and/or Israel and donā€™t really care about Palestinians).

    Right now there is some humanitarian aid going into Gaza, despite objections from the far-far-right Israeli coalition parties. The excuse Netanyahu used to get their (semi-)cooperation is by saying ā€œWell, this is the bare minimum so Israel wonā€™t get hit by sanctionsā€. The warrants, if granted, will create motivation for Netanyahu to give in and reduce humanitarian aid (he cares much more about personal sanctions than sanctions against the country).

    Also, Netanyahu will use the warrants and Israelā€™s isolation to strengthen his own position in the government, fortify his position and lower the chances for his government to implode.



  • ā€œConservativesā€ is a misnomer here. ā€œConservativeā€ isnā€™t right and ā€œProgressiveā€ isnā€™t left.

    Conservatives are those who want as little change as possible so as to ā€œnot rock the boatā€ and ā€œif it ainā€™t broke, donā€™t fix itā€. Progressives are those who want to try out new policies.

    From what I gather, a large portion of todayā€™s Republicans arenā€™t actually conservatives rather regressive. Thatā€™s almost literally what ā€œmake America great againā€ means. Thatā€™s also the meaning of, for example, the Roe v. Wade overruling - going back to an earlier state.

    Also, in the long run the human condition generally changes for the better (Or at least thatā€™s what we perceive as our values and habits are usually aligned with what we have now and not what we had before). As the status quo changes, the things conservatives (and progressives) value change accordingly.

    Saying ā€œConservatives were the people who defended King George.ā€ as if that has anything to do with conservative today is like someone saying ā€œProgressives on the 18th century were for womenā€™s suffrage, they have no business talking about equalityā€.



  • Thanks for the reply and sorry it took me a few days to answer. Also sorry if my reply seems disjointed. We broadened the scope from just the Israeli protests for a hostage deal to, really, the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it was hard to give the correct background while keeping it relatively short and trying to account for my own bias, so the reply was written in parts. Hopefully I was able to draw a coherent, if simplified, picture.

    First of all, you got the gist of what Iā€™m saying. There are a few things Iā€™d say were a bit off, but most of it isnā€™t worth going point-by-point. I also agree with many things you said, and youā€™ve actually described the stance of the Israeli left as well as I could at one point (and now you have to keep reading if you want to know whereā€¦).

    Youā€™re absolutelyĀ correct saying the two camps Iā€™ve described are not left-right. Notice I didnā€™t say ā€œleftā€, rather ā€œleft-leaningā€.

    The left-right axis in Israel is best described as the answer to ā€œDo you think Israel should aspire towards a 2 state solution with the Palestinians?ā€ Or, how itā€™s usually framed, ā€œAre the Palestinians a partner for peace?ā€. If this seems like a trivial question, please keep in mind this is really a mirror of the Palestinian ā€œIs Israel a partner for peace?ā€, which is a highly contested question among Palestinians.

    Itā€™s also correct to say that in the last year thereā€™s been an increase in Israeli aggressionĀ toward Palestinians (This is a view shared by a lot of Israelis, in light of the extremist government). However, in the longĀ run, both sides are basically equally to blame(thereā€™s A LOT of historical context Iā€™m not going to go into. Just as a starting point, you can look up the Oslo accords in the 90s, the 2005 Israeli disengagement from Gaza, the 2007 Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip and the blockade that followed). If the protests are against specific actions taken by the Israeli government in the last year, Iā€™m all for it. That said, I got the distinct feeling that the protesters arenā€™t protesting against the treatment of Palestinians during the last year, but for a Palestinian state, in which case the protests should be directed against Hamas and Israel both. I understand why people would want to protest against Israel, but I donā€™t understand how one can protest against Israel and not against Hamas using the same metrics.

    Hamas has been planning the Oct. 7th attack for at least a year, and invested in infrastructures to support terrorist acts for many years prior (underground tunnels, some of them leading to Israeli settlements, and some used to hide militants, weapons and hostages. After Israelā€™s invasion to Gaza, Hamas leadership said they have no obligation to protect Gazan civilians), so saying the Oct. 7th attack is related to Israeli aggression in the last year might have merit (talking purely about causal relationship, not justification), but there is enough reason to believe that the attack would have happened either way. Furthermore, if Hamas gets a ā€œfree passā€ since their actions were a result of Israeli transgression, why does Israel not get a ā€œfree passā€ as their actions are a result of Hamas aggression? This approach, where every sideā€™s violence is justified using previous violence committed by the other side, is called a cycle of violence, and is one of the main lenses through which the Israeli left is looking at the broad confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians (we call it ā€œthe cycle of bloodshedā€). I can talk about Hamas firing rockets at Israeli civilian targets as of 2004, and before that there were suicide bombings going all the way back to Hamasā€™s foundation, and other terror attacks going back before the Israeli control over the west bank and Gaza (that is, before what you refer to as ā€œaparthideā€). Iā€™m saying this not to try and convince you that ā€œthe Palestinians started it!ā€, but to explain why ā€œThey started it!ā€ is not a call for peace, but a call for more violence.

    The former paragraph also relates to the third point (Why Oct. 7th happened), but if to address that point directly - saying ā€œOctober 7th happened because of a shocking waste of resources and lapse in security from Israelā€ is like saying "The Gazan casualties are due to Hamas investing their resources into attacking Israel instead of caring for their civiliansā€™'. Thatā€™s blaming the victim on top of contributing to the cycle of violence (Also, and this is really a side note, as of now there are about 35,000 Gazan casualties in total. estimates are that about 2/3 of them were uninvolved in fighting).

    ā€œThe second point is much more difficult, because itā€™s not clear what-so-ever that the Israeli government is interested in defeating or making irrelevant Hamas through political means. Israel effectively kaibashed every political approach to peace (before Oct 7th). It just doesnā€™t seem like they are operating in good faith.ā€ Welcome to the Israeli left. Feel free to grab a cup of coffee and chat with the many guests we have here from the moderate centre. You came just in time for our lecture on ā€œHow Netanyahu and the far-left propped Hamas to shoot down any option for a diplomatic solutionā€. The highlights include Smotrich, the current Israeli minister of finance, stating that ā€œHamas is an asset and Fatah is a burdenā€, and Netanyahu saying ā€œThose who want to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state should support the strengthening of Hamas and the transfer of money [from Qatar] to Hamasā€.

    Regarding Israel being a ā€œbad allyā€ to the US - I agree, and so do the Israeli left and large portions (most?) of the centrists. The way we phrase it is that the current government is creating a rift between Israel and the US and abandoning the values that are shared among both countries. For us, this is a moral issue (we kinda like those shared values), but also a practical one should the US withhold the support it gives us. Donā€™t know what Israeli news sources youā€™re following, but it was much talked about in the last weeks at least. BTW, the Israeli far-right, that de-facto controls the coalition, is very unconcerned about this due to, IMO, self delusion. But this also seems too narrow a reason to protest. If the US were to withdraw all political and financial support from Israel, and Israel would continue acting the same, would most protesters be content? And how does this explain protests in countries that donā€™t provide Israel with support?

    To finish, Iā€™d like to address the use of ā€œapartheidā€ when talking about Israel. A Palestinian call fall into one of 3 categories - Those who have Israeli citizenship, those who live in the west bank and those who live in Gaza. They each live under a different legal infrastructure.

    Israel has about two million Arab citizens (Iā€™m saying ā€œArabā€ to include Palestinians, and other Arab groups like Durze as well as ā€œethnicallyā€ Palestinians who donā€™t identify as such nationally) who have the same rights as any Jewish person (small asterix - Arabs in west Jerusalem arenā€™t citizens, though are offered citizenship and have most of the same rights including, for example, voting in the local elections). There is institutional racism thatā€™s more akin to the way black people are (ā€œareā€, not ā€œwereā€) treated in some parts of the US. The Arabs in the (annexed) Golan heights also have full citizenship. As of 2006, Hamas is the sole sovereign in Gaza and there are no Jewish people living there, so ā€œapartheidā€ doesnā€™t apply. Weā€™re left with the Arabs in the west bank, who mostly do live under a discriminatory rule system (Yet still have their own government and law system). However, the distinction isnā€™t race, rather citizenship. For example, some Israeli Arabs moved into Palestinian settlements in the west bank (due to lower cost of living), and they still retain the same rights they had when living in Israel-proper. The Israeli left refers to the Palestinians without an Israeli citizenship as ā€œliving under occupationā€ and to the Israeli control of the disputed territories (excluding the Golan heights) is referred to as ā€œthe occupationā€ (we naturally view this as morally wrong). This, to me, seems much more correct than ā€œapartheidā€, especially considering that ā€œapartheidā€ is used to specifically refer to the system in South Africa, and even the west bank is far from it. If anything, apartheidĀ  a-la South Africa is what the far-right in Israel has in mind (for both Israeli Arabs and Arabs living under occupation), and thatā€™s one of the reasons the distinction between ā€œoccupationā€ and ā€œapartheidā€ is important in practice - if the far-left will have their way (which seems implausible, yet not absolutely out of the question), those who say Palestinians live under apartheid now will have a hard time explaining, or even understanding, exactly how the situation changed for the worse.


  • Hi, Israeli here.

    Iā€™ll start off by saying this turned out to be a VERY long post. I did my best to condenseĀ the absolutely necessary parts, and I still feel Iā€™ve left a lot of important stuff out. Anyway, hopefully anyone whoā€™s interested in the situation and reads this will be able to gain some insight.

    The thing is, you guys are looking at the situation in Israel from your perspective without understanding the factors at play. To actually understand the situation among Jewish Israelis (who Iā€™ll refer to as ā€œIsraelisā€ for simplicityā€™s sake) requires a thorough explanation aboutĀ Israeli culture, politics and some history.

    Saying ā€œI donā€™t see any signs against genocide, that must mean all Israelis are pro-genocideā€ forces your perspective on the situation, like saying (in very broad terms) ā€œI didnā€™t see any signs that talk about ā€˜all life mattersā€™ in the BLM protests, that must mean they only value black livesā€, so imaging that, but instead of an American saying it, itā€™s some dude in Thailand who has very little understanding of the racial situation on the US.

    So, letā€™s go:

    Right now, the country is pretty divided among supporters of the current government and those opposed to it. While the government has a 53% majority in the parliament, it really never had more than 50% supporters among the population (Firstly, some left wing parties didnā€™t get enough votes to get into parliament. Also, right after the elections the Likud government adopted a plan proposed by the religious far-right party that would, in essence, transform Israel into a Hungry-like hybrid regime which made many liberal Likud supporters oppose the government). The opposition grew stronger after Oct. 7th, though the government still has the support of (mainly) the far right, the ultra-orthodox religious parties and the Israeli version of Trump supporters who mainly want to ā€œown the libsā€. There are weekly polls that check how many people support the current government and Netanyahu is using every trick in the book to increase support among the public because his coalition is extremely fragile.

    However, regarding the war in Gaza, there is a consensus thatā€™s shared among a very large majority of the population from both sides:

    1. The Israeli hostages must be returned. I cannot overstate how important this is. Firstly, Israel is a tiny country, quite communal and most Israelis have large families. The hostages arenā€™t ā€œcitizensā€, ā€œpeopleā€ or even ā€œfellow Jewsā€. Theyā€™re ā€œThe niece of my dentistā€, ā€œMy exā€™s uncleā€, ā€œThe daughter of friends of my colleagueā€ etc. Nearly Every Israeli knows someone who knows someone whoā€™s been kidnapped. Secondly, one of the founding ethos of Israel is to have a safe place for Jews thatā€™s free of persecution no matter what. The Oct. 7th massacre is seen not only as a tragedy, but as the state not performing one of its core functions to some extent. Lastly, redemption of prisoners is a major commandment in the Jewish faith. This is the main point on all virtually ALL Israelis can agree upon (Let me stress that again - the agreement isnā€™t that the hostages ā€œshouldā€ be returned, but that they MUST be returned. Thatā€™s important for later).

    2. Hamas must be destroyed. If theyā€™re allowed to exist, this will happen again (There is, however, disagreement on how best can Israel vanquish Hamas).

    These two objectives are seen among many (not sure if most) as contradictory - Hamas is using the hostages to force an Israeli retreat from Gaza, and the only way they will release all of the hostages is if that secures their rule in Gaza. This is also important to remember for later.

    1. What Israel is doing in Gaza is somewhere between unfortunate and tragic, but itā€™s absolutely not genocide, rather a result of Hamas integrating itself into civilian infrastructure and hiding behind civilians (again, this is the mainstream opinion, not something agreed by ALL Israelis).

    I, personally, subscribe to the first two points, do not believe they are contradictory and while I believe the IDF isnā€™t nearly as cautious about harming civilians in Gaza as it should be and that not allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza is immoral, both things do not constitute genocide.

    Those numbed three points are in the Israeli consensus, but we have one more crucial piece of context before I get to the demonstrations - There are two groups of Israelis who do not believe the 1st and 2nd points are contradictory. Each belongs to opposing ends of the political spectrum - in the right there are those who think military pressure is the only way to, somehow, secure the release of the hostages. The other group is leftĀ  leaning, and it believes that withdrawing from Gaza for the release of the hostages and building a civilian opposition against Hamas Will solve the issue in the long run. They also believe the current government doesnā€™t really want to get rid of Hamas, rather they want to make sure Hamas will remain the only Palestinian ruler in the strip, so the government has an excuse to continue the current treatment of Palestinians (both as individuals and as a people). The first group thrives on extremism and sowing division (and if this reminds you of a certain US political party and a US politician in particular, you are absolutely on the money), and the second group is trying to build on a consensus, and make room for liberal right leaning people in order to gain influence (the opposition is actually composed of two liberal right wing parties).

    Oh, wait, just one other thing - Thereā€™s a joke that goes: A Jewish man is stranded on an island for 20 years. He is finally rescued, and the rescuers see the life he built for himself. Among all the things they see, there are two synagogues. They ask the man ā€œyou were on this Island alone. Why do you need two synagogues for?ā€ The man looks lovingly at the first synagogue and says ā€œWell, this is the synagogue where I prayed every day for someone to come and rescue me, and thisā€ he says while looking disdainfully at the second synagogue ā€œis the synagogue where I wouldnā€™t be caught dead inā€. Point is, Jews and Israeli Jews in particular, love to argue and have disagreements. Think The Life of Brianā€™s The Peopleā€™s Front of Judea and Judean Peopleā€™s Front. So when I say ā€œthere are two groupsā€, itā€™s more like ā€œthere are about 1,000 groups that can be broadly divided in two campsā€.

    Youā€™d think this leads to a society thatā€™s fractured on many levels so that it canā€™t really operate, but Israelis are also very good at putting differences aside and coming together to achieve a common goal.

    So, finally, about the protests - as you may have guessed, the people who are protesting belong to the second camp. And yes, many of them think whatā€™s happening in Gaza is wrong. But remember the whole ā€œputting our differences aside and coming together to achieve a common goalā€ and the ā€œThe hostages must be returnedā€? Thatā€™s the strategy in a nutshell. The protesters are trying to use the single most agreed upon goal, and build a consensus for a deal from there. Thatā€™s the reason you wonā€™t see anything about Gazans in the protests. Going outside the consensus gives the far right more ammunition to paint the protesters as traitors and to rally the moderate right against them. The push for a deal NOW (the main rally cry) will cease virtually all IDF operations in Gaza anyway, so in some of the protestersā€™ minds (mine included), protesting against the IDF while correct in a vacuum actually goes against that very cause. Now, I donā€™t really know US history that well, but think what would happen if the Vietnam anti-war movement made room for more conservatives on the grounds that the war is harming the US. Maybe Nixonā€™s ā€œlaw and orderā€ campaign would have failed and heā€™d have lost the elections. I might be talking out of my ass here, but even if Iā€™m wrong I hope this at least gives a better understanding about the strategy used by the protesters in Israel - theyā€™re saying ā€œYou donā€™t have to join us because youā€™re a hippie peacenik. You have to join us because thatā€™s whatā€™s best for our countryā€.

    Iā€™d like to stress that the protesters are NOT hiding their opinions. They just want to make as much room for other supporters. Some people are willing to protest for a cease-fire if that means getting the hostages back, but would not be willing to protest alongside a sign that says ā€œThe IDF is killing innocent peopleā€.

    So that was about the situation in Israel. If you came this far, I hope you found the read worth your time. Now Iā€™d like to ask for a bit more of your time in return.

    I have a question for the people who are protesting against Israel to stop the ā€œgenocideā€ unconditionally (or those who are in support of said protests), but are not protesting against Hamas to release the hostages unconditionally (or those who see no need for these protests) - I assume you donā€™t agree with Hamasā€™s actions on Oct. 7th, but obviously you donā€™t believe these actions justify what Israel is doing in harming innocent people (BTW, most Israelis would agree. If you donā€™t understand how this can be, refer to the 3rd point stated previously).

    Iā€™d like to ask why does this logic not work the other way around? If what Israel is doing is reprehensible regardless of anything Hamas has done previously and should be opposed, then surely what Hamas has done is also reprehensible regardless of what Israel has done previously and should be opposed. Is it just a matter of numbers, so thereā€™s a ā€œminimum casualtyā€ that justifies protests, and below that the victims are SOL?

    Not saying thatā€™s the case, but thatā€™s what I was able to come up with. Maybe Iā€™m missing some context.

    And before you say thatā€™s just whataboutism - I donā€™t think it is. Both things are a part of the same situation, so I think this is more a case of a cop seeing two cars driving on the road at night and stopping only one of them (where the driver happens to be black).




  • Maybe thatā€™s my bias, but that seems to be a veryā€¦ specific way of sorting sides. Mind if I rephrase that?

    • Pro Israeli side, which includes people who care that the hostages be saved. Some also want a 2 state solutions implemented.
    • Pro Israeli control of Palestinians side: people that believe any Palestinian autonomy will result in a repeat of the Oct. 7th massacre, partly because of the, well, Oct. 7th massacre.
    • Pro Palestinian side, which includes people who believe Israel should be destroyed and Jews killed, as well as people who maybe donā€™t want want Jews killed but care that Israel is defeated and/or Palestinians are not bombed.

    Iā€™d say both phrasings are about equally accurate and objective.


  • First, Ask the colleague why she feels her way is better.

    If she says something like ā€œit just isā€, reply that while youā€™re open to other ways to do things, you have a way that currently works for you, and would need a reason to switch your workflows.

    If she gives an actual answer, consider it. Maybe it is better than what youā€™re use to. maybe itā€™s possible to incorporate both ways to have the best of both worlds. Assuming you still think you way is better, say something along the lines of (Iā€™m basing this on something I said to a co-worker in order not to be too abstract): ā€œI get that doing it your way [is simpler and requires less troubleshooting], but it can also [give wrong results if a thing changes and we forget to correct for it]. My way [corrects for it automatically]. For me, eliminating the risk of [forgetting to manually correct] is worth the need to [do some troubleshooting]. Maybe thatā€™s because you have [better memory] and Iā€™m better at [technical stuff], so we each have a way that works for us, but will not work for the other. I appreciate that you took the time and explained your way of thinking, and I hope you understand why my way is better for meā€.

    After that, if she still insists, tell her you clearly arenā€™t able to come to an agreement among yourselves, so maybe itā€™s better you both talk to the charge nurse if manager or whatever.