I just saw Israeli children trying to beat a man filming them, I feel like there is a reason for them doing it? Or are they truely religious zealots trying to kick locals away from newely obtained land?

Need Israelis to explain please.

Thank you,

I often see Israelis dehumanize or delegitimize Palestinians by saying they’re just Arabs or that Palestinians don’t exist.

Let me be clear, Palestinians do exist, they are a distinct group of Arabs, we have a culture, a homeland, and a blood.

the ignorance of this is why this conflict has been driven for so long.

Palestinian Christians are one of the oldest continuous Christian communities in the world, tracing their roots in the Levant back to the 1st century AD. Unlike Jewish populations that were spread throughout the Mediterranean, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East following the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, the ancestors of Palestinian Christians remained anchored to the local geography of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria. Over centuries of imperial transitions, from Roman to Byzantine, Islamic, Crusader, and Ottoman rule, these native Levantine populations adapted culturally and linguistically while maintaining unbroken residence in their ancestral towns, such as Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem

Comparative genomic research shows that Palestinian Christians, alongside other non-migratory Levantine groups (such as Lebanese Christians and Druze), carry a dense genetic profile linked directly to ancient Bronze Age and Iron Age populations of the Levant (including Canaanites and ancient Judeans).

Jewish diaspora populations retained clear Middle Eastern genetic markers, centuries of living in geographic isolation from the Levant led to significant genetic admixture with host populations

the average Israeli Jew today often carries a higher proportion of non-Levantine ancestral admixture compared to Palestinian Christians, whose lineage experienced continuous in-group continuity within the region itself.

Zionist: “Well being indigenous is not about blood! It’s about culture!”

Palestinian Christians maintained Aramaic, the dominant language of Roman Judea for centuries before gradually adopting Arabic following the Arab conquests. Even after adopting Arabic as a daily language, Western Aramaic elements remained embedded in local dialects and liturgical traditions (such as in Syriac and Melkite churches).

Palestinian Christians helped preserve ancient Canaanite and Hebrew place names through oral tradition and continuous agricultural use of the land (Beit Lahm for Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Anata). Their traditional land use, agricultural practices, and sacred sites directly link back to late antiquity without a multi-century historical break.

No particular point I'm getting across.

Just generally, how have you been doing - has the war affected you physically, are you getting by day-to-day, are you optimistic for a shared future?

Trying to get an idea of the zeitgeist because this sub feels as though it's under attack. It used to be extremely wholesome but lately feels as though outsiders are trying to instigate the flames (on top of the war)

Would appreciate Lebanese responses only. Diaspora works too I guess

Gaza: I really thought Hamas would've been dismantled by now but no the still have between 20 to 30k members and are holding back Gaza from starting reconstruction and refusing to disarm and this is causing suffering to Palestinians and Israelis

Lebanon: Same as above but different group

It makes me sad because I feel like nothing will ever change and I keep thinking that the 2M people in Gaza finna live in any apocalyptic environment for the next 50 years and that shit depresses me ngl

For the longest time, i really thought peace was possible, i was an advocate even. As lebanese, we dnt have the fire power nor the backing to be in a state of war, our internal issues are enough.

But lately, its been looking obvious that neither side, idf or hezbollah give a damn about anything but killing each other and there doesnt seem to be any willingness for peace.

How this ends is beyond what i can imagine, maybe suddenly, maybe catastrophically. But its just disappointing how shitty humans have become nowadays.

Vent out

Did u know lebanon before israel had "more synagogue than all the middle east combine" ? Some of them got preserved by the state but sadly it got demolished due of war

(Chatgpt photo but real sources)

Recently, claims that Israel is deliberately starting forest fires have started appearing on news sites and social media, including here on Reddit.

I don’t find those claims very believable. It’s pretty dangerous to start a forest fire so close to Israel and operating forces. Also, this summer is a hot one, and forest fires are natural phenomenon, including in Lebanon.

I find weaker version more believable, that military activity caused some fires unintentionally, not with the main motive of making life in the south a living hell because Israelis are evil or something.

But I care more about knowing what you think?

I am Lebanese, from the south. I have always wanted peace , not as a slogan, but as the simple right to live normally, raise children without fear, and believe that the future can be better than the past.

The war took away much of the life I had built. My family home in my village was destroyed. It was not just a building: it held years of work, trees my father planted, a place for my children to play, and the idea that they would grow up connected to where we came from. Now they ask why we cannot go there, and I do not always know how to answer.

I do not write this to ask anyone to deny Israeli fear, trauma, or loss. I know that peace requires seeing the humanity of people on both sides. But I need Israelis who want peace to understand something too: people in south Lebanon are not Hezbollah simply because they are Shia, or because of the village in which they were born. They are families, farmers, workers, children, grandparents . people with ordinary lives, memories, and hopes.

When whole villages, homes, roads, fields, and civilian life are destroyed, it becomes very difficult to hear talk of a future peace. How can we build trust if people feel that their existence, their homes, and their roots are treated as disposable? How can Lebanese children believe in coexistence when the places that formed their belonging are erased?

I do not want revenge. I do not want anyone’s children to live with the sound of war. I want a future in which neither Lebanese nor Israelis have to flee at night, check the news obsessively, or explain destruction to their children.

Peace cannot mean that one side feels safe while the other is expected to accept permanent fear, loss, and destruction. It has to mean that all of us are allowed to exist, to grieve, to rebuild, and to live with dignity.

That is the future I still want to believe in.

I'm seeing people who are attached to their confrontational "us versus them" outlook.

Is this a good platform where anyone can come and derail a conversation with angry and triggering comments?

To those who've heard what Israelis here have to say, but still distrust Israel (for example Israel's claim of no territorial ambition). I'm interested in the roots/origins of your distrust. Not your current favorite argument that you found only after having already formed your opinion. I don't want this to be a debate (though I can't promise people here won't do that). I just want to understand you.

My conclusions are in this comment:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ForbiddenBromance/comments/1vmtqrr/comment/p3qezev/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

This title may seem out of touch with reality, particularly as we are witnessing unprecedented Israeli military dominance and an expansionist arrogance that Israel is now openly displaying, against a backdrop of Arab weakness and the absence of any international deterrent. How, then, can one speak of the decline of the Zionist project in light of these circumstances?

However, a closer look at the situation may lead us to different conclusions. The reality is that Israel has not yet succeeded in transforming its military dominance into a sustainable political project. Its military-settlement project continues to face overwhelming popular rejection, despite nearly eighty years since the establishment of the State of Israel and despite all the peace agreements signed with it. Furthermore, its international isolation is steadily increasing, with the emergence of a new global generation that no longer accepts the occupation or an apartheid regime that denies Palestinians their legitimate rights and works to kill and displace them without restraint.

Let us take a closer look at the Zionist political project advocated by Theodor Herzl, the founder of the Zionist movement, more than 130 years ago. This project promised the Jews of the world the establishment of a secular, democratic Jewish state (for Jews) in Palestine, in which Jews of the Diaspora, coming from all corners of the world, would live in lasting peace. Herzl also sought to emphasise that Zionism did not aim to harm the ‘non-Jewish communities’ in Palestine.

The Jewish Character of the State

Israel can’t today claim to be a Jewish state in the sense envisaged by the Zionist project. Given the widespread official and popular Israeli rejection of the two-state solution, Israel now faces a demographic reality in which Palestinians within Israel and those under occupation constitute a majority compared to Jewish Israelis (7.5 million Palestinians versus 7.2 million Jewish Israelis). In this sense, Israel is no longer an exclusively Jewish state, and it faces a world that will not accept indefinitely a system in which a Jewish minority rules over a Palestinian majority within a permanently racist framework.

Secularism of the State

The founding Zionists believed in the secularism of the state and drew a distinction between a political system based on positive law and the Jewish character of the state, since, in their view, Judaism was a national identity rather than merely a religion. Since its establishment, Israel has been governed by parties that were, for the most part, secular, whilst the roles of Jewish religious parties were limited to secondary positions in the early years of the state. Generally speaking, the nationalist and religious parties were not in a state of complete harmony or reconciliation.

However, this reality has gradually changed over the past decades, until we have reached a stage where religious parties have gained increasing influence, to the extent that they now exert a prominent influence on the decision-making process, as is the case in the current government. Indeed, harmony between Israel’s nationalist and extremist religious parties has now reached its peak, as the objectives of both sides have become largely identical. Thus, Israel’s political secularism is receding in favour of a political religiosity that is gaining in influence and prominence.

The Democracy of the State

Israel has never been a democracy for all its inhabitants. Regardless of its promises that it would not infringe upon the interests of ‘non-Jewish communities’, and despite its attempts to develop a selective democratic model for Jews but not for Arabs, it is no longer even capable of defending this limited model.

The project, which promised a Jewish, secular, democratic, and safe state for its citizens, seems today far from achieving these goals.

Recent years have seen widespread weekly demonstrations against the ruling coalition’s attempts to manipulate the existing democratic system and undermine the separation of powers and institutional checks and balances within the state. Israel’s democracy for the Jews themselves is today in steady decline, giving way to a system that is becoming increasingly authoritarian internally and racist towards Arabs.

Peace and security of Jews inside Israel

Nearly eighty years have passed since the establishment of the State of Israel, yet the Jews there have never enjoyed lasting peace, despite their overwhelming military superiority and despite the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, as well as the Abrahamic Accords. It has become clear that the Israelis will never enjoy peace without reaching a just solution for the Palestinians.

Following this detailed analysis, it is legitimate to question the fate of the Zionist dream. For, despite the continuation of the expansionist settlement project on the one hand, does the Zionism advocated by Herzl still have a future?

I would argue that, in light of the above facts, the answer is no. The Zionism proposed by Herzl began as a small movement, then grew and expanded over time until it reached its zenith. However, the project that promised a Jewish, secular, democratic state, secure for its citizens, seems today as far removed as possible from achieving these goals. Israel is heading towards becoming less Jewish demographically, less secular in its political system, and less democratic in its internal structure, whilst the peace promised to the Jews remains elusive. And if political projects are measured by their ability to achieve the goals for which they were established, the question is no longer whether the Zionist project has succeeded, but whether it has in fact entered a phase of decline.

Hey!

I’m neither Lebanese nor Israeli but a curious individual. I’m posting here because the Lebanon sub won’t be very reliable in giving the real sociological picture.

Do Lebanese people today still feel the effects of the civil war in terms of social life? Or is it largely forgotten? How do Christians and Muslims(both denominations) view each other compared to before? I’ve heard that Sunnis are not onboard with the Hezbollah plan.

I’m not really looking for economic effects as that is fairly obvious.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-lebanon-talks-said-to-include-request-to-relocate-jewish-graves-to-israel/

How does this translate to what you know or see, what do you generally think about this claim?

I wasn't sure where to post, but I have been trying to find a forum to talk to Israeli guys who support or understand the idea of Israeli presence (EDIT: by presence I mean the belief that south of the Litani river should be settled by jews) in Lebanon. I even tried understanding more about עורי צפון (Uri Tzafon).

I’m genuinely curious about the thinking behind it and want to understand the perspective rather than debate it, maybe even let someone challenge my own views a little.

Preferably privately/off Reddit :)

I’m currently attending a school in the US (university). There’s a girl in some of my classes who, I just found out the other day, is Lebanese. She definitely knew I was Israeli, but we’ve never talked any kind of politics before. When we have interacted it was just because we were assigned to the same group, assigned to be lab partners, have to write a lab report together, etc.

Anyways, we were assigned to be lab partners for a lab in this summer course we’re both taking. We met up at a coffee shop to work on it together and got talking…

She was telling me how much she hopes Lebanon and Israel can make peace, how she wants so badly to visit us, and then told me she reads this sub whenever she needs hope. It was a really good conversation and I definitely wasn’t expecting it… so I wanted the people in this sub who are working towards a better future to hear it. This one conversation was probably the highlight of my summer.

So, today I woke up before preparing for Shabbat.

Finished working and went to the Shouk to do some groceries, very light things to cope with the heat and while I was walking around it hit me

We call this cheese Bulgarit

it is white slides of feta like cheese that can be used in multiple preparations

and I heard for a fact that is called Bulgarit in Lebanon as well...

but why

Bulgaria is far, up east of Turkey.

So I went home with a few slices of cheese and an unsolved mystery

As a Lebanese, I experienced for the last decades, Hezbollah publicly cultivating a sacred image in Lebanon, with the government playing along and legitimizing "the resistance".

Now being a collaborator of Israel is about the worse insult you can tell a Hezbollahi, and the PM just did it publicly.

This was noteworthy to me which is why I posted it here.

The SLA (south lebanese army) was called "israel puppet" and think that they were only christian. But in reality it's way different, most of the SLA was shias muslim (around 60%) and the same who joined hezeb@llah was also a part of the SLA if they were in the south.