u/Icarus_Voltaire

Exactly what the title says. This is probably like my millionth post covering a certain 30,000 square km in the Levant, but this conflict (more specifically, its downright cognitohazardous discourse) has honestly been occupying my mind 24/7 for I don't know how long and I think it's actually beginning to affect my mental health and sleep. It's gotten to the point where my first thought upon meeting a cute girl in a pub is "what is her position on the I-P conflict and what is her personal definition of Zionism/anti-Zionism?" and not something like "is she into 40k?". I even experience this when seeing a pic of a cute female celeb, especially those of my generation like Mckenna Grace or Emma Myers. I think I'm actually losing my mind. So this is a coping mechanism, if you will. Anyways, onto the question:

If you advocate for a two-state solution, why? How do you envision your personal two-state solution (names, political organisation, borders, first-level administrative divisions, national identities, demographics, domestic policy, foreign policy, reparations, fate of settlements in formerly occupied territories, treatment of symbols of the conflict etc.)?

If you advocate for a one-state solution, why? How do you envision your personal one-state solution (name, political organisation, borders, first-level administrative divisions, national identities, demographics, domestic policy, foreign policy, reparations, fate of settlements in formerly occupied territories, treatment of symbols of the conflict etc.)?

I'm curious to see where we socdems (at least those on this sub) stand on this and how they envision a peaceful Levant.

Personally, I'm a two-state solution guy, if only because I look at past examples like the United Arab Republic and Austria-Hungary, and find myself discouraged by their respective breakups (and the factors responsible). At the end of the day, I just want a South Africa-style ending for the conflict and not a Prussia-style ending.

Also, please, for the love of god, keep it civil in here. Try not to make blanket statements about Israeli and/or Palestinian civilians. I already get too many of that in my other social media accounts (and in the rest of this damn site like okaybuddyviltrum)

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u/Icarus_Voltaire — 9 days ago

Centrist: Benjamin "Benny" Gantz (בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ). Incumbent leader of Blue and White Israel Resilience Party, Alternate Prime Minister from 17 May 2020 – 13 June 2021, and the 20th Chief of General Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from 2011 to 2015.

Authleft: Ayman Aadil Odeh (Arabic: أيمن عادل عودة, Hebrew: אַיְּימָן עַאדֶל עוֹדֶה). An Arab Israeli lawyer and leader of Hadash–Ta'al as of 2022.

Authcenter: Bezalel Yoel Smotrich (בְּצַלְאֵל יוֹאֵל סְמוֹטְרִיץ׳). Minister of Finance since 2022, and incumbent leader of the Religious Zionist Party.

Authright: Itamar Ben-Gvir (אִיתָמָר בֶּן גְּבִיר). Minister of National Security since 2022, and incumbent leader of Otzma Yehudit ("Jewish Power"); the ideological descendant of the outlawed Kach party.

Rightcenter: Benjamin "BibiNetanyahu (בִּנְיָמִין "בִּיבִּי" נְתַנְיָהוּ). Incumbent Prime Minister since 29 December 2022 and leader of Likud since 20 December 2005.

Libright: Avigdor Lieberman (אביגדור ליברמן). Founder and leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, Minister of Finance between 2021 and 2022, and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel from 2006 to 2008 and 2009 to 2012.

Libcenter: Yair Lapid (יָאִיר לַפִּיד). Former journalist, incumbent Leader of the Opposition since January 2023, and leader of Yesh Atid since the party's founding in 2012. Also Prime Minister from 1 July 2022 – 29 December 2022.

Libleft: Yair Golan (יָאִיר גּוֹלָן). Incumbent leader of HaDemokratim, reserve major general in the Israel Defense Forces, and Deputy Minister of Economy from 2021–2022.

Leftcenter: Tamar Zandberg (תָּמָר זַנְדְבֵּרְג). Minister of Environmental Protection from 2021 to 2022, Member of Knesset for Meretz from 2013 to 2021, and leader of Meretz between 2018 and 2019. Head of the National Institute for Climate and Environmental Policy at Ben Gurion University as of July 2025.

Feel free to comment your alternate placements and choices. I was really torn on the placements of Lapid, Gantz, and Lieberman.

u/Icarus_Voltaire — 12 days ago

What are your thoughts and opinions on former CIA officer and whistleblower John Chris Kiriakou?

I ask this because a while back, clips of interviews and speeches with him had been trending (especially on Instagram), especially on his experiences with working with the CIA, the US government as a whole, and that time he was assigned in a joint op with Mossad (I don’t have the clip stored so if anyone can provide a link that’d be great). And especially on his political views, like those expressed on Russian state-owned Radio Sputnik and how he described Kamala Harris and Donald Trump as "an anti-Arab Democrat and an anti-Arab Republican", respectively.

So I was left wondering where do we social democrats/social liberals/democratic socialists/market socialists etc. stand on this man. Because I will confess, I got the feeling that there is a chance Kiriakou might have fallen to the same curse that seemingly every former Navy SEAL with a book and podcast has fallen victim to (if you know what I am talking about, you know) and so I kinda want to know from people who are more familiar with Kiriakou on what kind of man he is and where someone of our political community (for lack of a better term) ought to stand on him.

So, thoughts and opinions on Kiriakou?

NOTE: I am non-American (am Indonesian 🇮🇩), which might not be that relevant but just to preempt any questions as to why I might not be as in-tuned into this as I probably ought to be.

u/Icarus_Voltaire — 14 days ago