I understand. As I said, I know you have your head screwed on, and I very much appreciate what you said about not having a full knowledge of the situation. Very few have that humility, so much respect for that.

The death toll is unacceptable, I agree. Israel should know better and I don't agree with the way they've gone about this at all. Self-defence is one thing but they've made some very poor strategic choices and the results have been horrible levels of casualties. At the same time, I absolutely hate Hamas for using these civilians as human shields and hiding in schools, hospitals, and so forth. Their cavalier attitude to human life in the name of their insane charter is cowardly and absolutely disgusting. I have a pretty deep-seated loathing of terrorism, as you can doubtless see, and I particularly hate seeing Hamas held up to some nonsensical romantic freedom fighter ideal, especially by groups like "Queers for Palestine". Honestly, that's as absurd as "Christians Against Christ" or "Turkeys for Christmas", given how Hamas (and the Iranian regime that backs it) treats gay people. Israel, by contrast, is the only country in the Middle East where gay people - whether Jewish or Arab-Israeli citizens - can be so openly, without fear of imprisonment or execution. I know that's slightly off-topic, but this kind of ignorance pisses me off immensely, and I see it all over the place these days.

Anyway, again, thank you for that fair response, Kieran. In an ideal world, I'd love to have a face-to-face chat with you about this over a pint or two, because I'm rather breaking my rule of discussing politics online here. I only discuss politics in real life, face-to-face, with people I respect (even if I disagree with them). You definitely fall into the category of someone I respect. :)