Apologies for the non-blogging of late; no real excuses other than sheer laziness but since blogging isn't my job I don't really have to explain. Anyway, to tide you over until I resume writing, here's a little cut/paste job from a Facebook thread in which I got heavily invloved.
It took place on a friend's page after she updated the following thought:
Georgia Lewis figures it's about time the world admitted that the formation of the state of Israel was a pretty bad idea...Now, if you know me at all then you also know I have no religious inclination whatsoever; in fact I loathe religion, so any thoughts I have on this subject are not motivated by a hidden personal agenda. I simply detest fanaticism in all its forms.
So, have a little read...the comments are re-published unedited and in the actual order in which originally made. It's a little lengthy but I do owe you, so lap it up while you can. I do not know most of these people and they do not know me, other than Georgia Lewis. Most of them live in or around the UAE from what I gather although I neither know that for sure or care at all.
And then, without necessarily commenting on the rights or wrongs of the original discussion, I'd like you to answer the following question: Am I really a total cunt or just a naughty boy...
Georgia Lewis figures it's about time the world admitted that the formation of the state of Israel was a pretty bad idea...Adele Schultz
Just reading what happened. At last Israel has shown it's true colours and the world (especially USA) can no longer turn a blind-eye!
David Fingret
excuse me...do you mean the actual formation or the location of the state of israel...
Georgia Lewis
The actual formation of the state of Israel after WWII, hence my use of the word "state". Pretty hard to change the location of sites that have been sacred to Jews, Muslms and Christians for centuries.
Keren Bobker
Don't agree that it was wrong, but handled badly. If you want to be pedantic Jews were in ME for some 5,000 years before Muslims existed.
David Fingret
you're an idiot...that's as stupid as suggesting that if Richard the Lionheart and Phillip II had done their job properly and slaughtered every Muzzie on the planet when they had the chance that none of this would have happened...
Keren Bobker
I do wish people would separate Israel & Jews. The anti-semitism is appalling. The state of Israel does not represent all Jews, most of whom do not support many of the actions of Israel.
David Fingret
BTW...not you keren...for the record i was referring to georgia...
Georgia Lewis
True, it is important to note that there is a difference between being against the actions of the state of Israel and being an anti-semite, but thank you for calling me an idiot...
David Fingret
georgia, your original comment pertained to the creation of the state...a wholly humanitarian solution to the problem of what to do with millions of despised, displaced survivors of the holocaust...no one wanted them...certainly not those hypocritial c*nts in the UK...but sadly for the sake of expediency it was decided to create israel on a useless piece of Crown land which sadly had religious ties to a whole bunch of these savages...jews, christians and mozzies...THAT was the problem...location, location, location...
Georgia Lewis
The events in the last day or so are just the latest in a long, long line of atrocious acts by all sides which demonstrates that an alternative is needed.
A two-state solution perhaps? A new state with no official religion where Jews, Muslims, Christians and anyone else can live side by side? Moving the Jewish homeland to Utah? I'm not claiming to know the answer but I do think that the current situation is unsustainable.
Komal Patwari
Who's David Fingret, and why does he insist on referring to Muslims as a muzzie or mozzie? Since he's a friend of yours I'm inclined to think he probably isn't an inbred farmer from Iowa who plays banjo and probably doesn't even own a passport, but I am often proven wrong about these things.
Georgia Lewis
He is not an inbred farmer from Iowa and I have never seen him play the banjo but given that he gets upset when people level personal attacks at him in cyberspace but thinks nothing of insulting an entire religion and calling me an idiot, then I can see how you may have reached your rather amusing conclusion.
Dave Reeder
david, in fact uk-based zionists were pushing for the state from the end of the 19th century, which led to the 1917 balfour declaration which, simply, stated that the government "viewed with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people" after which it was a done deal. the shaoh merely made it more urgent and the stern-irgun terrorist attacks on the occupying british army after ww2 made us cut and run, leaving the palestinians without sufficient protection.
David Fingret
oh yes...of course...'a two state solution with no official religion where Jews, Muslims, Christians and anyone else can live side by side'...how utterly dreamy...we could put it next to Wonderland, the magical country where Serbs and Croats hold hands and sing songs...or The Happy Kingdom, where the Hutu and the Tutsis run free side by side...forget Utah...i think the state you're imagining is Kansas, Dorothy...
Komal Patwari
Georgia: he sounds like an all-round delight, I'd love to meet him. He must have many friends and live a full, engaging life.
Georgia Lewis
Komal, would you believe he is single? Such a shame you're newly married, it could have been a beautiful thing...
Komal Patwari
Him, single? Surely the two do not belong in the same sentence. It would have started out a beautiful thing I'm sure but would have ended in tragedy when I ate him for breakfast the following morning.
David Fingret
yes komal, just as i don't automatically assume you work as a ticket-collector for british rail or manage a 7/11, you pompous ass...
Komal Patwari
Charming and eloquent - how do the ladies stay away?
David Fingret
dave, acceding to the demands of those loony Zionists was never the answer either...dropping a jewish state into an area where they would be surrounded on three sides by their sworn enemies and on the fourth by water was an insane idea...but the UK saw a wonderful opportunity to give those maniacs what they wanted and find a use for a crappy piece of land they couldn't occupy commercially anyway...so they happily gave the stinking piece of desert to the zionists then even more happily turned their backs on the palestinians when the zionists cut loose...a marvelous piece of handwashing...
Komal Patwari
Which is something the British were very good at (when they ran the empire anyway) - this is not so dissimilar to their approach to the India / Pakistan divide - at the end of it all they drew a horrifyingly flawed border across a map of erstwhile India and set sail with the Kohinoor and an arguably unquantifiable amount of loot while leaving India and Pakistan to deal with the mess.
David Fingret
well, well...there's hope for you yet, Komal...but if you believe that then apart from some colourful nicknames i might have used, what's your beef with my argument...
David Fingret
sadly georgia there is no hope for you...unless one day you are granted your own state where you can rule supreme as lord of your own tribe of idiots...
Komal Patwari
The Indian royals held their own in the idiocy stakes, mind - and given the levels of utter lunacy with which they ruled their states and warred with each other, you could almost argue that they deserved to be conquered. Sadly it has always been the common people that have suffered, a fact especially pertinent to Isralis and Palestinians today. David your colourful nicknames are my only beef with your argument.
David Fingret
must...resist...potentially...funniest...and...most...offensive...exit...line...evah...
Robert Evans
Georgia, what nationality is Mr Fingret, I'm just curious due to one comment he made...
Georgia Lewis
He is Australian...
Irina Ionascu
Oh Georgia, you know how to set some people on fire... :)! Love it! This was almost like watching an episode of Come dine with me :). You rule!
Robert Evans
Ah, ok... Well, not to tar you all with the same brush, as I certainly wouldn't wanna be lumped in with all my compatriots, past & present, and forgive my slightly kneejerk nationalism, but I don't think we're the only 'hypocritical cunts' (note to ed, if you're gonna use it, spell it out mate) out there... seem to remember something about some ethnic dispossessed group or another in Oz down through the years... You must be do proud... Anyway, that's me done & out...
Ramesh Moorjani
In 2006, two U.S. professors John Mearsheimer of Chicago University and Stephen Walt of Harvard University wrote a thesis giving valid reasons that the U.S. unconditional backing of Israel was harming the U.S. in many ways.
They were immediately pounced upon and abused and labeled anti semitic etc. Fox News along with all republican and a few ... See Moredemocratic politicians went against them too.
AIPAC or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee is very strong financially and they lobby extensively for Israel.
Even with Obama as the president, nothing is going to happen.
America will use its veto power again and again. Israel will get away with murder again. No one has the balls to tackle them head on. The capital city of the U.S. is Tel Aviv. Israel doesn't seem to understand that the only way forward is to give something to achieve something.
David Fingret
er bob...may i call you bob...we're a bit egalitarian like that down here...not to rain on your brilliant stereotyping parade but in private FB chat this arvo (that's aussie for afternoon) i did broach the subject of the stolen generation with georgia...and i recognize the nonsensical analogy you seem to be mistaking for meaningful irony...however...and correct me if i'm wrong.. the gist of your comment seems to be 'oh yeah well so are you'...
David Fingret
meanwhile i do like irina's suggestion...setting people on fire...what a wonderfully Indian solution to the problem...yeah c'mon komal let's rumble some more...:)
Georgia Lewis
Really? All Indians are hell-bent on burning people??? And what is with the smiley at the end? Either express yourself properly with words or be quiet.
David Fingret
well georgia, since i'm not a character in south park and can't get away with saying that just for a laugh...i used the dreaded emoticon to downgrade the comment from deeply offensive to just pretty offensive...i only wish there was an emoticon capable of expressing my feelings towards you right now...
Georgia Lewis
Except that with or without the emoticon it is still about as hilarious as dead babies (of any nationality or religion...).
Gary Scott
lol Georgia
David Fingret
hey georgia...since your the expert on FB/SMS etiquette...what's worse...emoticons or grown men using 'lol'...
Georgia Lewis
Emoticons. And grown men calling Muslims "muzzies" and making unfunny gags about burning Indians is up there on the scale of shittiness.
Susan Macaulay
Georgia, I SO love your catalytic comments and lively salon guests, particularly Mr. Fingret who adds such zest to the interchanges in which he chooses to engage. Such a, how shall i say it, genteel conversationalist...
Christopher Saul
I think this must be the most historically ill-informed Facebook thread ever.
Gary Scott
Seriously, lol has to be worse than any crime mentioned here.
David Fingret
spot on ramesh...wow TWO university professors wrote a valid thesis condemning the US tacit support for Israel...well that pretty much settles it then, eh...the objections of Fox, the entire republican party and a few corrupt democrats notwithstanding...let's see you also made the diabolically clever observation about the israeli/jewish/money/power connection and shown wonderful insight in declaring tel aviv the capital of the US...nothing wrong with your well-constructed and impartial view...
David Fingret
well georgia...since acronyms speak louder than emoticons...here's one for you...IDGAS...want a clue...the first four words are 'i don't give a...'...
David Fingret
susan...if there's anything more distasteful than calling me a jew it's calling me a genteel...that's pretty racist, dude...
Georgia Lewis
Call me crazy (FIngret, I'm sure you will, I'm already an idiot apparently...), but I'm more inclined to take seriously the work of two university professors than anyone on Fox News.
David Fingret
chris...well that's what you get when you log into FB to study history...try going to uni next time...you cabbage...
Georgia Lewis
Ladies and gents, we are witnessing the world's first ever descent into madness live on Facebook.
David Fingret
not at all georgia...there's nothing crazy about being inclined to take two university professor's work seriously...unless of course YOU HAVEN'T FUCKING READ IT...hmmm...stephen walt...using ramesh's uncanny ability to connect convenient dots...i'd say he changed his name to honour walt disney...the well-known anti-semite theme park mogul...i'd be betting good money professor walt is secretly funded by the PLO...
Iain Akerman
Fingret... if you'd ever been to Palestine, you'd know that it is not a "crappy piece of land". It is beautiful. The level of ignorance here is quite astonishing...
Adele Schultz
David, do you need a hug? Seems like you lack attention in your life and now you have to get it by winding everybody on Georgia's wall up. Isn't there anybody in your life who you can go annoy rather than pollute our eyes? Oh, don't even try winding me up cause I aint going to respond to your adolecent need for attention.
David Fingret
akerman...if you've been to palestine then you're a fucking wizard because there is no such country mate...it's a region which now contains modern day Israel and Jordan amongst other actual countries...and from what i've read of it they didn't grow too many oranges there successfully prior to 1948...it was ostensibly a desert, asshole...interestingly though the arabic word for palestine is philistine...coinkydink ?? i don't think so...
Georgia Lewis
Some say Palestine is not a country, others say Israel is not a country... In any case, Iain is not an arsehole (can't do the American spelling, it hurts my eyes) and the beauty of a place is not dependent on how many oranges grow there.
Iain Akerman
I didn't say it was a country... maybe if you could read then you could learn something. And Palestinians grow olives. And I'd advise against you calling people you don't know assholes...
Georgia Lewis
He won't take advice, he is always right and everyone else is a cabbage, an arsehole, an idiot, a pompous ass... Surely it is feeding time at his nursing home soon.
David Fingret
oh adele...did you think i'd left you out by accident...not at all baby...your first comment was so vile and ill-considered i chose to pretend i hadn't seen it...people like you make me a little sick...
David Fingret
gosh sorry akerman...i wrongly assumed that your reference to the astonishing level of ignorance in here was aimed at me...or maybe it was but you were using it in the positive sense of the phrase...as in 'he's so astonishingly ignorant i'm starting to wish i was him'...i may not know you individually but i'm well familiar with your phylum...asshole...
Iain Akerman
Fingret... would love to meet you if you ever make it to Dubai. Maybe Georgia can arrange something. Then we'll see how you fare in a face-to-face confrontation. This is a gauntlet, not an excuse for more cowardly bile
Georgia Lewis
Fingret, are there any opinions on the Arab-Israeli conflict that you wish to share in a constructive manner? I know you do not agree with any sort of violence by either Israelis or Palestinians but right about now, no matter how tongue-in-cheek you think you're being, you're coming across as an unpleasant dick.
That's the problem with arguing online. You've got to be a damn good writer for people to realise when you are taking the piss and when you're being deadly serious.
David Fingret
akers...see that's the difference...i have no desire whatsoever to meet you...not for a chat...not for a drink...and not to take up your miserable gauntlet...i was right about the phylum too...you just proved that, asshole...
Keren Bobker
Having read numerous of his little diatribes I am firmly of the belief that this David Fingret is a 'comedy' character. No one can hate everyone and everything that much and not combust.
Iain Akerman
what a miserable coward you are...
David Fingret
oh and georgia...one last comment...doing a little expat stint in the UAE doesn't make you henry kissinger's love child...and writing car reviews doesn't make you joseph heller either...in the immortal words of the sagely adele...tonight you have shown me your true colours
Georgia Lewis
Joseph Heller? Catch 22 versus my groundbreaking piece the other week on the Abu Dhabi Bentley workshop?
Shakes head, reaffirms her belief that the truth is stranger than fiction, gets on with her day...
Adele Schultz
Last comment? YAY, at last! Now best you go wash your dirty mouth out with soap and maybe enroll into a course of anger management... ciao ciao
David Fingret
um adele..i thought you weren't going to respond to my adolescent need for attention...then again i did say that was going to be my last comment...gosh we're both so pathetically weak in our resolve...
Ramesh Moorjani
David, i finally read your sarcastic comments. Frankly, don't think you have too much knowledge of U.S. politics but you pretend to know.
If the U.S. has vetoed over 32 or more U.N. resolutions against Israel, what would you call that ?
Just for the record, i am not Muslim nor Christian so my position is not biased towards any one side.
And may i request you to keep a more civil discourse. That way, everyone will enjoy a healthy conversation, even though your knowledge sucks!
David Fingret
oh crap...i've been over at FB's wailing wall hassling the rabid zionists a bit and they don't like me either...now ramesh, glad you brought up the UN...this is the same august body that has presided over atrocities such as Bosnia and Rwanda, China's treatment of Tibet, Japanese whaling...etc etc etc...the same forum that allowed that PLO madman Yasser Arafat to address it while bearing sidearms in 1974 so he could unleash his slobbering fulminations against Israel...the same chamber that tacitly accepts Ahmadinejad's representative's disgusting calls for the extermination of Israel and Jews in general...please mate, i have less respect for the UN than i have for you...and i'm not the slightest bit interested in its resolution record or the number of US vetos...the whole process is a farcically political balancing act...so in response to your request that i keep a more civil discourse i shall treat you like the UN and ignore you...consider yourself vetoed...
David Fingret
now akers...i've been giving you some serious thought and here's how i see it...we don't know each other and yet we are now sworn enemies...your idea of resolving the conflict is for me to come to Dubai and let you tear my head off which from the looks of your photo and the 20year/20kg advantage you have over me, would be a distinct possibility…however the tyranny of distance combined with social convention means that you probably won't ever get that opportunity...so i get to sit here and snipe away while you get madder and madder...which i guess sorta makes you Israel and me Palestine (Hamas specifically)...how do you like that for an ironic stack of kebabs...i'm betting you wouldn't let Israel and Palestine sort their differences out in the same manner would you...because that probably wouldn't go too well for those peaceful olive farmers at all, would it...you silly ginger baboon...
