chalst writes:
I should qualify this I guess: I wouldn't like to see recentlog degenerate into a soapbox, but I find the free software community here on advogato to be a generally well-informed, diverse, and rational community; precisely these properties make me interested in hearing political views here. I'd be interested to hear more points of view from Israeli's in particular: what was behind Sharon's huge electoral gains?; what do Israeli's think of the new coalition?; how hopeful are Israeli's about the prospects for a workable peace settlement with the Palestinians in the next few months and years?
heh. let's see...
first of all, I don't find the free software community (and the segment thereof present here) particularly well-informed or rational. sure, better informed than the general population, but is that really saying much? rational? I dunno; I don't find the love for free software to be a very rational thing. there are plenty of exellent emotional reasons for people to want to belong to this community, but that doesn't have anything to do with rationality.
now here goes an Israeli point of view (you asked for it):
Sharon's huge electoral victory indicates that he understands the Israeli public better than his rivals. it also indicates that Israelis are coming to realize that "the situation" won't end any time soon. I'd also like to thank Belgium for their help. I mean, Sharon's international image is a huge fucking caricature as it is, but the Belgians have just reached the peak of the grotesque.
the new coalition is not finalized yet. the way it looks now, it seems to be a surprizingly accurate representation of the current public moods and preferences.
I can't speak for all Israelis, but I'm not very hopeful about the conflict ending quickly. "palestinians" and their puppet masters need to realize that Israel is not going away any time soon; this realization is bound to take a long time to sink in, as the Oslo accords have set their hopes too high.
(it looks like when I write here at all, I write about politics. that's because I'm not involved in any free software any more. is there a way to kill an Advogato account?)