Abu al-Daraja

I met a right-wing, religious Israeli settler yesterday.

I said many things that were very aggressive towards his political identity and designed to drag his conceptions of Judaism, Israel, "the West" etc. through the mud.

Yet it was a constructive meeting.
Why?

Because, to use a metaphor, i came to talk to him about dead children, not to ritually accuse him of them.
I didn't turn him into the symbol of all that is bad, and don't want to see him destroyed to purify the earth.

If Israelis -right-wingers included- see this intention, most

of them are fair sports even to very extreme criticism (exceptions always exist).

Ofc this only worked because, in turn, i was able to listen to him. Which was slightly 'uncomfortable' for me since he talked about fighting "Islam" and ethnically cleansing Gaza, maybe the WB.

Everybody needs to decide what is their limit for such conversation.

But I also drink tea with people who think God allowed the creation of Israel so the Jews would gather in one place and could be killed there.
I surely can talk to religious settlers without throwing a tantrum.