Well--people are people, not saints, and emotion? It wouldn't hurt for some to put a little more effort into emulating the latter.

I too have found both Douglas and Aza frustrating at times in the ways that you describe, so I sympathize. I try to take it in stride, try to forgive them for it. It's hardly unique to them, though! I quite often end up rubbing people the wrong way from the beginning since I do not accept without protest beliefs that seem out of touch with the reality of a situation in ways that matter for how to think about it.

Anyway, regarding Israel: yes, I agree that the emotional response to October 7 has resulted in even more egregious dehumanization of Palestinians than was already happening before October 7. (This is not to say that Palestinians were not busy dehumanizing Israelis too, both before and after--but the attitudes of those with more power are more consequential; the powerless might have vile thoughts but if they are unable to act on them the need to address them is less acute up until the point where they gain enough power for it to matter.)

The conflict is not difficult to solve, save for emotion. Emotions are central to our ability to make choices; we can't very well do without them. But when inadequately tempered, they can lead to immense cruelty and individually understandable but jointly insoluble inviolable demands.