This is the scariest thing I have ever experienced:

I once took a very long bus ride in South America, and was seated next to a guy from Florida. We talked very pleasantly for a good few hours, about a variety of subjects, and then the topic of Israel and Palestine came up. He would later tell me that he was Jewish, but that hadn't come up in the conversation prior to that point. Anyhow, he asked me for my opinion about the conflict and, considering that I was in the midst of reading a lot about that part of the world, I gave (what I thought to be) a very nuanced answer that probably took about 10 minutes to properly lay out.

He looked at me, blankly, for a few seconds, and then simply stated "I'd wipe them all out."
"Who?"
"The Palestinians."
"What do you mean?"
"Simple. Kill every single Palestinian that's alive. It's the only solution."

I sat there, unable to comprehend what he had said. This was an educated and professional man who had a wife, four children, and was able to speak quite eloquently and intelligently about a broad range of topics. Prior to this part of the conversation, I would have easily labelled him a normal, healthy, and friendly guy.

After collecting myself, I tried to reason with him about what he had just suggested, pointing out the insanity of it all, but without being accusatory. It was then that he said the scariest thing I've ever heard, because he GENUINELY believed it:

"You have to understand, I'm a pacifist."

In a single breath, he would go on to explain to me that although he was a pacifist the only solution to the Israel/Palestine conflict was to murder every single man, woman, and child that considers themselves Palestinian. He genuinely believed both of these statements, and saw absolutely no contradiction between them.

As we discussed this further, and he saw that I did not agree with him, he got VERY aggressive towards me. After about 30 more minutes he was so upset that I said something like:

"You know, when you talk about my personal opinions and beliefs, you seem to get as angry as you do when you talk about the Palestinians."

He just stared at me, lifeless, and said "Yes, that's right." You could tell that he would have easily put me in the "EXTERMINATE IMMEDIATELY" group, had he had the power to do so.

After that, we stopped talking (obviously) and just sat on the bus. He had been using the armrest the entire trip, without incident from me, and after he got up to go to the bathroom, I decided that I'd like a turn at it. When he returned, he started trying to forcibly push my arm off the armrest.

"Excuse me, don't do that please" I said.
"Just move your arm up so I can have the back part of the armrest" he replied.
"You've had it for hours, and I would like a turn" I said.
"You are so selfish. You are just like the farking Palestinians" he proclaimed.

As I said, meeting that man was, without a doubt, the scariest experience I've ever had. For someone to appear so normal, and psychologically healthy, after talking for hours about a variety of subjects... only to find out that he's, in many ways, a psychopath... really shook me. Of course, at the time, my reaction to him could probably best be described by this:



/seemed relevant