I think Netanyahu and his crew of extremists are totally out of control and need to be stopped, and that the international community should put all the pressure it can on them to cease. Their excuse of self-defence has long since worn thin and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank permanently.
I believe this ultra-nationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified & grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultra-nationalist agenda with terrible consequences, as we see now with the horrific blockade of aid to Gaza.
While our lives tick along as normal these endless thousands of innocent human souls are still being expelled from the earth… for what?
At the same time the unquestioning Free Palestine refrain that surrounds us all does not answer the simple question of why the hostages have still not all been returned? For what possible reason?
Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7th? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses too to hide behind the suffering of its people, in an equally cynical fashion for their own purposes.
I also think there is a further and extremely important point to make.
Social media witch-hunts (nothing new) on either side pressurizing artists and whoever they feel like that week to make statements etc do very little except heighten tension, fear and over-simplification of what are complex problems that merit proper face to face debate by people who genuinely wish the killing to stop and an understanding to be found.
This kind of deliberate polarization does not serve our fellow human beings and perpetuates a constant ‘us and them’ mentality. It destroys hope and maintains a sense of isolation, the very things that extremists use to maintain their position. We facilitate their hiding in plain sight if we assume that the extremists and the people they claim to represent are one and the same, indivisible.
If our world is ever able to move on from these dark times and find peace it will only be when we rediscover what we share in common, and the extremists are sent back to sit in the darkness from whence they came.
I sympathize completely with the desire to ‘do something’ when we are witnessing such horrific suffering on our devices every day. It completely makes sense. But I now think it is a dangerous illusion to believe reposting, or one or two line messages are meaningful, especially if it is to condemn your fellow human beings. There are unintended consequences.
It is shouting from the darkness. It is not looking people in the eye when you speak. It is making dangerous assumptions. It is not debate and it is not critical thinking.
Importantly, it is open to online manipulation of all kinds, both mechanistic and political.
why not quote just the parts you’re referring to?
at any rate, no, he four-sides’ed it.
there is hamas, the palestinian people, the israeli people, and the idf/israeli regime….
i know the israeli story of what happened on oct 7 is mostly lies… but targeting civilians is terrorism when israel does it, and when hamas does it… neither the civilian population of palestine or of israel should be indiscriminately murdered….
not that i want soldiers to murder each other either, but it’s just flat evil to murder civilians.
hamas has been killing palestinians too, they’re kinda extremists like that….
but, there’s more than two sides to this coin….
First, I’ll say you’re right. There’s more than two sides. Its a mistake to only highlight the leaders and the fighters. The average inhabitants are primary in my world view.
I shared the long passage because I thought his slide from condemning netanyahu and the right wing of likud to criticizing slogans was important. So I posted a long passage to show the both sides he was criticizing. The second size isn’t Hamas, it’s social media with a “just asking questions” about Hamas.
Its funny to me that he gets that Likud* is a monster that needs to be banished. And I agree, Hamas emerged as a monster. But he fails to ever say who has almost all the cards. And who has all the power and where that is coming from.
Likud knows they can and will get away with ethnic cleansing. They know they are doing monsterous things. And that Israelis will thank them later. There will be no Palestinians left to blame or thank or codemn Hamas. If Hamas ever returns all the kidnapped, I don’t think Likud will stop. Do you?
Do you think what Hamas did on Oct 7th is anything near the scale of what Israel has done since? Israel denies targeting civilians or reporters and yet they seem to just die somehow. Isn’t this a horror that exceeds the terrorism of Hamas. We don’t have a word for it, but it’s worse. And the horror of Israeli control of Palestine, an act whose monstrosity can be hidden because of the power imbalance and the rest of the world pretending like nothing is happening … Again we have no words. We have no power. We pretend to when we scream “Free Palestine”. But we know all we have is sorrow.
* I use Likud to represent their whole coalition. If Likud fails to win the next election, but another right wing government emerges and continues the policy, my analysis still stands.
They both sides it.
why not quote just the parts you’re referring to?
at any rate, no, he four-sides’ed it.
there is hamas, the palestinian people, the israeli people, and the idf/israeli regime….
i know the israeli story of what happened on oct 7 is mostly lies… but targeting civilians is terrorism when israel does it, and when hamas does it… neither the civilian population of palestine or of israel should be indiscriminately murdered….
not that i want soldiers to murder each other either, but it’s just flat evil to murder civilians.
hamas has been killing palestinians too, they’re kinda extremists like that….
but, there’s more than two sides to this coin….
First, I’ll say you’re right. There’s more than two sides. Its a mistake to only highlight the leaders and the fighters. The average inhabitants are primary in my world view.
I shared the long passage because I thought his slide from condemning netanyahu and the right wing of likud to criticizing slogans was important. So I posted a long passage to show the both sides he was criticizing. The second size isn’t Hamas, it’s social media with a “just asking questions” about Hamas.
Its funny to me that he gets that Likud* is a monster that needs to be banished. And I agree, Hamas emerged as a monster. But he fails to ever say who has almost all the cards. And who has all the power and where that is coming from.
Likud knows they can and will get away with ethnic cleansing. They know they are doing monsterous things. And that Israelis will thank them later. There will be no Palestinians left to blame or thank or codemn Hamas. If Hamas ever returns all the kidnapped, I don’t think Likud will stop. Do you?
Do you think what Hamas did on Oct 7th is anything near the scale of what Israel has done since? Israel denies targeting civilians or reporters and yet they seem to just die somehow. Isn’t this a horror that exceeds the terrorism of Hamas. We don’t have a word for it, but it’s worse. And the horror of Israeli control of Palestine, an act whose monstrosity can be hidden because of the power imbalance and the rest of the world pretending like nothing is happening … Again we have no words. We have no power. We pretend to when we scream “Free Palestine”. But we know all we have is sorrow.
* I use Likud to represent their whole coalition. If Likud fails to win the next election, but another right wing government emerges and continues the policy, my analysis still stands.