• HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Even completely ignoring all the history of the region and how the current State of Israel came to be and only focusing on the present in a vacuum, there is still is a glaring contradiction that I have never heard any sort of coherent answer from people who support Israel’s actions: If you truly believe that simply having a negative opinion of Israel’s actions against Palestinians is antisemitic (or simply being a Palestinian that’s still alive is antisemitic according to too many people), then surely it also holds that both Israel’s outright killing of Palestinians and their ongoing apartheid policies preventing Palestinians from existing in the same areas as Israelis is anti-Arab right? Is being anti-Arabic somehow preferable to being antisemitic? Are Arabs not human beings and do they not deserve the same rights and protection as Jews or literally any other human? What makes it okay for Israel to be anti-Arab then?

    One of the half baked arguments I have heard is that Israel is “justified” in being anti-Arabic because “it’s in self defense against Palestinians that want to kill them,” but if you make that assertion, then what makes the other side different? Israel is certainly not just attacking the Hamas and there have been more Palestinian civilian victims than Israeli civilian victims so wouldn’t you saying that also automatically imply the inverse and equally justify the Hamas’ actions against Israel? You can’t attack someone while claiming self defense and then cry foul when they defend themselves against you.

    • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Israel is committing a genocide. - At best, one would have to concede they’re killing thousands of children to get at a handful of Hamas members. If you call it antisemitic to point that out, you’re saying genocidal kid-killing is inherent to Israelis - which is about as antisemitic as it gets, and a damn good justification for wiping Israel off the map. It’s a moronic,monstrous line to push.

      • qwrty@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        (Not disagreeing, but offering a bit more insight)

        To be fair, what the IDF is doing is hard. Fighting irregular forces in dense urban environments is hard, especially with their opponents having hundreds of underground bunkers and using civilian shields. Even if they were operating under best practice, there would be a lot of civilian casualties.

        However, they aren’t operating under best practices. I don’t know how the average IDF soldier feels, but the top brass at best doesn’t give a shit if they kill a hundred palestinian civilians per one Hamas member; At worst, they see this conflict as an excuse to actively target them.

        • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Between the genocidal rhetoric of Israeli leadership, the fact that Israel propped up Hamas over the PLO, and the fact that the casualty stats are squarely in line with the broader civilian population, what makes you think any attempt is being made to avoid civilian casualties?

          Hamas and combatatant-aged men aren’t over-represented in the casualty stats - this is just an indiscriminate genocide they’ve been clearly signalling they intend to commit.

          • qwrty@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            what makes you think any attempt is being made to avoid civilian casualties?

            they aren’t operating under best practices.

            I don’t

      • Thrashy@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You jest, but Israel also has a long history of discrimination against non-Ashkenazi Jewish people.

      • TheSanSabaSongbird@lemdro.id
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        1 year ago

        Fun fact; something like 60 percent of all Israelis are Mizrahi Jews from across the Middle East. Both in terms of their physical appearance and their material culture they have far more in common with Arabs than they do with white Europeans. Calling them “white” really doesn’t hold much water.

        • orrk@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          ya, well it’s the immigrants from Europe and mainly America that are successfully pushing this racial theocratic-ethnostate shit

  • balderdash@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    It is interesting how split opinions are here. Young democrats are more pro Palestine, older Dems are more pro Israel (although a little harsh). Republicans think Israel is doing the right thing.

    • Prunebutt@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      You really need to understand that there is a waaay bigger political spectrum than “Democrats” and “Republicans”. Especially when it comes to foreign policy.

      • balderdash@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Random condescension on Lemmy, what else is new.

        I was basing my statement on an NPR poll and those were the categories that they used.

        • spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          Take off your offended pants and reread what they wrote. If that’s condescension then you’re too sensitive for the internet and should probably log off.

          I am being condescending. They were not.

          • balderdash@lemmy.zip
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            1 year ago

            Lemmy seems obsessed with needless disputes and pedantic “gotcha” moments. (Your comment exemplifies my point beautifully, by the way.) It is condensing to read my comment in the uncharitable light of arguing the US political spectrum applies abroad. But instead of trying to discern what the other person means, a lot of you would rather find a disagreement where there is none.

            You’re both being condescending and can happily fuck off.

            • spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works
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              1 year ago

              Ah so you DO need to log off.

              In all seriousness my comment was meant to come off as condescending to highlight the difference. If you want to be mad at the world go right ahead. You’re the one with the shitty outlook, ya fucking baby. 👶🏻

        • Prunebutt@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          You are dn the internet and not everyone here is from the US.

          The US political system is not the center of the political world.

          In fact, I think that the Democrat Republican dichotomy is one reason why people in the west are so badly informed when it comes to politics.

    • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Young democrats are more pro-dont-commit-war-crimes whatever the history, older dems are disensitized by war-crimes and obsessed with anti-terrorism.

      Republicans love the war machine and think that genocide/wiping out the opposing side is the only way to resolve anything.

      Biden is trying to put on his best dem face while attempting to also maintain control over nuclear proliferation in the middle east. There’s only 1 party when it comes to global control, and this exposed it clearly. Democratic or Republican presidents, they all answer to the Generals in the end.

        • filister@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          For example by not creating a humanitarian catastrophe for the civilian population of Gaza. By not actively restricting humanitarian aid, food, electricity, water. By setting up field hospitals and making sure that everyone who needs a medical treatment can receive one. By actively trying to limit the civilian casualties and adhering to international laws of war.

          Or is this too much to ask from a state that pretends to be democratic and lawful?

            • filister@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I’ve seen examples Israel letting in humanitarian aid

              Oh wow, how generous of them. Yesterday apparently they allowed 50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid, for 2.4M people. Please do the math and tell me do you seriously think this is enough?!? Those trucks are carrying not only food, but medical supplies and water. That’s extremely insufficient and is borderline cynical

              but of course they have a concern about supplies getting in that would aid another attack.

              Oh yes, humanitarian aid in the form of food, medical supplies and water can make a great bomb, that will obliterate half of Israel. Do you realise how your argument sounds?

              Even fuel, never heard diesel to be used for any bomb or explosive. Or electricity. But please correct me if I am wrong.

              More attention should be focused on why Egypt also has a blockade against Palestine in most respects too.

              You are also missing the simple fact that actually Israel is also controlling the Rafah crossing, they were bombing it on a couple of occasions. Plus by saying this you are openly admitting that Israel is actively trying to land grab Gaza and expel all Gazans to Egypt. And a question for you with increased difficulty, how easy do you think for a developing country would be to assimilate 2.4M immigrants?

                • filister@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  Aren’t my points valid though? What’s your counter argument? Yes, I was being sarcastic to emphasize my point but this doesn’t make it less valuable as an input.

            • Discoslugs@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              and no one can ever come up with an alternative for what Israel should do.

              Do you live under a rock.

              Israel could stop trying to colonize and genocide palenstine.

                • rambaroo@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  It’s telling that you can’t imagine doing anything other than mass murdering civilians.

                  You could try undermining hamas for once, instead of propping them and giving them constant recruitment material.

            • Honytawk@lemmy.zip
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              1 year ago

              And why do you think those hospitals allow Hamas to operate there?

              Could it be that every Palestinian is scared to get indiscriminately killed by Israel, no matter if they help Hamas or not?

              • bartolomeo@suppo.fi
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                1 year ago

                Looks like homey would rather delete their comment than go online and find out that Palestine doesn’t have armed forces (bonus points for finding out why not).

    • pomodoro_longbreak@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      Not American, but there is a shift lately that makes me feel a little hopeful. Like for the first time my parents and in-laws are starting to see how not all criticism of Israel has to be antisemitic.

      Yes that does mean we’re having to be more vigilant for actual antisemitism (especially online), but it’s still progress of a sort.

  • MuuuaadDib@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    The hubris and the gall of those crazy leftists, they don’t want dead babies what monsters!

      • primal_buddhist@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        We can condemn Hamas and Israel in the same breath. We don’t have to support Israel as the agency to “remove” Hamas.

          • 20hzservers@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            You are incredibly hostile towards people who have no part in this tragedy. You are also creating a strawman of Crazy pro-hamas lunatics, most people critical of Israel are also anti Hamas and we agree that they are terrorists. Anger is acceptable in this situation but you are directing it at what is at best a vocal minority or at worst you creating a strawman to deflect attention from Israels wrong doings.

      • MuuuaadDib@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Oh sure one sec…let’s see…bomb a refugee camp, a hospital, and ambulances and kill kids and others who did nothing or…take a surgical attack on the people who attacked you? Tough decisions…hmmm…going to go with attack the actual people who attacked you.

          • MuuuaadDib@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Just FYI you sound like an asshat with your hot takes, based on bias and ignorance.

            I am saying that it’s ok for Israel to go after the people who attacked them, it’s not ok to blow up children and innocents.

      • S_204@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I’m struggling to find anything that would lead to a down vote here.

        Whether or not you believe Israel even has a right to exist aside, any reasonable actor would obviously want what you’ve outlined above…

          • naevaTheRat@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            1 year ago

            Oh what’s that random internet commentator? You can’t instantly solve all conflict in 800 characters? FIRE UP THE HELLFIRES MAMA’S EATIN’ TONIGHT!

              • orrk@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                nah, I would go more along the lines of abolish the apartheid system in Israel, stop specifically targeting civilians, stop committing pogroms in the west bank, and stop supporting Hamas because you don’t want the PA to be able to actually argue for a two-state solution, etc…

                the list is long, and surprisingly most of these options don’t involve attacking Gaza in some form of retribution, nor do they involve the ethnic cleansing/genocide (and yes, what Israel is doing is a genocide by the UN definition we came up with based on the Turkish genocide of Armenians)

                edit: where exactly does this bullshit of “Palestinians rejected every attempt at a two-state solution” bullshit come from? the only “two state solutions” they rejected were the soviet style client state proposals Israel came up with, the whole reason the PA exists instead of the PLO is that Palestinians were ratifying the Oslo Agreements, until Israel decided it wanted to keep occupying the west bank because it’s clearly rightfully won land, leading to an expansion of illegal settlements, and anti-Palestinian violence and racism.

  • redballooon@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    To the leftist who is stunned by this message:

    Think of Jordan Peterson. There was a time where he was riled up against “ideologies who would kill people in the name of a higher good.” And he named examples, Stalin and Mao most prominently. For all the abstract criticisms of ideologies, he rarely distances himself from Fascism, named Hitler only very occasionally as an example.

    Now he is forethinker for the Republican Fascist party which is now normalizing the exact dehumanizing language that the Nazis used to prepared and justify their concentration camps.

    Antifascists caught his thought patterns early on and warned of him using fascist arguments much more sensitive than most people, the missing distancing from Hitler along his other prominent examples being one of them.

    Now, dear leftists, the mirror of this arguments wants to ask you if you are really only motivated by reducing human suffering and wanting peace. And if so, you cannot ignore the role of Hamas in this longtime ongoing conflict nor in this war. If you skip that, if that’s not in your mirror, it’s big time necessary to go outside your bubble. Because then chances are you are a puppet playing the propaganda trumpet for the Hamas, or otherwise playing in their hands.

    Tedious as it may be, missing distance to a terrorist group like that in a conflict like that is a big red flag.

    And just as a tedious albeit necessary disclaimer, I believe Netanyahu and quite a bunch of other Israeli actors belong in a courtroom and then in jail for their atrocities, and certainly not in power.

    • filister@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Every sane person just reading the news of what is happening in Gaza and the West Bank can make their own conclusions. If you really value human life no matter the religion, ethnicity or skin colour you can see a clear pattern.

      • redballooon@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Really? What we have in the news these days is published by the conflict parties, independent verification is almost never possible.

        • filister@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I don’t need the exact numbers to know how bad the situation is. I have a couple of questions for you:

          • Do you agree that the civilian casualties on the Palestinian side far exceed those on the Israeli part?
          • Do you agree that a large chunk of the population in Gaza is displaced and currently living in makeshift tents?
          • Do you agree that there is an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza?
          • Do you agree that there is increased violence and imposed restrictions in the West bank by the IDF, and that far right settlers are persecuting Palestinians and killing them.
          • Weren’t there members of the Israeli parliament calling for nuking Gaza, to do the same in the West Bank, etc?
          • What about illegal settlements, land grab, numerous human rights violations, etc.

          I also want Hamas gone, but don’t think this is the way.

          • redballooon@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            Yes, there is all that. As I said, I think Netanyahu and his bunch belong in jail, not in power.

            But even if this guy is out of the way, here’s a few more questions to consider:

            • Do you agree that after Oct 7th, Israels strategy of building a wall and an “iron dome” must be considered totally failed?
            • Do you agree that the Hamas can not be talked with?
            • Do you agree that in addition to the Hamas, Israel is surrounded by militant groups that want to erase the state from the map?
            • Do you agree that in the past no palestinean negotiator honestly considered a 2-state-solution?

            What are, positively speaking, Israels options? What should a moderate follower of Netanyahu do to achieve some sort of piece? I’m lost here. Do you have any ideas other than saying “not this way”?

            • filister@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              By being involved in a constructive dialogue, ready to make concessions, outlining a plan to withdraw some Israeli settlements in the West bank, giving more autonomy to Palestine, active persecution of settlers, who are violently attacking Palestinians in the West bank. No double standards in their treatment. In exchange for peaceful disarmament of Palestinians and power transition to PA, but also disarmament of settlers. Removal of some of the checkpoints, outlining a plan of removal of more checkpoints if certain criteria are met. Reconstruction of Gaza.

              And tell me how restricting water and food in Gaza helps IDF, I can to certain point understand the fuel ban and to a lesser extent the electricity ban, but food and water are essential for every human being and limiting them is a human rights violation.

              Unfortunately at this point there is a lot of bad blood on both sides and this is definitely not a good start.

  • rk96@lemmy.one
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    1 year ago

    You know, when neo-nazis align themselves with anti israel leftists, I would say that’s not good, but apparently western “communists” kniw better then anyone, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, enjoy being on the same side with neo nazis, must feel great isnt it?

    • rambaroo@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      So? Israel is on the same side as white supremacists and far right Christian extremists. Your logical faculties are garbage.

      Besides literally no one on the left is looking at Neo Nazis and saying “the enemy of the enemy is my friend”. You’re just making shit up because that’s easier than trying to defend what the IDF is actually doing right now. It’s always games and misdirection with the pro-Israel crowd.

      • rk96@lemmy.one
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        1 year ago

        And communists in america align themselves with sunni salafi jihadists, your point is?

        You wrote a bunch of BS and buzzwords just tick off your “I mascaraded my jew hatered behind israel criticism”

        Sharmoota