#me: the israeli government are destroying palestine and its people

[asexuallucanisdellamorte]

my mums brain has well and truly been rotted by gb news and facebook and twitter and she refuses to listen anytime I try and talk to her about how she's very wrong and calling yourself far-right is a bad thing so she's gone and called me anti semitic for all of this she's literally just throwing words around without knowing what it means

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Olivia Reingold

On October 7, 2024—one year after Hamas invaded Israel, murdering 1,200 people—The New York Times published an episode of its flagship podcast, The Daily. It featured two men on opposite sides of the conflict: an Israeli man who’s moved from hotel to hotel after Hamas destroyed his community, and a father trying to survive in Gaza. 

But while the Israeli man was described in full—as a “liberal” 44-year-old father named Golan Abitbul, born and raised on Kibbutz Be’eri, the Palestinian man’s identity was shrouded in secrecy. The New York Times simply referred to him as “Hussein, a Palestinian man living in Gaza.” The host, Sabrina Tavernise, did not ask Hussein any follow-up questions when he revealed that, unlike most Gazans right now, he has “a good income” and is able to pay about $1,000 a month for rent. And she let him explain—uninterrupted—about why, a year later, the war ravages on.

“I’m surprised that there is humans doing this force,” Hussein said of Israeli soldiers, in broken English. “How could human became this evil, killing others, imposing collective punishment on over two million people with no reason? What are they going to gain? Why they are doing this?”

But what Tavernise did not say is that “Hussein” is Hussein Owda, whose name is listed in the show notes on audio platforms that host the podcast, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. And what The New York Times does not reveal is that Owda’s background suggests links to Hamas. A simple Google search turns up his LinkedIn page, where he publicly lists an eight-year stretch working for the Municipality of Gaza, which sources told me is controlled by Hamas; a new job at the controversy-riddled United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (also known as UNRWA); and an eight-month stint at Muslim Hands, a nonprofit exposed by the UK’s Telegraph in 2014 for having “close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.” Hamas was originally established in the 1980s as the local Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.Hussein Owda (via LinkedIn)

From September 2015 until August 2023, Owda lists his job as the head of public relations for the Municipality of Gaza. “Every government structure in Gaza was run by Hamas,” Jon Schanzer, a former terrorism analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, told me. “The people that were paying his salary ultimately would’ve gone up the chain to Hamas itself.” Schanzer added that Owda, as the former head of public relations for the Municipality of Gaza, likely was “providing propaganda” to advance the mission of Hamas.

Meanwhile, three on-the-ground sources in Gaza—two of whom were provided through The Center for Peace Communications, which has a network of sources in the region—all confirmed to The Free Press that Owda has links to Hamas. One Gazan man who has met Owda said that “Employment at the municipality requires approval from the internal security, the local mosque’s emir, and Qassam Brigades intelligence,” referring to Al-Qassam Brigades, the militant wing of Hamas behind the group’s October 7 attack. Another Palestinian source in Gaza told The Free Press, “It’s impossible to get a job in the municipality unless you’re with Hamas.” (All sources in Gaza asked to withhold their names to protect them from possible retaliation by the terrorist group.)

[narcissistcookbook]

Hi! I am little nervous, I have never approached anyone quite like this. First of all, I love your songs, they have made me happy and moved to tears many a time. You strike me as a person who has something to say. Although there is something I have been wondering... I have not seen you post anything about the genocide in Gaza. I know it's in no way your responsibility to give your opinion on anything you don’t want to but I guess personally, I'm a little confused. I feel like your music doesn’t shy away from politics so I am wondering if there is any specific reason you have not posted/said (to my knowledge) anything about Palestine? Thank you for taking your time to read this. You can respond in any way you want to and if you don’t want to, I hope I at least made you think for bit. ^^ Thank you for your music and thank you for existing<3

short answer: I believe there are forces within Israel's government and the more militant populace who would happily commit a full-on genocide if given the chance. I believe they're a minority.

I believe the events on October 7th radicalised a lot of previously moderate Israelis whose private stance is now that it's not a nice business going scorched earth on Palestine, but if they just hand-wring for long enough then the 'problem' of Palestine will be solved by Netanyahu and his government. They believe they can then absolve themselves of blame for the atrocities by voting him out and claim they were never in favour of his approach while still benefitting from the end of a near-century old compromise to their preferred scenario - which is an ethnostate. I believe most of these people might not even be aware on a conscious level that this is what they want.

I believe Hamas is using human shields by holing up in or near dense population centres, and I believe that the solution to that tactic shouldn't be killing civilians and saying they got in the way of your bombs.

I believe that Hamas probably were/are setting up within or near some hospitals, I haven't seen any convincing arguments as to why they wouldn't do that - I believe the response shouldn't be to destroy the hospital.

I believe there is no effective and ethical means of fighting Hamas with military force. It can be done effectively but unethically or ethically but ineffectively. I believe the majority of the Israeli government / professional military cares very little for doing it ethically.

I believe Israel as a state is an inherently colonial enterprise - which puts it on roughly equal footing with its closest allies.

I believe I am thoroughly capable of falling for misinformation about everything I just stated, which is part of why I've been reluctant to talk about this.

I believe it's odd to expect me and other entertainers to talk publicly about Israel/Palestine with any degree of authority. The reason for this being that if I say one thing wrong or get one statistic out of place, it invalidates my entire argument in the eyes of the very people I would be trying to convince and risks invalidating others' arguments if I make a particular mess out of it.

I believe it is performative for most entertainers to talk about this publicly - not in the sense that I or they are being insincere, but that there is an expectation for us to invoke certain left-wing shibboleths to signal that we're part of that ingroup, and reluctance to join in is taken as evidence that we're part of the outgroup.

But here we are. Those are all my beliefs on the topic.

[phoenixyfriend]

VP Kamala Harris is calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza

I was alerted to this by the BBC Global News podcast. AP News has a full article on the speech itself, which was not held about Israel and Palestine, but was rather focused on domestic issues of race equality, as the speech was given in Selma, Alabama, on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday (a 1965 Civil Rights march that ended in police violence). There is also a Reuters article if you prefer those.

Despite VP Harris's incredible dedication to the topic of combating anti-black racism in the US and position as a figurehead and spokeswoman for many in that regard, she did find time in her speech for the following:

THINGS OF NOTE:

Harris is still, technically, holding to the party line on the topic of 'Israel has a right to defend itself.' At this point, I'm sure we've all seen enough arguments on whether or not that right is something Israel actually has, given its violations of the international laws of occupation, but it does read to me as more lip service than actual sincerity at this point.

Harris puts the onus of agreeing to a ceasefire on Hamas, rather than Israel. Given Netanyahu's months of explicit refusal to consider a ceasefire unless Hamas is completely and utterly destroyed (and with them, Gaza), this is... not great. Not great. She said, "Hamas claims it wants a ceasefire. Well, there is a deal on the table. And as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza."

The 'immediate ceasefire' is still just the 6-week pause that Biden has been talking about, rather than a permanent one.

The speech included "The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses." This statement is interesting to look at in light of the US recently hitting a watershed moment and beginning airdrops of relief aid, something so inefficient that they were reluctant to engage with it until given no other choice. The preference was trucks, which are more efficient in terms of quantity, fuel usage, risk of damage from wind blowing things off course, etc. The 'no other choice' is in regards to whether or not the trucks could still get in, not in regards to international or domestic pressure, though that was likely a factor as well.

We got what I believe are some of the harshest and most direct criticisms of Israel's actions so far: "What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. We have seen reports of families eating leaves or animal feed. Women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration. Our hearts break for the victims of that horrific tragedy and for all the innocent people in Gaza who are suffering from what is clearly a humanitarian catastrophe. People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane."

These comments are receiving international coverage, though I'm a bit concerned by how... blase and unconcerned Israeli media seems to be, though since this particular journal (Times of Israel) claims to be non-partisan, maybe that's why? That said, Al Jazeera is also calling it a 'rare rebuke,' which I would guess is a good sign for the shifting of DC's position on the subject when combined with the recent aid drops.

As usual, I am not a political expert, I just like to gather and share information; please go to actual experts when trying to understand what politicians' actions mean. I do, however, want you to call your reps. Here's a guide on how to do it.

To support my blogging so I can move out of my parents' house, I do have a ko-fi. Alternately, you can donate to one of the charities I list in this post.

[fordtato]

From a Palestinian - I know this is long but read it anyways:

If any leftists on this fucking site are using antisemitism to further the Free Palestine movement, you're not fucking helping. Not just because there are Jewish Palestinians. Not just because it furthers the idea that the movement is rooted in antisemitism. And not just because the people who are ultimately going to be impacted by this "activism" are Palestinian families (like my own), who will be on the receiving end of the brunt of government retaliation. It simply isn't helpful and isn't right.

Gaza is an open-air prison, cut off from food and water and medicine and fuel. Even before this recent chapter of the conflict, its people are penned in and brutalized and kidnapped and imprisoned and murdered, without any true relief, and very often without mainstream attention. This is being carried out by the government of Israel (with US government support) and its military, and it is aimed at the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, a people without any formal military or power. Palestinians in the country are being slaughtered, and Palestinians outside of the country are slowing losing their connection to their identity and homeland and need to watch as their brethren are unilaterally labeled as terrorists and "animals" and killed, raped and buried in rubble.

As a movement we need to acknowledge that Hamas is an antisemitic force. There is no justifying it or going around it. Internet leftists, you're so good at nitpicking at the past comments of online allies and finding the problematic thing someone said on twitter in 2018 and then never defending them again no matter what. But we can't do the same here with Hamas when leaders in the party are antisemitic and when people are dead? We need to defend Jewish people and that doesn't stop here. And nobody dare try to explain to me that this is what a revolution looks like. Those killed weren't all IDF soldiers. And don't explain to me that even colonization and occupation is violence (especially if you live in the US, a colonized nation stolen from indigenous people), because of course I understand that. Palestine has a right to defend itself against violence, but Hamas is explicitly antisemitic and we can't just stand against the ruthless killing of civilians only when it's Palestinian civilians.

Yes, it's complicated. YES this violence and the power vacuums that allow groups like Hamas to take power are very often the response to brutality, and a long-term symptom in the aftermath of European imperialism. We can acknowledge that and understand that and even be sympathetic to the historical context that allows this to unfold while still condemning the death of civilians. After all, being against the death of civilians is at the core of the Free Palestine movement.

Defending Jewish people does NOT mean dismissing the slaughter and literal genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Defending Jewish people does not mean defending the actions of the Israeli government. And standing with Palestine and freeing it from brutality does NOT mean ignoring that antisemitism is fraught in the world to this day. One part of why Israel is able to garner civilian support despite the atrocities of its government is because not many other countries are taking in refugees of antisemitism, and historically most countries have never protected Jewish people EVER. That is something we need to acknowledge. And acknowledging that does not mean we justify the actions of the government of Israel, and it does not mean we are turning a blind eye to the occupation or the slaughter and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians.

BTW, tone-policing Palestinians about how they talk about Israel while we are in mourning, and collectively witnessing the brutality our loved ones are facing, and literally watching our homeland get destroyed IS HORRIBLE. IT IS UNHELPFUL. IT IS INSENSITIVE AND TONE DEAF. Do not bring up Hamas in my fucking inbox, MY PEOPLE ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED AND LIKENED TO ANIMALS AND I AM FORCED TO WATCH.

The same applies to tone-policing Jewish people when they are getting death threats at synagogues and JCCs and/or are mourning loved ones in Israel. Yelling "but what about Palestine" whenever a Jewish person in America (who has literally nothing to do with the heinous acts of a foreign government entity) mentions they are grieving or afraid or getting death threats doesn't fucking do anything. This isn't activism.

We are all tired. We are all traumatized. We will feel this for generations.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Daniel Villareal at LGBTQ Nation:

Anyone with eyes in their head can see that the American government and media both have a clear pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian bias. Neither one officially recognizes Palestine as a state, and any criticisms against the Israeli government or in favor of Palestinian civilians are automatically labeled (at best) as ignorant, misinformed, and over-idealistic or as hateful, antisemitic, and pro-terrorist. The goal of these denunciations seems to have only one aim: to silence any criticism of Israel. I’m sick of it… and I’m not alone.

In numerous conversations, when I have argued that perhaps the Israeli government is becoming increasingly right-wing, I have been told that Israel is a queer oasis in the bigoted Middle East and that all of Israel’s neighboring countries are rabidly anti-LGBTQ+ and will gladly kill their own queer citizens. When I mention that Israel’s military-enforced policies of forced displacement and segregation against Palestinian citizens could violate their dignity and human rights, I’m reminded of the Holocaust — as if I somehow forgot — and am told that Hamas wants to exterminate Israel and all Jews and that all of Israel’s neighboring countries have threatened to wipe Israel off the map as well. If I mention any recent news report about Israeli forces killing Palestinian journalists or civilians, I’m informed that I do not know my history and that Palestine’s government has repeatedly allowed terrorists from its region to infiltrate Israel and commit atrocities against innocent Israelis. [...]

When any politician or activist publicly criticizes Israel in the media, they’re denounced, and we’re told that we must defend Israel at all costs to protect stability and U.S. interests in the Middle East and to offer a shining beacon of Western democracy to the people living in the otherwise barbaric region. These talking points are reinforced by American media, which commonly depict Israel as a bustling modern nation and depict all other Middle Eastern countries as war-torn deserts consisting of mostly huts, murderers, and goats. These things have all been pretty uniform throughout my entire life: Israel can do no wrong. To imply otherwise is to show your own stupidity or align with Nazis and terrorists. End of conversation. As if numerous progressive Jews and international human rights organizations, like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, haven’t asked the same questions or reached the conclusion that Israel is hardly above reproach. The other not-so-subtle implication is that anyone who wants to criticize Israel openly should either be Jewish themselves or at least have university degrees in Israeli history, Middle Eastern studies, and international political science.

[...] The October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians and recent reports that an estimated 35,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel’s military destroyed Palestinian homes, schools, hospitals, and vital infrastructure. I’ve been thinking about it as more and more voters vote “uncommitted” in the Democratic primaries, signaling to President Joe Biden that America’s mostly unconditional support of Israel could cost him the election. I’ve been thinking about it as bipartisan politicians urge mayors, police, and the National Guard to violently disband pro-Palestinian student encampments on university campuses rather than engage in good-faith discussions about the institutions’ investments in businesses that benefit from Israel’s conflict.

As a journalist, I would normally turn to trust U.S. news sources to learn more about what’s happening on the ground in Gaza. But journalists and aid workers are being killed there, media outlets that criticize Israel run the risk of driving advertisers away, and pro-Palestinian journalists sometimes get hate mail and death threats. As a result, I hear even less in the news about Palestine than I do about Africa. I want to be clear: I denounce all terrorist actions and the murder of civilians, regardless of nationality. I support Israel and Palestine’s right to exist and the right of all people to peacefully practice their religion without any threats of violent persecution. I acknowledge that antisemitism is real, that hateful attacks on Jewish people and neo-Nazi activity have increased over recent years, and that some of Israel’s critics are bigoted. I also know that some white Christian nationalists and Republicans who support Israel don’t actually approve of anyone who doesn’t embrace Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior. Rather, they support Israel because of Biblical prophecies that say its existence will bring about Jesus’s return and the end of the world.

Daniel Villarreal wrote in LGBTQ Nation on how America needs to speak up on the abuses the Israel Apartheid government have heaped on Palestinians and the effects of silencing criticism of Israel has had adverse effects on discourse.

[statementlou]

my post yesterday about why I don't really care if Louis Tomlinson supports starbucks shocked me by actually circulating and getting notes and obviously I like validation and appreciation.... but I feel kind of weird about my big contribution to the topic being something that might come off as discouraging attempts to help Palestine. Feeling powerless in the face of such injustice is horrible and scary and traumatizing and while there are certain things that I do not think make much difference (like boycotting irrelevant targets), that's NOT how I feel about the situation in general! We CAN make a difference and help the Palestinian people! It can feel impossible to fight against all that power and propaganda and military might- but it has been done successfully over and over, colonialism has been destroyed in one place after another a hundred times in the last century, apartheid regimes have fallen, occupations have ended, because over and over, always, even all the military might in the literal world is less powerful than a united front of the PEOPLE. As Ursula K LeGuin said, "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings", and as Louis Tomlinson said "The power and magic comes from the people, you guys. Don't undermine your role in all of this" and "get off the 'gram and into the streets"!

Under the cut are things you can do that I believe actually directly impact the Palestinian people and the Israeli government, including some easy ones, and the key to a successful movement is to have every type of contribution, to have NUMBERS. However- it is also necessary to have people willing to do the actual work of fighting injustice, not just changing their consumer habits or yelling at people online. I strongly encourage people to explore becoming physically involved in activist work, and not to see it as yet another tiring obligation but rather as a way to help yourself feel less overwhelmed and exhausted. Feeling powerless and defenseless is a trauma that follows us into every corner of our lives, but standing up and working for change can not only save lives, but is good for your own mental health as well, I promise.

I can't make you an exhaustive list of resources, only tell you some tactics that I believe are actually useful. I'm not an expert or whatever, but I have been actively involved in social justice advocacy, activism, and direct action for over 20 years and am drawing on that history of both things that worked and were great and things that were not from my personal experiences. Thank you to @captainrayzizuniverse for helping me (but she didn't see the post any stupid things said by mistake are entirely on me), and especially for pointing out a big (typical white person) slip up, which was to almost forget the very first item on this list: Listen to, support, and amplify Palestinian voices!!! The whole starbucks issue wouldn't even exist if people just went by this single important guideline and did the things Palestinians were asking for rather than making up other things to do instead. In life altogether, and speaking as a disabled person god does this come up a lot: if you want to help someone, start by asking them what they need and then do that even if it isn't what you think they should want. Don't fucking wing it!! Join local groups organizing for Palestine: the people united are powerful, but only if they are united and working in large groups! Join a group! This is hard because... how? who? And I can't answer that for everyone but I can tell you that in the US JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace) is doing a huge amount of very accessible recruiting, you can just join (you don't need to be Jewish) and get involved straightaway in the great actions they're putting on. PYM (Palestinian Youth Movement) is not open to everyone to join but you should definitely follow them on SM to keep up on actions and maybe find ways to support. If you're a student I bet there is some kind of group at your school?

Go to protests: protest works, period. The general politician rule of thumb is that anyone who bothers to actually go out and march represents 10-100 voters. When they look at the numbers (like- '500-1000 people protested the most recent bill you signed') they do this math and they worry. But also honestly if it's something you can manage- it's good for you. It helps. Even if you just go alone and don't talk to anyone, being in a crowd of hundreds of people feeling the same things you are, caring as much as you do, it helps. If you can, yell along to the chants as loud as you can. Get fired up and use that energy to keep going and not despair!

Call and write officials: if you live in the US or UK this is HUGE. What I said above about how they count people at protests as standing for more people who didn't bother but agree? Same with phone calls for sure, it REALLY pressures them. Many orgs make this really easy- I get emails all the time with links to send a letter in a single click or click to call and all you have to do is read the script, get on some lists I guess? But many sites also have this feature, JVP does for example

Support BDS: the Palestinian led BDS have been doing the work of isolating and chipping away at Israel for 19 years and like I said, the actions of the masses only work if we are united behind a few strategic targets rather than all over the place; they have made this possible. It's good to avoid buying from the companies they target; even better to work on the big divestment campaigns. For example, student groups pressuring the big universities to divest from BDS targets echo the successful University divestment efforts that helped end apartheid in South Africa.

Send money: money helps, immediately and concretely, and again if we are many, each person doesn't have to do a lot. Do what you can spare, it all adds up. This has been painful with Gaza for sure, with millions donating but aid being blocked. I don't have The Answer but here's a group I found that actually seems to be getting aid in, and here's a spread sheet of gofundmes- note that people who have foreign passports do not have to pay the horrible border crossing fees, so you may wish to focus on funding those who don't have that privilege. this could maybe be better and there was some other stuff I wanted to say about doing activism to tie up the "activism as self care" thing from above and also bringing it back around to talk about Louis more but I'm tired and I'm hungry right now and this is a lot already. So. Bye lol sorry. send me asks if any of that is something you care about or want to hear

[camoftarakas]

Gonna be super for real, here is my masterpost of why its important for me that you take advantage of your right to vote to choose Kamala Harris.

Section 1: Personal Issues

I am a transgender person. I live where i'm pretty sure it will be safe to do so for the next 4 years, but not only should i not risk it, i shouldn't be willing to send my trans family into danger, especially the young ones. Republicans are making a big point out of removing the Trans agenda from schools. what the fuck does this mean? right now the target is that teachers, counselors, school faculty who hear a child is trans will be obliged to report it to their home. this is a direct danger to the next generation. If you do not hide who you are, it may be ripped out of you. Children will feel they are better dead than being out. and adults who abuse queer kids will not be held accountable.

I am an autistic and disabled person. Donald Trump and his cronies think vaccines cause autism. this is absurdly hateful, but beyond that they call for pullbacks and regulation for vaccines. For an incredibly safe, incredibly guarded piece of protection against disease, regulation means less access to medicine. More epidemics, more sick people, shorter lives for the disabled.

Section 2: Domestic Issues

the full access to abortion and childcare must be restored. the two are forever linked, and both are essential healthcare. people in my life benefit from this, your neighbors benefit from this, human beings benefit from this.

whoever is in charge has the sole ability to appoint supreme court judges for 4 years. The court can not become further packed against us, whoever you are, because they are not shy about infringing the rights of your neighbors or your family on party lines.

the ability for people to only just get by under a Republican presidency will be gutted. tax cuts for the wealthy are not just immoral, but the government can not operate on less income. The burden comes down on those who deserve it least. Hunger, homelessness, freezing, overheating, death.

voting rights are the target of Republicans, especially for the most reliable opposition: Black and Latino Americans. this is happening now in states desperate to suppress minority voices, or to assimilate them into a regressive white culture of last century. If that isn't bad enough, voter suppression is sure to expand to any dissident population. The future is on the line.

Section 3: Global Issues

Donald Trump uses dog whistles to express israeli support. He calls democrats "Hamas", claims they are "Destroying Israel", calls jewish people delusional for supporting them. There isn't a perfect palestinian candidate. that is all but explicitly banned in politics. Vice president Harris will be clipped out of context saying that she vaguely supports Israel's right to self defense, because that is the most she can say without causing panic and confusion. If elected, Kamala Harris would be the most pro-Palestinian president ever, and it's not any amount of praise to say that. But she seeks solution, the end of Israel's control of them, the acknowledgement that what is happening there is unconscionable. MAGA has trained us to think that a vote to a candidate is a total endorsement of all their actions and word-of-mouth values, but it is the NORMAL and DECENT thing to do to demand better from the person you elect. Donald Trump is in Netanyahu's pocket, you won't get anywhere asking him not to rain terror on Palestine.

Ukraine has a right to self-governance as well. Republicans would pull support, and hold more conferences with Putin than with our allies across the world.

Republicans will refuse investment into clean energy. Trump's last presidency saw a resurgence in Coal, and ramblings about dead birds. Republican control will hold back any responses to the climate disaster another 4 years.

Section 4: Closing Thoughts

A US president can not fix the world. A US president can't even fix their own country. But god damn it don't give in to assured worsening. don't vote for third party; they're not gonna win, they're not gonna win next time, the point you want to make will fall on deaf ears; the time and place is not now or here. don't skip voting, 1/3 of americans don't vote because they don't think their voice makes a difference. vote in every category, there are important issues left to you. You may not turn your state, but you can turn a policy, or your city, or your county, or your representative, or make sure people in your district get a fair trail with a good judge, or that a good person is in charge of your schools. vote like your neighbors life depends on it; it does. vote like the world depends on it; it does. vote like it's the least you can do; it is. You have to participate in this one simple task, flawed as it may be, to not be a hypocrite when you ask for change, when you ask for progress, when you ask for justice. You can elect people who serve you, not who demand you serve them. You can choose to take a step forward, instead of standing still while you're dragged backwards with the rest of us. you can save lives, real lives! you fucking matter, every time, but please for the love of god, do the bare minimum at least this time. And after we're done, we'll go out, and ask for more, ask for better, because government is for us and they need to listen to us, forever, whoever.

[jewish-sideblog]

i have a question. i don’t mean this horribly!! but per this post you reblogged: https://www.tumblr.com/jewish-sideblog/744967243590434816, you believe to call what’s going on in palestine a genocide is antisemitic. can you elaborate on that, please?

I don't want to get in the habit of addressing things other people have said in posts I reblog, because those aren't my words and a reblog isn't a blanket endorsement of everything other people have said. But this topic is really important, so I'll weigh in just this once.

The primary concern I have with the use of the term genocide is Holocaust Inversion. Most people don't have a conception of genocide outside of the holocaust, so the usage of the word genocide is often an obvious ploy to weaponize Jewish suffering against Jewish people. Its sole purpose is to equate Israelis to Nazis and Jewish government to fascism.

Yet, there is a lot of death in Gaza right now. Horrible death, needless death. I think any erasure of that is as horrible as Oct. 7th denial. To outright deny that a genocide is happening exclusively because of the historical reality of the Holocaust isn't just or beneficial. So we have to look at it objectively. As I said earlier today, I'm not an international relations expert, so the following is my understanding and should be taken with large grains of salt.

"Genocide" as a war crime is extremely similar to murder as an individual crime. The key component (besides death) is intention. If you kill someone on accident in most English-speaking countries, you'll likely be charged with manslaughter, not murder. Similarly, genocide requires the intentional destruction of a population of people, well beyond the necessary realities of civilian casualty in active war zones. Death itself, even in large numbers, does not a genocide make. Civilians will always die on the battlefield. Always.

The International Criminal Court says that Israel has to meet standards of care in Gaza to ensure that genocide does not occur, meaning they don't think one has already occurred. There's some dispute on whether or not those standards are being met-- Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International say that Israel is failing to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, while the Israeli government issued sealed documents to the Hague last month detailing their compliance measures. It'll take a while to hear back on those. Personally, I think starving Gaza is an obvious measure of intention to destroy Palestinian civilians.

Anybody is obviously welcome to disagree with the highest court of international law in the world. But the fact that the experts seem hesitant to make that determination gives me pause. Why are so many people keen to bring Israel to the Hague, not Russia for their indiscriminate killing of Ukrainians or the Houthis for manufacturing a humanitarian crisis in Yemen? Hamas, one of the governments of internationally-recognized Palestine, fully admits to intending to destroy the Jewish people in part. They say they'll do it again if they get half the chance. Why is only the Jewish state called out as a unique, genocidal evil? Must we label Palestinian deaths as a genocide in order to mourn them effectively? Aren't hundreds dead a day reason enough to mourn and to push for peace?

Again, I don't want to deny the allegations of genocide any more than I want to accept them. I'm following the experts on this one. And so far, the experts say "maybe". As long as they say "maybe", anybody who insists on definitely and absolutely labelling it as a genocide creeps at least suspiciously close to Holocaust Inversion in my eyes.

[claraameliapond]

How is this real!? How is this real. Melissa Jane Kronfeld literally saying she wants to see Al-Asqa Mosque demolished to build a Jewish temple. Immediately before this saying: "It's not about the destruction of Islamic holy sites, it's about preserving this place and being guardians over the house of God for all people."

"So you're happy with it where it is?"

"NO it's going to go 100%. But I believe... "

"It's going to go?"

"Yeah 100% yeah. The whole thing is going to go we have to build a temple."

"When you say that Dome of the Rock has to go MJ, it's hard for me to imagine something more incendiary"

"Let me ask you something. The middle east seems pretty destabilised right now. And the war, if I'm not mistaken, is already here..."

And who do you think is destabilising it? - Spoiler alert! It's the US and Israel.

So she's saying "must be preserved for all people" and that "it's not about demolishing Islamic holy sites" , and then immediately literally then saying it must only be for Zionist Israel, demolishing Al-Asqa Mosque "100%" for a Jewish temple to be built in its place. "For all people", sure.

What more obviously hypocritical, genocidal psychopathic thing is there to say? This is like a comedy skit. How can she say all of those directly opposing things while keeping a straight face, not seeing her own fault here? It's so insane it's laughable and terrifying and absolutely horrifying all at once. SO casually genocidal.

For anyone who hasn't studied history, this is what colonisers do. This is what imperialist colonisers do - they destroy any evidence of a culture that preexists theirs in an attempt to legitimize their claim to the land.

They commit genocide. Cultural genocide. To claim land that isn't theirs as theirs. The pattern is the same throughout history. Israel is following the exact plan used by the British against Ireland, for example.

British imperialist colonisers have done this everywhere, including referring to Australia as 'Terra nullius', aka a land with no people, which was the legal concept used by the British government to justify the settlement, aka brutal Colonisation of Australia. Zionism is no different.

The difference now, culturally, globally is that we can see it coming. Identify it and stop it. We have a connected global community. We have a world court, a UN that can now take measures to stop these things ever happening again. These things didn't exist when the others were happening. We have the power to stop them. Don't let your governments forget that.

#Decolonise Palestine - it's the only way they'll ever be safe and free

[diabolicalworldwriter]

I don't talk much on tumblr anymore, I'm mostly active on Instagram and say a lot more there, but I needed to put this here because wherever I can say something it feels right that I should and I regret not being more vocal all along.

Over the last seven months I have seen mothers sobbing over what's left of their children, fathers begging for anything to get their families to safety, children desperately trying to prove their humanity to people around them so someone will care enough to help them stay alive. Starvation, bodies crushed under rubble, destroyed homes, ruined hospitals and malnourished animals. Devastating violence that never seems to end when it never should have started.

I am incredibly lucky. I am not there living through it. I can turn off my phone and look away - though it sickens me to do so. These people cannot. They are trapped there, begging for any and all aid, no matter how small. They live in overpopulated tents in the burning heat, they drink contaminated water because at least it's water, mothers deliver their babies without proper medical assistance and children undergo amputations without anesthesia.

This is a manmade atrocity. None of this needed to happen. The Israeli government and its allies - including the government of my own country, the USA - are intentionally causing this. They are bombing the civilians. They are blocking and destroying the aid. They are dehumanizing every person within Palestine and crying victim when we refuse to go along with them.

Over 40,000 civilians have been killed. The rest are severely traumatized, injured, sick, starving and dehydrated, living on the brink of destruction and begging, pleading for anyone to care.

Here's a document with a lot of different actions to help. Even if you don't do that, here's a site that you can go to and click daily and they'll donate to relief funds. You just click, that's it. Educate yourselves, talk about and amplify the voices of the Palestinian people, don't sit back in silence and let them keep suffering and dying.

Please. That could be your family. That could be you. Be grateful that it's not, and be compassionate because these are real people with real stories and they deserve so much better than the hell they've been given. The least we can give them is a chance to survive, to tell their stories, to make the world a better place for themselves than it has thus far been.

Thank you for reading. Free Palestine.

with any luck the doodle and tags will help a few more people see this and think about what's going on.

[supreme-leader-stoat]

Does Palestine also deserve to exist in your eyes? Also IIRC zionism is defined differently than just "Israel gets to exist" it's more about a specific region being fully controlled by Israel and all other countries being directly in the way of divine right stuff

Quibbling over exact definitions aside, I don't mind the two-state solution. But my guy, you have to understand, that's not what this conflict is about at this point. Hamas��the current de facto governing power in Gaza at the moment—in its literal founding charter says outright that it will keep fighting until Israel is destroyed and they get to genocide the Jews:

Hamas doesn't care about peace. Hamas doesn't care about Palestinians. Hamas is the one who broke the ceasefire by attacking civilians on October 7th and taking hostages.

I don't agree with everything that the Israeli government has done either (heck, that's hardly a surprise, given my stance on a lot of things my own government has done). Ideally I want a peaceful resolution to be reached with as few civilian deaths on both sides as possible. But it's really tiring that when I say Israel has grounds to defend itself when attacked by a government that's explicitly out for Israeli blood, or call out blatant and easily disprovable anti-Israeli misinformation and propaganda, or criticize anti-Semitic elements in pro-Palestine movements, people try to twist that into something I never said.

Call me whatever you think best for thinking those things. A lot of people have called me a Zionist for it. So be it.

[depressedgarbages-stuff]

All posts of the situation of 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 I saw today (Sun, Apr 21.):

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/746332781412581376?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/soon-palestine/747410181412061184?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/workersolidarity/747323078129958912?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/longlivepalestina/746179148548046848/nothing-and-i-mean-nothing-makes-me-more-mad-than?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/silicacid/746065675070636032/lamajamous9-eleen-just-studied-one-month-in-kg1?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/imforeverjustyours/747833847594516480?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/adropofhumanity/746845216272695296?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/punkboyjack/747912361742139392/iran-government-kills-people-steals-tortures?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/thenewgothictwice/746551942756597760/april-1-2024-quds-news-network-breaking-the?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/until-another-one-comes/746281580726763520?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/747871265092681728/israeli-forces-shoot-kill-17-year-old-palestinian?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-aprl/746933734523191296/now-as-the-victims-are-7-white-people-stephen?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/flango87/748151395733143552/fuck-yeah-columbia-uni-students?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/747983288146214913/google-workers-protest-cloud-contract-with?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/soon-palestine/748124160161628160/wkcr-news-coverage-cuad-students-occupying?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/747870369908686848?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748042346150658048/leaked-cables-show-white-house-opposes-palestinian?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fairuzfan/747594935713333248/come-out-you-animals-how-the-massacre-at?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/iwillsurvivecollege/745905452284559361?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/longlivepalestina/746925318048251905/i-love-the-internet?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/stuckinapril/747196450120794112/israeli-forces-have-supposedly-withdrawn-from-khan?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/wearenotjustnumbers2/739507933425139712/yesterday-marked-the-100th-day-of-genocide?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/good-old-gossip/744818638377369600/israel-has-been-killing-palestinian-children-for?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/747327954178211840/1-in-50-children-in-gaza-have-been-killed-or?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/mirkobloom77/748295863801085952/an-activist-who-destroyed-multiple-engine?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/hammercarexplosion/747770922803544064?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/straight-from-gaza/748246691384279040/heavy-israeli-air-strike-in-the-shate-refugee?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/typicalbrainchaos/747901317083709440/palestinian-patients-found-in-a-mass-grave-with?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/gladosluver/744796163248717824/these-are-photos-of-al-omari-mosque-gaza-taken?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/yagamimi-aka-mimi/742715930494271489?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748224242253955072/this-is-a-huge-moment-for-the-bds-movement?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748130424230936577?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748128531699154944?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748243439581331456/canadian-charity-says-aid-truck-bombed-in-gaza-in?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/rottn-awareness/748262213666701312/source-op-medeabenjamin-on-tt?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fairuzfan/748155399264436224?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/beam-of-sunlightbb/746565263651110912?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fairuzfan/748155331500179456/a-tweet-about-the-complicity-of-zionist-academia?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/memingursa/748230455770447872/this-plays-so-fucking-weak-dude-and-its-all-just?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/radicalgraff/748369194992713728/free-gaza-land-back-spotted-in-brunswick?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/ghostscribble/747891452574662657/imagine-if-they-had-to-flee-on-foot-while-carrying?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748226656819347456/columbia-students-have-started-a-movement?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748231121167368192?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fairuzfan/747770675310264320/very-insulting-honestly-the-way-some-israelis?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/weird-an/748381973196750848?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/gunlolita/745866342700318720/hey-so-a-strike-has-been-called-today-for-this?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/mudmouths/748110810211090432/israel-has-deployed-auto-firing-quadcopters-that?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/whoopsiedaisy20/747497408936787968/please-help-kenan-and-his-family-flee-gaza?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/davidtennantgenderenvy/747840941976682496/when-i-was-little-i-used-to-think-how-could?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/fairuzfan/747985062826557440/please-do-donate-to-sudan-initiatives-the-news-we?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/justtenderfury/748086418026430464?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/746598561925496832/this-happened-on-2008?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/longlivepalestina/745456884445757440/i-hate-how-people-still-do-not-understand-the-fact?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/kaapstadgirly/745900406289416192/yaallah-the-amount-of-evil-is-truly-unbearable?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/baby-girl-aaron-dessner/747965511326973952?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/justtenderfury/747843141774770176?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/ur-fav-lucia/745610035820904448/free-palestine?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/747947233871314944/11-children-killed-at-a-playground-that-was-set-up?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/genuinelyshallow/746377690683211776?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sheerkhurma/746727298717319168?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/747500225389871104/gaza-shifa-medical-complex-witnesses-one-of-the?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748129610467868672?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/adropofhumanity/746845840736468992?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/someone---who---cares/746896061843570688/thread-here?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/747921607420493824/people-in-northern-gaza-forced-to-survive-on-245?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/sayruq/748149987420045312/there-are-unconfirmed-reports-by-iranian-news?source=share

[nando161mando]

"The United Kingdom occupied southwestern Iran during both world wars to ensure the flow of Iranian oil to its war in Europe. The strategic access to vital oil reserves — oil reserves that didn’t belong to it — played a crucial role in the Allied victory during both world wars and the rise of the American order following World War II. By university, Baba Saeed joined the student movement that sought to end parasitic contracts that gave Iran only 10% of its oil income. A growing Iranian movement was determined to nationalize Iranian oil and bring the management of the industry and its profits into more Iranian hands.

Neither the British nor Americans appreciated natives wanting a bigger share of their own wealth. They swiftly moved to impose an economic blockade on the country, hoping that this would break Iranian will by toppling the Iranian government.

Baba Saeed, who has a framed picture of that prime minister, Mohamad Mossadeq, on his work desk, told me that the PM, who had been elected by an overwhelming majority of Iranians with the mandate to nationalize oil, only grew more popular. With economic and diplomatic pressure failing to stop him, MI6 and the CIA led a coup against Mossadeq, whom Western papers had called a clown, a demagogue, and Hitler. The coup regime put him under house arrest and executed members of his government. It reinstated the monarch, a jet-setting playboy who had fled Iran during the tumult to shop in Rome’s most opulent street, the Via Veneto.

Imperialists had violently removed a leader who manifested their resolve and crowned a puppet to rule over Iranians — to their utter humiliation. Estemar, or imperialism, I’d learn from my grandfather, destroyed a people’s self-determination by breaking their will. The Shah, forever paranoid of losing power, sought to establish himself as the policeman, the gendarme, of Western supremacy in the region and thus vie for their protection of his throne. He drew Iran closer to Israel as he brutally suppressed growing internal dissent through coordination with Israeli and American intelligence services.

But it was no longer just Baba Saeed’s generation rejecting the Shah. His daughter, my mother, was also turning to the revolution. For every generation, Palestine showed the full breadth of imperialist intent and showed the way to defy it."

[torc87]

Question

Ok, so I've been seeing a lot of pro Palestine anti Israeli posts. And have been struggling to figure out how I feel about it all. Bc I go back and forth. I hate hate hate that children are dying. The whole bombing of Palestine smacks of the US attempting to deal w Taliban by attacking Iraq. We destroyed the country but Taliban was reborn as Isis. Bc a terrorist organization is more insidious and harder to pin point than a war against a country.

And civilians dying is ....horrible honestly. Children who have no choice in where they are born or what their elders do.

But....I can't for the life of me figure out what response Israel could have made otherwise.

Over 1,500 Israeli civilians, many of them children, were out of nowhere, brutality TORTURED and MURDERED.

Parents were forced to watch as their children were tortured. People were beheaded, burned in their own homes, raped to death, mutilated while alive .... Bodies so destroyed that the very people trained to deal w it are traumatized.

It wasn't just bombs that rained for days.

What exactly is a reasonable response to an unprovoked attack?

Bc if the US has been attacked like that? Or any other sovereign nation? I find it difficult to imagine they wouldn't respond exactly the same way.

Hells, if it was Russia, I might expect nuclear levels of reaction.

This was a terrorist organization, sure, but it was also the ELECTED governing body. One chosen by the people, accepted, common.

How exactly is a sovereign nation meant to react to such a brutal hatefueled attack?

To having their citizens fingers be cut off, eyes gouged out - while alive? To realizing that parents were forced to watch their children tortured?

That calls for a strong response of the 'don't you ever Dare do it again' variety.

Especially bc there are other terrorist organizations that have attacked Israel before - if the response isn't strong enough, it invites similar attacks in the future.

Except....children. Two wrongs don't make a right and children are dying.

I hate that. I grieve over that.

But civilians were warned to leave the area. Why did their elected government not aid them in doing so? Why didn't Egypt welcome them? If the elected government of a country starts a war, why is it the opposing sides responsibility to protect that countries civilians?

But it's so much more complicated than that. It's a disputed strip of land. Israel had occupied it. Does that give them some responsibility to the people living there? How could it not?

But then I think of how much foreign aid went to the terrorist organization instead of the people. How much money all those bombs and rockets must have cost, the weapons, training their army.

All of that money came from foreign aid meant to improve the lives of the people.

That's not on Israel, that's not on the foreign organizations that were trying to help.

Why were there underground tunnels built instead of public services? Schools, universities, things meant to improve the lives of the civilians in question?

I am angry that foreign aid meant to help people went to create the supplies and opportunity for a cruel brutal attack that murdered 1,500 men, women, and children.

I am angry that the people doing this were accepted enough to be elected to govern.

But ...children.

They didn't elect anyone and had no choice in the matter.

I am trying so so hard to remember to not combine my anger at Hammas w the civilians. The two are not the same.

But gods, it's hard when I'm so so angry and outraged at the brutality of the murders.

When I think of $10,000 Hammas promised for each HEAD of a Jewish person....

Where did that money come from?

And then...why is the pressure on Israel to deal w refugees and open up its borders? And not on Egypt or surrounding countries? Or on other Western countries to fly refugees out of there and welcome them?

It feels unfair, like double standards.

And then...the bombing.

I am highly upset that civilian locations are being bombed. Hospitals being destroyed, doctors who have the Awful option of abandoning their posts and patients to be safe or risking their lives...

Fuck but I hate war. I hate the death and destruction.

But I also ...can't call it senseless. If there is a tunnel under the hospital, what exactly is Israel expected to do? Why isn't the blame on Hammas for building a tunnel under a civilian location? Where is the foreign aid to evacuate the hospital? Or even the government (Hammas) evacuating those people?

There is no way the US wouldn't bomb any area that has tunnels under it that have been used to shelter enemies who have committed terrorist acts.

No way ANY country I can think of wouldn't.

So I'm left here trying very hard to keep Palestinians and Hammas separated in my head. Trying to remember that my anger at Hammas needs to not turn into seeing them as one mass of Palestinians, that there are children who don't have a clue what is happening or why and who didn't choose it. That there are individuals worrying about their families. That an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

But it's hard. The hatred in the attacks ... The support Hammas received over the years, the acceptance from the people they Governed.

The judgements feel unfair and very hypocritical. It feels like there are a lot of double standards. Expectations placed on Israel that no other country is trying to meet.

And I'm left w the question...what should they be going instead? How should they react to such a hate filled cruel attack by an elected government? How are they meant to respond to the torture and slaughter of their people? What would be another way they could have responded?

And...I don't know. I honestly don't know what they could have or should have done instead.

I hear criticisms. I have yet to hear of another solution.

And I hate that.

I hate blood spilled for no reason. Over an old wall - fuck, i'd rather demolish the whole thing piece by piece than waste one human life on it.

( and to be clear, I'm Jewish. Russian Jewish which means I grew up w no religious knowledge. I know that old wall is very important to a lot of people, it's holy, and sacred, and I visited it and I grieved that even one life was lost bc of it. Humans are worth more than land or old artifacts)

This whole war...I hate it. I hate senseless brutality, done deliberately on a holy day to add insult to injury. I hate the violent anger filled response. I hate that Innocents are suffering.

And I hate that I see no solution. No other solution. No resolution. No improvement long term.

This is a war that will be repeated in 30 years in my opinion.

And that? That I hate most of all.

So yeah. My ramblings and trying to understand the very complicated situation.

[xclowniex]

You have said that israel is doing "horrendous" things yet you reblog posts about how Israel is not committing a genocide and how it's bad that they're being taken to internationally court.

Which one is it are they committing a genocide or not? Or are you just virtue signaling?

Summary of what I am going to talk about: Israel is not committing a genocide. Israel's terrible and bad war tactics are deplorable but still not genocide. Hamas also contributes to the civilian death toll by having military areas in, under and around civilian areas which is a war crime. South Africa is biased due to a history of antisemitism and meeting with hamas leaders before the Oct 7th attack including back in 2015.

The first thing I was to address is that I have never called what is going on a genocide. I have always just denounced the Israeli government's actions and current war tactics.

Secondly, it is not a genocide. Countries in war can do terrible things and not be committing genocide otherwise every war ever would be a genocide.

Genocide is defined by the UN as "The definition contained in Article II of the Convention describes genocide as a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part. It does not include political groups or so called “cultural genocide”."

The target of the war on Israel's side is to kill hamas. Hamas is a terrorist group and therefore do not fit the definition of a genocide. Since hamas is a political group, by the UN's own definition it is not genocide. The UN literally specifically points out that political groups are not included in the definition of genocide. Terrorist are considered political groups in case you were not aware.

If Israel was committing genocide, then how come Palestinian citizens can enter and leave Israel freely as long as they have a visa? They can work in Israel, make money and take it back to Palestine. Did you know that it's illegal for Israeli citizens to even visit Palestine. Did you also know that Palestinians can immigrate to Israel. I don't know about you but a group of people being able to live in Israel does not sound like genocide to me.

It is deeply sad that Palestinian citizens have been caught in the cross fire. It is not uncommon in war for civilians to get caught in the cross fire. Think about how many Ukrainian citizens have been caught in the cross fire in their war. Think about how many Japanese people were killed or severely injured in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.

Don't get me wrong, any civilian death is bad. However civilian death is a part of war. You can both be sad and angry that civilians are dying as well as understand that no war is without civilian deaths.

The fact of the matter is, no other war that has just had civilian death has been called a genocide. Only genocides have been called genocides.

The civilian death toll in the I/P war is the amount that it is due to BOTH Israel and hamas.

Hamas purposefully hides military operations in, under and around civilian areas which is a war crime. The UN literally recognizes that Hamas does that

The UN's secretary General, António Guterres said in a press conference in November and I quote,

"At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately towards Israel." (Source)

How is Israel supposed to defend itself without civilian deaths if Hamas uses civilians as Human shields? Is Israel just supposed to not do anything and let Hamas try to bomb Israel?

I do not support Israel's current tactic however I do support Israel's right to defense. I think that Israel should have taken another approach in its defense to try to minimize civilian deaths.

What I am saying is a valid criticism of the Israeli government. What is NOT a valid critique is saying that Israel is committing a genocide.

If Hamas had kept civilian areas and military areas separate, the death toll would not be at the level that it is.

Hamas does not care for or about Palestinian civilians. All it cares about is death to jews whether that be at their hands or through spreading propaganda to get others to do their dirty work.

I am not saying that you cannot critique Israel for the amount of civilian deaths. All I am saying is that if you are, you need to also critique hamas's part in civilian deaths and take that into account.

The current court case in the International Civil Court was brought by South Africa as Hamas can not legally bring a case to Court as they are a terrorist group. Did you know that South Africa has never been kind to its jews? I don't have a linkable source for you as I know this as my father who is a jew was born in South Africa and lived there for the first 17/18 years of his life and he has told me that South Africa has never been kind to its jews.

South Africa has also met with Hamas both before and after the Oct 7th attack. Here is an article from 2015 about hamas meeting with the South African government.

Do you really think that a country which is not kind to its jews and has continually met with a terrorist organization has zero biases for bringing the case to the International Court?

Please educate yourself before blindly assuming things you read online are without bias.