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On Israel and Gaza
Dec. 11th, 2023 11:11 pmThere's a lot I want to say about Israel, and the long versions have all been said.
So let's just try to break this down to its essence.
There is no such thing as a terrorist country. There are no populations who deserve to be killed due to the actions of their governments. There are no populations who should be denied humanitarian aid due to the actions of their governments.
There is no "Israel versus Palestine". The eight main players here are: Two fascist governments; populations in Israel and in Gaza who want peace; populations in Israel and in Gaza who want violence; media constrained by death threats; foreign governments funding war. There are of course other, smaller players. If you want to see sides, see them in those who want peace versus those who want war.
Netanyahu and Hamas are each others' greatest allies, in their fight to get away with oppression and murder. (Netanyahu has explicitly cited bolstering Hamas as a political strategy.) Both are responsible for the oppression and murder of Gazans and Israelis. They don't care about "their own people". People are fodder to right wingers. They want war: War is good for the fascism business. War is also great for silencing the protests of "their own people" who have been loudly objecting to all the oppression and corruption and crime and murder and power grabs.
When someone says, "Boycott Disney* because they sent humanitarian aid to Israel!" that is an antisemitic dogwhistle, and an attempt to silence concern about the ongoing war crimes against Israelis.
When someone says, "Palestinians support Hamas' war crimes!" that is a bald excuse for war crimes against Gazans. (It also demonstrates how poll results are skewed by disingenuous questions and selective sampling, and how extremism is overrepresented by exposure. Here's a large, simple approval poll.)
By the way, if you're going to argue that Israelis or Gazans deserve bombings because "they elected terrorists," then you're also arguing that Americans deserve it. Our government has never let up on its crimes against humanity, under any administration.
Here are the longer takes:
Siderea's insight on contributing factors and perspective:
https://siderea.dreamwidth.org/1828323.html
The American left is being bamboozled about Israel (mine from two years ago, and still perfectly apt):
https://blimix.dreamwidth.org/165037.html
If reading is hard, John Oliver can explain to y'all that mass murder is bad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ9PKQbkJv8
* Disney is also not a monolith. The more you pay attention, the more you can see Disney as a bunch of workers trying to do right, ruled by a group of backward, patriarchal autocrats. This scenario is uncomfortably common. If you like categorizing things as "good" and "evil," some organizations oblige, but others have to be seen as power structures with competing interests between the top and everyone else. Just like countries.
So let's just try to break this down to its essence.
There is no such thing as a terrorist country. There are no populations who deserve to be killed due to the actions of their governments. There are no populations who should be denied humanitarian aid due to the actions of their governments.
There is no "Israel versus Palestine". The eight main players here are: Two fascist governments; populations in Israel and in Gaza who want peace; populations in Israel and in Gaza who want violence; media constrained by death threats; foreign governments funding war. There are of course other, smaller players. If you want to see sides, see them in those who want peace versus those who want war.
Netanyahu and Hamas are each others' greatest allies, in their fight to get away with oppression and murder. (Netanyahu has explicitly cited bolstering Hamas as a political strategy.) Both are responsible for the oppression and murder of Gazans and Israelis. They don't care about "their own people". People are fodder to right wingers. They want war: War is good for the fascism business. War is also great for silencing the protests of "their own people" who have been loudly objecting to all the oppression and corruption and crime and murder and power grabs.
When someone says, "Boycott Disney* because they sent humanitarian aid to Israel!" that is an antisemitic dogwhistle, and an attempt to silence concern about the ongoing war crimes against Israelis.
When someone says, "Palestinians support Hamas' war crimes!" that is a bald excuse for war crimes against Gazans. (It also demonstrates how poll results are skewed by disingenuous questions and selective sampling, and how extremism is overrepresented by exposure. Here's a large, simple approval poll.)
By the way, if you're going to argue that Israelis or Gazans deserve bombings because "they elected terrorists," then you're also arguing that Americans deserve it. Our government has never let up on its crimes against humanity, under any administration.
Here are the longer takes:
Siderea's insight on contributing factors and perspective:
https://siderea.dreamwidth.org/1828323.html
The American left is being bamboozled about Israel (mine from two years ago, and still perfectly apt):
https://blimix.dreamwidth.org/165037.html
If reading is hard, John Oliver can explain to y'all that mass murder is bad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJ9PKQbkJv8
* Disney is also not a monolith. The more you pay attention, the more you can see Disney as a bunch of workers trying to do right, ruled by a group of backward, patriarchal autocrats. This scenario is uncomfortably common. If you like categorizing things as "good" and "evil," some organizations oblige, but others have to be seen as power structures with competing interests between the top and everyone else. Just like countries.
