re: #113 goddamnedfrank

I’m sorry but I can’t let this go. You know that settler colonialism refers to the ongoing stealing of land in the West Bank and construction of settlements widely deemed illegal under international law. You can’t have it both ways, publicly hating Netanyahu while whitewashing the central policy of his government, stealing and carving up an occupied West Bank, that exacerbates the conflict and is designed to make peace impossible.

Yes Hamas committed gross atrocities. That doesn’t erase the fact that in the first week of the war Israel, by it’s own admission dropped four kilotons worth of bombs on Gaza, using the same grotesquely incompetent intelligence apparatus to guide those munitions that missed Hamas’ preparations for their assault. In the weeks since there’s been no letting up, only acceleration, adding up to an area the size of Las Vegas now easily being on the receiving end of more explosive yield than the Hiroshima bomb produced. Combined with deliberate, announced policies of cutting off water, fuel, electricity, food and internet there’s no rational way to view this as precision targeted and not a collective punishment of the Gazan population.

It absolutely should sicken you watching the left fall into the cognitive trap of dismissing Hamas’ atrocities. But if you’re wondering why Israel is so badly losing the PR war over this conflict with younger people especially, it’s because they’re watching Israel’s defenders dismiss the atrocities it commits at an overwhelmingly disproportionate scale just because they’re being committed by very serious people at a standoff distance and without the apparent revelry Hamas terrorists take in producing gore.

I like this place, but a lot of the people here are falling into the same trap it fell into after 9/11, viewing a truly fucked up war through a dichotomous cultural lens that filters and only creates contrast favorable to one side.

I do agree with you, those colonialist/imperialist settler intiatives are not helping peace in the MidEast at all.

I don’t know if I would characterize it as “a lot” I’ve seen most I know here say that there’s a whole lot of war criming going on, both sides. (even though we hate both siderism, Netanyahu & his actions over decades have made it impossible not to if you are being utterly honest.)