Looks like a new Gaza war has started

[Anonymous]

Why has the ICC not issued arrest warrants for Hamas officials who ordered kidnappings?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question: what are you all getting out of debating this and going back and forth? Seems useless to me, yet this thread keeps going with no real value added.

Well, it's social media so we're here to pass time. Of course we know that nothing we say will change anything but a somewhat healthy discussion about the crisis can be a good thing. I've certainly learned a lot about the history of this conflict and some of the posts had me searching for information I wouldn't ordinarily research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why has the ICC not issued arrest warrants for Hamas officials who ordered kidnappings?

Hamas, like Israel are not signatories so the ICC has no jurisdiction over their war crimes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those watching, like me, Human Rights Watch is still silent regarding the documentary evidence of Hamas atrocities on 10/7 that was provided to outside journalists and human rights organizations. They have said nothing.

This is after waiting nearly two weeks to take a stand on the hostages, while simultaneously taking an immediate stand on use of white phosphorus.

Maybe the “documented evidence” is faulty?

A significant percentage of the evidence reviewed came directly from Hamas’ own channels.

For instance, the widely-seen slow beheading of the Thai farm worker with a garden hoe came directly from Hamas.

I find the silence from HRW completely inexplicable.

But I thought y'all didn't trust anything coming from Hamas or Hamas controlled Gaza? What happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why has the ICC not issued arrest warrants for Hamas officials who ordered kidnappings?

Hamas, like Israel are not signatories so the ICC has no jurisdiction over their war crimes.

Don’t forget the Americans also don’t recognize the ICC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to free Palestine. We would save billions in money and countless lives.

As for these billionaires pulling jobs and money from schools, I bet they are deeply racist against Muslims and never hire them. It’s great they are making public statements. Now I hope someone tracks back and see how racist their companies are.

I've started and run 2 companies.

I gladly hire Muslims.

I would NEVER hire anyone who's publicly siding with Hamas ("resistance is justified") or is anti-Israel (Israel is "entirely responsible"), etc.

And no, I'm not Jewish. I just don't knowingly hire idiots or a**sholes.

Yup. I’ve been on hiring panels and would immediately disqualify someone from consideration if they held extreme views like that.

Yes. I think allowing extreme “social justice” language to proliferate on Twitter etc has really warped some young people’s sense of reality. It’s not ok to make public statements that celebrate death or espouse the destruction of an entire country. It’s also always going to be dicey to make political statements about a country that is not yours - you may drastically misunderstand what you are aligning with.

Yes. People that are picking “sides” here are showing an extreme lack of judgment. It is not hard to say that you are worried about the situation, mourn the loss of innocent lives and are hoping for peace, if you must say something.

People who say things like this get bashed for not immediately calling out Hamas as terrorists (but you are not allowed to call out Israel's response).

If the statement is made in a way that suggests Hamas’s acts were justified - that’s a problem. If you don’t understand the situation or feel like you are just going to get attacked maybe just don’t say anything. Nobody actually needs your social media takes.

I generally don't post anything political on my social media accounts. Our local school system (MCPS) got bashed pretty aggressively for sending out a nonspecific letter expressing concern for everyone impacted, because they didn't specifically call out Hamas. A lot of people are demanding folks take sides.

It depends on timing. If on 10/8 you’re not expressing grief for victims and families, but are expressing worry about the future loss of life in Gaza, you’re showing your ass. If you didn’t express any grief on 10/8 I don’t want to hear you grieving a week later about the loss of Palestinian lives without putting it in context of what just happened.

That why it’s better to be quiet unless you have a brain.

Why are people required to express grief in your schedule? Why would someone who is a genuine anti-war pacifist, watching news that week in shock and bewilderment, be a “bad person” if he waited until 10/13 and said this the horrors committed by all made a cease fire necessary?

You’re such a pouty child. Not a serious person in the slightest.

That is an interesting insult. I’ll take it. I don’t claim to be serious. I do think that people who are only talking about tragedy on one side in this conflict have black holes in their brains.

It’s a warranted insult. I don’t have anyone in my family, nor any friends, who are only concerned with loss of life within the Palestinian nor the Israeli civilian populations. I doubt that that is unusual. I despise the conflation of true compassion with fringe opinion, and tarring people who want a cease fire and serious, not at a trickle’s pace, humanitarian aid, to be terrorist lovers. That’s repulsive and dishonest argument.

I saw friends say not a peep after 10/7, only to start wailing about civilian casualties in Gaza a few days later. You’re welcome to draw your own conclusion about that. I drew mine.

And I saw friends demanding everyone check in on their Jewish friends after several days without any concern for anyone who is not Jewish.

I checked in on all my friends who might themselves be or have family directly impacted, regardless of their religion. I don't put out statements on social media about any current events or anything political.

I doubt you know anyone impacted by 10/7.

Well I mean everyone has been "impacted" in a way because few people haven't been reading the news. If you are asking if I know anyone who has been kidnapped or killed, I do not. I do know many people with family there as well as a couple of people who were in Israel at the time and have family who were kidnapped.

Uh huh. Sure.

I doubt that’s true, considering how callous you are about it.

I'm callous because I texted my friends and asked them how they were doing and how their family was doing? Or why?

You’re callous because your response to Jews asking for help because of a crisis in Israel was essentially, “but what about non-Jews?!”

Of course everyone matters, but 10/7 overwhelmingly impacted Jews. You don’t seem to care about that.

I'm sorry you think that because I think its tasteless to demand sympathy for only one side of an ongoing war, that I don't care about that side. I should have mentioned that nearly every other Jewish family I know has emphasized their concern for everyone impacted and actually finds the lack of concern for Palestinians personally upsetting.

No Jew asking for sympathy is asking for it for one side only.

That’s your interpretation and you need to ask yourself why you interpreted it that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to free Palestine. We would save billions in money and countless lives.

As for these billionaires pulling jobs and money from schools, I bet they are deeply racist against Muslims and never hire them. It’s great they are making public statements. Now I hope someone tracks back and see how racist their companies are.

I've started and run 2 companies.

I gladly hire Muslims.

I would NEVER hire anyone who's publicly siding with Hamas ("resistance is justified") or is anti-Israel (Israel is "entirely responsible"), etc.

And no, I'm not Jewish. I just don't knowingly hire idiots or a**sholes.

Yup. I’ve been on hiring panels and would immediately disqualify someone from consideration if they held extreme views like that.

Yes. I think allowing extreme “social justice” language to proliferate on Twitter etc has really warped some young people’s sense of reality. It’s not ok to make public statements that celebrate death or espouse the destruction of an entire country. It’s also always going to be dicey to make political statements about a country that is not yours - you may drastically misunderstand what you are aligning with.

Yes. People that are picking “sides” here are showing an extreme lack of judgment. It is not hard to say that you are worried about the situation, mourn the loss of innocent lives and are hoping for peace, if you must say something.

People who say things like this get bashed for not immediately calling out Hamas as terrorists (but you are not allowed to call out Israel's response).

If the statement is made in a way that suggests Hamas’s acts were justified - that’s a problem. If you don’t understand the situation or feel like you are just going to get attacked maybe just don’t say anything. Nobody actually needs your social media takes.

I generally don't post anything political on my social media accounts. Our local school system (MCPS) got bashed pretty aggressively for sending out a nonspecific letter expressing concern for everyone impacted, because they didn't specifically call out Hamas. A lot of people are demanding folks take sides.

It depends on timing. If on 10/8 you’re not expressing grief for victims and families, but are expressing worry about the future loss of life in Gaza, you’re showing your ass. If you didn’t express any grief on 10/8 I don’t want to hear you grieving a week later about the loss of Palestinian lives without putting it in context of what just happened.

That why it’s better to be quiet unless you have a brain.

Why are people required to express grief in your schedule? Why would someone who is a genuine anti-war pacifist, watching news that week in shock and bewilderment, be a “bad person” if he waited until 10/13 and said this the horrors committed by all made a cease fire necessary?

You’re such a pouty child. Not a serious person in the slightest.

That is an interesting insult. I’ll take it. I don’t claim to be serious. I do think that people who are only talking about tragedy on one side in this conflict have black holes in their brains.

It’s a warranted insult. I don’t have anyone in my family, nor any friends, who are only concerned with loss of life within the Palestinian nor the Israeli civilian populations. I doubt that that is unusual. I despise the conflation of true compassion with fringe opinion, and tarring people who want a cease fire and serious, not at a trickle’s pace, humanitarian aid, to be terrorist lovers. That’s repulsive and dishonest argument.

I saw friends say not a peep after 10/7, only to start wailing about civilian casualties in Gaza a few days later. You’re welcome to draw your own conclusion about that. I drew mine.

And I saw friends demanding everyone check in on their Jewish friends after several days without any concern for anyone who is not Jewish.

I checked in on all my friends who might themselves be or have family directly impacted, regardless of their religion. I don't put out statements on social media about any current events or anything political.

I doubt you know anyone impacted by 10/7.

Well I mean everyone has been "impacted" in a way because few people haven't been reading the news. If you are asking if I know anyone who has been kidnapped or killed, I do not. I do know many people with family there as well as a couple of people who were in Israel at the time and have family who were kidnapped.

Uh huh. Sure.

I doubt that’s true, considering how callous you are about it.

I'm callous because I texted my friends and asked them how they were doing and how their family was doing? Or why?

You’re callous because your response to Jews asking for help because of a crisis in Israel was essentially, “but what about non-Jews?!”

Of course everyone matters, but 10/7 overwhelmingly impacted Jews. You don’t seem to care about that.

I'm sorry you think that because I think its tasteless to demand sympathy for only one side of an ongoing war, that I don't care about that side. I should have mentioned that nearly every other Jewish family I know has emphasized their concern for everyone impacted and actually finds the lack of concern for Palestinians personally upsetting.

No Jew asking for sympathy is asking for it for one side only.

That’s your interpretation and you need to ask yourself why you interpreted it that way.

Is that why the "Free Palestine" crew are called Hamas supporters and anti-Semetic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to free Palestine. We would save billions in money and countless lives.

As for these billionaires pulling jobs and money from schools, I bet they are deeply racist against Muslims and never hire them. It’s great they are making public statements. Now I hope someone tracks back and see how racist their companies are.

Not until the terrorists are gone. Because doing so now would NOT save countless lives.

At this point isn’t Hamas a government? That means they are not terrorists but a state actor like Israel or Russia. So you can not call them terrorists because they are a state and government. Exactly like Israel is now terrorizing Gaza but they are a state so it is just war.

Neither Palestine nor Gaza is a state. This is an undeniable but inconvenient fact.

That’s not entirely true. Hamas “governs” Gaza, but no one “recognizes” them as a legitimate government. Israel does not govern Gaza. It maintains a border.

Stop lying to both yourself and everyone else.

It is an irrefutable fact that neither Gaza nor Palestine is a state.

You suffer from very black and white thinking.

I don't at all. But this is a clear back and white factual issue.

And what’s your point? Yes, we all know Palestine isn’t a full UN member state. But it has basically all the characteristics of a state beyond formal UN recognition. It has a territory, a government, passports, etc.

No, it doesn't and you know that. Stop lying to yourself and everyone else.

Maybe rather than just saying we’re wrong, you could point to some evidence.

Palestine absolutely functions as a quasi-state. It has some state functions and not others.

A "quasi-state" is not a state. You know this. It's not difficult.

Does Israel consider it a state? Nope
Does the United States? Nope
Does the United Nations? Nope
Does Model United Nations? Nope

Nuance isn’t your strong suit, is it?

Nuance is actually my strong suit. There's nothing nuanced about this factual issue. Palestine is not a state. Quasi-state, proposed state, partial state, almost a state, kind of a state, etc are not synonymous with the term state.

You should take an international law course.

Been there done that. Palestine is not a state under the Westphalian System.

It doesn't have defined borders, control of its borders, or control over its population (West Bank settlers say hi) let alone universal recognition. Those are the essential elements of the test.

We have tried. They want to be a terrorist haven instead.

Who are "we" and who are "they" in this formulation?

We: The U.S. has negotiated ceasefires & autonomy for Gaza.
They: Palestinian leaders in Gaza immediately turn it over to Hamas.

Doesn't quite track:
"[The United States] have tried. [Palestinian leaders in Gaza immediately turn it over to Hamas] want to be a terrorist haven instead."

Also, I thought Hamas was leading the Palestinians in Gaza.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to free Palestine. We would save billions in money and countless lives.

As for these billionaires pulling jobs and money from schools, I bet they are deeply racist against Muslims and never hire them. It’s great they are making public statements. Now I hope someone tracks back and see how racist their companies are.

I've started and run 2 companies.

I gladly hire Muslims.

I would NEVER hire anyone who's publicly siding with Hamas ("resistance is justified") or is anti-Israel (Israel is "entirely responsible"), etc.

And no, I'm not Jewish. I just don't knowingly hire idiots or a**sholes.

Yup. I’ve been on hiring panels and would immediately disqualify someone from consideration if they held extreme views like that.

Yes. I think allowing extreme “social justice” language to proliferate on Twitter etc has really warped some young people’s sense of reality. It’s not ok to make public statements that celebrate death or espouse the destruction of an entire country. It’s also always going to be dicey to make political statements about a country that is not yours - you may drastically misunderstand what you are aligning with.

Yes. People that are picking “sides” here are showing an extreme lack of judgment. It is not hard to say that you are worried about the situation, mourn the loss of innocent lives and are hoping for peace, if you must say something.

People who say things like this get bashed for not immediately calling out Hamas as terrorists (but you are not allowed to call out Israel's response).

If the statement is made in a way that suggests Hamas’s acts were justified - that’s a problem. If you don’t understand the situation or feel like you are just going to get attacked maybe just don’t say anything. Nobody actually needs your social media takes.

I generally don't post anything political on my social media accounts. Our local school system (MCPS) got bashed pretty aggressively for sending out a nonspecific letter expressing concern for everyone impacted, because they didn't specifically call out Hamas. A lot of people are demanding folks take sides.

It depends on timing. If on 10/8 you’re not expressing grief for victims and families, but are expressing worry about the future loss of life in Gaza, you’re showing your ass. If you didn’t express any grief on 10/8 I don’t want to hear you grieving a week later about the loss of Palestinian lives without putting it in context of what just happened.

That why it’s better to be quiet unless you have a brain.

Why are people required to express grief in your schedule? Why would someone who is a genuine anti-war pacifist, watching news that week in shock and bewilderment, be a “bad person” if he waited until 10/13 and said this the horrors committed by all made a cease fire necessary?

You’re such a pouty child. Not a serious person in the slightest.

That is an interesting insult. I’ll take it. I don’t claim to be serious. I do think that people who are only talking about tragedy on one side in this conflict have black holes in their brains.

It’s a warranted insult. I don’t have anyone in my family, nor any friends, who are only concerned with loss of life within the Palestinian nor the Israeli civilian populations. I doubt that that is unusual. I despise the conflation of true compassion with fringe opinion, and tarring people who want a cease fire and serious, not at a trickle’s pace, humanitarian aid, to be terrorist lovers. That’s repulsive and dishonest argument.

I saw friends say not a peep after 10/7, only to start wailing about civilian casualties in Gaza a few days later. You’re welcome to draw your own conclusion about that. I drew mine.

And I saw friends demanding everyone check in on their Jewish friends after several days without any concern for anyone who is not Jewish.

I checked in on all my friends who might themselves be or have family directly impacted, regardless of their religion. I don't put out statements on social media about any current events or anything political.

I doubt you know anyone impacted by 10/7.

Well I mean everyone has been "impacted" in a way because few people haven't been reading the news. If you are asking if I know anyone who has been kidnapped or killed, I do not. I do know many people with family there as well as a couple of people who were in Israel at the time and have family who were kidnapped.

Uh huh. Sure.

I doubt that’s true, considering how callous you are about it.

I'm callous because I texted my friends and asked them how they were doing and how their family was doing? Or why?

You’re callous because your response to Jews asking for help because of a crisis in Israel was essentially, “but what about non-Jews?!”

Of course everyone matters, but 10/7 overwhelmingly impacted Jews. You don’t seem to care about that.

I'm sorry you think that because I think its tasteless to demand sympathy for only one side of an ongoing war, that I don't care about that side. I should have mentioned that nearly every other Jewish family I know has emphasized their concern for everyone impacted and actually finds the lack of concern for Palestinians personally upsetting.

No Jew asking for sympathy is asking for it for one side only.

That’s your interpretation and you need to ask yourself why you interpreted it that way.

It's bizarre to ask for sympathy for only one group in this situation, it just is. Sorry. They were not asking for sympathy for themselves personally, they were asking for sympathy for all Jews. I have some Jewish friends who have fewer ties to Israel than I do, a lapsed Catholic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the US had a region right next to us that had elected a terrorist organization to run it that has as its goal the eradication of our country, what do you think we would do? Especially if that organization infiltrated the USA and killed 40,000 Americans in one day and took 7,700 people hostage?

I think we would rain holy hell on them and most Americans would be happy to see it.

(Numbers are converted to the equivalent percentage of the US population).

Well your scenario does not track of reality. For that the state next door would have to be filled with refugees forced off their land and out of the United States. The US also would have to be a religious state that keeps the other state in poverty and continually kills it thousands of civilians.

Israel isn’t a theocracy. Jews have always been on the land.

Want to perpetuate any more lies?

Why is there a Star of David on Israel's flag?

A theocracy is a state ruled by clergy or a state that follows religious law.

Israel is not run by Rabbis and does not consider Talmudic law to be its legal system.

Theocracy is a form of government in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries who manage the government's daily affairs,[2][3] or in which human leaders who follow a certain religion are thought of as the ideal and only class of ruler.

Please go back and enroll in Government 101.

Someone substituted the original "religious state" with "theocracy." Israel is a state which, at the very least, privileges one religion over the rest. The poster who used the term "religious state" would have to comment on whether that is what they meant by the phrase.

If we’re talking about precise language, let’s be clear that it isn’t about religion. It’s about ethnicity. Israel gives special privileges to Jews. Most notably right of return. And that has nothing to do with religion.

The Jewish ethnicity has nothing to do with religion? Come on. It's not just a coincidence that ethnic Jews very often happen to be religious Jews.

You don’t get it. Israel doesn’t care if Jews are religious or not. I’m talking about their policies, not generally whether my ethnicity and religion tend to overlap.

Maybe I don't get it. I have a hard time believing that Israel's privileged status for Jewish people are policies adopted with no intent of being beneficial to the religion of Judaism. I don't think Israel is a theocracy. But if religion weren't a factor, there would be no need for Israel in the first place. The Jews of the world were persecuted primarily because of their religion, not because of their ethnicity. If ethnic Jews tended to practice the dominant religion of the areas where they happened to live, there wouldn't have been any special persecution. That's why there is a need for a Jewish homeland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to free Palestine. We would save billions in money and countless lives.

As for these billionaires pulling jobs and money from schools, I bet they are deeply racist against Muslims and never hire them. It’s great they are making public statements. Now I hope someone tracks back and see how racist their companies are.

Not until the terrorists are gone. Because doing so now would NOT save countless lives.

At this point isn’t Hamas a government? That means they are not terrorists but a state actor like Israel or Russia. So you can not call them terrorists because they are a state and government. Exactly like Israel is now terrorizing Gaza but they are a state so it is just war.

Neither Palestine nor Gaza is a state. This is an undeniable but inconvenient fact.

That’s not entirely true. Hamas “governs” Gaza, but no one “recognizes” them as a legitimate government. Israel does not govern Gaza. It maintains a border.

Stop lying to both yourself and everyone else.

It is an irrefutable fact that neither Gaza nor Palestine is a state.

You suffer from very black and white thinking.

I don't at all. But this is a clear back and white factual issue.

And what’s your point? Yes, we all know Palestine isn’t a full UN member state. But it has basically all the characteristics of a state beyond formal UN recognition. It has a territory, a government, passports, etc.

No, it doesn't and you know that. Stop lying to yourself and everyone else.

Maybe rather than just saying we’re wrong, you could point to some evidence.

Palestine absolutely functions as a quasi-state. It has some state functions and not others.

A "quasi-state" is not a state. You know this. It's not difficult.

Does Israel consider it a state? Nope
Does the United States? Nope
Does the United Nations? Nope
Does Model United Nations? Nope

Nuance isn’t your strong suit, is it?

Nuance is actually my strong suit. There's nothing nuanced about this factual issue. Palestine is not a state. Quasi-state, proposed state, partial state, almost a state, kind of a state, etc are not synonymous with the term state.

You should take an international law course.

Been there done that. Palestine is not a state under the Westphalian System.

It doesn't have defined borders, control of its borders, or control over its population (West Bank settlers say hi) let alone universal recognition. Those are the essential elements of the test.

We have tried. They want to be a terrorist haven instead.

Who are "we" and who are "they" in this formulation?

We: The U.S. has negotiated ceasefires & autonomy for Gaza.
They: Palestinian leaders in Gaza immediately turn it over to Hamas.

Doesn't quite track:
"[The United States] have tried. [Palestinian leaders in Gaza immediately turn it over to Hamas] want to be a terrorist haven instead."

Also, I thought Hamas was leading the Palestinians in Gaza.

It is clear if you are not being deliberately dense. The U.S. supports Gaza autonomy but not if Hamas is in control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Time to free Palestine. We would save billions in money and countless lives.

As for these billionaires pulling jobs and money from schools, I bet they are deeply racist against Muslims and never hire them. It’s great they are making public statements. Now I hope someone tracks back and see how racist their companies are.

I've started and run 2 companies.

I gladly hire Muslims.

I would NEVER hire anyone who's publicly siding with Hamas ("resistance is justified") or is anti-Israel (Israel is "entirely responsible"), etc.

And no, I'm not Jewish. I just don't knowingly hire idiots or a**sholes.

Yup. I’ve been on hiring panels and would immediately disqualify someone from consideration if they held extreme views like that.

Yes. I think allowing extreme “social justice” language to proliferate on Twitter etc has really warped some young people’s sense of reality. It’s not ok to make public statements that celebrate death or espouse the destruction of an entire country. It’s also always going to be dicey to make political statements about a country that is not yours - you may drastically misunderstand what you are aligning with.

Yes. People that are picking “sides” here are showing an extreme lack of judgment. It is not hard to say that you are worried about the situation, mourn the loss of innocent lives and are hoping for peace, if you must say something.

People who say things like this get bashed for not immediately calling out Hamas as terrorists (but you are not allowed to call out Israel's response).

If the statement is made in a way that suggests Hamas’s acts were justified - that’s a problem. If you don’t understand the situation or feel like you are just going to get attacked maybe just don’t say anything. Nobody actually needs your social media takes.

I generally don't post anything political on my social media accounts. Our local school system (MCPS) got bashed pretty aggressively for sending out a nonspecific letter expressing concern for everyone impacted, because they didn't specifically call out Hamas. A lot of people are demanding folks take sides.

It depends on timing. If on 10/8 you’re not expressing grief for victims and families, but are expressing worry about the future loss of life in Gaza, you’re showing your ass. If you didn’t express any grief on 10/8 I don’t want to hear you grieving a week later about the loss of Palestinian lives without putting it in context of what just happened.

That why it’s better to be quiet unless you have a brain.

Why are people required to express grief in your schedule? Why would someone who is a genuine anti-war pacifist, watching news that week in shock and bewilderment, be a “bad person” if he waited until 10/13 and said this the horrors committed by all made a cease fire necessary?

You’re such a pouty child. Not a serious person in the slightest.

That is an interesting insult. I’ll take it. I don’t claim to be serious. I do think that people who are only talking about tragedy on one side in this conflict have black holes in their brains.

It’s a warranted insult. I don’t have anyone in my family, nor any friends, who are only concerned with loss of life within the Palestinian nor the Israeli civilian populations. I doubt that that is unusual. I despise the conflation of true compassion with fringe opinion, and tarring people who want a cease fire and serious, not at a trickle’s pace, humanitarian aid, to be terrorist lovers. That’s repulsive and dishonest argument.

I saw friends say not a peep after 10/7, only to start wailing about civilian casualties in Gaza a few days later. You’re welcome to draw your own conclusion about that. I drew mine.

And I saw friends demanding everyone check in on their Jewish friends after several days without any concern for anyone who is not Jewish.

I checked in on all my friends who might themselves be or have family directly impacted, regardless of their religion. I don't put out statements on social media about any current events or anything political.

Aren’t you wonderful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those watching, like me, Human Rights Watch is still silent regarding the documentary evidence of Hamas atrocities on 10/7 that was provided to outside journalists and human rights organizations. They have said nothing.

This is after waiting nearly two weeks to take a stand on the hostages, while simultaneously taking an immediate stand on use of white phosphorus.

Maybe the “documented evidence” is faulty?

A significant percentage of the evidence reviewed came directly from Hamas’ own channels.

For instance, the widely-seen slow beheading of the Thai farm worker with a garden hoe came directly from Hamas.

I find the silence from HRW completely inexplicable.

If find your continued lying about “silence from HRW” to be completely inexplicable. They indeed released an analysis of the footage and declared it a war crime: https://www.hrw.org/video-photos/video/2023/10/17/israel/palestine-videos-hamas-led-attacks-verified

[Anonymous]

Kirby doubles down on Biden’s skepticism of Gaza Health Ministry casualty numbers.

[Anonymous]

Just so we are clear on the alignments