Gaza War, Part 3

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Palestinians are forced to support evil Hamas, why don't they get rid of Hamas? You know, people overthrow bad leaders all the time.

How will they overthrow them? Palestinians don’t have arms. Hamas does. Hamas hides in the tunnels. How will they find them?

Israel toyed with asking Gazans for tips on where Hamas is but it was useless. Nobody really knows

Didn’t just “toy[]” with. They actually did. And it’s helping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Picture this: Your daughter is taken from you in a raid from a Taylor Swift concert that you were so excited to go to. She is taken in a van deep into a place and you have no idea where. Probably in a dark tunnel with hardly food, is potentially being assaulted, and probably drugged. She doesn't see light for close to three months. You are still at home wondering where she is, if she's alive, and with every passing day you fear for the worst. You can't sleep, you can barely eat with worry. What should your government do to help you? The people who took her are threatening to do it again and again and again. How should your government respond? The people who took her dress like civilians and don't care about how many people die. In fact, they encourage civilian death because this helps their cause. You daughter is wasting away. Your daughter is dying. Your daughter fears for her life every minute. Hope is fading for all.

Genocide is an interesting term that has been coopted. Actually, I'm frustrated by the fact that many things go unreported or the reporting is distorted. Among them the following:

In general the civilian : combatant ratio os 50/50. This has been true for centuries. In this war, it is closer to 61-63%/39%-37%. More children are dying that usual because of the way that the combatants have embedded themselves in the society. Yet still, that is not crazy far off the mark of all wars throughout all centuries.

When was the last time you heard casualties that counted terrorists in them. 20K people have been killed is the mantra. But if you use the stats then 13-14K are civilians and 6-7K are combatants. Why are we constantly conflating them in this war only?

Missiles are still raining down on Israel. The iron dome negates most of them but not all. Some still fly into bedrooms, living rooms, cars. All of them bring debris raining down indescriminantly from the sky. Shrapnel is everywhere, hitting anything.

13,000 missiles have been shot from Gaza. 2,000 of them have misfired and fallen back down into Gaza creating some of the havoc that we are seeing (clearly Israel is doing more damage), but some of the damage and death is attributable to that.

You can dismiss all of this as zionistic pr or you can take a minute and absorb that not everything is shameful unless it's shameful for all of humanity because no one is innocent in this.

Except the children. All the children on both sides are innocent.

I hear you and agree that there is a lot that is going unreported and a lot of people are forming anti-Israel opinions based on lack of information about a very complex situation.

I think the notion that Israel should not exist is not helpful and understandably interpreted as anti-semitism by Jewish people. We can't turn back the clock. We can only look towards the future, and that future includes the continued existence of Israel. I know people very sympathetic to Palestinians who refuse to join the pro-Palestinian protests because there are so many people in that camp who espouse hateful beliefs about the Jewish people.

What happened on October 7 was horrible. But what is Israel's endgame with this war? It seems like they are not going to destroy Hamas (more likely they are strengthening it). So is this just about vengeance? How many children need to be killed to satisfy Israel?

DP. These types of posts with the reasonable-seeming throat clearing inevitably leading up to the last crack me up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Picture this: Your daughter is taken from you in a raid from a Taylor Swift concert that you were so excited to go to. She is taken in a van deep into a place and you have no idea where. Probably in a dark tunnel with hardly food, is potentially being assaulted, and probably drugged. She doesn't see light for close to three months. You are still at home wondering where she is, if she's alive, and with every passing day you fear for the worst. You can't sleep, you can barely eat with worry. What should your government do to help you? The people who took her are threatening to do it again and again and again. How should your government respond? The people who took her dress like civilians and don't care about how many people die. In fact, they encourage civilian death because this helps their cause. You daughter is wasting away. Your daughter is dying. Your daughter fears for her life every minute. Hope is fading for all.

Genocide is an interesting term that has been coopted. Actually, I'm frustrated by the fact that many things go unreported or the reporting is distorted. Among them the following:

In general the civilian : combatant ratio os 50/50. This has been true for centuries. In this war, it is closer to 61-63%/39%-37%. More children are dying that usual because of the way that the combatants have embedded themselves in the society. Yet still, that is not crazy far off the mark of all wars throughout all centuries.

When was the last time you heard casualties that counted terrorists in them. 20K people have been killed is the mantra. But if you use the stats then 13-14K are civilians and 6-7K are combatants. Why are we constantly conflating them in this war only?

Missiles are still raining down on Israel. The iron dome negates most of them but not all. Some still fly into bedrooms, living rooms, cars. All of them bring debris raining down indescriminantly from the sky. Shrapnel is everywhere, hitting anything.

13,000 missiles have been shot from Gaza. 2,000 of them have misfired and fallen back down into Gaza creating some of the havoc that we are seeing (clearly Israel is doing more damage), but some of the damage and death is attributable to that.

You can dismiss all of this as zionistic pr or you can take a minute and absorb that not everything is shameful unless it's shameful for all of humanity because no one is innocent in this.

Except the children. All the children on both sides are innocent.

I hear you and agree that there is a lot that is going unreported and a lot of people are forming anti-Israel opinions based on lack of information about a very complex situation.

I think the notion that Israel should not exist is not helpful and understandably interpreted as anti-semitism by Jewish people. We can't turn back the clock. We can only look towards the future, and that future includes the continued existence of Israel. I know people very sympathetic to Palestinians who refuse to join the pro-Palestinian protests because there are so many people in that camp who espouse hateful beliefs about the Jewish people.

What happened on October 7 was horrible. But what is Israel's endgame with this war? It seems like they are not going to destroy Hamas (more likely they are strengthening it). So is this just about vengeance? How many children need to be killed to satisfy Israel?

DP. These types of posts with the reasonable-seeming throat clearing inevitably leading up to the last crack me up.

It cracks you up that Israel can't destroy Hamas, or that it is killing children?

[Anonymous]

I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

Are you saying that Palestinians deserve collective punishment?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

#MeTooUnlessUrAJew

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

Israel had never sent UN Women the notification needed for them to open an investigation. Which makes the complaints just another bad faith accusation.

[Anonymous]

Horrific rapes =/= ok to murder 22,000 people many via war crimes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

Israel had never sent UN Women the notification needed for them to open an investigation. Which makes the complaints just another bad faith accusation.

This is surely a comment motivated by the best, purest faith.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Horrific rapes =/= ok to murder 22,000 people many via war crimes

I presume you have another way to remove Hamas from power and ensure the security of the Jewish people. A real, practical plan, no doubt! Let's hear it.

Let's also hear what you are doing in your activism that makes demands of Hamas and its many backers like Iran and Russia. Because surely you are not coming here merely to demand the Jews turn the other cheek.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

Are you saying that Palestinians deserve collective punishment?

Where exactly in my post did I once mention “Palestinians”? Please be specific and quote the exact line with the word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

Israel had never sent UN Women the notification needed for them to open an investigation. Which makes the complaints just another bad faith accusation.

Ridiculous. That’s not how it works and you know it.

One of the sad side effects of this conflict is how the credibility of previously respected human rights organizations has been totally undermined. When you can’t bring yourself to condemn the most horrific of human rights violations because the victims are Jewish, you’ve lost all credibility as an organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see the New York Times has finally belatedly acknowledged that Hamas used horrific sexual violence against Israeli women on 10/7, though I assume that does not matter to the Hamas supporters here who denied the rapes occurred because there weren’t rape kits or whatever, just extremely graphic and extremely obvious videos.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/28/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-hamas-israel-sexual-violence.html

I assume HRW and UN Women and all those supposed human rights organizations are still silent on the matter of Israeli women being sexually tortured by Hamas, but my standards for them are so low now that it’s not a surprise.

Do you not read the NYT very often? They have been covering this story for more than a month:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/04/world/middleeast/oct-7-attacks-israel-hamas-sexual-violence.html

Are you upset that they’re also covering the brutality in Gaza? Are you upset that they aren’t discussing these rapes more? What is the real problem because it certainly isn’t that NYT “just acknowledged” anything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Horrific rapes =/= ok to murder 22,000 people many via war crimes

I presume you have another way to remove Hamas from power and ensure the security of the Jewish people. A real, practical plan, no doubt! Let's hear it.

Let's also hear what you are doing in your activism that makes demands of Hamas and its many backers like Iran and Russia. Because surely you are not coming here merely to demand the Jews turn the other cheek.

They are not going to remove Hamas. They cannot do it. They are seeking vengeance.