At some point, this becomes totally absurd. I condemn the shit out of Hamas. I shriek my condemnations to the skies, rend my garments. Hey, I even donated to the group that Vivian Silver used to belong to, though it is quite possible the IDF killed her. (This is something the ‘condemn the Hamas people do not approve of, but Vivian Silver, I hope, would approve.) I pray for the hostages.
It is easy for me to condemn Hamas. I’m just an American who is not involved and thinks all lives are valuable, all people are valuable, who believes in peace, a starry eyed person who has a fairly safe life. I don’t know the answers about this region. I don’t want to pretend I do. I simply want the basic values to be followed and to express my belief in human rights and international humanitarian law and all the things that I hope would be bulwarks against barbarity. My emotions are only engaged in a different way than if someone was trying to kill me.
So I condemn Hamas with sincere fervor.
And THEN WHAT? WHAT?!?!? We are helping Israel in the starving of people, we are helping in depriving them of water. Starvation is the worst kind of death. I can’t think of anything worse that could happen to someone than this except having a limb amputated without anesthesia. THAT IS HAPPENING. ISRAEL IS DOING IT. AMERICA IS HELPING Something that comes close is having one’s children killed. THAT IS HAPPENING. ISRAEL IS DOING THAT. After that, having their children mutilated. ALSO, A THING THAT IS HAPPENING TO PEOPLE RIGHT NOW. BY ISRAEL. And then, lower down on the list, having your mother and father killed. ANOTHER THING ISRAEL IS DOING. And then we can talk about how people are killed. Burned. Buried alive. A million people fleeing in terror? YES. LIKE A HORROR MOVIE.
I am condemning Hamas, the USA, the UK, Israel, and whoever else. What does this do? Nothing, just like bombing the shit out of Gaza will do nothing. We gotta make it stop. Little children lost their hands, feet, lives. There is not two sides to this. Some things don’t have two sides.
I don't have exact numbers (probably no one does) but to the reader's first point, she is also wrong about "1200 innocent civilians killed by Hamas". At least a third of the Israelis killed on 10/7 were soldiers, not civilians. An unknown number of people, at least 30 confirmed, maybe over 200, were killed by Israel via Hannibal Directive/friendly fire. This has been verified by Israeli media as well as independent media outlets in the West. In addition, Hamas is only one of the resistance groups that broke out of prison on 10/7, the resistance includes multiple groups like PFLP, Islamic Jihad, Qassam which is the armed wing of Hamas (yes, Hamas has many parts, it is an elected government, and it does much more than military activities) along with other groups. I know this is a very minor point compared to all the other points, and you've explained very well everything that was wrong with her comment (and honestly the whole comment was full of propaganda and not said in good faith, so you were gracious to answer her at all.) I find it irritating that zionists use the name Hamas when they mean any resistance and sometimes any Palestinian, since it demonstrates a total lack of understanding of the region. Good on you to even respond to that troll, I have given up trying and started to just mute them for my own sanity.
Thank you. The hope is the answers and receipts I provide are useful to others having similar conversations, and useful to those looking to understand the situation accurately.
Uphold international human rights law, stop arming Israeli war crimes, end the occupation, end the settlements, ensure release of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and pass a UN vote on a binding 2 state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and with justice.
Okay, just so you know - I'm copying & pasting that in every message I send to the White House from now on! At least I won't feel like I'm not getting the point across.
I have called the White House numerous times to BEG that the USA stop supplying Israel with weapons because Israel is COMMITTING WAR CRIMES by the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza. The USA should not assist in those crimes in any mannor.
I have heard that Israel has given a lot of money to Hamas and basically supported its growth and power because it would end up making Israel look like the most victimized. I trust you and what you write and wonder if you have addressed this. Thank you for your splendid writing and clarity.
JPost article you linked to gives impression that it was a massive intelligence and security failure, not that they knew “when and where” and knowingly allowed it to happen.
Really? It literally says "The IDF had precise information about Hamas's intentions." And several more articles on the subject further emphasize this point, including that they knew months in advance.
From that article, it seems they scoffed away the possibility that Hamas could pull it off. Arrogant, incompetent, disgraceful, yes. It requires a leap in logic to declare this to be something that was allowed or permitted to happen. Are you implying that they could have stopped it but actively chose to let it happen?
Thank you for your excellent response to each of the claims made by “Karen.”
Karen, we need facts, not fiction and above all honesty, accountability, and a return to human decency. The killings must end; no more lives lost or maimed bodies. The resultant traumas to everyone is unthinkable and likely eternal. And the seething is hatred refueled with every heinous act. Nothing can be mended until Israel stops its relentless massacres.
I was talking to a Canadian Jewish person (after 10/7). I could see that this person repeatedly ignored my question when I asked about the settlements. The same was true for an Israeli Jewish person. The Canadian was sure about everything but not sure about anything specific! That was the gist of the whole conversation. This person managed to muster up this as a response to my questioning them about the settlements. They said, "I’ve also seen how Palestinians nearby live, the checkpoints and all. I was definitely surprised by some things, both better and worse than I thought". Didn't manage to tell what was better, and what was worse. But overall remained apathetic to the daily reality of Palestinian life under a military occupation. I had expected a Canadian living freely to be enraged witnessing firsthand the ground reality of the military occupation, but that wasn't the case. This is not a one-off incident. Almost all I spoke to are to some degree treat the occupation as "business as usual". Many don't even bother giving specifics about the occupation of the West Bank.
The point is, the majority has been denied the right to free, and objective truth, they have been made to remain willfully ignorant, (sometimes forced too). Two things can be true at the same time: Hamas' actions can be held atrocious *and* the brutal military occupation in the West Bank, including the settlements equally atrocious.
Thank you for such a well written article. I swear it repeated all my talking points I try to make daily with people around me. Zionism is a terrorist organization much like Hamas. It’s these organizations that are fighting each other. I am shamed that the US sends Israel money and weapons. They commit war crimes like Putin and still US send Israel weapons to kill people who cannot defend themselves. Netanyahu attacks our president and then demands more. Why do we put up with them?? As a young child and adolescent I had to watch Israel’s many forays into Palestinian land. The first time barely five years after post WWII land agreements were written, The Sinai war, The 6–Day War and the Yom Kippur War. It would seem that Israel had a plan. This is Israel’s Manifesto Destiny grabbing more and more land and sending settlers into the West Bank which will be a planned provocation to make the Palestinians try to defend their land. All that land grabbing and the world did nothing but watch Israel occupy more parts of Palestine, which is a sovereign country, put the people under rules and laws made by them that took away their freedoms and sent in more settlers to secure what was taken by force. Netanyahu and his war cabinet are out of control and most definitely are not a democracy so the journalists should stop calling them so. To watch them lie at the World Court was telling. For some strange reason they think they can rid the area of Hama by devastation and genocide. The joke that Netanyahu T and that vole war cabinet can’t see is that genocide won’t destroy a people, good and bad and they should know this well enough.
Thank you. It baffles me why some people think it wrong for those persecuted not to defend themselves. I’m not in any way supporting what Hamas did on October 7, but the Palestinians have been a marginalized and persecuted group treated poorly by Israel for a very long time. Most of the time revolts take place when people feel trapped and helpless, that there is no other choice and know the consequences—deaths on both sides.
Excellent article! Unlike many US citizens, I've always been aware that Israel is a terrorist state. What absolutely appalls me is that the world just lets Israel get away with their crimes.
Thank you for breaking down the reality of the conflict. How Netanyahu is still running the government with his radical thugs, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, is beyond me. I don't want my representatives attending his opportunity to spread more lies in Congress. I suspect he will sneak in a visit with Trump. This from a 2019 article: "Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a new settlement in the occupied Golan Heights, named after US President Donald Trump."
"Critics called the move a publicity stunt with no legal authority." Two peas in a pod.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are merely symptoms of a disease. And there are equally worse MKs and people holding positions who are nothing but racists and extremists. Even left-wing Israelis call Ben-Gvir a pig.
Thank you. And agree. It's wild how so many even Democrats describe Netanyahu as the Trump of Israel, but then happily support and fund his war crimes. Absolutely absurd.
Well, those white moderates are a backstabbing lot. Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds. They can't even see their own privilege. I've asked them flat out why when Trump illegally shut down the border they thought it was racist and wrong but when Biden does the exact same thing it's magically not racist and wrong. All they do is make weak excuses. The Democrats ridiculed the fuck out of Trump over the wall but not Biden for building it🫠 Make that make sense🥴
The "moderate" Democrats feign sympathy for the Palestinians and yet they still send the bombs to Israel to kill them. And, as always, the hit dog hollers🤣
And here is where the issue lies. Those who support Israel wholeheartedly are like those who supported the Nazis or the KuKluxKlan by refusing to believe the truth that they have been presented. Facts mean nothing to those governed by emotion and hatred. Keep fighting these folks. Is the person’s name Karen? Just curious.
Person's name was something else but I was trying to keep their identity anonymous as who they are is not the focus of my article, but instead what they said.
Any time a nation is treated as infallible or above reproach, it puts innocent people in danger. I don't think its helpful or necessary to make Nazi or KKK comparisons. I do think its important every nation be held to the same standard of international human rights law.
Mainly corporatist centrists who are pro-Israel facing outspoken progressives. AIPAC is throwing a lot of money around this year, especially in favor of Republicans & against progressives (& therefore to the centrist/corporatist Democrats facing them in the primaries).
Oh, of course! Ironic that on another site I mentioned the very same thing to someone who didn't know how. Those dots are inconspicuous & easy to miss.
You stated it better than I did but we are on the same page. We do need to call it what it is: a blatant disregard for human lives and war crimes against humanity. As Martin Luther King Jr said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The KKK and Nazi references are there only for emphasis. If that distracts these references can be removed.
At some point, this becomes totally absurd. I condemn the shit out of Hamas. I shriek my condemnations to the skies, rend my garments. Hey, I even donated to the group that Vivian Silver used to belong to, though it is quite possible the IDF killed her. (This is something the ‘condemn the Hamas people do not approve of, but Vivian Silver, I hope, would approve.) I pray for the hostages.
It is easy for me to condemn Hamas. I’m just an American who is not involved and thinks all lives are valuable, all people are valuable, who believes in peace, a starry eyed person who has a fairly safe life. I don’t know the answers about this region. I don’t want to pretend I do. I simply want the basic values to be followed and to express my belief in human rights and international humanitarian law and all the things that I hope would be bulwarks against barbarity. My emotions are only engaged in a different way than if someone was trying to kill me.
So I condemn Hamas with sincere fervor.
And THEN WHAT? WHAT?!?!? We are helping Israel in the starving of people, we are helping in depriving them of water. Starvation is the worst kind of death. I can’t think of anything worse that could happen to someone than this except having a limb amputated without anesthesia. THAT IS HAPPENING. ISRAEL IS DOING IT. AMERICA IS HELPING Something that comes close is having one’s children killed. THAT IS HAPPENING. ISRAEL IS DOING THAT. After that, having their children mutilated. ALSO, A THING THAT IS HAPPENING TO PEOPLE RIGHT NOW. BY ISRAEL. And then, lower down on the list, having your mother and father killed. ANOTHER THING ISRAEL IS DOING. And then we can talk about how people are killed. Burned. Buried alive. A million people fleeing in terror? YES. LIKE A HORROR MOVIE.
I am condemning Hamas, the USA, the UK, Israel, and whoever else. What does this do? Nothing, just like bombing the shit out of Gaza will do nothing. We gotta make it stop. Little children lost their hands, feet, lives. There is not two sides to this. Some things don’t have two sides.
I don't have exact numbers (probably no one does) but to the reader's first point, she is also wrong about "1200 innocent civilians killed by Hamas". At least a third of the Israelis killed on 10/7 were soldiers, not civilians. An unknown number of people, at least 30 confirmed, maybe over 200, were killed by Israel via Hannibal Directive/friendly fire. This has been verified by Israeli media as well as independent media outlets in the West. In addition, Hamas is only one of the resistance groups that broke out of prison on 10/7, the resistance includes multiple groups like PFLP, Islamic Jihad, Qassam which is the armed wing of Hamas (yes, Hamas has many parts, it is an elected government, and it does much more than military activities) along with other groups. I know this is a very minor point compared to all the other points, and you've explained very well everything that was wrong with her comment (and honestly the whole comment was full of propaganda and not said in good faith, so you were gracious to answer her at all.) I find it irritating that zionists use the name Hamas when they mean any resistance and sometimes any Palestinian, since it demonstrates a total lack of understanding of the region. Good on you to even respond to that troll, I have given up trying and started to just mute them for my own sanity.
Respect to you, you have the patience of a saint to respond so calmly and politely and generously to what was frankly a rude and disingenuous critic.
Thank you. The hope is the answers and receipts I provide are useful to others having similar conversations, and useful to those looking to understand the situation accurately.
If you had Biden's ear, what would you say?
Uphold international human rights law, stop arming Israeli war crimes, end the occupation, end the settlements, ensure release of all Israeli and Palestinian hostages, and pass a UN vote on a binding 2 state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace and with justice.
Okay, just so you know - I'm copying & pasting that in every message I send to the White House from now on! At least I won't feel like I'm not getting the point across.
I have called the White House numerous times to BEG that the USA stop supplying Israel with weapons because Israel is COMMITTING WAR CRIMES by the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza. The USA should not assist in those crimes in any mannor.
I have heard that Israel has given a lot of money to Hamas and basically supported its growth and power because it would end up making Israel look like the most victimized. I trust you and what you write and wonder if you have addressed this. Thank you for your splendid writing and clarity.
Yes, have addressed this factual reality in the past. Netanyahu heavily propped up Hamas and funded Hamas with the explicit goal of preventing peace and justice. I detail the receipts here: https://qasimrashid.substack.com/p/how-are-4-hostages-for-210-killed
JPost article you linked to gives impression that it was a massive intelligence and security failure, not that they knew “when and where” and knowingly allowed it to happen.
Really? It literally says "The IDF had precise information about Hamas's intentions." And several more articles on the subject further emphasize this point, including that they knew months in advance.
Guess I’ll look for those several other articles then.
https://apnews.com/article/new-york-times-hamas-attack-israel-gaza-6088cad78f5e4153d671fe9b5b819308
From that article, it seems they scoffed away the possibility that Hamas could pull it off. Arrogant, incompetent, disgraceful, yes. It requires a leap in logic to declare this to be something that was allowed or permitted to happen. Are you implying that they could have stopped it but actively chose to let it happen?
That’s what all the evidence suggests.
Thank you for your excellent response to each of the claims made by “Karen.”
Karen, we need facts, not fiction and above all honesty, accountability, and a return to human decency. The killings must end; no more lives lost or maimed bodies. The resultant traumas to everyone is unthinkable and likely eternal. And the seething is hatred refueled with every heinous act. Nothing can be mended until Israel stops its relentless massacres.
I was talking to a Canadian Jewish person (after 10/7). I could see that this person repeatedly ignored my question when I asked about the settlements. The same was true for an Israeli Jewish person. The Canadian was sure about everything but not sure about anything specific! That was the gist of the whole conversation. This person managed to muster up this as a response to my questioning them about the settlements. They said, "I’ve also seen how Palestinians nearby live, the checkpoints and all. I was definitely surprised by some things, both better and worse than I thought". Didn't manage to tell what was better, and what was worse. But overall remained apathetic to the daily reality of Palestinian life under a military occupation. I had expected a Canadian living freely to be enraged witnessing firsthand the ground reality of the military occupation, but that wasn't the case. This is not a one-off incident. Almost all I spoke to are to some degree treat the occupation as "business as usual". Many don't even bother giving specifics about the occupation of the West Bank.
The point is, the majority has been denied the right to free, and objective truth, they have been made to remain willfully ignorant, (sometimes forced too). Two things can be true at the same time: Hamas' actions can be held atrocious *and* the brutal military occupation in the West Bank, including the settlements equally atrocious.
Thank you for such a well written article. I swear it repeated all my talking points I try to make daily with people around me. Zionism is a terrorist organization much like Hamas. It’s these organizations that are fighting each other. I am shamed that the US sends Israel money and weapons. They commit war crimes like Putin and still US send Israel weapons to kill people who cannot defend themselves. Netanyahu attacks our president and then demands more. Why do we put up with them?? As a young child and adolescent I had to watch Israel’s many forays into Palestinian land. The first time barely five years after post WWII land agreements were written, The Sinai war, The 6–Day War and the Yom Kippur War. It would seem that Israel had a plan. This is Israel’s Manifesto Destiny grabbing more and more land and sending settlers into the West Bank which will be a planned provocation to make the Palestinians try to defend their land. All that land grabbing and the world did nothing but watch Israel occupy more parts of Palestine, which is a sovereign country, put the people under rules and laws made by them that took away their freedoms and sent in more settlers to secure what was taken by force. Netanyahu and his war cabinet are out of control and most definitely are not a democracy so the journalists should stop calling them so. To watch them lie at the World Court was telling. For some strange reason they think they can rid the area of Hama by devastation and genocide. The joke that Netanyahu T and that vole war cabinet can’t see is that genocide won’t destroy a people, good and bad and they should know this well enough.
Thank you. It baffles me why some people think it wrong for those persecuted not to defend themselves. I’m not in any way supporting what Hamas did on October 7, but the Palestinians have been a marginalized and persecuted group treated poorly by Israel for a very long time. Most of the time revolts take place when people feel trapped and helpless, that there is no other choice and know the consequences—deaths on both sides.
Excellent article! Unlike many US citizens, I've always been aware that Israel is a terrorist state. What absolutely appalls me is that the world just lets Israel get away with their crimes.
Thank you for reading and sharing, Jasmine.
You're welcome😊
Thank you for breaking down the reality of the conflict. How Netanyahu is still running the government with his radical thugs, Smotrich and Ben-Gvir, is beyond me. I don't want my representatives attending his opportunity to spread more lies in Congress. I suspect he will sneak in a visit with Trump. This from a 2019 article: "Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a new settlement in the occupied Golan Heights, named after US President Donald Trump."
"Critics called the move a publicity stunt with no legal authority." Two peas in a pod.
Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are merely symptoms of a disease. And there are equally worse MKs and people holding positions who are nothing but racists and extremists. Even left-wing Israelis call Ben-Gvir a pig.
Thank you. And agree. It's wild how so many even Democrats describe Netanyahu as the Trump of Israel, but then happily support and fund his war crimes. Absolutely absurd.
Well, those white moderates are a backstabbing lot. Scratch a liberal and a fascist bleeds. They can't even see their own privilege. I've asked them flat out why when Trump illegally shut down the border they thought it was racist and wrong but when Biden does the exact same thing it's magically not racist and wrong. All they do is make weak excuses. The Democrats ridiculed the fuck out of Trump over the wall but not Biden for building it🫠 Make that make sense🥴
Not sure what that has to do with this conversation.
The "moderate" Democrats feign sympathy for the Palestinians and yet they still send the bombs to Israel to kill them. And, as always, the hit dog hollers🤣
I will say the Democrats who receive money from the PACs are the ones you speak of.
Exactly.
And here is where the issue lies. Those who support Israel wholeheartedly are like those who supported the Nazis or the KuKluxKlan by refusing to believe the truth that they have been presented. Facts mean nothing to those governed by emotion and hatred. Keep fighting these folks. Is the person’s name Karen? Just curious.
Person's name was something else but I was trying to keep their identity anonymous as who they are is not the focus of my article, but instead what they said.
Any time a nation is treated as infallible or above reproach, it puts innocent people in danger. I don't think its helpful or necessary to make Nazi or KKK comparisons. I do think its important every nation be held to the same standard of international human rights law.
Make me wonder how many Democrats took money from AIPAC.
Mainly corporatist centrists who are pro-Israel facing outspoken progressives. AIPAC is throwing a lot of money around this year, especially in favor of Republicans & against progressives (& therefore to the centrist/corporatist Democrats facing them in the primaries).
Sorry for this repetition. As I was posting this comment, it froze, so I kept trying. Apparently they all eventually got published.
I think you can select the 3 dots at the upper right of each comment, and it will offer “delete.”
Oh, of course! Ironic that on another site I mentioned the very same thing to someone who didn't know how. Those dots are inconspicuous & easy to miss.
You stated it better than I did but we are on the same page. We do need to call it what it is: a blatant disregard for human lives and war crimes against humanity. As Martin Luther King Jr said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The KKK and Nazi references are there only for emphasis. If that distracts these references can be removed.
Could you just call the commenter "Reader". There are a lot of Karens out here who agree with you 💯
Fair enough :) Updated.