A man of leisure living in the present, waiting for the future.

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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 14th, 2023

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    • I am neither defending Ben-Gvir nor Netanyahu, they are both assholes and should be removed from power. What I’m defending is Israel’s right to self-defense. (I’m not your strawman, stick to things I actually wrote, please.)
    • The alternative to using bombs is sending in troops without air support to a well-prepared guerilla den, suggesting Israel should sacrifice its own to protect civilians of a hostile nation, 72% of whom support the genocidal regime who attacked them.
    • The pro-pali crowd certainly likes to make this sound like they are starving out Gaza in a medieval siege but that isn’t reality.
    • Said schools and hospitals were used as military assets by Hamas, making them into legal targets.
    • Are you referring to the one outside the hospital? Mass graves do not necessarily imply war crimes, rather burying of the many dead that occurs in war. Israel says it was dug by Gazans to bury their dead.
    • I read the statements SA submitted to the IJC, the most egregious quotes were from people who are not involved with running the IDF and waging this war (like Judeofascist Ben-Gvir and Amichai Eliyahu) and I do not believe they represent Israel as a whole, and as such they do not meet the standards for genocide. In fact Amichai got reprimanded for his statements. Many of the other quotes were taken out of context. (I did a deep dive on every quote cited a while back, which I would be happy to post here if you’re interested.)
    • If torture prisons exist that’s a good reason to prosecute Ben-Gvir of war crimes if such orders came from on high, and also any guards who break the law without CO approval. If war crimes have happened I approve of prosecuting everyone responsible. However, I see a lot of people accusing Israel of war crimes inappropriately.





  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_human_shields_by_Hamas

    According to a New York Times report, “Hamas has long been accused of using civilians as human shields and positioning underground bunkers, weapon depots and rocket launchers under or near schools, mosques and hospitals.”[63]

    DW military analyst Frank Ledwidge has said that “it’s been described… as ‘common knowledge’ that many of the headquarters [of Hamas] are located under hospitals… [with] entries and exits in places like mosques or schools… [or even] UN facilities… that’s why we’ve seen… so many non-combatant casualties so far”.[64]

    John Spencer has said that "[Hamas has] built many of their tunnel entrances and exits and passageway underneath protected sites like hospitals, schools, mosques, because it restricts the use of force that the IDF can take without going through the… laws of war calculation.[65]

    According to Daphne Richemond-Barak, associate professor of counter-terrorism at Reichman University and author of the 2017 book Underground Warfare, Hamas militants operate under Al-Shifa Hospital gain “the highest level of protection available under the laws of war”, as well as a “unique opportunity to operate far from surveillance drones, GPS, and other intelligence-gathering technology”. She added that “in Gaza, tunnels are dug in civilian homes, pass under entire neighbourhoods, and lead into populated areas inside Israel… [which] enables Hamas to conceal entry and exit points, and facilitates undetected movement and activity.”[66]

    Avi Issacharoff has said that Hamas militants are “under the houses and neighborhoods of Gaza City, hoping that Israel won’t attack them because they’re hiding underneath human shields, and that if Israel will attack those neighborhoods, it’ll kill many civilians, and the whole world is going to accuse Israel for war crimes”. “The sad thing about all this”, Issacharoff said, “is [that] Hamas doesn’t care about their own people” and aims “not only to kill Israelis but for as many Palestinian civilians [casualties as well]”.[67]

    It’s almost like starting a war when most of your population is children, then hiding among civilians and under schools endangers them. But I guess that’s Israel’s fault. Why can’t they just send in soldiers without air support? They make easier targets that way.


  • The rivalry continues to today, as detailed in the link it seems like you didn’t read.

    In March 2024, Hamas and its allied groups in the Gaza Strip criticized Abbas’ appointment of Mohamed Mustafa as the Palestinian Authority’s new prime minister following Mohammed Shtayyeh’s resignation. They issued a statement referring to the changes as “formal steps that are devoid of substance” and questioned the Palestinian Authority’s ability to properly represent the Palestinian people. In response, Fatah condemned Hamas as being itself disconnected from the Palestinian people and accused them of “having caused the return of the Israeli occupation of Gaza” by “undertaking the October 7 adventure”.
    Later that month, Hamas accused Fatah of sending security officers into northern Gaza in collaboration with Israel, saying it had arrested six individuals and were “in pursuit” of the others. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement refuting the claims by Hamas.


  • If your answer is “Hamas is there,” well they were somehow able to raid a hospital without killing everyone inside it and still get a whole bunch of Hamas people, so maybe they should do that instead of dropping bombs on children.

    As you acknowledge, they are targeting Hamas, who often attacks them while hiding in areas full of children. Going in without air support into a well prepared guerilla fighter’s den is likely to cause a lot of casualties. Even though that is acceptable every now and then like in the hospital that does not imply that’s a viable strategy for all of Gaza.

    Hamas counts on this “think of the children!” and the bad PR it causes, that’s why they do this. They also want Israel’s hands to be bound so they can do Oct 7 over and over again.

    The right move is to minimize civilian casualties but not stop until the job is done, and that’s exactly what I believe Israel is doing.







  • Israel is well past the stage where it defends itself against the attack. They could very well stop their operations right this moment and no further harm would come to them for the foreseeable future. What they are doing now is a deliberate attack to cleanse Gaza of everything and everyone they consider anti-Israeli.

    On what basis do you make this claim? I read credible citations.

    Hamas has stated that they intend to do Oct 7 attacks over and over again. Stopping now while they are still in power and still have significant military assets just gives them a chance to rebuild, regroup, and carry out their stated genocidal intentions. Perhaps not tomorrow, but eventually.

    Israel has cleared most of the surface of Gaza, once they clear Rafah, the last place that has not been purged of Hamas, I suspect that will be the end of this campaign. Stopping them before they completely excise this tumor ensures metastasis.

    How long ago has the West pulled out of Afghanistan? Apparently it’s long enough that people have forgotten what an utter failure the whole thing was and why. One doesn’t create a lasting peace by steamrolling a place and shoot a bunch of people. Instead Israel is breeding the next generation of Hamas terrorist right now.

    Afghanistan isn’t really comparable nor are other western military adventurism defeats. Israel can’t leave and go somewhere else, this is a battle for safety in their home country. It is existential. As such, I highly doubt Israel will completely withdraw like they did in 2005, which arguably directly led to Oct 7. Gaza will probably be occupied until it stops choosing violence.

    I’m sure animosity will remain, but letting Hamas take over again and indoctrinate children to make another generation of intifada supporters will breed the next generation of Hamas fighters far more surely than Israel successfully defending itself will. For them, this is about safety, and safety is non-negotiable.