Y’all. I detest what I just found out. I’m filled with rage, and horror, and sadness, and too many things mixed together that I can’t define right now. We are going to go down in history as supporting genocide. No matter how we might try to spin it, we are going to be forever linked to this in history, and nothing we can do to “fix” it. We will be part of genocide, along with Hitler’s death camps. That’s not a comparison I like, but it doesn’t matter, and nothing can be done about it now.
“Israel all but admits it is pursuing ethnic cleansing in Gaza in its new plan.” “With Trump as a staunch ally, Benjamin Netanyahu is staging a radical takeover of the enclave.” That’s genocide to me. What in the hell are we doing supporting this? We should be backing away, and instead we’re supporting it??!! “…Netanyahu said would be an intensive military operation aimed at defeating Hamas.” Heh. Hamas, my ass. This isn’t about Hamas. This is about cleaning out Gaza so tRump can turn it into yet another resort that is bound to fail. WHY won’t he see that? I guess the shiny is more important than the people.
No wonder there are protests erupting everywhere. No wonder. No … no wonder. And they’ll just use this as another excuse to revoke foreign students’ visas and kick them out of the country. ALL foreign students, and they won’t think about what a loss it would be. After all we’ve fought for and won, it’s going to be forgotten. The US isn’t going to look at what’s going on in other countries to see what the *reasons* are. Nope, not that nice or that smart. They’ll just deport them.
Maybe for some of them it’s not a bad thing. Their families won’t want them to be in the US with our so-called leader, not after this. Who could blame them? I know I can’t, nor would I want to. And what of those with relatives *in* Gaza? What are the chances of their survival? Slim to none, at this point. Which is worse, knowing or not knowing? That’s anyone’s guess and not one I can make. I don’t even want to try because I have no way of understanding it. Oh. Oh, no. I read further down in the article, and now I’m *really* disturbed. Kinda hard to find out someone you admired has feet of clay. Ouch.
The permissiveness began under President Joe Biden, who offered unconditional support for Israel as it began its brutalization of Gaza and offered only modest public criticism and a one-off suspension of one shipment of munitions to Israel as it leveled the territory. It’s unclear how Biden would have reacted to these latest plans if that “red line” that never emerged under his watch had finally made an appearance.
So, the US started Israel down this path a long time ago. That’s great. I can see how uneducated I was to think it was “just” back and forth going on, the way it’s always been, no matter what anyone tried. Maybe I didn’t see a need to delve too deeply into it, and now I’m finding out the hard way. You can’t dodge something when it smacks you in the face.
I’d be **very** interested in hearing your perspective and thoughts. Right now, I’m so stunned I’m having trouble processing this. We are a part of genocide. There’s no other way to say it. We will go down in history with this. And what’s to stop them from going after the West Bank next? By the way, full article here. Thanks for sticking with me!
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I think you are dead to rights, spot-on. During Biden’s administration, I wrote an email to the President, saying that I did not want another of my tax dollars to support Israel’s genocide of the people in Gaza. Not long after, he made the somewhat tough statement and held back the shipment. Like you said, no real change. Now, of course, sending a message like that would not only be a waste of time, but could put a target on me.
Just my opinion, but I think Bibi has wanted Gaza territory and the West Bank forever. I know the middle east conflict is complicated and has been going on for a long while. I just don’t understand why Israel can’t peacefully coexist with it’s neighbors.
It seems this war has been going on so long because the tide of power keeps shifting from one side to the other and back again. Yea, it’s complicated, but damn, can y’all just make up your damn minds where you want and leave it at that? This article just kicked me mentally and emotionally. As I told north, I was paying more attention to what was going on here and with Canada and Greenland. I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten overseas til I read the article. That’s a shame on me.
Men are usually more careful with their pocketbooks than their principles. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nicely said, sir.
‘…I detest what I just found out. ”
Really? Have you not been looking around?
I have not been looking around outside the Republican Hell that is the United States, and WTF is going on with Greenland. So, no, I haven’t been looking around far enough. I did get tired of us supporting Israel a while ago. I thought Gaza was supposed to be for civilians to keep them out of the war. I didn’t know it had become an Israeli Death Camp until I read the article I raged about. So yes, I guess you could say I was blind and not in a good way. Apologies won’t make any difference now, but I still mean them. You have every right to be angry with me. I can’t argue with you about it. I was wrong. I’m glad to have found out, but it’s still a mistake and still embarrassing.
I won’t say I think Biden was too accommodating with Israel at first but he did take a more pragmatic stance. Limiting the types of weapons to defensive ones for example. And publicly pressuring Israel (and a lot more forcefully behind the scenes I’m sure) to adopt a different approach. Like any ally the U.S. should support them defending their soil from attacks, including and especially by terrorists. It has been the blunt force approach that has caused so much tragedy and suffering. And Biden was in fact publicly critical of it but he was caught between a rock and a hard place as every U.S. President has been when it comes to that country.
Personally I’ve spent a lifetime of being offended by the lack of gratitude from Israel. WE were the first country to recognize them and without our support from the beginning there would be no State of Israel. THAT is a fact. Yet they have repeatedly fucked us over in the region and caused us no end of problems. Including an awful lot of American deaths. I believe in the ideal of the Jewish people having a homeland. I also know the land/territory we know as Israel has been inhabited by two different “tribes” for thousands of years before even Jesus came along.
Palestinians have a right to their own homeland but hard-liners in Israel don’t see it that way, nor to many diaspora Jewish people. I don’t blame Palestinians both here in the U.S. and abroad for protesting, at least peacefully and most protests have had violence or destruction. However, last year during election season an attitude as stupid and destructive as “Defund the Police” took hold, with demands the U.S. withdraw all support for Israel. Not just unrealistic but downright f**king STUPID.
All over the country, including in some critical places people of Palestinian heritage or those who supported them adopted a “We’ll teach Biden, and Harris a lesson!” They stayed home or even voted for Trump. WTF? A first grader destined to grow up to be the village IDIOT could have told them how that would work out. And sure enough it’s working out just how those of us who didn’t like what was happening but made the choice to take a bite of a shit sandwich on this instead of having to eat the whole thing KNEW it would.
Now we’re exactly where all those “We’ll show Biden/Harris and the Democrats” most assuredly didn’t want to be. And you know what? They are suddenly not saying jack shit! This is as much on them (it was a major factor in losing both MI and PA) as anyone. Well, they got to teach that bigly lesson they wanted to teach. Now they can suffer with the knowledge of how badly they screwed the pooch.
I have a ton of sympathy for those suffering and dying in Gaza, but not one effing bit for the Palestinians here who through their petulance put Trump back in the WH and him in turn giving Bibi carte blanche.
I’d say to any one of them next time around be grateful for half a loaf it offered and STFU with dumbass, unrealistic demands.
Dang, Denis. I’ve read this comment multiple times and really don’t have anything to say except I feel uneducated. Makes me wonder what the hell I’m doing trying to write here. This is why I shy away from “deep” subjects. Thank you for the amazing comment!!!!
I think that for most thinking people, condemning Israel for its stance and actions against Gaza is not anti-Semitism but rather anti-Fascism. I visited Israel in 1984 and even planned a return trip several years later, but had to cancel it. Netanyahu’s goal is to eradicate the Palestinians. He did nothing two years ago when his own Intelligence people warned of the coming attack by Hamas. He seemed to welcome a chance to declare war on them. Going back many years, the settlements in the West Bank should never have been allowed. Too many of the settler families seem to be akin to the MAGA, Proud Boys, other militaristic groups that oppose the government. Like Trump, Netanyahu needed to stay in power to avoid trial and prison for corruption. As I understand, many Jews in Israel detest their government as much as so many of us in this country detest our “government” in power.
Y’know, this was an interesting piece of information you gave me. I want to do a batter reply but will have to think about it for awhile.