I imagine social media is a big driver of the conflict compared to pre2000. Both with disinformation and dissemination of horrendous videos of Israeli settlers killing Palestinian families and Palestinians killing Israeli families. Even if the story is completely made up, add an image to it and people’s BS meter usually stops working. So you have people like @AroundTheWorld @Commodore and others posting instagram photos as gospel because it fits their world view despite there being no actual corroboration or news agency associated to it. If the NYT/WSJ/Reuters/BBC posted this, I’d be much more likely to believe it.
This conflict certainly benefits Russia. As it pulls US attention and resources away from Ukraine. The Russian Iran alliance is also one of those strange bedfellow alliances. As Putin’s Russia pushes Orthodox Christianity and has been in conflict with Islamic groups in the former Soviet Union. Many of which were supported by Iran.
It's the flag representing the People of Palestine and the State of Palestine. It was adopted by the PLO in 1964 and recognized by the Arab League, banned in Israel in 1967 after the Six-Day War, ban lifted after the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993, and has been commonly used since then to represent the People of Palestine and the State of Palestine. Hamas has a different flag. If the Palestinian flag shouldn't be on display in Congress, then no foreign flag should be (and I'm okay with that, but be consistent). I know it's hard, but people need to differentiate between Hamas, the People of Palestine, the PLO, and the State of Palestine. Rashida Tlaib's Palestinian Flag Sparks Call For Congress Ban (newsweek.com) BY EWAN PALMER ON 10/10/23 AT 4:41 AM EDT A House Republican is demanding that foreign flags be banned from the halls of Congress while criticizing Michigan Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib for having a Palestinian one hanging outside her Washington D.C. office. GOP Ohio congressman Max Miller introduced a measure on Monday to "end this silliness" and ban any flag that is not that of the United States, one if its territories, or the POW/MIA flag, from being displayed in the Capitol building, Miller discussed his amendment on X, formerly Twitter, while sharing a post from Reese Gorman, a reporter from conservative news site the Washington Examiner. Gorman posted a picture of the office of Tlaib, who is of Palestinian descent, with the flag outside, in the wake of the Islamist militant group Hamas' large-scale attack on Israel which has left nearly 1,600 dead on both sides, according to the Associated Press. Tlaib has frequently criticized the Israeli government, and has accused it of being an "apartheid state." In a statement on Sunday, Tlaib said she grieves for the "Palestinian and Israeli lives" lost during the attacks and suggested the way to end the violence is by "lifting the blockade, ending the occupation, and dismantling the apartheid system." Writing on social media, Rep. Miller said: "The halls of Congress belong to America. They should be reserved for flags that embody our great nation. "The Palestinian flag should not have a place here. That's why I sponsored an appropriations amendment to end this silliness." Tlaib's office has been contacted for comment via email. The Palestinian flag has been hanging outside Tlaib's office for several months. In January, near the start of the new congressional term, Tlaib posted a picture of her next to the flag on social media while criticizing the Israeli government. "Palestinians may be banned from flying their flag under an apartheid government, but we can still proudly do it at my office," Tlaib wrote. "I'm proud to be a Palestinian American and I want the Palestinian people to know that not all Americans support apartheid. No one can erase our existence." Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. and the European Union, has its own distinct flag which is separate from the Palestinian one outside of Tlaib's office. Elsewhere, Michael Herzog, the ambassador of Israel to the U.S., condemned Tlaib for her statement in the wake of Hamas launching its attack on Saturday. "How much more blood needs to be spilled for you to overcome your prejudice and unequivocally condemn Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization?" Herzog posted on X. "Hundreds of innocent Israeli civilians massacred in cold blood on a holy day. Babies kidnapped from their mother's arms and taken to Gaza. An 85-year-old woman in a wheelchair and a Holocaust survivor taken hostage. Is that not enough, Tlaib?"
Even the likes of NYT/WSJ can be very wrong when they get swept up in the frenzy of 24/7 breaking news and just propagate what's been reported (without taking the time to check – a failure of editorial practices that have been growing). And in war, it's breaking very often. It's very hard now to tell what's real or not. The best thing is to get to the original source and then do some research on that source. Of course, most people have no time to do such a thing.
People forget that Israel intelligence helped create Hamas to destabilize the PLO in the 70's. Obviously they miscalculated. What gets lost here is innocent lives. Hamas murders Israeli citizens. Israeli kills Palestinian citizens. Hate just builds and builds while each side achieves its political objective. Each side has calculated that the lost of its own civilians is a price worth paying to achieve political objectives. The action Israel takes in retaliation, while completely understandable and politically it has no choice, will not weaken Hamas but strengthen it by rallying support. Israel's objective is not to destroy Hamas - it knows it can't. But rather to consolidate political power. Hamas also gets to consolidate its political power. The only people who really lose are citizens trying to live out their lives.
Yes they did, as a way to undermine the PLO. It was profoundly stupid but the Israeli extremists (similar to Netanyahu and the radicals in the govt now) viewed Palestinian self governance and authority as the scariest thing. What hammas did is on par with ISIS and these other groups. There should be nothing but full condemnation (and it’s sad I have to even say that) but depriving 2 million people of food water electricity etc is not the way to go. Babies in the NICU in the hospitals can’t survive; people can’t exercise basic human rights. This is not going to help the cause
As The GOP Slams Biden On Israel, No One Mentions Trump's Dangerous Intel Leak About A Secret Israeli Intelligence Operation Republicans are piling on Joe Biden about a prisoner swap with Iran and the release of $6 billion of Iran’s money, but they won’t talk about Trump’s 2017 Oval Office leak. Israeli intelligence officials were incensed upon learning of the leak because, given Russia’s close ties to Iran and Syria, they had to assume that their local source for the information had been compromised and possibly killed, according to Israeli press accounts at the time. “If indeed Trump, out of innocence or ignorance, leaked information to the Russians, then there is a real danger to sources that it took years to acquire, and to our working methods,” an Israeli intelligence source told journalist Ronen Bergman. Shabtai Shavit, who led the Mossad intelligence agency in the 1990s, told the Times of Israel: “If tomorrow I were asked to pass information to the CIA, I would do everything I could to not pass it to them. Or I would first protect myself and only then give it, and what I’d give would be totally neutered.” Despite this, not one of the candidates running against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has criticized Trump for his lack of discretion, even as they uniformly attack Biden for unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian money that had been held in a South Korean bank. Their attacks link that decision with the assault on Israel by the militant group Hamas.
I keep hearing “gas the Jews” at the rally in NSW Australia by Palestinians, does that mean I still have to separate Hamas and Palestine? 1500 Hamas losers had been eradicated in Israel in the past 48 hours. Good job Israel!
The impression I get from Israel and even from many Americans with ties to Israel is that they want to punish not just Hamas but the people of Gaza. That they have no interests in hearing about the suffering of Palestinians.
Because Trump can do no wrong. Whether it's blab about US nuclear sub capabilities and Strategic plans at the patio of Mar-A-Lago or defraud charities for veterans. Biden can do no right though even if it is fulfilling what Trump campaigned on.
https://www.reuters.com/world/polic...ney-opera-house-over-alleged-anti-2023-10-10/ SYDNEY, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Australian police said on Tuesday they were investigating a pro-Palestinian protest outside Sydney Opera House, after footage emerged of a small group appearing to chant anti-Semitic slogans at the demonstration. ... Unverified footage shared by the Australian Jewish Association and featured on Sky News appeared to show a small group outside the Opera House lighting flares and chanting "gas the Jews". Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday called the reports of anti-Semitic slogans "horrific". "We are a tolerant multicultural nation," he said. "I understand that people have deep views about issues relating to the Middle East conflict but here in Australia we have to deal with political discourse in a respectful way." New South Wales state police told a news conference on Tuesday it was reviewing footage from the protest to determine if offences were committed. Protest organiser Palestine Action Group Sydney defended its right to protest "apartheid" in Israel but said a small number of "vile antisemitic attendees" had no place in their movement. "We are an anti-racist and anti-colonial movement and we refuse to fight racism with racism," the group said in a post on social media. "If you are an antisemite, you are not welcome at our rallies and are not a part of our movement. As we did today, we will ask you to leave and we will continue to do this."
Sure, I believe in the Palestine Action Group Sydney and their stance against antisemitism just like I believe in unicorns and the tooth fairy. Lol
These people just can’t be honest that there are people out there in this world that wanted to eradicate Jews from the face of this earth.
Yes there have been a lot of the enemy of my enemy is my friend strategy that didn't work. Just look at the US history with Osama Bin Ladin The situation in Israel and Palestine isn't just that. If Hamas didn't exist it's possible there's another group as there are many other extremists groups like Islamic Jihad. The bigger problem is that fear of the other side drives so many into the hands of extremists. This is why I keep on talking about Yithzak Rabin's "Peace of the Brave". He understood it would be easy to derail any attempt for peace through terrorism. As it happened his own life was ended by a Jewish extremists who had no interests in peace and groups like Hamas further derailed things with terrorist attacks of their own. Neither side trusts or for many even see the other side as human. As I was reminded personally from someone I've known for years that in people like her's mind even acknowledging that Palestinians are suffering now is the equivalent of anti-semitism.
