The on-air outburst of grief by Salman al-Bashir seemed to channel the mood of all Gaza
“No one is looking at us or the extent of this disaster or the crimes that we are experiencing in Gaza,” he said. Still holding his microphone, he slid off his flak jacket marked with the word PRESS and unstrapped his helmet.
“These protection jackets and helmets don't protect us,” he said, flinging the equipment to the ground. “Nothing protects journalists. ... We lose our lives for no reason.”
Okay? What, am I supposed to say that the people supporting genocidal lunatics aren't doing that because they have a shitload of kids? How does that change jack or shit?
Or do you think Israel shouldn't defend themselves because the people relentlessly attacking them have a bunch of children? What is the path towards Hamas no longer launching rockets and attacks at Israel?
Well, since Israel is the party which is defending itself, they have the right to go after Hamas. And since Hamas hides among civilians, if the civilians of Gaza get tired of falling victim to collateral damage, they should talk to Hamas about it.
They're the ones with control over the course of the war and how long it will take before it ends. They are the ones who control how many Palestinians die, at least until and unless Palestinians get tired of falling victim to the violence Hamas inflicts on them and does something about them.
I'm asking about your opinion. If Hamas refuses to cooperate, how many Palestinians does the IDF have to kill for it to be too many in your mind? When does the mass murder of Palestinian civilians exceed a reasonable metric for "defense"?
Well, I would say as few as reasonably possible to eliminate Hamas.
If Israel was mass murdering people, this would be very, very different. We don't know how many people have died, but we do know that Israel has been taking significant steps to avoid collateral damage, and we know that has been frustrated by war crimes perpetrated by Hamas (using ambulances as military transport, using hospitals as military bases, shooting civilians who try to leave the conflict zone) so I'm not sure what you want for me.
I want Israel to take reasonable actions to limit civilian casualties while they prosecute the war against Hamas which Hamas started and is continuing. I want that war to end immediately, but I recognize it can only reasonably end with either Hamas surrendering or Hamas being degraded past the point of it being a threat.
I think you are misunderstanding how the demographic shift in Gaza has happened. They didn't have a baby boom, it's just that many of them do not survive very far into adulthood because of violence, health and environmental problems, and, when they can manage it, emigration.
Secondarily, I'm interested to hear how you justify calling Hamas genocidal without making the same observation about the Likud and Netanyahu.
Dude they have been having a huge population boom for a long time. Population growth rate is 2% per year. PER YEAR.
Secondarily, I'm interested to hear how you justify calling Hamas genocidal without making the same observation about the Likud and Netanyahu.
Likud and Netanyahu are far right nationalists. In that sense, they're like Hamas. I am not a fan of them. The difference is what they're willing to do to promote the interests of their state. Netanyahu and Likud have lines they won't cross, Hamas doesn't. If Netanyahu was as deranged as Hamas, they'd nuke Gaza and just go in and slaughter the population. I am glad they have those lines.
The fact that Netanyahu has supported Hamas in the past as a foil to the PA says otherwise to me. To a certain extent, Israel has made its own monster out of Hamas and Gaza through their policies and positions.