It’s important to understand that this is only because the hostages aren’t returned. If every hostage was returned, Israel would be looking for every opportunity to level Gaza and further displace Palestinians in the West Bank. Israelis rioted for the right of soldiers to rape prisoners.
I can’t discount that there are plenty of Israeli bigots who would love to see Palestine wiped out, sure. But let’s not pretend they’re a hive mind. And maybe not tar the people doing this with the same brush as the ones rioting over rapists being imprisoned.
They are protesting the retrieval of the hostages; not the genocide of the Gazan people. As far as I know, there are almost no voices in Israel speaking out against the genocide of the Gazan people.
The protests came as the White House said that national security adviser Jake Sullivan held a virtual meeting with families of U.S. hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and ahead of Israeli labor union Histadrut calling a general strike for Monday to protest the Netanyahu government and demand an immediate hostage-release and ceasefire deal.
Yes, I know what triggered them. What do you think they want Netanyahu to do? Kill even more Palestinians? Is that what you think they’re calling for here? Bomb harder?
Because they’re literally calling for the opposite. Isn’t that a good thing?
There’s no doubt that a good chunk of the population does want Netanyahu to kill even more Palestinians. These people didn’t start protesting over their actions against the Palestinians. So once they have the hostages it’s a safe assumption that they will stop protrsting and demanding a ceasefire.
If what you’re saying is true then there would have been protests of this magnitude the moment the news started coming out about what the IDF is doing.
Sorry… you’re saying it is true that Israel is a hive mind and there is 100% agreement on the genocide in Palestine or else just as many people would have protested at the beginning?
I have no doubt in my mind that there exists some Israelis that are kind and compassionate and are completely willing to coexist with the Palestinians. But those people will always be in the minority. We’re talking about a country whose whole existence is based on the displacement and eradication of the native population. The genocide of the Palestinians started long before Oct 7th. The only thing that has changed is how quickly it’s happening.
Then, again, it is not a safe assumption that protesting will stop.
All saying things like that does is discourage internal opposition when it should be encouraged.
What do you think it would feel like if you spent a year doing everything to protest your country committing genocide and everyone just decided you didn’t exist?
When describing the actions of a country, the minority who oppose those actions are not relevant. At the end of the day hostages or no hostages the Israeli nation will continue it’s eradication of Palestinians as well as executing journalists and aid workers to help silence their actions. That is a fact that is based on plenty of past events.
I really do appreciate it when people speak up against the wrong actions of their nation, especially when they are in the minority. Based on your comments it sounds like you might be one of them, and if that’s the case it says a lot about your character. I’m just sorry your voice and the voice of others isn’t enough in this case.
The fact that a lot of Americans are now saying “Huh maybe we shouldn’t have invaded Vietnam.” Is a small comfort to the innocents slaughtered, the families torn apart, the lands destroyed, the children deformed from chemicals like agent orange, etc. Yes, the minority became a majority, but have you ever heard of the saying “too little, too late”?
Maybe I should have said “not immediately relevant”. People like the original commenter and myself are simply remarking that the majority of the protestors don’t care about Palestinians. At worst, they are for it, and at best they just look the other way. The portion who are vocally against it are important, but again, they are a minority. That’s the comment on Israel, that the majirity of the country simply don’t care for the Palestinians. And this time, unlike in Vietnam, when it becomes too late, there will be no more Palestinians.
If every hostage was returned, Israel would be looking for every opportunity to level Gaza and further displace Palestinians in the West Bank.
and they are right.
You said:
But let’s not pretend they’re a hive mind.
I pointed out that I’ve seen there are no sources I’ve seen to the contrary coming out of Israel. Everything I’ve seen to the contrary (sources which would make the argument that Israel should not be engaging in genocide, agreeing with @oakey66 's point ) has been coming from diaspora sources, not sources within Israel.
You then responded with:
just read the headline of the post
But the headline of the article does not make that point, and neither does the article. In fact, its another unit of evidence to suggest there is almost no will to stop the genocide of the Gazan people coming from within Israel. The word genocide occurs no where in the article. There is no mention of forced removal. There is no mention of ethnic cleansing. These protests clearly have nothing to do with the ongoing genocide of the Gazan people and are solely focused on “getting the hostages back”. If there are other sources or people that can speak for the protests that say other wise, I’d love to find them. I’ve not found anyone in Israel willing to call what the Israeli government is doing a genocide. Dissent in Israel wants the hostages back, but they don’t seem to give a shit about the continuing genocide of the Gazan people.
If you think that these protest have anything to do with stopping the war or stopping the genocide, its yourself who has gaslit you.
No, I’m making the point that if there is descent on this issue within Israel I can’t find it. I haven’t heard it. I’m also not going to project a desire to believe it exists onto a world where I don’t have evidence for it. I want to find it. I’ve looked for it. I can’t find it.
All the Jewish led criticism I’ve found of Israels actions appears to be coming from the diaspora. I can’t find sources from within Israel calling the Israeli campaign a genocide or calling for it to stop.
How many people have you actually heard from? Let’s say percentagewise- what percentage of the 9.5 million Israelis have you heard from to determine that there is no dissent?
I think you need to address the fact that you’ve conflated these protests for something they are not before we can proceed, and I continue to treat with you as if you are engaging in good faith.
Can you acknowledge that these protest are not about stopping the genocide of the Palestinian people? That the article is not about stopping genocide? Because you made that conflation previously.
I can acknowledge that many of the protesters are not about stopping that. I cannot acknowledge that there is no one there protesting genocide. I would like to see evidence to that effect. If they are anything like the many anti-war protests I have attended, there is a wide range of opinions amongst the protesters beyond “end the war.”
I have not talked to the thousands of people protesting. I do not know what they all think. Or even what most of them think.
Now, please tell me what percentage of the 9.5 million Israelis you have heard from to determine that there is no dissent inside Israel.
You want there to be this different thing that this protest about. I wish it was about that thing too. But when a protestor says “I’m protesting about this thing” my job isn’t to tell them they are actually protesting some other thing or that they should be protesting this other thing. My job is to listen to them and believe what they are telling me.
But the protestors are being clear about what they are protesting about. They want the hostages back. They are not talking at all about stopping the genocide.
As far as people I’ve talked to about this. One is a personal friend, a former IDF soldier and former fellow organizer during BLM 2020. We organized as part of a veterans coalition in support of BLM. Second is my cousins and Uncle (a self described Zionist) who is a very high level organizer on the US side for Israel. He has spent years in Israel although he lives in the US, as have my cousins. I’ve also spoken with my irl best friend who is from Palestine and with whom I was literally planning a trip to Gaza for not that if not for Oct 7th, who has personally organized Palestinians for peace events in Gaza.
I also listen to and read several prominent Palestinian/ Muslim/ and Jewish voices on the left.
I have asked you a question twice now. You said you would answer it. You did not.
But the protestors are being clear about what they are protesting about.
Let’s reduce my question to just the people protesting: out of the thousands, what percentage of them have you actually heard from about why they are protesting?
All the Jewish led criticism I’ve found of Israels actions appears to be coming from the diaspora. I can’t find sources from within Israel calling the Israeli campaign a genocide or calling for it to stop.
Israeli and Jew are not synonyms. There are more Jews who are American citizens in New York than the entire population of Israel.
“Without the return of the hostages we will not be able to end the war, we will not be able to rehabilitate ourselves as a society,” Ron Tomer, president of the Manufacturers’ Association of Israel. Te me, “Rehabilitation” implies a level of dissent with Netanyahu’s actions.
I mean, I see what you are saying, but that is pretty rhetorically light. I can see this as maybe the start of something, but I think what we’re seeing out of Israel warrants a more focused and directed conversation.
If you want to believe this, its on you to show us it. The entire thread obviously knows much more about whats going on in Israel and all we’ve gotten from you is your projection of how you wish things were.
If this opposition to the Israeli led genocide exists within Israel show us.
You are making a claim for the existence of a thing. No one else made that claim. We are asking for evidence of that claim. I’ve looked for evidence. I am not finding any evidence of a “don’t genocide the Gazans” movement within Israel. I can find evidence outside of Israel.
Funny how you left out the whole Jewish diaspora part this time like you said before. Because you absolutely suggested that people like me are Israelis or even have some sort of opinion about Israel that should be weighted higher than any other non-Israeli.
I want to make this absolutely clear to you:
I am a Jew.
I am not an Israeli.
I have no affiliation to Israel.
I have no Israeli relatives.
I have never been and do not plan to go.
I feel absolutely no allegiance or kinship or anything else to Israel and never have.
I was born in Indiana.
I have far more in common with a Palestinian-American born in Omaha than I do a Jewish Israeli born in Tel Aviv.
Therefore: my stance on Israeli genocide is of equal weight to yours.
So stop bringing up non-Israeli Jews as if they are of specific relevance to this issue.
You are asking people to support your claim that there is an extant anti-genocide movement within Israel. You’ve done it repeatedly throughout this entire post.
YOU are making a claim and I’m asking for your evidence.
And I am telling you that I have no reason to give anything to someone who thinks about me and other non-Israeli Jews in such a bigoted way no matter how many times they ask.
Sorry, you lost that when you decided I have dual loyalties.
All the Jewish led criticism I’ve found of Israels actions appears to be coming from the diaspora. I can’t find sources from within Israel calling the Israeli campaign a genocide or calling for it to stop.
And I will tell you again: I am not an Israeli. I have no affiliation to Israel. Stop associating me with Israel. It’s bigoted. More to the point, it’s a lie.
What in the chicken-fired chuckle fuck are you talking about?
I’m asking you to support something you’ve said with evidence. I’m telling you that I’ve looked for the thing you claim exists and I can’t find it. You have continuously repeated a claim about there being an anti-genocide movement within Israel that requires accounting for. I’ve looked for this movement in media and within my friends and family in the region. I can’t find evidence for it. You claim it exists. Show me your evidence or shut the fuck up.
Once again, I have no interest in backing up my claims to someone being bigoted against me. If someone else wishes to ask me, fine. You have revealed yourself with your comment… and if you wish to claim your comment is not bigoted, please explain my association to Israel.
No one is being bigoted here and all of your whinging is projection.
You are just using that as an excuse to create a narrative you wish existed. And I wish it existed too. I wish there was an anti-genocide movement in Israel. I wish there was an opposition within Israel to work with and organize with. I can’t find anyone not-outside of Israel who appears to hold the view that Israel is conducting a genocide and that they need to stop.
The fact is that you just made shit up repeatedly to pretend things were the way you wanted them to be and have continued to proceed in-spite of several other commenters with far, far more knowledge and experience on these matters showing you that you are just talking out of your ass.
Once again, if you are not being bigoted, please explain my association with Israel and/or why you brought up non-Israeli Jews. Because if you aren’t being bigoted, I will show you the evidence.
But you are, so I guess you’ll have to wait for someone else to ask me for the evidence.
And I do have the evidence. I have a URL ready to go.
As a Jew who fled the USSR in the 1980s, I fully co-sign Norman Finklestein‘s (a Jewish intellectual and scholar on the subject who lost his family to the Nazi holocaust) assessment that Israel is a sick society.
In October, 58% Israelis polled said that Israel is using too little firepower in Gaza.
In December, they were polled and asked to what extent should Israel take into account the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population. Over 80% said to a little extent.
So why pretend that 100% of Israelis have the same opinion? It’s just bigotry. Just because Israel is committing a genocide and even if the majority of Israelis agree with that genocide, it’s simple bigotry to suggest that every Israeli agrees with the genocide.
And if you’re going to just piss away internal opposition as if it doesn’t exist, you’re pissing away hope.
I never said every. You’re burying your head in the sand about what Israel has turned into. And don’t lecture me on Israel like you have any fucking skin in the game. My grandfather was Israeli. I’m a Jewish refugee in the US. It’s not bigotry to factually point out how absolutely atrocious the views of the majority of Israelis are. And how rooted in bigotry it is.
I think you have an issue with parsing words on a screen. Nowhere in what I wrote did I say every. I said Israel as a whole would look for every opportunity to level Gaza and displace the West Bank. Israelis are not in the streets protesting the IDF ripping up roads of Palestinian cities in the West Bank. They’re not protesting because there are 40k dead Palestinians (possibly as high as 186k which around 8% of the population). They’re protesting dead hostages.
Yes, again, that’s how this conversation thread started. You came in later. The subject under discussion was the idea that Israeli approval of genocide was unanimous.
Dude. I have a top level comment. I wasn’t responding to anyone. I responded to the article into which you read another conversation in the post. That’s on you not me.
Ok. My phone autocorrected “Israel” instead of a misspelling of “Israelis”. But again. Never implied all or every. Nor did I write every Israeli rioted.
In my opinion, the way you phrase your comment crosses into antisemitic narratives as the comment implies (at least in my reading) that all the people protesting are anti Palestine. Please note I’m not saying that you are in any way antisemitic. It just irks me how that comment is phrased
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