I thought Zionism is basically Israeli religious nationalism, akin to Christian Nationalism. I'm against Christian Nationalism, but that doesn't make me against Christianity/Christians.
Also, a big problem with anti-Semitism is that waaaay more than Hebrew descendants are part of the Semitic peoples. The generational residents of Gaza currently being genocided are as much Semites as are the Hebrew descendants. In other words, the government of Israel is being extremely anti-Semitic presently.
Words have meanings. Genocide is the act of wiping out an entire people. If the Israelis were really committing genocide you can bet that we would be seeing piles of corpses on the Internet. Hamas would make sure we saw them.
Instead, the Israelis try to evacuate civilians from an area before they attack. In fact, they are doing that right now in preparation for the Rafah invasion. There are experts at our own West Point who argue that the Israeli's are achieving one of the lowest collateral death rates in the history of urban warfare.
I zero-percent trust the opinions of "experts" employed by the government (West Point included). But even if what the government of Israel is doing to the residents of Gaza falls short of your threshold of genocide, it's still anti-Semitic and still inescapably evil. That goes for any supporting governments (like the U.S.'s).
Coercive civil authority is inherently, intrinsically evil.
If by civil authority you mean The State, then we have a similar opinion about that.
But no nation on Earth would be judged the way Israel is being judged for responding to the Hamas attack the way they are responding. All of Israel's critics have created a standard they apply to no one else.
When people create such an obvious and egregious double standard it's reasonable to wonder why.
I also agree about Israel funding Hamas. So-called defense experts do that kind of shit all the time. We did it in Afghanistan and then again with proto-ISIS in Syria. It always goes wrong.
But even if the state of Israel isn't a good guy, there is a world of difference between the Israeli state and what a Palestinian state would be. There is also a world of difference between what Israeli society is and what Palestinian society is.
Arab citizens of Israel have the most freedom and affluence of any Arabs in the Arab world. I want the Palestinian Arabs to enjoy the same benefits. That's why I argue that Israel, with all of its flaws, should rule from the river to the sea.
The alternative is either the endless bleeding status quo or a Palestinian state that would wage unending war on Israel.
Great stuff James.
I thought Zionism is basically Israeli religious nationalism, akin to Christian Nationalism. I'm against Christian Nationalism, but that doesn't make me against Christianity/Christians.
Also, a big problem with anti-Semitism is that waaaay more than Hebrew descendants are part of the Semitic peoples. The generational residents of Gaza currently being genocided are as much Semites as are the Hebrew descendants. In other words, the government of Israel is being extremely anti-Semitic presently.
Words have meanings. Genocide is the act of wiping out an entire people. If the Israelis were really committing genocide you can bet that we would be seeing piles of corpses on the Internet. Hamas would make sure we saw them.
Instead, the Israelis try to evacuate civilians from an area before they attack. In fact, they are doing that right now in preparation for the Rafah invasion. There are experts at our own West Point who argue that the Israeli's are achieving one of the lowest collateral death rates in the history of urban warfare.
I zero-percent trust the opinions of "experts" employed by the government (West Point included). But even if what the government of Israel is doing to the residents of Gaza falls short of your threshold of genocide, it's still anti-Semitic and still inescapably evil. That goes for any supporting governments (like the U.S.'s).
Coercive civil authority is inherently, intrinsically evil.
If by civil authority you mean The State, then we have a similar opinion about that.
But no nation on Earth would be judged the way Israel is being judged for responding to the Hamas attack the way they are responding. All of Israel's critics have created a standard they apply to no one else.
When people create such an obvious and egregious double standard it's reasonable to wonder why.
The government of Israel funded Hamas.
I'm a critic of Zionism, and I apply the standard to every government.
There are no good guys among the warring parties.
There were no good guys in WWI.
There were no good guys in WWII.
There were no good guys in the Korean War.
There were no good guys in the Vietnam War.
There were no good guys in the Cold War.
There are no good guys in the Russia-Ukraine War.
There are no good guys in the Israel-Hamas War.
I actually agree with you on all of that.
I also agree about Israel funding Hamas. So-called defense experts do that kind of shit all the time. We did it in Afghanistan and then again with proto-ISIS in Syria. It always goes wrong.
But even if the state of Israel isn't a good guy, there is a world of difference between the Israeli state and what a Palestinian state would be. There is also a world of difference between what Israeli society is and what Palestinian society is.
Arab citizens of Israel have the most freedom and affluence of any Arabs in the Arab world. I want the Palestinian Arabs to enjoy the same benefits. That's why I argue that Israel, with all of its flaws, should rule from the river to the sea.
The alternative is either the endless bleeding status quo or a Palestinian state that would wage unending war on Israel.
I'm glad our initial disagreement turned out not to be much of a disagreement.
But you're not gonna get me to defend the government of Israel ;-)
Cheers!