“More than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed and 70,000 injured in the most well-documented genocide in modern history”

This statement is demonstrably false / shows a lack of modern historic knowledge.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genocides

At this point, considering the UN has now approved a resolution calling for a ceasefire and the release of hostages, can we please stop with the performative nonsense (our universities, cities, etc. have more pressing issues than virtue signaling on a ceasefire proposal from folks who are obviously biased).

BRAVA

when all you get is
NBC you can barely
see all the atrocities

where is
America's Conscience?
Where's our fucking Soul?

adios,
BILLION$-better-
$pent-HERE-at-HOME

Releasing the hostages is also a pretty low bar and HAMAS refuses to discuss it without complete Israeli submersion to their demands. They are not negotiating in good faith.

at this point, Hamas is the intransigent party in the negotiations, but it appears the author wants a unilateral ceasefire from Israel to address the humanitarian crisis.

that's fine, but I'd wager Netanyahu's getting an earful of that every day from the Genocide Joe Administration, without the important help of UW's president.

The era of activists being able to demand universities back their side and amplify their positions in policy debates was bound to encounter an issue with competing advocacy groups sooner or later. This is that issue. Pressuring institutions to act as PR organs for a particular position may have initially been an effective method for activists to bask in the reflected glow of institutional legitimacy. But over time this habit has eroded that very sense of legitimacy. Those same institutions now find themselves in no-win situations like this one, where any position they take will alienate a large portion of the public, and they have long ago ceded the ability to remain neutral on any matter of public import.

You eloquently make the humanitarian case for a cease of hostilities, but even so this is not a neutral position, because it is exactly the terms of a ceasefire that are at issue. The reason activists are laboring so hard to claim exclusive rights to define the word "genocide" and delineate its usage is precisely because no decent person will defend it. But both sides in this conflict can credibly claim their opponents intend their complete elimination, with Hamas explicitly advocating the destruction of the state of Israel and its replacement with an Islamist state "from the river to the sea."

Of course students and faculty should be free to publicly advocate for their positions as you are doing here. But previous rounds of speech suppression for previous Good Causes has also complicated that. The demand to advocate for the "correct" viewpoints on previous rounds of contentious issues has institutionalized the habit of suppressing opposing views.

No one cares whether universities call for a cease fire. It's beyond naïve to assume Netanyahu is going to change course because the Evergreen State College issued some press release calling for a break in hostilities.

@3: Every other commenter here describes this piece as useless propaganda, but you’re slobbering it down like a piss drunk over a barrel of wood-grain alcohol. And for the money shot:

‘You eloquently make the humanitarian case for a cease of hostilities, but even so this is not a neutral position, because it is exactly the terms of a ceasefire that are at issue. The reason activists are laboring so hard to claim exclusive rights to define the word "genocide" and delineate its usage is precisely because no decent person will defend it.‘

Ouch, that last one had to hurt. (What’s your definition of “genocide,” again?)

You are right. It is a low bar and a failure of morality. Universities have been bullied into silence. I guess that was why Harvard was made an example of.
To the extent that this comment thread is in any way open to reason, I'd suggest that are three arguments to make:
(a) The primary source of arms and money funding the killing comes from the US. As US taxpayers, our consent or pushback on the policy is not just relevant but also required -- in other words, it is not just an opinion in the abstract, but one that can translate into political change in the US and therefore a change in outcomes. For example, I have advocated we primary Adam Smith in the 9th district https://medium.com/@pravse/mr-smith-goes-to-washington-not-096a2ccb3ec8
(b) No supporter of Israel (a rich, powerful nation) does it any favors justifying its actions by comparing them to the actions of a violent resistance movement (Hamas). Both commit crimes, but state-sponsored violence with the full force of US arms is an N-fold crime evidenced by the scale of death and destruction. With greater power comes greater responsibility -- not an opportunity to kill N times as many to exact revenge.
(c) I can understand that some Americans may support the actions of Israel and some may oppose it. Both opinions can be heard, respected, and let democracy take its course (should not be influenced by donors, threats, etc -- that's pretty un-American). Staying silent though feels like a cop-out one way or the other.

@11 yah Harvard was made an example of….letting antisemetics terrrorixe your campus and fellow students is not the way to run an institution of higher learning. I hope the example was effective.

@11: Harvard University's administration stood silent and did nothing when 30 student groups issued a statement flatly blaming Israel, and only Israel, for all of the violence in Gaza. Only after many powerful alumni harshly criticized their school did anything change.

On the generous assumption you are 'in any way open to reason':

(a)(1) Numbers for funds and arms, please, with sources.
(a)(2) Adam Smith has been Rep. Adam Smith since January 1997. Your threat of a primary challenge means absolutely nothing, to the extent your even making it completely wastes your time. Any attempt to realize it would merely waste even more of your time.
(b)(1) Hamas receives plenty of support from rich and powerful nations (e.g. Iran and Qatar).
(b)(2) Defending one's citizens is the responsibility of a sovereign nation.
(b)(3) Extrapolating Hamas' death toll from one day (10/7) to the six months of warfare since clearly shows Israel has done proportionally less killing.
(b)(4) You have the burden of proof to show Israel acts out of revenge, and not to protect citizens from further violence by Hamas.
(c)(1) None of that makes a resolution from UW (or any other school) any less of a complete waste of time.
(c)(2) This headline post is a ludicrous work of blatant hate propaganda, worthy of the mouthpiece of a One-Party State in the 20th Century. For the UW to give it any mind at all would diminish that university's mission as a forum for the free exchange of informed ideas .

@13 I appreciate that you articulated your argument.

Re numbers for funding/arms, here you go -- minimum $3.8B/yr and that's before the latest special shipments of aid and weapons after Oct 7th, $14B special appropriation request, etc. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_States_military_relations.
This is a fact, not a point of debate --- "Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid".

Re whether Israel is simply defending it's citizens as you see it, or committing genocide as I see it, this is perhaps the single biggest geo-political debate today. ICJ, UN, WHO, UNICEF, US Congress, Senate, and everywhere else. I don't think it is appropriate here in the US to throw accusations at people who have a rational but different point of view from you. If the article is "blatant hate propaganda", then you seem to be saying the majority of countries in the world and their populations and a number of leaders in our own country are similar. Have you considered the possibility that they may experience the world differently from you, not that they are motivated by "hate" or anti-semitism?
Overall, it is odd that you seem to want a "free exchange of informed ideas" but then attack people who exchange their ideas as the author did. While the words "propaganda", "terrorize", "hate", etc are freely used by people on one side of this argument, they seem to be the experts at hating on the other side, overwhelming social media with propaganda, and terrorizing dissent by cancelling people.
Finally, your skepticism about our capacity for political change is something I agree with. It is not easy. There are two things that citizens can do: (a) protest --- that is a constitutional right, and (b) campaign and vote --- that is a responsibility. You are of course welcome to vote for Adam Smith, but the people who dislike his policies absolutely should argue against them without fear and campaign against him without being attacked. That's what a democracy / free society is about. Citizens disagree without personal attacks on each other, we debate without fear of repercussion, and we vote our opinions/conscience.

@14: Thank you for responding to a couple of my challenges to your assertions.

Your first claim @11(a) stated, "The primary source of arms and money funding the killing comes from the US." @14 you added your opinion, 'This is a fact, not a point of debate --- "Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign aid".'

In fact, "In 2022, Israel spent $23.4bn on its military..." and receives "...more than $3.8bn of military aid a year from the US." (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/11/how-big-is-israels-military-and-how-much-funding-does-it-get-from-the-us#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20Israel%20spent%20%2423.4,military%20per%20capita%20after%20Qatar.)

As 3.8 is not even close to being "most" of 23.4, your assertion of "fact" is not merely wrong, but obviously wrong.

Similarly, your follow-up point about Israel receiving foreign aid from the US, while technically correct, is not relevant, as that is the cumulative amount over 75 years of close alliance. It does not support your point about current military aid.

"Re whether Israel is simply defending it's citizens as you see it, or committing genocide as I see it, this is perhaps the single biggest geo-political debate today."

As @8 noted, we're not having a "debate" over whether Israel currently commits "genocide" in Gaza. Rather, one side simply asserts this as fact, without any attempt to justify their assertion. As also noted @8, this is not done for honest public dialog, but rather in an attempt to force agreement, by appropriating a term and using it as a political weapon. The Genocide Convention has defined the word "genocide" for decades, and a quick look at it reveals the assertion of "genocide" in Gaza is, in fact, very much up for debate, starting with the question of whether Palestinian Arabs even meet the definition of a group which can be victim of it. So no, assuming something you need to prove is not the same as proving it.

Furthermore, and very significantly, the definition of "genocide" in the Genocide Convention very easily describes Hamas' actions in Israel on 10/7 -- Hamas killed Jews for being Jews on land Hamas has vowed to cleanse of Jews. Yet there are no "ceasefire" protests demanding Hamas receive justice for these acts of genocide. This justifies great skepticism as to what the protesters really want, as they seem adamant to use the word "genocide" on one party in the conflict, but have remained completely silent on the question of whether it even applies to another party in the conflict.

'If the article is "blatant hate propaganda", then you seem to be saying the majority of countries in the world and their populations and a number of leaders in our own country are similar.'

That would be a stretch, even if you had survey data showing a 'majority of countries in the world and their populations' had even heard of this headline post, let alone agreed with it. We can debate the (lack of) merits of this headline post if we like, but utter failure to note Hamas' long and well-documented strategy of using Gazan civilians as human shields against the IDF is the main reason I called this post for what it is. (https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/hamas_human_shields.pdf)

'Overall, it is odd that you seem to want a "free exchange of informed ideas" but then attack people who exchange their ideas as the author did.'

First, I did not attack the author; I described this headline post. Second, this headline post does not 'exchange ideas,' but consists entirely of one-sided assertions, many of which are just plain wrong, e.g. "...without these [Israeli] funds, Hamas could not maintain its reign of terror." (In reality, Qatar and Iran have kept Hamas very well-funded for a long time.)

'Have you considered the possibility that they may experience the world differently from you, not that they are motivated by "hate" or anti-semitism?'

My use of the term "hate propaganda" was meant to claim the post is material designed to incite hatred toward the target, not necessarily that the author was motivated by hate. I apologize for not making that distinction clear. I haven't claimed anyone was motivated by 'anti-semitism,' so I don't know why you have implied I did.

"...terrorizing dissent by cancelling people."

Being mean to people equates to rape, slaughter, hostage-taking, etc. Really?

"You are of course welcome to vote for Adam Smith, but the people who dislike his policies absolutely should argue against them without fear and campaign against him without being attacked."

I have never been eligible to vote for Adam Smith, as I have never lived in a district in which he has stood for election. I have attacked no one. I have not in any way denied or disparaged your human rights to political advocacy. Rather, in the case of Rep. Adam Smith, I have kindly informed you your efforts against him are likely to do nothing except waste your time. You are entirely free to ignore my advice on this, or any other, point.

OUR
Tax Dollars
supporting
either Genocide
or maybe it's merely
a little Genocide Lite™:

US approves bombs,
jets for Israel amid
threat of offensive
in Gaza’s Rafah

The United States has greenlighted the transfer of [2.5] billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, The Washington Post reported, even as it publicly expresses concerns about the long-threatened Israeli invasion of Gaza’s Rafah and the rising civilian casualties in the enclave.

The new arms package includes more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound [Bunker Buster] bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs [ouch.], according to Pentagon and Department of State officials, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

https//www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/30/us-approves-bombs-jets-for-israel-amid-threat-of-offensive-in-gazas-rafah

C'Mon
Smokin' Joe:

you cannot Call for
Nutnyahoo's War on
Gazans to ease up whilst
Also sending him yet Another
TWO THOUSAND 2Klb Bunker Busters

and have it Mean
Something.

@10 -- "Every other
commenter here describes
this piece as useless propaganda"

AIPAC's Kool-Aide*
may be Tasty but
I'll take a pass

again: where is
America's Conscience?
Where's our fucking Soul?

*but you’re
slobbering it down
like a piss drunk over
a barrel of wood-grain alcohol.

"Overall, it is odd that you [wormmy] seem to want a 'free exchange of informed ideas' but then attack people who exchange their ideas as the author did."
--@praveenseshadri

Bingo. that's our
Wormtongue
in a nutshell:
Odd. pass.

"Bomber
Biden Doesn’t
Wage Peace, Save Civilians
or Listen to American Antiwar Crimes Advocates

Joe Biden has long had a problem with PEACE – as in “ceasefires,” “serious peace negotiations,” and conditioning the transfer or sale of major weapons systems as required by five U.S. criminal statutes . . . These weapons are being used in the genocidal killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

A majority in Congress is even more hawkish and lets Biden do whatever he wants in making war abroad. The cornerstone of our Constitution – the separation of powers – has been demolished in area after area.

(See, our open letter of November 28, 2023, to the members of the U.S. Congress).

(https://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20231213_israeli_organizations_to_president_biden_stop_the_humanitarian_catastrophe)

By contrast, American public opinion has turned against U.S. arms shipments to Israel and the annihilation of Palestinian civilians from infants to the elderly.

Whole extended families are being wiped out by American-made bombs and missiles. The homeless survivors are injured, starving and suffering from untold illnesses.

The Israeli state terror is producing a Palestinian Holocaust. Netanyahu’s violent anti-semitism against the Arabs of Palestine is out of control.

Many courageous Israeli human rights groups protest, to no avail, (See [as above], the December 13, 2023, open letter to Biden that appeared in the New York Times) as Netanyahu and his extremist coalition reveal their long-time objective of driving millions of Palestinians out of what is left of their Palestine."
--by Ralph Nader

more:
https://mailchi.mp/nader/bomber-biden-doesnt-wage-peace-save-civilians-or-listen-to-american-antiwar-crimes-advocates-zzf51v67x1?e=ae71353e32

is it Genocide?
sure looks like
one to me but
Definitions’re
Useless when

OUR Bunker Busters’re
Destroying EVERYTHING you’ve
ever held Dearly – like your Children, eg.

END THE
MASSACRE
in Jesus’s Homeland

oh & Happy
EASTER.

@18:

More
Bunker
Busters
for Gaza?

“ By contrast, American public opinion has turned against U.S. arms shipments to Israel and the annihilation of Palestinian civilians from infants to the elderly.”

No, the majority of the US supports the right to defend yourself from an organization hellbent on killing you. Despite what you see in these pages the activist left is a small minority in most of the country.

@17: Hey, Ralph: having Congress and the President agree on a policy does not mean, “the separation of powers – has been demolished,” it means they agree on a policy. (That they do agree on this policy sits rather oddly with your assertion the American public opposes said policy, but as you cited zero polling data in support of your claim, who cares?)

How about demanding Hamas surrender? Or that the international community take steps to destroy Hamas? It’s not as if such demands could possibly produce less in the way of positive results than whatever it is you’ve spent the last six months demanding, right?

(it's Feeling a little
Armageddonny
these Days. is
it just me?)

the World
grows Impatient
with bibi. when does
the Straw which broke the
Camel's spine turn it into WWIII?

is Nutnyahoo
gonna Incinerate
Planet Earth just to
keep his arse outta Jail?

@22: It’s just you. (Kinda like that smell.)

Meanwhile, Qatar and Iran lavish money on Hamas’ jihadis, whilst most of UNRWA’s funds come from outside the Arab World. Care to draw any conclusions from these facts?

(Oh, and did Hamas commit genocide in Israel on 10/7? You may be risking Ragnarok by continuing your failure to answer.)

@23 (your
Threats* of
Violence thru
your Big Hammer
frightens me littely
wormmy.) your multitud-
inous declarations of such
Atrocities Alone're enough
to make a Terrorist rethink His
(or Her) commitment to Terrorism

Stand down
before you
Fall down.

(*perhaps
they're enough
to get you Cancelled
however why don't we leave
all That up to tS's rather finely-
tuned sense of Opprobrium, eh?)

@24: “Threats of violence”? Your reading comprehension now fails worse than even I have long believed, which really says something.

I love how you “genocide” folks have no problem lecturing everyone all the time on your self-assumed great moral superiority, but whine miserably out your butthurts at the slightest hint of criticism.

Little wonder you spend your time wanking over thoughts of censoring anyone who dares question the divinity of your clay feet.

'You
may be
risking Ragnarok
by continuing your failure to answer'

fuck you
Wormtongue.

Tell me again how this is about self-defense.

https://www.aljazeera.com/program/newsfeed/2024/3/28/babies-are-dying-of-hunger-and-dehydration-in-gaza

There is no lesser of two evils in this country. There is only evil. Biden is a war criminal, violating United States law and and International law arming and funding a terrorist state.

@26, @27, @28: As I’ve previously written, part of my fun in doing this comes from watching your masks slip, revealing the ugly truth you seek to hide behind your pompous moral scoldings. (Although, TBF, xina never had much of a mask anyway — e.g. to xina, Amanda Knox was always simply guilty, guilty, guilty, no matter what the evidence really said, nor how the courts actually ruled.) Your rhetoric here, while perfectly keeping the tenor and thrust of the headline post, really should cause an adult to think about what you are writing and why, but of course it doesn’t. You’re all too far gone in your reinforcing fanaticisms for any such meaningful evaluation to happen, or for it to make any difference if it somehow did.

To all of you, including @14, I’ll ask: did Hamas commit genocide in Israel on 10/7? As you all clearly consider yourselves competent to use the term, giving a simple “yes,” or “no,” answer should be pretty easy for you.

Putting it another way, if you cannot answer that question for Hamas, then why should anyone care about the answer you’ve given for Israel?

@27: I've already answered your question, @15: "Hamas' long and well-documented strategy of using Gazan civilians as human shields against the IDF... (https://stratcomcoe.org/cuploads/pfiles/hamas_human_shields.pdf)"

This is the end result of allowing Hamas to hid behind civilians in Gaza when attacking Israel from Gaza. The IDF's resultant attacks upon Hamas cause civilian suffering in Gaza.

My counter-question to you is, tell me why the "ceasefire" crowd does not demand we destroy Hamas for causing this civilian suffering in Gaza?

@35
"A ceasefire is exactly what they had until Hamas attacked on October 7."
Who told you that? It's not true and it never was. Look up the Mavi Marmara and other examples of what happens when anyone tried to bring aid to Gaza in the last 17-19 years. If Israel believed Gaza was sovereign and not deserving of Knesset voting rights, Israel would be only patrolling its own border with Gaza, not also Gaza's coastline border with international waters, and its airspace. The blockade has been an act of war this whole time. Many people warned Israel for years that the siege would one day boil over. Likewise Israel's funding of Hamas as divide and conquer. Enough. End Israel and Hamas (the governments and the labels). Call it something new, give everyone citizenship and equal voting rights, and have a truth and reconciliation commission about land reform. If Palestinians are treated like equals, they will believe the Israelis when they say Apartheid Never Again and there can be peace.

This is No
April Fools:

Mass
Protests
in Israel Call
for Ceasefire &
Removal of Benjamin Netanyahu

On Sunday, tens of thousands rallied across Israel calling for the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the largest protests since the October 7 attacks.

In Jerusalem, police fired skunk spray at demonstrators blocking a major highway. The protesters called for a ceasefire and the release of all hostages. This is Zahiro-Shahar Mor, whose elderly uncle has been held in Gaza for nearly six months.

Zahiro-Shahar Mor: “Today we declared that Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu, is the obstacle between us and getting our hostages back.

And we will relentlessly fight — legally, of course — to have him removed from power and get someone else that can do the job and worthy of the situation that can bring our beloved ones back. Until then, Benjamin Netanyahu is the main obstacle.”

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/4/1/headlines/mass_protests_in_israel_call_for_ceasefire_removal_of_benjamin_netanyahu

Israelis
GET IT.
It’s time
WE did too:

Ceasefire &
DUMP bibi
the sooner
the Better.

@34
you hiding
behind your
grammar nazi
type definitions
forget Your words:

“There
is no justify-
cation for terrorism. Ever.”

tensorna on December 8, 2023 at 8:44 AM

‘There
Is No Justifi-
cation for Terrorism,’
Says Man Justifying Genocide

more, more disturbingly:
https://theneedling.com/2023/09/02/there-is-no-justification-for-terrorism-says-man-justifying-genocide/

there's a
fucking
BINGO.

@28:

"It is not just a genocide,
it is worse. It is something
new and evil and profoundly
inhuman that needs its own category
of atrocity that words will never encapsulate.

Engaging
with these bad faith
and truly evil enablers of this hell
on earth is a mistake and not worth your time.'

THANK YOU
Garbby.

@38:

BINGO.

@28: So, not for the first time in these threads I will ask: are you proud of what you have written here? Are yours truly the words of a decent humanitarian? Does enabling kristo’s own insatiable fanaticism (@41) seem like a good way to further our civic discourse?

Or have you become so consumed by your own rage, you can no longer tolerate the slightest hint of dissent? Not only must everyone here always agree with every last thing you write about the ongoing disaster Hamas intentionally brought upon Gaza, we cannot even differ from you in the slightest about a single detail without you labeling us, your fellow Americans and fellow humans, with terms so vile, kristo’ alone applauds them. Is that what you have mistaken for reasoned civic dialog in our democracy?

Again, are you proud of using the words kristo’ quoted? Are you proud of your words which even he carefully omitted? Did calling everyone who dared disagree with you “beastly and rabid subuman sociopaths,” say more about them, or about you?

You’re not required to comment here. You have the luxury of spending the precious minutes of your life doing better than enabling the likes of kristo’. I kindly and gently advise you find another hobby, one which might actually do some good in the world. Because what you’re doing here is most definitely not that.

@42 ad
vomitas:

sorry
Wormtongue
you hammer-wielding-
threatening sonnaova bitch:

“There
is no justify-
cation for terrorism. Ever.”

tensorna on December 8, 2023 at 8:44 AM

‘There
Is No Justifi-
cation for Terrorism,’
Says Man Justifying Genocide

more, more disturbingly:
https://theneedling.com/2023/09/02/there-is-no-justification-for-terrorism-says-man-justifying-genocide/

just like
bibi.

speaking of
Evil:

from
Notes
From The Edge
Of The Narrative Matrix:

Israel Keeps Getting More Murderous

In the span of just a few hours we learned that Israel committed a horrific massacre at al-Shifa hospital, struck an Iranian consulate in Syria killing multiple Iranian military officers, and killed a vehicle full of international aid workers in an airstrike.

This murderous regime is out of control.

Israel is so dedicated to protecting civilian life that it’s deliberately gunning down unarmed Palestinians whenever they walk within firing range and then adding them to its “Hamas terrorists killed” tally.

Haaretz reports that the IDF has set up “kill zones” in Gaza where they just shoot anything that moves, with an IDF reserve officer saying the number of Hamas members Israel claims to have killed is massively inflated because

“In practice, a terrorist is anyone the IDF has killed in the areas in which its forces operate.” Haaretz notes that the three escaped Israeli hostages the IDF gunned down in December had wandered into one of these kill zones.

--Caitlin Johnstone, 4/2/24

disturbingly more:
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/israel-keeps-getting-more-murderous

there
IS NO
Justification
for Terrorism.

Ever.

Everyone wants a ceasefire...They just differ on the terms.

@44: “…killing multiple Iranian military officers…”

So, let’s see: Iran funds Hamas, which then rapes and kills Israeli women in their homes.

Because of Iran financing Hamas’ rapes and murders of Israeli women, Israel considers itself to be a war with Iran, and so kills “… multiple Iranian military officers,” who were serving on duty in a foreign country.

Which set of killings should you and Johnstone label an atrocity? Discuss.

(If you think I’m in any way unhappy that you repeatedly disagree with me in multiple comment threads here, you might want to think again.)

Bugger off wormmy
Your justifications
Thru definitions
too

nyt:
Israeli Strikes
Kill 7 Aid
Workers
in Gaza

The attack on clearly marked vehicles run by the World Central Kitchen shows how dangerous relief work has been during the war, and adds fuel to accusations that Israel has bombed indiscriminately.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-aid-workers-killed.html

OUR
2,000
Pound
Bunker
Busters
Proudly
Made in
The USofA
Working Over-
Time Keepin’ bibi TF
Outta Prison. a Most Noble
Cause for All ourst Billions. right?

nyt:
Protest Outside
Netanyahu’s Jerusalem
Home Turns Into ‘Riot,’ Police Say

Antigovernment demonstrators
took to the streets for the
third night in a row to
call for early
elections.

The Israeli police clashed with antigovernment protesters outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, which was the third day of demonstrations calling for early elections and his ouster.

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Jerusalem since Sunday, when a planned four-day antigovernment protest began outside Israel’s Parliament, the Knesset. Many protesters have camped out in tents outside the Knesset, where the demonstrations have swelled each evening.

The protest and an authorized march started peacefully on Tuesday night but then turned into an unbridled “riot,” according to the Israeli police force. It said in a statement that hundreds of rioters had tried to break through barriers near Mr. Netanyahu’s house but were blocked by the police.

The police said that dozens of people continued to riot in the street afterward, forcing officers to deploy riot control measures. Five people were arrested and one officer was injured in the melee, the police force added.

--by Cassandra Vinograd; April 2, 2024

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/world/middleeast/israel-netanyahu-protest.html

uh-oh
wormmy
when bibi
goes so goes
your little War on
a most Captive Population

&
not even
your Justifications’ll
bring ol’ bibi back Home

@49: So, local protesters are trying hard to get Bibi some sympathy, eh? That's a pretty tall order, but of course you applaud their effort. Brilliant.

Recall (ha!) that leading a vandalizing mob to Mayor Durkan's house was what got CM Sawant a recall election from District 3's long-suffering voters, and while Sawant scraped by to a narrow and hollow victory, her political career was effectively terminated by her making the political personal. It seems some Israelis need that same lesson now. (As do you, obviously.)

But back to the biggest moral outrage you've yet identified:

"...struck an Iranian consulate in Syria killing multiple Iranian military officers..."

Yes, the willing, privileged, and armed male servants of Iran's brutally misogynistic, rape-funding regime died in their line of duty, not while defending their country from an invader, but when stationed in a foreign land. I'm sure they will get proper heroes' burials. You and Johnstone will applaud their valor, no doubt. Meanwhile, you two can continue to tell the families of the Israeli women who suffered and died from Iran's support of Hamas to just STFU already.

If there is indeed anyone out there who still cares about what you write, please do continue to tell them that my morality differs greatly from your morality.

@wormmy:

pass.

Speaking of
War Crimes
Genocide
& Impu-
nity:

two readers’ comments on the nyt’s

Back-to-Back
Israeli Strikes Show
Tragic Gaps in Choosing Targets

In an airstrike on Monday in Damascus,
Israel’s military displayed pinpoint
precision. Hours later in Gaza,
that same military killed
seven aid workers.

How one of the world’s best-equipped, best-trained militaries could pull off a dangerous strike on foreign soil and then stumble with such tragic consequences in Gaza raises a raft of hard questions — not least how the Israeli military enforces the rules of engagement in its war against Hamas.

the two readers’ comments:

[formatting mine]

The
WCK
strike
was not a
tragic mistake.

Israel is blocking aid
to starve 2 million
people.

They’ve opened fire
on civilians in
bread lines.

They’ve targeted UNRWA
food distribution warehouses.

This is
systematic
and intentional.
And counterproductive.

I never questioned
my support of Israel until
a few months into this madness.

They’ve lost me completely.

And I vote.
--Michael; Miami Beach

Let's get this straight. When they are attacking an adversary that can fight back their precision killing is on the mark and they only kill the intended.

When they are attacking people who have no offensive arms to deter aerial attack, they do an OOP's we blew this one.

It is evident to those who don't have an axe to grind that the killing of the aid workers was not an accident.

It was orchestrated to hasten the demise of the Palestinian population.

The tried-and-true line by Netanyahu that there will be an investigation is just to stall for time. The hundreds of aid workers and journalist killed by Netanyahu all were not killed by accident.

Problem is Biden seems not to understand he is being played like a fiddle by Netanyahu. Netanyahu is doing everything he can to await Trump in the White House again.

--Steven McCain; New York;

more, tellingly:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/04/world/middleeast/israel-wck-gaza-iran-embassy.html#commentsContainer

"If there is indeed anyone out there who still cares about what you write, please do continue to tell them that my morality differs greatly from your morality."

oh, wormmy
they already
know. they
Know. we
ALL do.

more from the woman
you Love to hate:

Stop
Reporting On
Biden's Angry Feelings Toward
Israel. It's Not News. It's Not Interesting.

imperial media cannot stop babbling about how angry President Biden’s feelings are feeling toward Israel like it’s some kind of actual news story, even as this administration cheerfully pours mountains of weaponry into backing Israel’s genocidal atrocities in Gaza.

If you haven’t been following the mass media’s coverage of Biden and Gaza for the last six months, the entire thing can be summed up by the headline of a new Politico article, “‘Angry’ Biden not changing Israel policy after deadly strike on aid workers”.

This is in reference to the Israeli military’s deliberate assassination of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers, which conveniently resulted in multiple humanitarian aid organizations ceasing their operations in Gaza out of fear of being attacked themselves.

The attack has been drawing widespread condemnation throughout the western world, because six of the workers killed came from western nations and are therefore considered real human beings by the western empire.

Biden released a statement saying how “outraged and heartbroken” he is about the incident, drawing a fresh deluge of frenzied reporting about how the president’s feelings are feeling about Israel.

But as the aforementioned Politico article illustrates, none of this actually matters because this administration’s Israel policy has not changed.

Biden is reportedly set to greenlight a sale of fighter jets to Israel in a deal worth $18 billion, and this is just a few days after we learned that this administration has quietly signed off on the delivery of more of the 2,000-pound bombs with which the IDF has been obliterating so many civilians in Gaza.

The Biden White House still adamantly refuses to acknowledge that Israel has even once violated humanitarian law these past six months.

--Caitlin Johnstone; Apr 04, 2024

more,
if you’ve
the stomach:
https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/stop-reporting-on-bidens-angry-feelings

@54: Thanks, I’m still loving her (and your) deep expressions of concern for armed male servants of a rape-funding misogynist regime, and your total hostility to any sympathy for all of the civilian women who got raped in their own homes because of said regime’s funding.

"The attack has been drawing widespread condemnation throughout the western world, because six of the workers killed came from western nations and are therefore considered real human beings by the western empire."

and
yet
Not
one
Peep
outta
wormmy

you must LOVE
assassinations of
Aid Workers wormmy
your Genocide's going

Well
for a
Genocide
the Famine
is a loverly touch

speaking
of empathy.

@56: Again, your weeping and wailing over deaths of the armed male servants of a regime which is both brutally misogynist at home, and terror-funding abroad, has drowned out anything else you've since tried to say. And always will. Your bad.

"and
yet
Not
one
Peep
outta
wormmy"

Foreign aid workers died in a known war zone they'd willingly traveled to reach, and you're demanding everyone here be upset about it. Due to the above-mentioned terror-funding, women were suddenly raped and murdered in their own homes, and you quoted Johnstone telling everyone to STFU about it. Again, your choice; don't complain to me about it's not working out for you.

here’s whatchyur
Defending wormmy:

nyt:
After 6 Months of War,
Some Israelis Ask:
Is Netanyahu
Dragging
It Out?

Despite
growing pressure
from President Biden,
the Israeli prime minister
appears in no rush to end
the war in Gaza. Some think he
has political reasons for extending the stasis.

two readers’ comments:

‘Netanyahu funded Hamas through Qatar
and knew of their plans a year in advance,
took hours to get troops to defend Israelis

and now is claiming he wants
Hamas destroyed first, all the
while making decisions which
only foment even more un-
rest in Gaza, the West Bank
and the Middle East and
adding new Hamas, [&]
Hezbollah members.

The hostages are an afterthought.
As long as there is a war he gets
to stay in power and avoid
consequences for his
actions.”

-- Moderate voter; Washington State

Yes, it's clear.
Just like Trump,
Netanyahu is afraid to lose
his grip on power and face justice.

Remember
the millions of
Israelis rallying against
Netanyahu's plans to over-
haul the judiciary last year?

In this Orwellian farce, nothing
suited the narrative better than
a conflict with Palestine to safe-
guard his image and retain power.

How timely!
Even a Hollywood
screenwriter would shun
such a plot for being too on the nose.

Now, drag it.
Drag it on
and on.

Observing each specific circumstance,
both Trump and Netanyahu are willing
to sacrifice no matter what—lives,
country, Democracy, you name it—
to cling on to power and save
their own skin.

--Reuben; Virginia

plenty More where
these ones came from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-war-gaza.html#commentsContainer

so keep on Justifying
the World’ll be a
worser place
with yours
and bibi’s

here’s a few more
Decidedly NOT
in yours/bibi’s
favours:

"Israelis support his policy of continuing the war, standing up to American pressure and opposing a the creation of a Palestinian state."

Good! Now have the Israelis pay for all of their own military expenses and support!

Americans have had enough of this one-sided relationship, which entangle us in ME conflicts.
--Right; Left

Is that really a question? Netanyahu will string this out for as long as possible. It is his big opportunity to render uninhabitable and permanently occupy the Gaza Strip. I thought that was obvious.
--M Downey; Helena, MT

Netanyahu has demonstrated he is willing to do anything to stay in power, including hurt Israel. In this way, he is Trump’s twin. Netanyahu’s government was preoccupied with gutting the courts to keep himself out of jail and was not prepared for the Hamas terror attacks. The longer the conflict continues, the longer he stays in power. The is all to the detriment of Israel’s global standing and long term security.
--Scott; Chicago

Ya think? It's absurd the notion of Netanyahu dragging this out for political reasons is only now being suggested. It's been the case since the start, this war is a means to avoiding elections and the threat of a criminal trial.
--jpl west of the Hudson

Netanyahu
says his approach is
in the interests of the hostages.

Does ANYONE believe that?
--Agonewageblues; Maryland

Netanyahu may
go to jail when he
leaves office, so he
is milking the Gaza war.

Biden needs to stop asking
and stop all aid to Israel
until the Gaza war is
over and Netanyahu
is out of office.
--Quinn; Massachusetts

I thought all this was pretty obvious, but I tend to be cynical about the motives of politicians who have shown to themselves to act in the past out of a sense of self preservation over duty to the country they serve.

At this point though, he’s gotten way in over his head and history may show him to be the single biggest cause of Israel’s eventual fall as a sovereign nation.
-- Scott M; NYC

It's a cynical game.

The longer Netanyahu stays in office, the longer he can avoid prosecution. As long as the Israeli hostages remain hostages, he can justify and and all Israeli military actions.

As long as the war grinds on, he can count on the ultra-Orthodox bloc, critical for him to remain in office.

In the meantime, he has overseen a cratering of world wide good will toward Israel. He has also insured what will be a long lived sympathy for civilians in Gaza who are suffering and for those who have died.

His government openly describes Gazans as "animals". The military is less than truthful about its operations unless and until confronted with incontrovertible facts. The remarkable achievements that Israel has made since 1948 risked being wiped away.

This is a country stumbling toward disaster.

--Chrisc; NY

Of course he's dragging it out. When this ends, his government collapses and he faces trial and prison. The reckoning is going to be severe.

Hamas could expedite this by releasing the hostages, but of course, they won't. They don't care about how many people die, either.
--Half Sour; Jersey

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/world/middleeast/netanyahu-israel-war-gaza.html#commentsContainer

@58, @59: Whereas Hamas’ refusals to release hostages and surrender aren’t dragging out the war at all, eh? Letting rapists get away with murder fits your definition of moral justice perfectly, doesn’t it?

Tell us more about those poor Iranian military officers. You and Johnstone setting up a GoFundMe in their honor?

(Any word on that violent ‘demonstration’ you loved so much at Bibi’s house? Was it secretly orchestrated by Bibi or his allies?)

oh wormmy!
you've gone
and done it
Again.

@49: Looks like violent and/or disruptive protests just don't receive the same rave reviews generally as they did from you personally:

'Despite the volume of pro-Hamas protests—or maybe because of it—84% of Americans continue to support Israel over the terror group. Predictably, there’s also been a mounting backlash to the disruption inflicted by the protesters. “They antagonized people so much that they frightened people, to the point that they were not hearing what they were protesting about,” said Fernando Romero, president of Hispanics in Politics, after protesters interrupted a Jan. 5 event in Las Vegas where Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., was speaking and had to be escorted out a back door. In a viral video posted online on Jan. 8, a Black New Yorker was seen exiting his van and shoving protesters blocking traffic in New York City, yelling, “You can’t do that! It’s against the law! I have a daughter in Brooklyn … I have to get home!”'

(https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/violent-pro-palestine-demonstrations)

Following the link back to the survey (https://thehill.com/policy/international/4268117-americans-overwhelmingly-support-israel-in-war-with-hamas-poll/):

"Broken down by age, 52 percent of 18-to-24-year-olds said they sided more with Israel, while 48 percent said they sided more with Hamas. In contrast, 95 percent of respondents 65 years and older said they sided with Israel while 5 percent sided with Hamas."

Which group's members tend to vote more regularly?