Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => Politics & Current Affairs => Topic started by: jeremyp on May 25, 2021, 12:52:27 PM
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https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/im-fed-up
An Israeli perspective on the current problems therein and a commentary on Western attitudes.
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Thanks for posting that. Very intersting.
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Israel is the oppressor; the Palestinians are the oppressed - seems pretty simple to me.
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Israel is the oppressor; the Palestinians are the oppressed - seems pretty simple to me.
You need to read the article. It is, as the title of this thread says, complicated.
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https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/im-fed-up
An Israeli perspective on the current problems therein and a commentary on Western attitudes.
Thanks for the article, Jeremy. Indeed it is complicated, and I see no resolution to the problems in the short or medium term.
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Israel is the oppressor; the Palestinians are the oppressed - seems pretty simple to me.
No surprise there then.
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Thanks for the article, Jeremy. Indeed it is complicated, and I see no resolution to the problems in the short or medium term.
I listened to a podcast on Dan Smow's channel the other day with Daniel Finkelstein. This one, in fact:
https://play.acast.com/s/dansnowshistoryhit/israelandpalestine-ajewishperspectivewithdanielfinkelstein
He agrees that the problem is insoluble.
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It may or may not be complicated, but the the writer is an expert in "breaking down the complexities of difficult subjects to make them more accessible for any reader".
How? By presenting a simple stereotype of the "other side" as terrorists. It's racism pure and simple, and there is no solution to that ... except, er... to stop being racist.
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Found this an interesting article on how support for the different sides has changed
https://unherd.com/2021/05/why-the-left-gave-up-on-israel/?=refinnar
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How? By presenting a simple stereotype of the "other side" as terrorists. It's racism pure and simple, and there is no solution to that ... except, er... to stop being racist.
I didn't get that when I read it. He certainly called Hamas terrorists, which they are according to every source I can find. On Palestinians he said this:
I’m fed up. Everyday Palestinians are fed up. Everyday Israelis are fed up. This is not a conflict between ‘Palestine and Israel’, it’s a conflict between decent people (on both sides) and the most perverse extremists on earth.
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It may or may not be complicated, but the the writer is an expert in "breaking down the complexities of difficult subjects to make them more accessible for any reader".
How? By presenting a simple stereotype of the "other side" as terrorists.
Hamas is a terrorist organisation. That's pretty indisputable.
It's racism pure and simple, and there is no solution to that ... except, er... to stop being racist.
Only if you conflate Hamas and all Palestinians. If criticism of Hamas is racism, criticism of the Israeli government is antisemitism. I don't think either are true.
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I didn't get that when I read it. He certainly called Hamas terrorists, which they are according to every source I can find. On Palestinians he said this:
I’m fed up. Everyday Palestinians are fed up. Everyday Israelis are fed up. This is not a conflict between ‘Palestine and Israel’, it’s a conflict between decent people (on both sides) and the most perverse extremists on earth.
So if Hamas didn't exist all would be peace and happiness in a land flowing with milk and honey? No, he doesn't waste a single letter considering the rights, needs or feelings of any "Palestinians" at all. It is all about the suffering inflicted on "Israelis" by Hamas.
Hamas certainly are terrorists ... but they didn't just pop out of the ground, grown from dragons teeth like the Spartoi!
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Only if you conflate Hamas and all Palestinians. If criticism of Hamas is racism, criticism of the Israeli government is antisemitism. I don't think either are true.
That is what he is pushing the reader into. Criticism of Hamas is not racism, nor criticism of the Israeli government, but both organisations fuel and perpetuate racism. They only look out for the interests of "their own people" and care nothing for the rights etc. of those they consider as "other" - indeed act with a vindictive hate.
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https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/im-fed-up
An Israeli perspective on the current problems therein and a commentary on Western attitudes.
Yet they’re happy to #PrayForPalestine whilst ignoring the thousands of rockets being fired by Hamas at Israeli citizens,
That is an example of the author's prejudice - assuming that praying for Palestine means supporting Hamas. That's a biased assumption and such examples of entrenched prejudice from some Israelis and their supporters is one of the reasons why this issue won't be solved. There are also examples of entrenched prejudices on the part of some Palestinians and their supporters as well.
Why does the author not assume, as many of us do, that praying for Palestine means praying for the dead, injured and homeless civilians, including children, whose homes have been bombed to rubble by Israeli missile strikes, and praying for the Palestinians who have little rights over their own land in terms of water or freedom of movement or ownership because Israel has built checkpoints all over Palestinian land to protect its illegal settlements and disrupt Palestinian lives in the hope of driving more Palestinians off their own land in the Occupied Territories; that means what should be a short journey for Palestinians takes hours - we all read about the frustrations expressed here due to LTNS in London - multiply that and add heavily armed Israeli soldiers who have no problem with brutalising Palestinians and then wonder why people are praying for Palestine.
We could be praying for Palestinians subjected to illegal Israeli land grabs, or praying for sick Palestinians in ambulances that are subjected to hours of delays at Israeli checkpoints at the whim of Israeli soldiers who sit around without searching the ambulance for an hour or so just to be deliberately obstructive; we could be praying for Palestinian children who have their exams and education disrupted by Israeli military operations and police detentions, which impacts on their future and employment prospects and the ability of the community to do more than exist in a bitter mindset of hatred against their Israeli oppressors.
When confronted with the number of dead Palestinian civilians (children, the elderly, Palestinian medics etc) caused by Israeli attacks on buildings housing Palestinian civilians, I think it shows a lack of basic humanity to say "what about the Palestinian rockets.." The rockets have not caused anywhere near the same number of Israeli deaths. If numbers dead does not matter, we would not have been so vociferous in our condemnation of 3000 dead civilians in the Twin Towers attack, misguidedly justified by some as payback for US military and economic actions.
Hamas is not exactly a surprise in such circumstances of deprivation of land and basic rights - any more than people joining gangs in deprived areas and knifing people is a surprise in London. Social scientists can predict these outcomes. Heck even Ben Gurion predicted it:
“If I were an Arab leader, I would never sign an agreement with Israel. It is normal; we have taken their country. It is true God promised it to us, but how could that interest them? Our God is not theirs. There has been Anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see but one thing: we have come and we have stolen their country. Why would they accept that?”
David Ben-Gurion (the first Israeli Prime Minister)
“Let us not ignore the truth among ourselves … politically we are the aggressors and they defend themselves… The country is theirs, because they inhabit it, whereas we want to come here and settle down, and in their view we want to take away from them their country. … Behind the terrorism [by the Arabs] is a movement, which though primitive is not devoid of idealism and self sacrifice.”
— David Ben Gurion. Quoted on pp 91-2 of Chomsky’s Fateful Triangle, which appears in Simha Flapan’s “Zionism and the Palestinians pp 141-2 citing a 1938 speech.
https://www.progressiveisrael.org/ben-gurions-notorious-quotes-their-polemical-uses-abuses/
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I wonder just how many Israeli's are listening out for Hamas rockets and thinking to themselves "God all F***ing mighty I/my parents/my grandparents managed to survive the Nazi's and their concentration camps to die by another bunch of Jew hater's rockets and to know that there are people out there who, once again, say it is all our own fault!
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I wonder just how many Israeli's are listening out for Hamas rockets and thinking to themselves "God all F***ing mighty I/my parents/my grandparents managed to survive the Nazi's and their concentration camps to die by another bunch of Jew hater's rockets and to know that there are people out there who, once again, say it is all our own fault!
But it's ok if you are Palestinian to have your child killed by a bomb?
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I wonder just how many Israeli's are listening out for Hamas rockets and thinking to themselves "God all F***ing mighty I/my parents/my grandparents managed to survive the Nazi's and their concentration camps to die by another bunch of Jew hater's rockets and to know that there are people out there who, once again, say it is all our own fault!
Probably not that many as many of the Israelis came not to escape persecution but to colonise.
As Ben Gurion put it ""For many of us, anti-Semitic feeling had little to do with our dedication [to Zionism]. I personally never suffered anti-Semitic persecution. Płońsk was remarkably free of it ... Nevertheless, and I think this very significant, it was Płońsk that sent the highest proportion of Jews to Eretz Israel from any town in Poland of comparable size. We emigrated not for negative reasons of escape but for the positive purpose of rebuilding a homeland ... Life in Płońsk was peaceful enough. There were three main communities: Russians, Jews and Poles. ... The number of Jews and Poles in the city were roughly equal, about five thousand each. The Jews, however, formed a compact, centralized group occupying the innermost districts whilst the Poles were more scattered, living in outlying areas and shading off into the peasantry. Consequently, when a gang of Jewish boys met a Polish gang the latter would almost inevitably represent a single suburb and thus be poorer in fighting potential than the Jews who even if their numbers were initially fewer could quickly call on reinforcements from the entire quarter. Far from being afraid of them, they were rather afraid of us. In general, however, relations were amicable, though distant."
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Probably not that many as many of the Israelis came not to escape persecution but to colonise.
As Ben Gurion put it ""For many of us, anti-Semitic feeling had little to do with our dedication [to Zionism]. I personally never suffered anti-Semitic persecution. Płońsk was remarkably free of it ... Nevertheless, and I think this very significant, it was Płońsk that sent the highest proportion of Jews to Eretz Israel from any town in Poland of comparable size. We emigrated not for negative reasons of escape but for the positive purpose of rebuilding a homeland ... Life in Płońsk was peaceful enough. There were three main communities: Russians, Jews and Poles. ... The number of Jews and Poles in the city were roughly equal, about five thousand each. The Jews, however, formed a compact, centralized group occupying the innermost districts whilst the Poles were more scattered, living in outlying areas and shading off into the peasantry. Consequently, when a gang of Jewish boys met a Polish gang the latter would almost inevitably represent a single suburb and thus be poorer in fighting potential than the Jews who even if their numbers were initially fewer could quickly call on reinforcements from the entire quarter. Far from being afraid of them, they were rather afraid of us. In general, however, relations were amicable, though distant."
Lucky old Ben Gurion - he survived - of my mother's family ONE person survived - her mother - and that was because she had married an Englishman and was living in Essex - other than her every last one of her relatives, who had the misfortune to be Dutch, died in Auschwitz.
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That is what he is pushing the reader into.
You clearly didn't read the article. He is very careful to distinguish between Hamas and Palestinians.
Criticism of Hamas is not racism,
Why did you just claim criticism of Hamas is racism then?
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Probably not that many as many of the Israelis came not to escape persecution but to colonise.
I think it was clearly a mistake creating the state of Israel where it is, but that was 74 years ago. We have to deal with the situation as it is now. The situation is now that Hamas wants to genocide the Jews. Israel is defending itself and innocent people are dying as a result. There's no solution to this.
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But it's ok if you are Palestinian to have your child killed by a bomb?
It is when your child was killed by a Palestinian rocket!
And don't give me the bollocks about Hamas not being Palestinian! It is operating from within Palestinian territory - if you don't want your kids, or yourself, killed by an Israeli bomb get Hamas out of Palestinian territory!
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Lucky old Ben Gurion - he survived - of my mother's family ONE person survived - her mother - and that was because she had married an Englishman and was living in Essex - other than her every last one of her relatives, who had the misfortune to be Dutch, died in Auschwitz.
Sorry to hear about your family. The Europeans did that to your family, not the Arabs.
Britain, America and the UN had no right to compensate European Jews for the terrible atrocities inflicted on them by Europeans by creating a new Jewish state using Arab land and forcing Arabs at gunpoint off their own land. Ben-Gurion, the first PM of Israel understood this and knew that creating Israel would probably cause ongoing war and conflict. Why can't you?
Palestinian civilians probably have stories about how only 1 person out of their whole family survived Israel's illegal occupation or Israeli military operations in densely populated areas that kill hundreds of civilians. The Palestinians therefore seem to have something in common with your family.
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It is when your child was killed by a Palestinian rocket!
That's the same logic Hamas uses - it is ok to fire rockets at Israelis if a Palestinian child was killed by an IDF bullet or missile.
And don't give me the bollocks about Hamas not being Palestinian! It is operating from within Palestinian territory - if you don't want your kids, or yourself, killed by an Israeli bomb get Hamas out of Palestinian territory!
Hamas and you have something in common - they tell the Israelis if you don't want rockets fired at you, get out of Palestinian lands.
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You clearly didn't read the article. He is very careful to distinguish between Hamas and Palestinians.Why did you just claim criticism of Hamas is racism then?
I didn't. Anyway, Hamas are Palestinian aren't they?
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That's the same logic Hamas uses - it is ok to fire rockets at Israelis if a Palestinian child was killed by an IDF bullet or missile.
Hamas and you have something in common - they tell the Israelis if you don't want rockets fired at you, get out of Palestinian lands.
Of-course. “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind”
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I think it was clearly a mistake creating the state of Israel where it is, but that was 74 years ago. We have to deal with the situation as it is now. The situation is now that Hamas wants to genocide the Jews. Israel is defending itself and innocent people are dying as a result. There's no solution to this.
True, Israel is killing a lot of innocent Palestinians. Hamas are killing significantly fewer innocent Israelis. Hence people are praying for Palestine. Not really sure why the author of the article finds this surprising. I think it's a good that human nature has evolved to consider large numbers of dead innocent people a bad thing. We went into lockdown based on the premise that we wanted to prevent large numbers of dead people.
It is a humdinger of a problem. How do you change the mindset of wanting to kill someone who has stolen your land and forced you off it at gun point? Not really sure you can, can you? And fast forward to today rather than looking back in history, how do you stop wanting to kill someone who steals even more land and burns your olive groves and restricts your access to clean water http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/8327188.stm and bulldozes more houses and shoots your children so they can expand their territory. The Israelis seem quite prepared to kill people over land so I don't think wanting to kill people over land is a mindset that is peculiar to the Palestinians.
What would a British mindset be if immigrants to Britain started forcing existing British people from their homes at gunpoint and taking over the land, denying them access to clean water and bulldozing their houses to create a boundary to keep immigrants safe from British retaliation? Would they think their homes are not worth fighting, killing and dying for and just head to France with their begging bowls to be processed as refugees instead?
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I didn't.
Did too!
How? By presenting a simple stereotype of the "other side" as terrorists. It's racism pure and simple, and there is no solution to that ... except, er... to stop being racist.
Anyway, Hamas are Palestinian aren't they?
What if they are? Most Palestinians are not in Hamas.
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Did too!
What if they are? Most Palestinians are not in Hamas.
Hamas are a subset of the Palestinians. The racism of the writer was not in his criticism of Hamas but in completely ignoring the rights, needs and desires of the Palestinians as a group.
If everything is fine except for Hamas terrorism - what is so complicated?
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Hamas are a subset of the Palestinians.
So?
The racism of the writer was not in his criticism of Hamas but in completely ignoring the rights, needs and desires of the Palestinians as a group.
He didn't ignore the rights, needs and desires of Palestinians.
If everything is fine except for Hamas terrorism - what is so complicated?
Who is claiming everything is fine except for Hamas terrorism? It's not fine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the problems are insoluble.
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He didn't ignore the rights, needs, and desires of Palestinians. Who is claiming everything is fine except for Hamas terrorism? It's not fine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the problems are insoluble.
And will remain so (insoluble) as long as each group has supporters who are willing to ignore those that they support killing those that others support. This will remain the case at least as long as there are outsiders supporting both sides with words, missiles, and other munitions!
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So?
He didn't ignore the rights, needs and desires of Palestinians. Who is claiming everything is fine except for Hamas terrorism? It's not fine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the problems are insoluble.
I think he ignored the rights, needs and desires of Palestinians when he said "It seems that every country has a right to defend itself from acts of war… apart from the one Jewish one."
His fixation on Jewish is one of the reasons why the problem is insoluble so not sure why he is fed up when he is part of the problem. Similarly while Hamas remains fixated on grandiose rallying slogans such as defeating "the Zionist invaders" and Hamas “rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” and wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in Palestine, they are also part of the problem. Their 2017 statement of principles says that the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza is a “formula of national consensus.” so maybe Hamas is considering an alternative to destroying the state of Israel. Or maybe Hamas are playing the same game as the Zionists have played since 1948 ie. gain a smaller state and try to expand from there.
In this country and other countries where "woke celebrities" are, according to the fanciful imaginings of the author, "unwittingly giving their celebrity endorsement to terror" or "unknowingly becoming Marketing Execs for Hamas in Europe", the British government as far as I know do not have stated policies to ensure Britain remains a white Anglo-Saxon state. The Israeli government on the other hand has repeatedly stated its aim of preserving the racial purity of its state. I don't think discrimination based on race is going to solve this problem especially if you have invaded someone else's land based on a belief that God gave your religious adherents the land.
"woke" celebrities are right to be critical of such discrimination. Unless those woke celebrities are Saudis in which case that would be hypocritical as the Saudi government discriminates against non-Saudis.
Holding the Israeli government accountable for its excessive use of force, illegal occupation, land grabs, brutalisation of Palestinian civilians etc etc the same way people would hold Britain or any other country or Hamas similarly accountable for brutality is I think a sign of a decent human being whereas the author of the article spins it into "demonising" Israel. Condemning Israel's treatment of Palestinian civilians is not supporting Hamas and trying to spin it as such shows the author cares little for the rights, needs and desires of Palestinians. His article appears to be one long rant at being "fed up" that Jewish people do not have a special pass to brutalise non-Jews without being held accountable for their actions.
The author even goes on to disparage accusations that Israel is committing genocide by its attack on Palestinians, arguing that anyone who makes that claim "is beyond sense and reason, fuelled by hate." I think the author is beyond sense and reason and fuelled by hate if he cannot see that it is possible to argue for a genocide against the Palestinians.
Of course to prove genocide it means proving the Israeli government has an intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Intent is always difficult to prove and it is a question for the courts to decide. Until any such court case, it is certainly possible to argue there has been a genocide based on Article 2 of the Geneva Convention. Article 2 states “In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such:
a) Killing members of the group;
b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group”.
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I think he ignored the rights, needs and desires of Palestinians when he said "It seems that every country has a right to defend itself from acts of war… apart from the one Jewish one."
In what way?
His fixation on Jewish is one of the reasons why the problem is insoluble so not sure why he is fed up when he is part of the problem.
No, what he is fed up with is people who fail to see that the problem does have two sides. Even on this thread somebody declared "Israel is the oppressor and Palestine the oppressed" without even thinking for a second.
Similarly while Hamas remains fixated on grandiose rallying slogans such as defeating "the Zionist invaders" and Hamas “rejects any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” and wants to establish an Islamic caliphate in Palestine, they are also part of the problem. Their 2017 statement of principles says that the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza is a “formula of national consensus.” so maybe Hamas is considering an alternative to destroying the state of Israel. Or maybe Hamas are playing the same game as the Zionists have played since 1948 ie. gain a smaller state and try to expand from there.
Well if Hamas is considering an alternative to destroying the state of Israel they should, perhaps, stop bombarding Israel with rockets.
In this country and other countries where "woke celebrities" are, according to the fanciful imaginings of the author, "unwittingly giving their celebrity endorsement to terror" or "unknowingly becoming Marketing Execs for Hamas in Europe", the British government as far as I know do not have stated policies to ensure Britain remains a white Anglo-Saxon state. The Israeli government on the other hand has repeatedly stated its aim of preserving the racial purity of its state. I don't think discrimination based on race is going to solve this problem especially if you have invaded someone else's land based on a belief that God gave your religious adherents the land.
You know that is rubbish. There are Palestinians who live in Israel. They even have elected representatives in the parliament. There is no desire in Israel to genocide the Palestinians. The same cannot be said for Hamas or of the Islamic state that backs it with respect to Israel.
The author even goes on to disparage accusations that Israel is committing genocide by its attack on Palestinians, arguing that anyone who makes that claim "is beyond sense and reason, fuelled by hate." I think the author is beyond sense and reason and fuelled by hate if he cannot see that it is possible to argue for a genocide against the Palestinians.
Israel is not trying to genocide the Palestinians. That's why people who make that claim are beyond sense and reason. If Israel wanted to genocide the Palestinians, they'd have done it by now.
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In what way? No, what he is fed up with is people who fail to see that the problem does have two sides. Even on this thread somebody declared "Israel is the oppressor and Palestine the oppressed" without even thinking for a second.
That is because in a situation where Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land Israel is the oppressor and the Palestinians the oppressed. There isn't a 2nd side to that situation whereby it is ok for Israelis to illegally occupy someone else's land.
You know that is rubbish. There are Palestinians who live in Israel. They even have elected representatives in the parliament. There is no desire in Israel to genocide the Palestinians. The same cannot be said for Hamas or of the Islamic state that backs it with respect to Israel.
Except you know it's not rubbish. That's a stupid argument that because there are Palestinians who live in Israel and have some representation that the Israeli state is not racist for trying to preserve a Jewish state identity. Just because there were black people living in the USA and black Mayors in the USA from about 1867 we don't pretend that the US states did not have racist and discriminatory policies throughout that continued throughout the 1960s onwards even after the Civil Rights movement.
Israel is not trying to genocide the Palestinians. That's why people who make that claim are beyond sense and reason. If Israel wanted to genocide the Palestinians, they'd have done it by now.
That is for a court to decide - you are not qualified to make the decision on whether the intent is there. As there are actions carried out by the Israeli government that meet the actus rea criteria for genocide in Article 2 of the Geneva Convention I can see why people argue it is genocide. It's a complicated legal issue - hence people who argue that Israel is carrying out a genocide are not beyond sense and reason. I can see why people would want to try to spin it like that and while people continue to try to give people who happen to identify with Jewish culture a free pass for illegal acts by claiming that holding them accountable is anti-Semitic, you're right the problem is insoluble.
Also, saying they would have done it by now is a stupid argument. Israel are carrying out acts that meet the actus rea of at least 2 of the acts that qualify as genocide according to Article 2 of the Geneva Convention e.g.
a) Killing members of the group;
b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
The question is whether it can be proved that Israel carried out these acts with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group i.e. the Palestinians. Proving intent is difficult when it comes to genocide, especially as we have not had it tested in court. Not sure which court has jurisdiction to test it as Israel is not a state party to the Rome Statute upon which the ICC was established
So what is it that you think Israel would have done by now?
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So?
He didn't ignore the rights, needs and desires of Palestinians. Who is claiming everything is fine except for Hamas terrorism? It's not fine. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the problems are insoluble.
Does he discuss their complaints? It seemed to me that he was on a rant about criticism of Israeli actions in responding to Hamas, with no consideration of the impact of the West Bank occupation and settlements or other Israeli actions.
I think it is entirely soluble - but neither the Israeli gov nor Hamas (or other Palestinian terrorists) want it solved.
Even when they look at the situation from the pov of the other side, they end up with same conclusions - like Ben-Gurion. If you start with a racist outlook you can't help projecting it on the other.
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That is because in a situation where Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land Israel is the oppressor and the Palestinians the oppressed.
What about the situation where Hamas is illegally bombarding Israel with rockets?
See, it's complicated.
Also, saying they would have done it by now is a stupid argument. Israel are carrying out acts that meet the actus rea of at least 2 of the acts that qualify as genocide according to Article 2 of the Geneva Convention e.g.
a) Killing members of the group;
b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group
Those two items in isolation do not constitute genocide. There has to be an intent to wipe out the group. This is what Hamas has and Israel does not have.
The question is whether it can be proved that Israel carried out these acts with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group i.e. the Palestinians. Proving intent is difficult
Of course it's difficult, because there is no intent in this case.
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Does he discuss their complaints? It seemed to me that he was on a rant about criticism of Israeli actions in responding to Hamas, with no consideration of the impact of the West Bank occupation and settlements or other Israeli actions.
It's only a rant because you disagree with him and you don't want to engage with his arguments.
I think it is entirely soluble - but neither the Israeli gov nor Hamas (or other Palestinian terrorists) want it solved.
No, it's not soluble. The Israeli government wants to keep Israel safe for its citizens that means they want Israel to continue to exist. The Palestinian terrorists want to wipe out Israel. If the Israeli government backs down, lots of Israelis die. If the Palestinian terrorists back down, there is no longer any reason for their organisations to exist. Not only that, their belief that all the Jews must die is driven by religious fervour. Both sides are in an existential crisis and therefore neither can back down.
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What about the situation where Hamas is illegally bombarding Israel with rockets?
What about it in relation to Israel's deportation and ethnic cleansing of Palestinian civilians and illegal occupation of the West Bank and Israel's illegal settlement building. Or are you saying that Israel is behaving illegally because Hamas are behaving illegally and they are both as bad as each other?
See, it's complicated.
Only for apologists for Israel's illegal occupation and illegal land grabs. If legality does not matter anymore then what does it matter if Hamas illegally fire rockets from Gaza? If we're saying terrorist actions by Israel to terrorise Palestinians is as bad as terrorist actions by Hamas to terrorise Israelis then I agree. If you are going to differentiate between the 2 in favour of Israel you have to come up with an objective formula why terrorising Palestinians is not as bad as terrorising Israelis that does not involve a racist or prejudiced motive on your part, which you can't do.
Those two items in isolation do not constitute genocide. There has to be an intent to wipe out the group. This is what Hamas has and Israel does not have.
You are not qualified to decide whether Israel has the intent to wipe out the Palestinians as a state. Intent is decided based on behaviour. If you make it impossible for a viable Palestinian state to exist, you don't actually need to make a explicit declaration of intent.
Of course it's difficult, because there is no intent in this case.
See above. You are not qualified to decide that though you can believe whatever you want. It would be a legal matter for the courts to decide. The only problem is Israel and the US think Israel is above being held accountable for its actions. The US, one of five permanent members of the UN security council with veto power, has a track record of vetoing action in relation to Israel.
However, I just looked it up and as the illegally Occupied Palestinian Territories have submitted to ICC jurisdiction, the ICC can investigate allegations that Israel is engaged in crimes against humanity in the form of apartheid and persecution in the Occupied Territories.
The ICC has started looking into war crimes allegations against Israel, including Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank. The ICC will also examine whether Hamas and other groups in Gaza have committed war crimes by firing rockets at Israel.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/icc-prosecutor-warns-against-crimes-escalating-israel-palestinian-violence-2021-05-13/
So the author of the article can carry on feeling fed up because of his prejudices and biases but it looks like celebrities are right to pray for the Palestinians...as opposed to praying for Hamas...and praying for Palestinians does not mean endorsing terrorism. The ICC seems to have no trouble differentiating between the concept of Palestinian civilians who may need protection from alleged apartheid, persecution and war crimes by Israel and Israel legitimately defending itself from Hamas rockets without resorting to war crimes etc etc.