• DominusOfMegadeus
    link
    fedilink
    197 months ago

    I’ve been trying to convince my parents that this is absofuckinglutely genocide. It has not gone well. They are convinced that Israel is simply defending themselves, and all the civilian casualties are just how war is.

    • @Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
      link
      fedilink
      English
      77 months ago

      You could make the comparison with Russia’s actions towards Ukraine. Is it “just war” when Russia intentionally bombs children’s schools and hospitals? Most countries are civilized enough to only target military targets during a war. It’s also worth pointing out that modern missiles do not “accidentally” hit the wrong target, that’s about as likely as shooting a gun and “accidentally” hitting your friend standing behind you.

      • queermunist she/her
        link
        fedilink
        3
        edit-2
        7 months ago

        Some estimates say over one million Iraqis were killed during the American invasion and occupation.

      • DarkGamer
        link
        fedilink
        17 months ago

        Bad comparison. Did Ukraine provoke Russia to war by slaughtering thousands of Russian civilians? That’s what makes it self-defense. Were Ukranians using hospitals and their inhabitants as human shields? No, they weren’t, and that’s what justified Israel’s attacks on them. According to the IDF, they were attacking military targets.

        • @daftwerder@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          07 months ago

          So what you’re saying is that innocent civilian deaths are deserved and you are in support of them? For example, if there was a school hostage situation in your hometown, law enforcement should bomb the whole place, children and all! After seeing all of the easily debunked lies IDF puts out, it’s hard to trust any single thing they say.

          • DarkGamer
            link
            fedilink
            1
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            deserved != justified

            If someone takes hostages they should be taken out even if it might mean collateral damage. Doing otherwise encourages more hostage taking in the future. Police actions do not need air support.

            after seeing all of the easily debunked lies IDF puts out

            Citation? The only IDF lie I’m aware of was when that Palestinian reporter lady was capped by IDF and they initially lied about the circumstances, but later admitted it and apologized.

                  • DarkGamer
                    link
                    fedilink
                    1
                    edit-2
                    7 months ago

                    Thanks! I can see it now. This thread is about things IDF and its media allies have done. The latter are generally anonymous online posters probably not affiliated with IDF, and represent almost all of the examples here.

                    • “We had to attack Al Shifa hospital because it’s a Hamas base.” -This is pretty much verified now, CNN sent a reporter to Al Shifa who verified there is a passage to a tunnel network beneath it, (link above.)
                    • Disinformation from, “Edy Cohen, a prominent Israeli social media influencer,” who is not IDF.
                    • Photo op of boxes that are labeled, “medical supplies,” just because it’s clearly a photo op doesn’t make it a lie.
                    • Al Shifa nurse, accused of being fake a social media actress. She denies this, and it’s another post from Edy Cohen, who is still not IDF.
                    • “Hamas computer,” I mean maybe this is BS, but it’s hard for me to know, certainly doesn’t seem like a smoking gun and all the evidence that the laptop is fake seems to come from a biased/not credible source. (I don’t know about IDF laptop labeling and the full charge could have happened many ways; disuse, recharging from batteries or generators, Hamas likely still has fuel.) In any event it seems irrelevant now that the tunnels beneath are verified.
                    • Rantisi hospital, whoa, that’s some serious disinformation on this thread. From the NY times:

                    Monday’s video included footage of a piece of paper taped to a wall in the hospital’s basement. Admiral Hagari said the paper — a grid with Arabic words and numbers within each square — could be a schedule for guarding hostages “where every terrorist writes his name.”
                    The paper included a mark that appeared to be an illegible signature, but did not seem to otherwise include people’s names — the Arabic words were days of the week and numbers underneath dates. The Gazan Health Ministry said in a statement that the paper, including days and dates, was nothing more than “a regular work shift timetable, a standard administrative practice in hospitals.”
                    The ministry, however, failed to address one key detail: The calendar begins on Oct. 7, the day of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, and an Arabic title written at the top uses the militants’ name for the assault: “Al Aqsa Flood Battle, 7/10/2023.”

                    There’s also a lot of other evidence the IDF released at this hospital, including weapons caches and a tunnel. (links in NY times article.)

                    • “Al Ahli Baptist Hospital was bombed, killing hundreds. Not only was the blast 16x more powerful than anything Palestinian fighters have used but Israel put out a clearly faked video as ‘proof’ Hamas did the attack.” While I can’t speak for the authenticity of the linked audio clip, this BBC investigation seems to support the conclusion that this was a misfire from within Gaza, and actually had a much smaller yield/crater than IDF munitions would.
                    • “fake calls of Hamas “confessions” have become standard practice for Israel.” Their proof? A Hamas spokesperson and 2 other anonymous Arab journalists said the accent didn’t sound right on a recording supposedly from Hamas. I mean, it’s possible, but this isn’t exactly a smoking gun either. Weak proof if it is proof at all.
                    • “Israel President Isaac Herzog recently brought out a copy of “Mein Kampf” claimed to be from Gaza. There’s no way we can debunk this…” so why include it as evidence?
                    • “In the US, Israel’s allies have tried to misrepresent pro-Palestine protesters. Many claimed @jvplive activists pepper sprayed cops in DC. Journalist Dave Weigel posted video evidence showing it was the other way around.” This is not IDF, this is US cops and, “Israel’s allies,” presumably anonymous online people. Sometimes pro-Palestine groups are violent and this isn’t always a misrepresentation.
                    • “they’ve tried to claim peace activists are “antisemitic” while Israel supporters are not.” Maybe this is bad argument that inappropriately conflates Israel with Judaism in general, but bad take != lie.
                    • “it’s worth remembering they assassinated Shireen Abu Akleh, denied it, and then admitted to it.” Yes, this is the first claim supported by compelling evidence in the whole damn thread! What they did to her was wrong, period, and it’s fucked up they never punished the one responsible. This was indeed an atrocity committed by the IDF that they lied about.
                    • “These are not “Hostage Information” or “Intel.” It’s most likely notes belonging to a journalist” Dude says he’s seeing it for the first time when he pulls it out.

                    I don’t know who “JoeWrote” is but that person is pushing some serious anti-Israel (dis)information.

          • DarkGamer
            link
            fedilink
            1
            edit-2
            7 months ago

            Yes, if said attacks were against valid military targets and those civilian deaths were collateral damage. Consider the alternatives for Israel: 1) Send troops in without air support into hostile urban guerilla territory, resulting in heavy casualties, or 2) Do not retaliate for Oct 7, encouraging further future attacks and proving human shield tactics effective. From a game theory point of view, both of these are colossally stupid moves that would result in more Israeli deaths.

            If you want to blame anyone for said civilian deaths, blame the terrorist government that provoked the attack while using them as human shields.

            • @daftwerder@lemm.ee
              link
              fedilink
              07 months ago

              I don’t for one second believe that the damage done is unavoidable collateral damage. You would have to be seriously brainwashed to think that.

                • @daftwerder@lemm.ee
                  link
                  fedilink
                  0
                  edit-2
                  7 months ago

                  Prove it is. lol.

                  The burden lies with Israel to justify the killing of innocent civilians.

                  • DarkGamer
                    link
                    fedilink
                    1
                    edit-2
                    7 months ago

                    They do, regularly, and they claim that they are legal attacks. I find the IDF to be more credible than you, random internet stranger, who I presume wasn’t in the room when these targets were chosen and is ignorant of the evidence which justifies them.

        • @Shdwdrgn@mander.xyz
          link
          fedilink
          English
          07 months ago

          So by your reasoning, Palestine was perfectly justified in their actions since Israel had already slaughtered thousands of their civilians, right? It’s not like that attack came out of nowhere, Israel has been murdering Palestinian civilians for decades. Also keep in mind that the only “proof” of Hamas using their hospital as human shields actually came from the IDF, all the articles I’ve seen on the subject have stated that no independent source has been able to confirm any of the propaganda that the IDF is putting out.

          • DarkGamer
            link
            fedilink
            17 months ago

            This conflict is long enough that either side has plenty of cassus belli to choose from, moral justification isn’t as relevant here as Gaza’s realpolitik situation. Hamas poked the bear, and started a war with a military conflict they cannot win against. No amount of outrage will change this. Israel’s response is totally predictable. Hamas wanted to start a war, and they got one; perhaps having them as leaders wasn’t a good idea. They clearly see Palestinians as expendable, and are happy to create a situation that causes many dead civilians provided they can parade them in front of cameras and make Israel look bad.

            all the articles I’ve seen on the subject have stated that no independent source has been able to confirm any of the propaganda that the IDF is putting out.

            https://abcnews.go.com/International/us-intelligence-hamas-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-hold/story?id=104887035

            • @flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works
              link
              fedilink
              English
              0
              edit-2
              7 months ago

              Sorry to chime in on this - it was an interesting debate!

              The problem I have with your link (and I’m not really interested in getting into the other details, I’m too new to this conflict), is that it came from the white house - that’s screams of the IDF going to their big brother and asking for them to vouch for them - it’s like the least independent source possible (other than the IDF or Hamas, of course!)

              • DarkGamer
                link
                fedilink
                17 months ago

                Perhaps. It’s good to be skeptical but foolish to assume we know better than those who have access to intelligence we do not. It could be that they are making this up to support Israel, but far more likely they have similar sources for their information. The consequences for getting caught lying about something like this would be significant.

                For the record, it appears they were telling the truth. CNN just sent a reporter to Al-Shifa who verified Israel’s claims.

                • @flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  07 months ago

                  Interesting!! So there’s definitely a tunnel and it’s unclear what it connects to…

                  About time there was some clear data in amongst all the lies and half-truths. This will be a huge help for Israel if it proves significant, at least there’ll be some vindication

                  • livus
                    link
                    fedilink
                    17 months ago

                    This is going to sound like a conspiracy theory so please view the footage to confirm for yourself, but Israel’s former PM says Israel built some kind of bunker under the hospital decades ago.

      • @daftwerder@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        77 months ago

        You have some seriously warped perspective. Israel is indeed committing actual genocide and ethic cleansing. They want to destroy Palestine and relocate what people are left, if any, into other countries. They have been creating illegal settlements for many many years if you want some context for this strategy.

        Israel is not “defending” itself. For example, sniping innocent doctors and patients and destroying a hospital is not self defense. The al shifa hospital also has not been found to be a Hamas base… 15 guns and a tunnel are not a military base. If it was, this still would not justify those actions. The scale of this “defense” is really disgusting, especially when Israel has been oppressing the people of Palestine for many decades.

        • DarkGamer
          link
          fedilink
          1
          edit-2
          7 months ago

          Israel is indeed committing actual genocide and ethic cleansing

          You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means. Such accusations against Israel devalue the seriousness of these terms. Crying genocide when it’s clearly not applicable is like crying wolf; Israel is clearly not trying to eliminate Muslims or Arabs, if they were they certainly have the means to do so more effectively. In fact, 20% of Israeli citizens are Arab/Palestinians.

          Accusations of ethnic cleansing make no sense unless you extend the term to include national groups that are currently attacking you. Denying a hostile belligerent nation land is ethnic cleansing? Absurd.

          Want to slaughter civilians in your neighboring nation and leave them unable to retaliate without being called a genocidal ethnic cleansing apartheid state? Just be a monoethnicity! Modern nations hate this one trick.