If you are expecting to read my usual Left Coast column, I tell you now that you will be disappointed. I write, today, from a place of horror—about the massacre unleashed against civilians in Israel this past week, and about the morally cretinous bloodlust reaction some who fashion themselves as bei...
Look, I'm not gonna celebrate killing of "civilians" (they are settlers, which is tbh different. They are also reservists).
But literally hamas wouldn't exist without Israeli occupation and apartheid. They wouldn't exist without Israel imposing the world's biggest concentration camp on Palestinians. Militant struggle would happen with hamas, and if not hamas then another group. I've said this before but it's like putting water over heat and getting mad when it boils. What's the point of condemning hamas when they are just the result of conditions placed upon Palastinians
That’s because right wing Israelis were afraid of having to deal with groups perceived as willing to negotiate. They are more comfortable being perpetually at war. Contrary to what they claim, they don’t actually care about the security of their own civilian population. Far easier to expand the settler colony through brute violence, even if it means less security for everyone. They like having an opposition composed of zeolous dead-enders because they can use the need for security as an excuse to kill off more Palestinians or illegally grab more land in the west bank for settlements. Having HAMAS as the only opposition is also optically better. You hear them constantly comparing HAMAS to DAESH. Who in their right mind would want to sit across the table and negotiate with DAESH?
SEO optimized idealist media criticism focused hot take: revenge is cool and good and no west coast PMC hipster who has ever written a fucking marvel movie saying its not has ever experienced anything truly worth avenging.
lukewarm materialist take: revenge is ok in certain contexts assuming the consequences can be avoided or are beneficial to strengthening the dictatorship of the proletariat. see the chinese cultural revolution for examples.
Sure. I can see that, especially the second one. I'm just pointing out that when arguing with liberals you can easily point to Israel's heinous actions and say "What would you and your friends do? What would they want to do? Would you roll over and take it?" And further to the point about "condemning hamas", it's like condemning boiling water. You condemn the person putting the water to heat