War Crimes
The sniper who killed that grandma holding the hand of a 5 year old waving a white flag committed a war crime.
The soldiers who shot and killed those shirtless men waving a white flag who turned out to be escaping Israeli hostages, committed a war crime.
The IDF soldiers who shelled the refugee camps in Gaza committed war crimes.
Let's not pretend y'all wouldn't be screaming bloody murder if Hamas shelled a camp full of Israelis fleeing the fighting, or if Hamas snipers were picking off Jewish grandmas trying to get preschoolers to safety.
A question without notice
Arctish
If Israel were to stop bombing Gaza, stop the settlements, not want the hostages back, release all Palestians prisoners, agree to whatever peace plan that is the
Middle East peace plan de jure do you truly believe that Hamas/Islamic Jihad/Hezbollah etc. would stop raiding Israel, stop launching rockets, killing Jews whenever, when ever they can?
No.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, etc. are where violent bigots gather to plan and commit acts designed to force their opponents to comply with their desires. Just like Zionist terrorists who devised and implemented Plan Dalet. Just like the KKK keeping Black Americans separate and subjugated. Just like the Cossacks carrying out pogroms in Ukraine, the Spanish enslaving Taino in the Caribbean, and every other group who used violence to force others into submission throughout history.
There are many political parties that believe strongly in their vision of how the world should be, but when they cross the line into murder or welcome murderers into their midst they've lost all legitimacy in my view.
I think Israel needs to stop bombing Gaza because it is killing thousands of unarmed civilians. Their deaths won't make Israel any safer, it will rightfully turn more and more people against Israel.
I think Israel needs to not only stop building settlements, it needs to relocate the settlers and offer the empty housing to the Palestinians it made refugees when Zionists and the IDF destroyed their homes.
I think Israel should
never stop wanting the hostages back, and not expect the Palestinians to stop wanting their people back either.
I think Israel should release everyone it is holding in administrative detention, i.e. prisoners who have never been charged with any crime, much less convicted, and should allow an impartial international panel to review the evidence and court proceedings of any non-Israeli who was convicted of a crime. There are credible allegations of torture and suppression of evidence when it comes to Palestinians accused of being enemy combatants. I think it's important for people to believe that justice, not vengeance, is being served.
I don't know the details of the
peace plan de jure, but I doubt it's so sweet that every asshole in Hamas/Islamic Jihad/Hezbollah etc. would stop raiding Israel, stop launching rockets, killing Jews whenever, when ever they can. I do think a good deal would make the less fanatic back off, and the more pragmatic relent entirely. However, I also believe a sweet deal, or even any deal that allows a Palestinian State for be established on Palestine, would inspire fanatic Zionists to murder anyone who supports it, even Jews. They did it before and I expect they will do it again. Likewise for any deal that grants full and equal rights to Palestinians in a One State solution.
The challenge is to stand up to violent racist bigots and not let them be the driving force in society. Moderates are at a disadvantage when it comes to what they're willing to do to win that fight, but there is strength in numbers. I truly believe that moderates outnumber the murderous assholes in Israel and the Occupied Territories and that someday they will prevail.
"
The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Justice, fairness, respect, and upholding the rights of all persons equally is the only thing that has ever resolved conflicts like the one going on in Israel and Palestine. The sooner we apply one single standard when we judge the rightness or wrongness of a person's or nation's acts, the better for everyone.
IMO bombing civilians who have gathered together to seek shelter, or to get a hot meal, or to enjoy a music festival, is utterly immoral no matter who did it to whom. The perpetrators must be defeated on the ground and at the ballot box, and those who have chosen diplomacy and negotiation instead of terrorism and brutality must be supported.
