One half of Gaza’s population are minors. Do you hold them accountable? The commenter advocates reducing all these children to a "parking lot." This serves no rational defensive purpose. There is no viable end game for Israel's current course short of emptying Gaza by making it unlivable. If these people have nowhere to go (and they don't thanks to Egypt), they will die in huge numbers---we have seen nothing yet.
And where will that leave Israel? A nuclear armed pariah state. Israel is losing its moral argument for existence in favor of raw power. It is losing the world as well. I cry for a country I have supported. So do my Jewish children.
Define minors. In Gaza, 14 year-olds are definitely military aged males. What percentage of the "minors" reported by Hamas are 14-20 year old young men? You have NO idea. What is Israel supposed to do about them on the battlefield? Use rubber bullets?
"Gaza, 14 year-olds are definitely military aged males"
Jesus Christ David, how is it possible that you're able to write something like this about 14-year-old children? 14-YEARS-OLD!!! And let's be very clear, ~40% of people in Gaza are under 14. 14 is the top end of that age range you're blithely dismissing the killing of.
And further, even if we've really reached the point where we can tell ourselves that 14-year-old male lives are worthless, that they're all terrorists and rapists, I'll remind you that just slightly more than half of those "children' are girls. We DO have an idea about that.
I think we all need to be mindful of our souls here. It's easy, when you're having a debate with somebody on the internet, where the desire to score a rhetorical point is animating your fingers, when the dead people we're talking about are just numbers on a page, to lose sight of what you're advocating or defending.
Unlike the US in Falloujah, Israel uses far more heavy bombs than bullets.
Israel has already lost, and stands to lose far more as it continues on this trajectory, than it will ever gain in security. Its allies, its moral standing in the world, even its arguments for existence after the Holocaust and Russian pogroms have been attenuated by hypocrisy.
What is left to it is raw power. It will exist as a totalitarian religious security state in the future. The liberal Israel we all knew and respected is gone for good I’m afraid.
As a liberal lifelong lover of the Israel of yore, that of the tolerance of Haifa, it's going to be a relic of the past, and I mourn it.
Back then, I was against them and solidly with Israel. In LA where I grew up, since high school I have been surrounded by Jewish Americans as my best friends, work colleagues (I am a lawyer), and my family. Through their mother, my children are Jewish.
But as this has worn on, I have been forced to change my views, largely spurred on by my daughters. I now see the Israel I knew on a path to internal self-destruction. Sure, it will militarily "prevail" in a literal sense, but at the cost of its standing and its soul.
Gaza does also not consist of 2.3 million hostages. Hamas has overwhelming support of the people, who celebrated October 7.
One half of Gaza’s population are minors. Do you hold them accountable? The commenter advocates reducing all these children to a "parking lot." This serves no rational defensive purpose. There is no viable end game for Israel's current course short of emptying Gaza by making it unlivable. If these people have nowhere to go (and they don't thanks to Egypt), they will die in huge numbers---we have seen nothing yet.
And where will that leave Israel? A nuclear armed pariah state. Israel is losing its moral argument for existence in favor of raw power. It is losing the world as well. I cry for a country I have supported. So do my Jewish children.
Define minors. In Gaza, 14 year-olds are definitely military aged males. What percentage of the "minors" reported by Hamas are 14-20 year old young men? You have NO idea. What is Israel supposed to do about them on the battlefield? Use rubber bullets?
"Gaza, 14 year-olds are definitely military aged males"
Jesus Christ David, how is it possible that you're able to write something like this about 14-year-old children? 14-YEARS-OLD!!! And let's be very clear, ~40% of people in Gaza are under 14. 14 is the top end of that age range you're blithely dismissing the killing of.
And further, even if we've really reached the point where we can tell ourselves that 14-year-old male lives are worthless, that they're all terrorists and rapists, I'll remind you that just slightly more than half of those "children' are girls. We DO have an idea about that.
I think we all need to be mindful of our souls here. It's easy, when you're having a debate with somebody on the internet, where the desire to score a rhetorical point is animating your fingers, when the dead people we're talking about are just numbers on a page, to lose sight of what you're advocating or defending.
Unlike the US in Falloujah, Israel uses far more heavy bombs than bullets.
Israel has already lost, and stands to lose far more as it continues on this trajectory, than it will ever gain in security. Its allies, its moral standing in the world, even its arguments for existence after the Holocaust and Russian pogroms have been attenuated by hypocrisy.
What is left to it is raw power. It will exist as a totalitarian religious security state in the future. The liberal Israel we all knew and respected is gone for good I’m afraid.
As a liberal lifelong lover of the Israel of yore, that of the tolerance of Haifa, it's going to be a relic of the past, and I mourn it.
90% of the people protesting Israel started protesting on October 8th. That's why the moral capital argument falls flat with them.
Back then, I was against them and solidly with Israel. In LA where I grew up, since high school I have been surrounded by Jewish Americans as my best friends, work colleagues (I am a lawyer), and my family. Through their mother, my children are Jewish.
But as this has worn on, I have been forced to change my views, largely spurred on by my daughters. I now see the Israel I knew on a path to internal self-destruction. Sure, it will militarily "prevail" in a literal sense, but at the cost of its standing and its soul.
Hence, I said 90%
Yes, you are correct. I'm part of the 10%. So, is Steve QJ. Thank you.