"The public desire for revenge is both understandable and terrifying, but the erasure of any moral red line is always a frightening thing.
It is important not to minimise or condone the heinous crimes committed by Hamas. But it is also important to remind ourselves that everything it is inflicting on us now, we have been inflicting on the Palestinians for years. Indiscriminate firing, including at children and older people; intrusion into their homes; burning down their houses; taking hostages тАУ not just fighters but civilians, children and older people. I keep reminding myself that ignoring this context is giving up a piece of my own humanity. Because violence devoid of any context leads to only one possible response: revenge. And I donтАЩt want revenge from anyone. Because revenge is the opposite of security, it is the opposite of peace, it is also the opposite of justice. It is nothing but more violence."
I maintain that there are crimes of abundance and there are crimes of hunger, and we have not only brought Gaza to the brink of starvation, we have brought it to a state of collapse. Always in the name of security. How much security did we get? Where will another round of revenge take us?"
"Do you know what is worse than having your dead body urinated upon? Being killed. Being shot. Being bombed. Having your limbs blown off. Having your house incinerated by a drone-fired missile that you don't see until it explodes. Having your children blown up in their beds. Having your spouse killed. Having your hometown destroyed. Being displaced. Becoming a refugee. Having your entire life destroyed as a consequence of political forces far, far beyond your control."
There is no lack of guilt and bloody hands in the Middle East. Claiming the right of tit for tat is not a valid excuse. That doesnтАЩt absolve the various leaders over time in Israel of responsibility for their violence towards the Arabs and Palestinians.
However, right now тАФ right now тАФ there is also no excuse for the actions of Hamas. Hundreds murdered at a peace concert, elderly people deliberately trapped in houses and burned alive, babies and children murdered, hundreds of civilians, including women and children kidnapped, one-by-one executions of innocents threatened. Much more.
The original article is untimely to say the least. Who cares about the use of the word terrorism when Israel and the Gaza Strip are burning, when this war may spread and burn out of control?
Violence begets violence but violence does not excuse violence. Cite past and current violence of Israel? It doesnтАЩt excuse what Hamas has done and what it is seeking. It seeks the total destruction of Israel. That would result in the death of millions.
And IranтАЩs purpose? The ending of any peace process between Israel and Arab states.
DonтАЩt talk to me of the definition of words right now.
so you want "murder kids at a music festival" to have a word that isn't *pejorative*?
Why?
So you want Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians ever since the Nakba to have a word that isn't pejorative? Why?
Already said what they're doing has a pejorative connotation. You're just being a dick.
"The public desire for revenge is both understandable and terrifying, but the erasure of any moral red line is always a frightening thing.
It is important not to minimise or condone the heinous crimes committed by Hamas. But it is also important to remind ourselves that everything it is inflicting on us now, we have been inflicting on the Palestinians for years. Indiscriminate firing, including at children and older people; intrusion into their homes; burning down their houses; taking hostages тАУ not just fighters but civilians, children and older people. I keep reminding myself that ignoring this context is giving up a piece of my own humanity. Because violence devoid of any context leads to only one possible response: revenge. And I donтАЩt want revenge from anyone. Because revenge is the opposite of security, it is the opposite of peace, it is also the opposite of justice. It is nothing but more violence."
I maintain that there are crimes of abundance and there are crimes of hunger, and we have not only brought Gaza to the brink of starvation, we have brought it to a state of collapse. Always in the name of security. How much security did we get? Where will another round of revenge take us?"
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/oct/09/israel-war-hamas-benjamin-netanyahu-government
This may also be relevant:
"Do you know what is worse than having your dead body urinated upon? Being killed. Being shot. Being bombed. Having your limbs blown off. Having your house incinerated by a drone-fired missile that you don't see until it explodes. Having your children blown up in their beds. Having your spouse killed. Having your hometown destroyed. Being displaced. Becoming a refugee. Having your entire life destroyed as a consequence of political forces far, far beyond your control."
https://www.gawker.com/5875468/piss-on-war
None of this is easy to write about.
There is no lack of guilt and bloody hands in the Middle East. Claiming the right of tit for tat is not a valid excuse. That doesnтАЩt absolve the various leaders over time in Israel of responsibility for their violence towards the Arabs and Palestinians.
However, right now тАФ right now тАФ there is also no excuse for the actions of Hamas. Hundreds murdered at a peace concert, elderly people deliberately trapped in houses and burned alive, babies and children murdered, hundreds of civilians, including women and children kidnapped, one-by-one executions of innocents threatened. Much more.
The original article is untimely to say the least. Who cares about the use of the word terrorism when Israel and the Gaza Strip are burning, when this war may spread and burn out of control?
Violence begets violence but violence does not excuse violence. Cite past and current violence of Israel? It doesnтАЩt excuse what Hamas has done and what it is seeking. It seeks the total destruction of Israel. That would result in the death of millions.
And IranтАЩs purpose? The ending of any peace process between Israel and Arab states.
DonтАЩt talk to me of the definition of words right now.
The blood has not dried yet.