squirrelmaster on Nostr: Some thoughts about the #Israel-Hamas war: 1. Zionism is NOT racism 2. Anti-Zionism ...
Some thoughts about the #Israel-Hamas war:
1. Zionism is NOT racism
2. Anti-Zionism is NOT the same thing as Anti-Semitism (though one can bleed into the other)
3. Palestinians deserve a state of their own and have a right to self-government and
4. Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state and to protect its citizens from terrorism, including retaliating forcefully against Hamas for its terrorist attacks against Israelis
5. Hamas has no interest in a two-state solution. They embolden the right-wingers in Israel and vice-versa. They also hoard supplies and resources to further their military aims, rather than using them to support Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They are a corrupt, Islamist mafia, not the hope of the Palestinian people for national liberation
6. Any ultimate peace solution must recognize the Palestinian right of return (which is not the same thing as saying ALL the 1948 refugees and their descendants have to return to their ancestral homes). Israel must come to terms that for Palestinians, 1948 was a catastrophe
7. Many Jewish Israelis have their roots in Middle Eastern countries they were forcibly expelled from and disposed of property and possessions. This is too often overlooked in a way that smacks of a pernicious double-standard
8. Hamas cannot be destroyed by military action alone. It is an ideology that can only be made obsolete by a more hopeful, non-violent ideology, and it is up Palestinians to choose to embrace such an alternative ideology
9. The Israeli government can help that competing ideology gain more traction by explicitly committing to a two-state solution and ceasing settlement expansion immediately. But Netanyahu is not the leader Israel needs right now, unfortunately, so that seems unlikely
10. A unilateral cease-fire by Israel now would give Hamas a dangerous victory and set a terrible precedent that terrorism works. If Hamas were willing to free all the hostages in exchange ONLY for a cease-fire, that would be worth considering
1. Zionism is NOT racism
2. Anti-Zionism is NOT the same thing as Anti-Semitism (though one can bleed into the other)
3. Palestinians deserve a state of their own and have a right to self-government and
4. Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state and to protect its citizens from terrorism, including retaliating forcefully against Hamas for its terrorist attacks against Israelis
5. Hamas has no interest in a two-state solution. They embolden the right-wingers in Israel and vice-versa. They also hoard supplies and resources to further their military aims, rather than using them to support Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They are a corrupt, Islamist mafia, not the hope of the Palestinian people for national liberation
6. Any ultimate peace solution must recognize the Palestinian right of return (which is not the same thing as saying ALL the 1948 refugees and their descendants have to return to their ancestral homes). Israel must come to terms that for Palestinians, 1948 was a catastrophe
7. Many Jewish Israelis have their roots in Middle Eastern countries they were forcibly expelled from and disposed of property and possessions. This is too often overlooked in a way that smacks of a pernicious double-standard
8. Hamas cannot be destroyed by military action alone. It is an ideology that can only be made obsolete by a more hopeful, non-violent ideology, and it is up Palestinians to choose to embrace such an alternative ideology
9. The Israeli government can help that competing ideology gain more traction by explicitly committing to a two-state solution and ceasing settlement expansion immediately. But Netanyahu is not the leader Israel needs right now, unfortunately, so that seems unlikely
10. A unilateral cease-fire by Israel now would give Hamas a dangerous victory and set a terrible precedent that terrorism works. If Hamas were willing to free all the hostages in exchange ONLY for a cease-fire, that would be worth considering