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Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Hamas doesn't kill 30,000 civilians. The IDF does, and some of those are babies. Gaza death toll: More than 30,000 killed since Israel-Hamas war began, health ministry says | CNN -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Yes, holding one-year-olds as hostages is a tactic of Hamas. Indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas are a tactic of Israel. Which is worse? Which causes the most destruction and loss of life? Sorry for the triplicate post. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Yes, holding one-year-olds as hostages is a tactic of Hamas. Indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas are a tactic of Israel. Which is worse? Which causes the most destruction and loss of life? Sorry for the duplicate post... -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Yes, holding one-year-olds as hostages is a tactic of Hamas. Indiscriminate bombings of civilian areas are a tactic of Israel. Which is worse? Which causes the most destruction and loss of life? -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
"They," the radical, right-wing faction of which Netanyahu's government is a member, do want the eradication and elimination of the Palestine nation so Israel can totally occupy what it thinks is its literally God-given right to own. There will always be those who want Israel to share (or divide up) this land with the Palestinians who were living there before the state of Israel was created. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I'm tired of trying to post maps of Israel just to have them removed. I've done this many times in the past. If you really want to see how much land Israel has taken from the Palestinians, just search for "map Israel 1948" and then "map Israel 2023" and you'll see for yourself. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I included the exchange of prisoners in my suggestion because that condition was included in the first couple of proposals from both Israel and Hamas that have been turned down. "Prisoners," from what I understand, include both Palestinians who have been arrested and held without a trial or conviction by Israel and soldiers (POWs) on each side. Yes, I think hostages should never have been taken and should be released with no conditions, but I know that is not what Hamas will do. They will use them as bargaining chips in negotiation. Israelis will use their military might and whatever prisoners they have as bargaining chips. I wouldn't say I like any of this, but this is the process that will have to be done. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Yes! (on most of your points above... - I do support "Israelis living on their land which was legally bestowed upon them in 1948..." and do oppose "...the Palestinians trying to forcible seize Israelis land." - The land that Hamas invaded on Oct 7 was their land in the 1948 UN map. Israel had "forcible[ly] sized" it since then. - I support Israel in responding to the Oct 7 slaughter. I do not support Israel having seized and now living on that land. - Yes, I agree wholeheartedly that "it is ALWAYS wrong to forcible seize other peoples land to live on." -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I have REPEATEDLY called for a CEASEFIRE, which would include the release/exchange of hostages/prisoners. I'm sure there would be other conditions, and a "surrender" could mean many things. If "surrender" just means a ceasefire, I think could be worked out. But if "surrender" means all Hamas would be taken into custody by the IDF, that would be more difficult. And, would that only mean the leaders or every fighter? Also the war will not end until the two sides (hopefully after getting rid of their current leadership) sit down and work out an agreement as to how this land will be divided up (two-state solution). -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I agree but I have to add that things will remain the same until someone ALSO removes the right-wing, nationalistic leaders of Isreal (I can't use their names). They have the same motives, goals, and use the same tactics as Hamas. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
It was ALWAYS wrong to forcibly seize and live on other people's land. Israelis have done that for the past 75 years and NOW continue to do that. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I agree there must never be another Oct 7, but I also believe there should never be a continuing (now almost 6-month-long) devastation of an area using indiscriminate bombing and now invasion causing ten's of thousands of civilian casualties. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I don't hate Israelis, but I do hate their right-wing faction (which I am not allowed to name here). But then, I guess, I could say I hate all right-wing factions everywhere. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Ah, we do definitely have different point of view on this: - I believe that the current military action in Gaza was provoked by the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct 7, but this is just a continuation of a much larger and longer conflict. I also believe the current military actions in Gaza have been much too severe and have gone on much longer than necessary. - I am not telling Israelis to get off the land of Israel. I'm telling them to get off the land of the Palestinians. The UN clearly defined the division of these two lands in their 1947 map, which keeps getting deleted when I post it here. - The current military actions in Gaza and the continuing war that is the result of Israelis taking and living on Palestinian land are all the same issue. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I am not hypocritical. I have said over and over again that what my forefathers did 400+ years ago was genocide and wrong. Now I am telling you that what Israel is doing now is genocide and wrong. What you are doing is like telling someone who admits his father was a thief that it is now okay for you (Israel) to steal. It's just a crazy argument, trying to deflect the charge of genocide from Israel by bringing up the success of past genocides. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Strawman argument! Why did you classify my argument as "It was wrong then, and still wrong now" as a "strawman argument"? "A strawman is a fallacious argument that distorts an opposing stance in order to make it easier to attack." Strawman Arguments: What They Are and How to Counter Them – Effectiviology -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
If an Israeli told me to do anything right now, I couldn't post on this forum what my exact reply would be, but the gist of it would be what I've been saying all along. My forefathers committed genocide. It was wrong then, but that was over 500 years ago. You, (the Israeli), are committing genocide now. It is wrong now. Stop it! -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Nick and you don't make good points; you just search for excuses for Israel's inexcusable devastation of Gaza. The excuse you are now trying to use to justify this merciless killing is, "Well, your forefathers did it, so we can do it now, too." And what I'm saying is that when my forefathers did something similar, it was wrong, and it's still wrong now. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Speaking as someone from the USA, who you have also called a hypocrite, it was wrong then, and it is wrong now. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Who's surprised at this? Israel’s far-right wants to move Palestinians out of Gaza. Its ideas are gaining attention. Israel’s far-right wants to move Palestinians out of Gaza. Its ideas are gaining attention | CNN -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
"But Israel exists now and isn't going anywhere." I agree, but hopefully, it will not do so at the cost of the genocide of the Palestinian Arabs. I hope this ends up in some kind of two-state agreement in which both groups can agree to live, if not together, at least side-by-side. But, I know there will be bitterness and hate on both sides for a long, long time. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
I've never heard that the stated goal of Hamas is "genocide of Jews," but if you define "genocide" as the expulsion of a people from the land on which they are living, then I would agree with that. of course, I would say that is the stated goal of the right-wing, nationalistic faction of the Israelis (whose name I am forbidden to use here.) No, Israel is not supposed to just "cave." I have repeatedly recommended they enter into talks with the Palestinians to work out a deal for either a one-state or two-state solution. And, I agree they should strike back at any attackers, but not to the degree of causing such civilian casualties as they have done and continue to do in Gaza. Israel has been anything but passive during the last 85 years. They have been very active in invading and seizing control of Palestinian land. Many, but not all of these actions, I admit, have been the result of Palestinian attacks on them, but nonetheless, they have not been "passive." -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
Israel's (the extreme, right-wing, nationalistic faction whose name I'm forbidden to use) goal all along, well before Oct 7, was to completely subdue any Palestinian efforts to stop them from completely dominating this land. I hope they do get their hostages back. I think all they'd have to do is offer a ceasefire, but I know there would be other conditions on which both sides might not agree. I wouldn't mind them "crushing" Hamas, but not to the extent that they are conducting a virtual genocide of the Palestinians. -
Israel is at War - General discussion (pt3)
WDSmart replied to Social Media's topic in The War in Israel
If that were true, I'd definitely advise Hamas to release/exchange all hostages/prisoners. BUT..., I don't think that would end this conflict. I think after all the hostages were released, Israel would just continue attacking Gaza, killing Palestinians, and maybe then in the West Bank also.