The actions of Israel are a stain on humanity. Just reading the last few pages turned my stomach. Any pretext of returning hostages, preventing future attacks or co-existence is gone. it’s no longer war this is cruel, sadistic atrocities and genocide
How can the world just watch ?
How can there not be worldwide disgust from the Jewish population? Atrocious actions committed in their name.
The world turns a blind eye, I am guilty myself not opening this thread for last couple of months. However there is absolutely no justification for allowing a the population to starve.
The humanitarian crisis is indefensible, it should tanscend all political considerations. This comes down to the basics of human dignity and human rights.
When an international pariah invades, rapes and pillages his neighbour, there’s rightful condemnation.
When a western ally and a member of the international community engages in outright genocide and displacement in an obvious land grab, the world is more than willing to turn a blind eye.
Not sure where to post this, but I just had a rather unpleasant exchange on Facebook.
Someone had posted a reply to a news thread asking why Israel participates in the Eurovision song contest. I just put a simple reply on about EBU membership and the role of public service broadcasting.
Anyway, someone replied to me, using homophonic language and saying that they supported Israel because all the (Jews) could be sent there to kill Muslims for a living.
I rather get the impression that many “friends of Israel” aren’t friends of anyone. Fortunately, Facebook does appear to pick up on vile language and the whole exchange was removed quite quickly.
(Jews) = antisemitic racial epithet, but I expect that you guessed that.
I no longer listen to any official Israeli spokespeople , a practice of mine which goes back to the days of Operation Cast Lead and being forced to listen to master propagandist Mark Regev (now Ambassador to the UK). Having to stomach the type of answers this guy (Bismuth) gives is simply not good for your mental well-being , and yes , kudos to Yama asking the questions in such a forthright manner.
Just the other night Christiane Amanpour was interviewing Sharren Haskel, the Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister who says that the reports of famine in Gaza are “complete lies” and when pressed specifically by Amanpour , denied that a single Gazan had died from starvation.
I simply refuse to be gaslit any longer by these liars.
The UK has suspended negotiations with Israel on a new free trade agreement.
The Israeli ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, has been summoned to the Foreign Office to be told by the UK’s Middle East minister that Israel’s block on aid to Gaza has been “indefensible”.
He says the confict is “entering a dark new phase”, adding it is “abominable” that fewer than 10 aid trucks entered Gaza yesterday.
Netanyahu’s government are “damaging the image of the State of Israel in the eyes of the world”.
At least, European countries are starting to talk in a more coherent way than until now. As said before, everyone is now very nervous about what is happening inside Gaza as we speak.
It is understood that there has been training in the past. But there are indications, that if the deal between US and Iran fails (likely, as US is pushing for no enrichment at all, while Khamenei tweets that this is 100% unacceptable; so US must budge), Israel will strike. https://x.com/Faytuks/status/1924951301776986549
With Hezbollah gravely injured, Iran uprooted from Syria and Hamas entrenched in urban guerilla warfare inside Gaza, the usual factors that would give Israel’s security cabinet pause (risk assessment), are gone or severely mitigated.
If you want to dance with Iran, have there ever been a better time (apart from the problems of having a terrible Casus Belli and an image run to the ground by excessive violence and medeaval siege warfare in Gaza) ?
Therefore I post. Because I find an attack (if US and Iran does not come to an agreement) likely. And it would have terrible consequences, most likely. Iran is weak now, it is far from as scary as it was. But it will use assymetric warfare, most likely, if attacked (i.e. terror attacks abroad, closing the Hormuz Strait and causing global economic pain and so on).
Let’s hope it comes to nothing. That would be nice. Good conclusions to such matters have been rare these days…
CNN
Israeli papers don’t write about this other than reporting that the CNN is reporting this. Before the war in gaza, they would have. But now that it is war, such sensitive news (journalists in Israel knows more about this than they say) are subject to the Military Censor (which all countries at war have, so that is not unique for Israel as such).
When a Tory MP , who is also Leader of The House , and a member of The Friends of Israel grouping , with over forty years’ standing , is asking questions like this , then I think we can safely say that the rubicon has been crossed.
In what is an otherwise rather meandering and not particularly good opinion piece, Jones raises several other examples of formerly staunch Israel supporters now changing their tune:
I’m glad to hear it, finally, but after the total destruction of Gaza, and now mass deaths - more will surely come out on this in the coming days and weeks - the west has not done nearly enough for the people of Palestine.
Hamas had a grip over the populace, and they foolishly attacked Israel and it was indefensible. Lots happened before that, but that October attack was the spark for what we have seen since. Israel has the right to defend itself but what we have seen has been way more than that. Their response has been so disproportionate, as if the Hamas attack has given them carte blanche to wipe the Palestinians off the map.
We have seen a much stronger power raze Gaza to the ground, and there haven been tens of thousands of deaths along the way. I have a real sense of dread in my heart right now as I suspect the death toll is about to go through the roof. Bombs, drones and guns have killed tens of thousands. But I fear that malnutrition, and diseases around a lack of sanitation, are going to take the death toll into the hundreds of thousands.
We live in a world where any criticism of Israel is met with such staunch resistance. Antisemitism has historically been a stain on society, and there is no place for it. However, legitimate criticism is not antisemitic. Calling out Israel for the atrocities it is committing is not antisemitic. And the UK politician is quite right to do so.
Nothing will come of it though. Israel will continue to do whatever it wants to do. Nobody will keep them in check. The United States is the only one who possibly could, but its government is Israel’s biggest supporter.
There’s a sense in which history is always being recorded, but in years to come we will look back on this time with a real sense of shame because not enough was done.
I’m wondering about this. Trump is so unreliable that I could see him suddenly change his tune. After all, what can Netanyahou offer him personally, what the Saudi Arabians or the United Emirates can’t offer him?
If at some point, criticism of Netanyahou becomes ripe in the US among a big part of the Jewish diaspora, as it currently happens elsewhere (we can’t be very far away from that now), Trump will feel he can do whatever he wants.
It would be interesting to see him treat Netanyahou like how he treated the Europeans: “Our trade balance is negative with your country, and what have you ever done for us anyway? We have to protect you, but why should we do that, you’re ruining us, you know? You might well become our enemy at some point. Oh, and that Syrian leader is really handsome by the way.”
