| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:What do the Palistinians and their supporters actually want ? | |
| Posted by: | John Kettlekey | |
| Date/Time: | 14/05/24 18:37:00 |
| I'm not interested in getting into this particular debate but I will step in on this point: > Israel is only seen as a pariah nation by those that believe it should not have reacted to defend itself after being invaded last October by the Palestinians. Part of the problem is the phrasing this as a kind of false dichotomy. It's not simply "defend itself or don't defend itself". If you don't get it the major push back on Israel's response is because many people believe it was just too much. No-one seriously believes that Israel doesn't have the authority to react/respond. (I'm sure there are plenty of deluded people who believe that Israel shouldn't have responded at all.) However many many people believe that Israel's response was over the top, or disproportionate, and that there have been too many civilian deaths and that the other actions (closing crossings, restricting movement of food/water/fuel) is punitively punishing innocent Palestinians caught up in this conflict. At some point in the future there will be a more objective review of Israel's actions throughout this conflict and whether they were disproportionate (in the subjective sense but also in the stricter sense of international laws governing war: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-proportionality-law-of-war.html ). There are plenty of contentious points, and I'm sure they will fall foul of at least some at varying levels of severity. No country can engage in conflict like this and come out squeaky clean. But what will be discovered eventually is the extent to which they pushed things too far if they did. Consider articles like this from that notorious left wing rag The Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/05/14/uncertainty-israel-international-law-challenge-uk-ahmad/ Or this one from the Independent which quotes Lord Cameron as stating that Israel is risking committing war crimes if they continue down certain paths: https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/uk-warns-israel-over-rafah-war-crimes-risk-3045075 So, I disagree with the statement "Israel is only seen as a pariah nation by those that believe it should not have reacted to defend itself after being invaded last October by the Palestinians." but would rather say that Israel is under increasing scrutiny for the strength and direction of their response to the attacks. |