| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Médecins Sans Frontières. | |
| Posted by: | Steven Rose | |
| Date/Time: | 14/07/25 16:11:00 |
| Michael, if you don't wish to communicate with John, that is your choice. But I hope you are prepared to communicate with me. If so, why not tell me whether you think the Israelis are deliberately targeting civilians? Richard, you really should stop labelling criticism of your views as a 'smear'. The category about which you ask includes you, Gerry and a number of other contributors to the Forum who I would call the 'Israel can do nothing right brigade'. I am afraid that admitting that Israel suffered a murderous assault on October 7 2023 does not count as being open minded. Being open minded also implies a willingness to appreciate that Israel cannot tolerate the presence on its border of a massive terrorist organisation dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish state and the extermination of its Jewish population. You dismiss this threat by arguing that Hamas lack the means to kill all the Jews in Israel. This is obviously true, but they are clearly capable of raping, mutilating and murdering a thousand with a promise of more to come. It you were an Israeli citizen rather than sitting in the safety of Putney, I don't think you would be quite so dismissive about the threat posed by Hamas. None of this, of course, means that Israel should be immune to criticism. I and several other people on the Forum have been critical of Israel's policies, from the settlements on the West Bank to the tactics of the IDF. But I see no willingness on the part of critics of Israel on the Forum to see both sides. Instead they offer relentless criticism of Israel with no recognition of the attempts by the IDF to reduce civilian casualties, no understanding of the difficulty of eliminating terrorists who shield behind civilians, no compassion for the hostages and no solution other than a unilateral ceasefire by Israel leaving Hamas intact. |