Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has given orders to the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip in a move that threatens to torpedo an already fragile ceasefire and create catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the already devastated territory.
In recent days, Israeli-backed armed militias have taken a leading role in emptying the territory along the ceasefire line, telling residents to vacate their homes or shelters.
Throughout the eight months of the ceasefire, Israeli forces have continued to open fire on Palestinians within range of the “yellow line” splitting the strip, and carry out airstrikes deeper inside western Gaza, killing more than 900 Palestinians since the truce began.
I want to take a big step back and ask what the point of this conversation is.
Personally, I think we should study history to learn from it.
I think you should – as a mental exercise – imagine that although Biden objected to the optics, he fundamentally believed that the only way for Israeli Jews to be safe was to teach Palestinians the lesson that armed resistance will always elicit an unfathomable cost in their children’s blood. And that meant that an unrestrained total war on the civilian population was an unfortunate necessity.
If he believed this, but also found the glorification of racial hatred despicable, and recognized that politics and law required him to publicly disavow crimes against humanity…
… what do you think he would do?
Really try to answer this question. And then ask how his real world choices differed.
The cost of Biden’s mistakes has been unbearable. So we had better learn lessons and make sure these mistakes are never repeated. And that requires an honest accounting.
I don’t know, but what if you presume he wanted to stop the killing of civilians in Gaza but he was stuck because of the current ME power balance, the politics of it, and the weight of the Isreali supporting voters, lobbyists and funding. I think, then, he would push back with public statements, threaten to reduce support, and use backchannel pressure. And it seems like that’s what happened. Once Trump won, Isreal ramped up the attacks on civilians; so whatever Biden was doing, it helped somewhat.
I’m sorry but what reality is this in? Netanyahu literally accepted the ceasefire Biden had been unsuccessfully pushing for seven months the day before Trump took office.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_2025_Gaza_war_ceasefire
The primary difference between the war before and after the transition was that the IDF transitioned from a brutal ground offensive to a three month ceasefire, followed by a ruthless starvation blockage. It’s not substantively better. But no, Israel did not “ramp up up attacks”; they literally did the opposite of that when Trump took office.
I’m sorry to say this so bluntly, but you’re living in denial. I get it. The truth was devastating to watch. But if you want anything to get better, you need to confront reality.
Well you seem to like Trump, and carry water for him regardless of what was said and done and the actual effect on the ground. But so it often is with Trump supporters. Nothing I can say will change your opinion and you’ll probably go on supporting maga to get elected because you are somehow convinced that democrats are just as bad. Whatever. I’ll let you have the last word now.
I thick we should sit with what you’re doing here.
You’re not a fool. You know perfectly well that I despise Trump. But you’re accusing me of supporting him because you know it’s a vicious and disgusting thing to say. You’re resorting to vulgar insults because my words hurt you deeply, moreso because they’re coming from an ally. I’m violating the safety of the fiction you’re sheltering in, and if you can convince yourself that I’m actually some kind of manipulative fascist that is doing it to hurt you rather than help you confront painful truths, it makes it easier for you to dismiss my words.
I don’t think this is a conscious plan. But this is what a worldview trying to protect itself from painful truths does.
I’ll say no more. I will accept your anger. But I wish you progress on the journey we’re all on.
Yes. I get angry. When someone says ‘they’re the same’. I’m perfectly aware how the dems aren’t good enough. But they’re so obviously better than maga, that it pisses me off when idiots refuse to vote for ‘better’ due to some moronic notion, and as a result we end up with the generational damage cause by trump.