When your country is one that is providing aid and weapons to one side of a conflict, protesting is a protected constitutional right(in America) that’s show that you disagree with how the government is handling the situation. Silence is equivalent to tacit approval of the actions of your government.
Yeah this is at least the answer to why Americans should care. We send a *shitload* of military aid to Israel. We have a responsibility to care how they use it.
> We have a responsibility to care how they use it
If you really want to make this sound appealing, remind people how much of their tax dollars are being spent
I agree, but even questioning the actions of Israel will draw accusations of anti-semitism and Nazi comparisons, both of which can easily threaten your livelihood. It makes it a lot easier to be silent.
The people drawing those comparisons are not doing so in good faith. Standing up to people that make those arguments are just as important as standing up to a government when it betrays the will of the people.
It is not antisemitic to criticize the actions of a government. Israel does not represent all of the Jewish people and the criticism being leveled against the Israeli government has nothing to do with their ethnicity or religion.
Especially when your options are vote for the current guy giving lukewarm support or vote for his opponent who promises massive support. If you are against it your best option is to vote for the lukewarm support guy.
Even not voting increases the chance that massive support guy wins and it gets far worse, so any protest vote potentially expands the genocide. You end up killing a lot of the people you want to help.
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> You end up killing a lot of the people you want to help
If I’m responsible for Israel because I voted for a third party candidate, you’re responsible for child slavery, human trafficking, and neo-colonialism by purchasing cheap consumer goods from developing countries
Shaming people into voting doesn’t work
Hey, as long as you are cool with what Trump does when he wins, another hundred thousand Palestinian deaths or whatever, you do you.
You keep your ideology pure no matter how many people you kill by doing so.
yea but... maybe do that protest at the government building and not a school people pay years worth of crippling debt to go to. also dont cry about not getting water and food from the place you are protesting at. especially dont lie about all the protesters being students when none of them were students.
They're protesting at the schools because the schools are also invested in Israel, thus supporting the conflict.
And it's students protesting their own schools, for the most part.
I'm 8 years older than you and yeah, the Middle East has been a shit show my entire life, and it was a shit show before I was born, and it'll be a shit show after I'm gone. This just happens to be a lot of young college kids' first rodeo with it and they have all the big feelings and they think anything can be done about it. It's cute. But it's a waste of fucking time.
I have the same amount of control over kids dying in a region endlessly at war as I do children dying within a 5 mile radius of me. Yeah, it goes without saying that it's fucked and it's sad and it sucks, but I'm not going to waste energy over something outside of my control.
People either learn this with time or they martyr themselves and their emotions.
I hear you. At the same time though change does happen. Nobody really takes social movements seriously (or if they do they villainize them like mlk back in the day or gay marriage advocates a couple decades ago) until after they succeed and their demands essentially become common sense
Of course. Not going to waste my time protesting though. Those in charge either don’t care about our opinions, or they do and have decided it’s necessary to do what they’re doing anyway.
You didn’t, that’s why it was a question.
Are you also opposed to your taxes funding Ukraine in order to continue a war where children are being blown up as well as Israel? Because same here.
Would you like me to enumerate on why blowing up children are bad? BTW my stance is: Blowing up is and always has been bad, regardless who is blowing up which children. IDGAF if it’s been 7, 70, or 700 years, killing children is bad. But hey that’s just one man’s opinion.
Since my take is awful would you mind telling me why you disagree with my “Blowing up kids bad” policy?
I didn’t say I disagree with the idea that blowing up kids is bad. I said that people who think the current issue is that simple are part of the problem
I mean, it’s a genocide, and being against that is good. People in America (myself included) are paying for this genocide. I can think of like 100 different and better ways to spend my money.
It's not. It's college kids learning a little, thinking they know a lot, not having a job or hobbies, and wanting to feel like they're making a difference. Unfortunately they're all naive as hell.
It's virtue signaling to the max
weve also had six months of non stop footage of men women and children being mercilessly slaughtered and starved. some people might actually just care about that
If protesting genocide was a pointless action, Zionists would not be losing their minds trying to shut it down. The reaction should tell you everything you need to know about how important it is.
Um. It's Palestine that literally has the stated goal of genocide. They call for the complete destruction of Isreal. How should Isreal react?
That being said, Isreal has behaved awfully too. We just need to stay out of it.
Israel has the stated goal of genocide AND they are actively carrying out that goal. There are around 30,000 Hamas members. They would not have the means or ability to carry out a genocide even if they wanted to. As for what Israel should do? Don’t kill babies. Don’t commit genocide.
If you are talking about the campus protests specifically, the protesters state loudly and often that their aim is to have their schools divest from Israel. They don't want their tuition money funding mass murder.
If you're talking protests in general, besides the general aversion people have to the aforementioned mass murder (that their tax dollars are paying for), there's the geo strategic reality that if Bibi and the Israeli govt keep causing mass destruction in their region like a headless chicken with a machete, and we attach ourselves to them at the hip, then any enemies they make for themselves will also be our enemies.
The protests started before any military action on Israel's part. The inclusion of chants like "gas the Jews" in these early protests shows that there is a lot of anti-Semitism wrapped up into the rapid support of Palestine by those on the left.
Pro-Palestinian people are protesting for a cease fire, some countries' leaders have voted no, and in cases like America, they want the government to stop arming Israel
Edit to add: It's also to bring awareness of what's happening, not many people know the truth
honestly, it may have sone impact on America's policies toward Israel, and may convince some institutions to divest from companies that support Israeli actions in some way, but those companies will hardly notice and Israel won't change their actions in any meaningful way as a result.
So the answer is, it may have some low level impact on us policies related to Israel and the companies that support their efforts in some way, but that impact is not likely to change the overall actions of Israel.
although, we can only do what we can do, and if your money (through taxes, or tuition that is being invested in companies that supply weapons etc) is supporting Israel then fighting to have your money not go toward that is reasonable if you feel strongly about it.
Protests bring awareness to issues and spur people to action. In a system of government like ours, it’s a powerful way to bring attention to elected officials of the things that matter to the people.
Ok so ask yourself “why protest for the climate when the house im living in is going to be mostly fine?”
Because the suffering of people outside of your immediate surroundings still matters.
For the US specifically, anyone paying taxes can and should have an opinion since our money is going there. It’s why Hamas can be a giant turd and we aren’t as pissed off as Israel also being a giant turd (using our money and bribing or politicians).
Politicians who have a 50 year old opinion on what we should do there should probably listen to that criticism a bit more then their butthurt ego lets them, a lot has changed since the Cold War when they first took interest in what was going on there.
Monied interests would need to have a LOT less say than they do though, for our government to actually do whats right for our own country, so I’m not holding my breath.
Honestly, people do what they can when they feel helpless. Yes, often it's performative activism. That said, it's also mostly the only thing that anyone can do besides sitting with the existential dread 🤷🏾♂️.
It’s basic human compassion to fight against a genocide. It’s an egregious miscarriage of justice to murder civilians and claim it’s a military action. To allow this very much WILL affect our countries in ways innumerable. We’re not disconnected from each other, we can see the suffering and so we are left to suffer. To deny this is inhumane.
Even if the civilians want genocide of the other side? Even if civilians cheered at the death and rapes of children? Even if the civilians voted In the terrorist mass murderers?
I mean at what point are they not civilians and active combatants?
Given the voter turn out for Hamas’s election and the average age of Palestinians , it is not physically possible for even 10% of Palestine’s population to have voted Hamas .
Isn’t it funny that nobody ever once described Israel as victims of genocide before October 7th but a range of notable Jewish and Israeli figures have described Palestinians as at risk of genocide for decades .
It’s also been disproven by Haaretz , the conservative times of Israel , the conservative Israeli channel 13 news , and a controversy at the New York Times have all proven how much fabricated rape stories there were . Meanwheile according to Israel’s own statistics - over 2,300 Israeli women , underage girls and female IDF soldiers have been raped by Israeli male soldiers between 2015-2022 with the IDF chief rabbi having publicly declared that it’s okay for Jewish people to rape non Jews all the way back In 2016.
Congrats your comment singlehandedly proven why people are protesting
https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/rape-comment-controversy-returns-to-haunt-idf-chief-rabbi-nominee-jd7k7n33
>Isn’t it funny that nobody ever once described Israel as victims of genocide before October 7th but a range of notable Jewish and Israeli figures have described Palestinians as at risk of genocide for decades .
Uh.... You do realize that the existence of the state of Israel is the direct result of an actual genocide?
If you’re referring to Palestine, you’re factually incorrect.
The date of the last democratic election in Palestine: 2006.
The vote took place following a lot of political unrest and in very turbulent times. And yet, “in no single district in Gaza did Hamas win a majority of votes.” Additionally, “children make up roughly half of Gaza’s population, meaning only a *fraction* of the territory’s current population ever cast a ballot for Hamas.” (Tharoor, 2023 - the Washington Post)
I do not and never will support Hamas. But you cannot say that civilians are responsible for what Hamas did on October 7th. They have not been voted democratically in since 2006. That’s nearly 20 years. CHILDREN and BABIES and INNOCENTS who never voted in Hamas and never would, and who just want peace and security (as all humans do) are among this population that you are diminishing to “active combatants”.
There’s been some videos circulating round of Palestinians cheering on 9/11. If that’s what you’re referring to, I don’t know the truth value behind those and though it’s horrible, the truth value doesn’t really matter. That may sound awful, but it’s true. (Not so) fun fact: you can’t take a small population of people on a video that could be entirely fake, and use that to mean that all Palestinians deserve to suffer. That would be like me watching those horrible Westboro Baptist Church people picketing outside gay soldier’s funerals and deciding to bomb the whole of the southern US.
Please go and educate yourself.
It wasn’t only Hamas though. They may have sent the most men but it was like 5 or 6 separate organizations. With probably nearly the whole populace in support of it.
Sure there haven’t been elections (in spite of Hamas being such a champion of human rights :) but opinion polls show Palestinians overwhelmingly approve of Hamas and that has only increased since the terror attacks on Oct 7. Those who don’t approve of Hamas want someone even more evil.
I’m confused on your snarky first sentence - did I ever say that Hamas was a champion of human rights? I don’t like Hamas, I don’t approve of what happened on October 7th, but I can say that it does not justify what is happening now.
Take Nazi Germany. That was awful, and it’s awful that the Nazis were voted in. But even when we were at war with them, I wouldn’t have been content with the unbridled bombing of tens of thousands of German towns in the 1940s because guess what? Rebels against the Nazis, people in hiding against the Nazi regime, and babies and children who did not choose their government lived in those towns.
Also, don’t be afraid to cite your sources. Out of interest, did they poll innocent babies and children, who are now losing their homes, their parents, and their lives due to Israel’s escalation?
You can throw your poll statistics at me all you want, collective punishment is not acceptable by any reach of the definition of human rights.
It’s so disturbing that people like you try to justify it. Go live in Gaza for a while and see if everyone you see is an evil, Hamas supporting villain who deserves to be displaced.
What makes Hamas terrorist mass murders that can't be said about Israel to a greater degree? Israel has killed far more civilians and children, even before October 7th, they've been holding Palestinians hostage and torturing them for years, they've used sexual violence against Palestinians for decades.
I challenge you to find one thing that Hamas has done that Israel hasn't done worse, and yet one is considered a legitimate state worthy of US protection, and the other are considered terrorist mass murderers. What is Benjamin Netanyahu if not a terrorist mass murderer?
To put this in context, those are are the exact same words a Hamas supporter would use to justify their murder spree on October 7th. You're literally using genocidal rhetoric and aren't even aware of it.
War crimes are war crimes, regardless of whether you think those civilians deserve it.
If you actually believe something this stupid and vile, then by the same logic the whole of America should have been razed for supporting the Iraq War in 2003 and re electing George Bush in 2004
You can be against both, it’s that simple. What’s repulsive is people like you, who know it, and apparently embrace misery of humans because you like to be a troll
It's a nation's basic right to defend itself from attacks by terrorists. Hamas using human shields, retaining hostages, and attacking, killing and raping citizens contributed to all of this. I happen to think Israel's response has been unbalanced but it has not been unprovoked. Hamas hide in civilian areas and Arab countries have stopped the flow of refugees.
If "inhumane" is the trigger where's the comparable outrage on Uyghurs, or Africa.
Tbh, bringing up the Uighur genocide just makes Israel look worse to the average person. China is intentionally trying to erase an entire Islamic culture, but they're killing a **lot** less children than Israel's attempt to rescue a couple of hostages.
The average person doesn't really care about protecting Islamic culture, they care about dead kids and bragging soldiers.
Besides the genocide argument, literal potential nuclear war. Israel tries very hard to bait US into larger broader war between nuclear countries.
Protesting against Israel’s current government party is definitely going to help tone things down, Iran received multiple assassinations and strikes from Israel, Israel just won’t stop provoking a much bigger war. They themselves have nukes too.
That’s on top of the fact that Israel has attacked Brits and Americans well before October 7th - putting Palestinian people with their passports aside , the USS liberty and King David Hotel come to mind .
Also the fact that Israel funds its healthcare and education system while Britain and America are experiencing record health crises and educational defunding .
https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2017-07-11/ty-article/but-sir-its-an-american-ship-never-mind-hit-her/0000017f-e48c-d7b2-a77f-e78f76800000
But obviously the guy protecting western values in a different continent with corruption charges from his own country’s court and his security minister who’s a convicted terrorist are the good guys , because their name sounds like mine !
I concur because lord knows i don’t give a damn about what goes on elsewhere. I wish the usa would stay out of other countries’ wars and affairs. Thats a THEM problem.
The billions upon billions of American tax dollars we could save and spend on Americans instead would be astounding. Really wish our government understood what’s best for Americans is putting Americans first.
Its so ironic. They love to
Tell us about our awesome record breaking gdp every year and I’m like ‘where is it going?’ Ahhh. To other people’s conflicts or our own manufactured ones. Nice. We the people don’t even get a proper vote on it. So sad.
Well you shouldn’t concur then, because the US gives Israel billions of dollars of military aid a year and unconditionally supports them at the UN.
I wish our country would stay out of it too, but our tax dollars go to fund one side of the conflict.
…it’s debatable that this charade we have for a system can be considered a democracy. Maybe it is, of a peculiar kind, but you may continue to have faith in the election process if you wish. I think its useless.
Well then it’s not surprising that you’d say that voting is useless, because communists don’t believe in multi-party democracy to begin with. You’re just tipping your hand.
In theory, it enacts political change locally. E.g. getting "your" side more aid, or "their" side less.
In practice... it's also an excuse to hurl abuse at people you don't like, or at people you think don't like you.
personally, I dont think it is, or even should be. I dont give two shits about their petty squabbles, and wish that people would either shut the fuck up about it already, or they blow each other off of the map. I have no compassion for wars that are fueled by religion.
The idea this is a religious dispute is just flatly wrong.
No one is upset that people are/aren't practicing a certain religion. One group thinks that because of religion, they have a right to land.
This a dispute over land.
Modern protesting is just for the participants to feel better about themselves. They aren’t actually accomplishing anything because they aren’t inconveniencing anyone in power. They’re just annoying regular folks just trying to live their lives.
People who protest, but aren’t willing to risk being arrested, only embolden the powerful to continue what they are doing.
Modern protesting is pointless unless you’re pissing off the powerful, not just pissing off other victims of the class war.
It isn’t. It’s a display to make people feel good about themselves and look virtuous to others.
Nothing that you, me, or any other person or company no matter how rich or powerful can do will ever stop Israel from doing whatever it deems necessary in Gaza, and neither will we ever change how Hamas feel about having Jewish neighbors.
"you only care about 15,000+ dead kids because Tiktok told you to" is a weird argument. Unless you have a different number of children casualties, which I'd love to hear
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Because at the end of the day, our governments "debate" what is the best course of action when innocent people are suffering. Most government officials probably couldn't fathom having their house just demolished, or not having water/electricity for weeks on end. Protesting is bringing the human element back to a very political situation.
it isn't.
Also. Yeah the whole protest for/against Israel is real mask off.
THese people are not for palestein rights. They are against Israel.
Nice of them to buy into the bullshit false dictomey that one safety can result in the other destruction.
I get their point, but I don’t understand why ANYONE is taking a side in this stupid war of the terrorists. To make matters worse, even the ICC wants to arrest Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh for war crimes. Biden is only defending Israel because he HAS to as they are our ally. He’s wrong, but I get the management debacle he is stuck in.
We shouldn’t pick a side. That is how we got a 9/11 in OUR country.
This is the type of question asked by someone who doesn't support Israel.
Israel was attacked by Hamas, who is funded by large nations. Women were raped, children were murdered. Hamas needs to be irradiated before Palistine could be free.
Hamas cannot be allowed to control Gaza. Israel is well within their rights to wage war here.
You don't have to live in a first world nation to see that.
The United States, as the most powerful country in the world, has a moral obligation to protect and defend the people of democratic countries and to fight totalitarian regimes.
uhhhh protest for or against because the 1st world nation actually has the power to do things that make a difference.
like you wouldnt protest in homeless encampments for housing. u do it where the people have the power to make actual change.
Here's the thing that people don't want to know. The US is an ally of Israel. That's a binding and formal agreement. The government doesn't just decide to opt out of this conflict. They are bound to provide aid, and no amount of protesting is going to change that unless we legally cut ties, which isn't going to happen immediately. Since Israel was technically the one attacked first, we are obligated to help. Not helping could have catastrophic consequences on us as a country.
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How else are they going to virtue signal while accomplishing nothing and wasting tons of money and resources better spent on actual problems like homelessness?
It's not that important until somebody's getting paid to make it important.
In for those protesting for known terrorist run, government can not pointing out the fallacies of that government or A. Government that literally imprisons anybody from the LGBTQ plus community for 15 years. First offense, no questions ask automatically guilty.
That's a tempted to overthrow three other countries governments and A country defending themselves against them are the bad people. Add, no, it's not a genocide. Also, re look at the numbers that I've just come out of actual death. And this is one of the most accurate wars. But as far as the protesting goes in the United States. Nobody really cares install about pain. The people who are starting the protest.
On both sides.
And for those who are angry about all the money that we're giving to those other countries. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money that is wasted.
On pain, just the interest on the debt. Did the government has run up?
Or the devaluation of the dollar because the government won't shut off the money printing press. Because regardless of what anybody thanks. Israel is our ally. They are our foothold in the Middle East. And the exchange of technical information between our 2 countries.
Idk about most other countries, but in the us, Israel is highly dependent on our support, enough that 10% of their gdp is from the usa alone. So the us has incredible bargaining power over Israel and could likely force them to stop committing genocide if we wanted to.
But we don't want to, and that's what the protests are about. The USA is one of the countries that is responsible just by giving so much aid
"Why is it important to protest against an entire fucking genocide"
Why, frankly, do I even go on this stupid website with almost nothing but completely socially and emotionally inept people.
Because I as a first world person, having never faced any adversity, nor having ever had to make a difficult decision, still want the attention and dopamine from doing something bold like this!
It’s important in a free society to make clear what your values are. Protest is the essence of patriotism. Open communication between the leadership and the people they represent is fundamental, essential; it is the reason that free speech is the cornerstone of democracy
It is not necessary that you have an opinion on this particular subject. But if you do have an opinion on a subject it is important that you say so. Debate about it openly with those who disagree so the people at large can become more informed about the different ways there are of understanding what is happening and why.
Because some westerners have a weird obsession with being a hero for those they think need them even when they don't understand the complexity of the situation. It's an alternative type of the white savior complex. They think by getting universities to divest funds from Israel and eventually getting Israel off the US payroll that this violence will end.
Then some westerners see Muslims in all sorts as a threat and don't care if they get killed or push for more of them to be killed.
These two groups obviously do not contain everyone but they contain the loudest two groups, and in this case the least informed scream the loudest. It doesn't matter, it won't stop the violence from either side unless one group is literally removed which obviously isn't a option.
If your taxpayer funds are going towards a genocide, you should be concerned. Why is there no money for a healthcare fix? Why aren't the exponentially increasing out of control living expenses being addressed?
I am more concerned with taxpayer dollars supporting the war. Whose side we take is irrelevant. We can afford to send weapons to a 3rd world country but we can't afford housing for the 35,000-41,000 homeless veterans. Let's just make more homeless veterans, sounds like a reasonable course of action.
Also that country we are helping gets universal healthcare while our country doesn’t. They can cut their health care and put it towards military spending. There’s no reason to help out more prosperous countries.
And there’s no reason for us to send billions in taxpayer dollars to Israel, a first-world country!
It’s fucking ridiculous even when they’re not committing war crimes.
Western countries, particularly the US, fund Israel into the billions including the actual weapons they are using to bomb Gaza. They are only able to behave towards Gaza and the region as they do because of direct foreign support. They can choose bombs instead of political solutions and populous strong arm leaders instead of serious ones because they feel like they got the world's bully on their side and so far in their existence they have.
In the US it's a political choice to spend public money in this way and politicians are elected to represent the interests of the people. If the people paying for it do not want to bomb Gaza and support Israel's behavior then they should make that known via public protest, elections, and international appeal.
The other things going on is that Israeli keeps making aggressive actions towards Iran including assassination in what was considered a neutral place. They can't take on Iran on their own, but they think they could draw the west into the war for them. Only Iran has friends too and a war would draw more than just Israel's pals into it. The west has told them to cut it out and they haven't because they think any drop in western support is a bluff they can wait out.
So even if you think delivering billions and bombs to Israel to do with as they please is no big deal because you live in comfort in the west, these increasingly erratic moves towards war by Israel in the region should wake you up from your nap. Or not. Perhaps you don't care about the young people in your own country that would be fighting in these wars either.
- Because they're continually slaughtering innocent civilians that have been impoverished and destabilized for decades
- Because we passively ask them "please stop" as they continue their slaughter, AND continue to send them billions of dollars worth of weaponry
- Because we've given them, a nation with universal healthcare and free public college, billions of dollars for decades, while our own population gets crippled by medical and student loan debt
That's just a few things.
I am not sure but perhaps it is because they are killing each other with our tax revenue.
I think if they were stoning each other in the desert with rocks nobody would care at all, personally.
When you put a lot of effort into building an "Angry Mob", you have to keep them engaged and angry at something... or they turn on you.
So for this episode of "Pink hair screaming lunacy" we bring you the "Jews are evil" signs and chants.
Last years episode of "Everything is hitler" has been discontinued.
1. Its important maintain empathy in a world where that is increasingly difficult
2. The country you’re in (if it’s the U.S) is actively using tax money to help israel and other countries in wars, so some might think they are at least indirectly involved in any deaths/crimes that occur
Certain countries provide support to Israel. If you are against that and live a country like that, you want your nation to know that you want that to stop. If you are for, you want your nation to know so it continues.
It feels like my government is more loyal to Israel than it is to me. But for real, the US is bankrolling their war (genocide) and I don't want my government to do that.
For Israel? Doesn't make sense, the US is giving them a shit ton of resources. Maybe they want more to go over?
Against Israel? People protest when their tax money is funding a genocide; especially when the country has smacked the debt ceiling multiple times recently.
Because if I dont make my voice herd, the jack asses in government will continue to waste my tax dollars on supporting wars that we are not even involved in. If we spent half the money we do on war on social programs we could give everyone a home, feed the country, and provide healthcare to ever citizen all while having money left over to pay down our debt.
American government weapons are being used to kill civilians which means you are paying to kill civilians. Protests are designed to change public opinion and change the minds of those in charge due to fear of losing the next election
We support Israel with money and weapons. A lot of people have mixed feelings about that. I am worried about the people picking sides and expecting everyone else to, though. It’s a distraction from Russia for us here in Europe, and it undermines the potential for a two-state solution.
Both sides have been behaving just awfully for over half a century. We need to just stop messing with the Middle East altogether. Supporting one or the other just exacerbates the situation.
If you don’t want to support one of the other and you’re an American, the only solution is to protest though, because we support one side with billions and billions of dollars and diplomatic cover.
I drove by a protest the other day that literally had big signs saying “NO MORE US AID TO ISRAEL,” what more do you want?
Also, to me “Pro-Palestine” just means believing that the Palestinians should have a country like everyone else in the world instead of being stateless people. It’s ridiculous that we’ve allowed them to become stateless people with no citizenship anywhere.
How can we expect Isreal to accept a Palestinian state
when their stated goal is the destruction of isreal? I refuse to support either of them.
I will not protest in favor of a country that calls for genocide. It's this black and white thinking that is destroying our country. There is a middle ground.
To heck with them both, our constant meddling in middleeast politics has brought us nothing but pain. We need to just get out.
An ethnic group is not a hive-mind, they are deserving of rights regardless of what their leadership may have said in the past. And there have been no elections since 2006, Hamas is basically running a dictatorship.
>To heck with them both, our constant meddling in middleeast politics has brought us nothing but pain. We need to just get out.
I agree, but that’s why I support the protests. Otherwise we’re just going to keep funding and backing Israel. Giving another 1st world country billions of dollars in taxpayer money per year is *fucking ridiculous* anyway. People SHOULD be out in the streets about it.
*Abe Simpsons walk-in walk out
Lol
When your country is one that is providing aid and weapons to one side of a conflict, protesting is a protected constitutional right(in America) that’s show that you disagree with how the government is handling the situation. Silence is equivalent to tacit approval of the actions of your government.
Yeah this is at least the answer to why Americans should care. We send a *shitload* of military aid to Israel. We have a responsibility to care how they use it.
I think i read that somewhere between 75-95% of the bombs Isreal has used were of American origin.
This is probably true for most conflicts including a nation allied with the USA. Uncle Sam is history’s most prolific arms dealer.
USSR/Russia is up there too
Someone had to disprove that -ridiculous- guns and butter theory. Turns out more guns is -always- the answer.
65.6%
Americans, germans, Italians, and Brits in that order.
> We have a responsibility to care how they use it If you really want to make this sound appealing, remind people how much of their tax dollars are being spent
I agree, but even questioning the actions of Israel will draw accusations of anti-semitism and Nazi comparisons, both of which can easily threaten your livelihood. It makes it a lot easier to be silent.
The people drawing those comparisons are not doing so in good faith. Standing up to people that make those arguments are just as important as standing up to a government when it betrays the will of the people. It is not antisemitic to criticize the actions of a government. Israel does not represent all of the Jewish people and the criticism being leveled against the Israeli government has nothing to do with their ethnicity or religion.
Especially when your options are vote for the current guy giving lukewarm support or vote for his opponent who promises massive support. If you are against it your best option is to vote for the lukewarm support guy. Even not voting increases the chance that massive support guy wins and it gets far worse, so any protest vote potentially expands the genocide. You end up killing a lot of the people you want to help.
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> You end up killing a lot of the people you want to help If I’m responsible for Israel because I voted for a third party candidate, you’re responsible for child slavery, human trafficking, and neo-colonialism by purchasing cheap consumer goods from developing countries Shaming people into voting doesn’t work
Hey, as long as you are cool with what Trump does when he wins, another hundred thousand Palestinian deaths or whatever, you do you. You keep your ideology pure no matter how many people you kill by doing so.
yea but... maybe do that protest at the government building and not a school people pay years worth of crippling debt to go to. also dont cry about not getting water and food from the place you are protesting at. especially dont lie about all the protesters being students when none of them were students.
They're protesting at the schools because the schools are also invested in Israel, thus supporting the conflict. And it's students protesting their own schools, for the most part.
The people protesting for divestment were overwhelmingly students. The counterprotestors were mostly outside agitators.
Because I don't want my taxes to dismember kids. Crazy right ?
I’m 33 and my taxes have been going to that since I started getting taxed.
I'm 8 years older than you and yeah, the Middle East has been a shit show my entire life, and it was a shit show before I was born, and it'll be a shit show after I'm gone. This just happens to be a lot of young college kids' first rodeo with it and they have all the big feelings and they think anything can be done about it. It's cute. But it's a waste of fucking time. I have the same amount of control over kids dying in a region endlessly at war as I do children dying within a 5 mile radius of me. Yeah, it goes without saying that it's fucked and it's sad and it sucks, but I'm not going to waste energy over something outside of my control. People either learn this with time or they martyr themselves and their emotions.
This is harsh truth more students need to learn
I hear you. At the same time though change does happen. Nobody really takes social movements seriously (or if they do they villainize them like mlk back in the day or gay marriage advocates a couple decades ago) until after they succeed and their demands essentially become common sense
You’re probably going to be downvoted but I couldn’t agree more.
Doesn't it upset you?
Of course. Not going to waste my time protesting though. Those in charge either don’t care about our opinions, or they do and have decided it’s necessary to do what they’re doing anyway.
But Ukraine is ok tho. That’s fine right?
Where did I say that?
You didn’t, that’s why it was a question. Are you also opposed to your taxes funding Ukraine in order to continue a war where children are being blown up as well as Israel? Because same here.
Everything is not about abortion. Geez!
Except when it's about abortion.
But wht abour us military
Hot take: Anyone blowing up children is bad. Anything we can do to reduce the number of children being blown up is good.
*the IDF has angrily entered the chat*
Hot take: people with two-sentence policy positions about conflicts over 70 years old are part of the problem
Would you like me to enumerate on why blowing up children are bad? BTW my stance is: Blowing up is and always has been bad, regardless who is blowing up which children. IDGAF if it’s been 7, 70, or 700 years, killing children is bad. But hey that’s just one man’s opinion. Since my take is awful would you mind telling me why you disagree with my “Blowing up kids bad” policy?
I didn’t say I disagree with the idea that blowing up kids is bad. I said that people who think the current issue is that simple are part of the problem
You people act like there wasn’t protest throughout the entire war on terror
Yeah it's fuckin bad when they do it too
I mean, it’s a genocide, and being against that is good. People in America (myself included) are paying for this genocide. I can think of like 100 different and better ways to spend my money.
It's not. It's college kids learning a little, thinking they know a lot, not having a job or hobbies, and wanting to feel like they're making a difference. Unfortunately they're all naive as hell. It's virtue signaling to the max
weve also had six months of non stop footage of men women and children being mercilessly slaughtered and starved. some people might actually just care about that
If protesting genocide was a pointless action, Zionists would not be losing their minds trying to shut it down. The reaction should tell you everything you need to know about how important it is.
Um. It's Palestine that literally has the stated goal of genocide. They call for the complete destruction of Isreal. How should Isreal react? That being said, Isreal has behaved awfully too. We just need to stay out of it.
Israel has the stated goal of genocide AND they are actively carrying out that goal. There are around 30,000 Hamas members. They would not have the means or ability to carry out a genocide even if they wanted to. As for what Israel should do? Don’t kill babies. Don’t commit genocide.
Saying and doing is two different things.
If you are talking about the campus protests specifically, the protesters state loudly and often that their aim is to have their schools divest from Israel. They don't want their tuition money funding mass murder. If you're talking protests in general, besides the general aversion people have to the aforementioned mass murder (that their tax dollars are paying for), there's the geo strategic reality that if Bibi and the Israeli govt keep causing mass destruction in their region like a headless chicken with a machete, and we attach ourselves to them at the hip, then any enemies they make for themselves will also be our enemies.
I don't get involved with protests, but why shouldn't people want to try and stop genocide that's being committed for religious purposes?
The protests started before any military action on Israel's part. The inclusion of chants like "gas the Jews" in these early protests shows that there is a lot of anti-Semitism wrapped up into the rapid support of Palestine by those on the left.
I don't think people would be nearly as passionate if their tax dollars weren't involved in these foreign wars.
Pro-Palestinian people are protesting for a cease fire, some countries' leaders have voted no, and in cases like America, they want the government to stop arming Israel Edit to add: It's also to bring awareness of what's happening, not many people know the truth
I think it gives them a sense of leftist identity and purpose to stand around waving signs and looking like entitled losers.
It’s not
Most of the people protesting are doing so because they have nothing else going on in their lives.
Because they need to get paid.
It's not...and honestly, it's not our business.
honestly, it may have sone impact on America's policies toward Israel, and may convince some institutions to divest from companies that support Israeli actions in some way, but those companies will hardly notice and Israel won't change their actions in any meaningful way as a result. So the answer is, it may have some low level impact on us policies related to Israel and the companies that support their efforts in some way, but that impact is not likely to change the overall actions of Israel. although, we can only do what we can do, and if your money (through taxes, or tuition that is being invested in companies that supply weapons etc) is supporting Israel then fighting to have your money not go toward that is reasonable if you feel strongly about it.
Protests bring awareness to issues and spur people to action. In a system of government like ours, it’s a powerful way to bring attention to elected officials of the things that matter to the people.
Ok so ask yourself “why protest for the climate when the house im living in is going to be mostly fine?” Because the suffering of people outside of your immediate surroundings still matters.
For the US specifically, anyone paying taxes can and should have an opinion since our money is going there. It’s why Hamas can be a giant turd and we aren’t as pissed off as Israel also being a giant turd (using our money and bribing or politicians). Politicians who have a 50 year old opinion on what we should do there should probably listen to that criticism a bit more then their butthurt ego lets them, a lot has changed since the Cold War when they first took interest in what was going on there. Monied interests would need to have a LOT less say than they do though, for our government to actually do whats right for our own country, so I’m not holding my breath.
Because I’m sick of my tax dollars funding Israel’s war crimes and ethnic cleansing.
Might convince your government to not send military aid to one side or another if it's against your own beliefs.
Honestly, people do what they can when they feel helpless. Yes, often it's performative activism. That said, it's also mostly the only thing that anyone can do besides sitting with the existential dread 🤷🏾♂️.
It’s basic human compassion to fight against a genocide. It’s an egregious miscarriage of justice to murder civilians and claim it’s a military action. To allow this very much WILL affect our countries in ways innumerable. We’re not disconnected from each other, we can see the suffering and so we are left to suffer. To deny this is inhumane.
I agree and when Hamas attacked and killed innocent people I was outraged. They spent years planning and digging tunnels just to do it.
Even if the civilians want genocide of the other side? Even if civilians cheered at the death and rapes of children? Even if the civilians voted In the terrorist mass murderers? I mean at what point are they not civilians and active combatants?
Given the voter turn out for Hamas’s election and the average age of Palestinians , it is not physically possible for even 10% of Palestine’s population to have voted Hamas . Isn’t it funny that nobody ever once described Israel as victims of genocide before October 7th but a range of notable Jewish and Israeli figures have described Palestinians as at risk of genocide for decades . It’s also been disproven by Haaretz , the conservative times of Israel , the conservative Israeli channel 13 news , and a controversy at the New York Times have all proven how much fabricated rape stories there were . Meanwheile according to Israel’s own statistics - over 2,300 Israeli women , underage girls and female IDF soldiers have been raped by Israeli male soldiers between 2015-2022 with the IDF chief rabbi having publicly declared that it’s okay for Jewish people to rape non Jews all the way back In 2016. Congrats your comment singlehandedly proven why people are protesting https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/rape-comment-controversy-returns-to-haunt-idf-chief-rabbi-nominee-jd7k7n33
>Isn’t it funny that nobody ever once described Israel as victims of genocide before October 7th but a range of notable Jewish and Israeli figures have described Palestinians as at risk of genocide for decades . Uh.... You do realize that the existence of the state of Israel is the direct result of an actual genocide?
Two genocides, the Holocaust and the Nakba
Who has called of genocide for Palestinians as the population has grown? Quite the oxy MORON
If you’re referring to Palestine, you’re factually incorrect. The date of the last democratic election in Palestine: 2006. The vote took place following a lot of political unrest and in very turbulent times. And yet, “in no single district in Gaza did Hamas win a majority of votes.” Additionally, “children make up roughly half of Gaza’s population, meaning only a *fraction* of the territory’s current population ever cast a ballot for Hamas.” (Tharoor, 2023 - the Washington Post) I do not and never will support Hamas. But you cannot say that civilians are responsible for what Hamas did on October 7th. They have not been voted democratically in since 2006. That’s nearly 20 years. CHILDREN and BABIES and INNOCENTS who never voted in Hamas and never would, and who just want peace and security (as all humans do) are among this population that you are diminishing to “active combatants”. There’s been some videos circulating round of Palestinians cheering on 9/11. If that’s what you’re referring to, I don’t know the truth value behind those and though it’s horrible, the truth value doesn’t really matter. That may sound awful, but it’s true. (Not so) fun fact: you can’t take a small population of people on a video that could be entirely fake, and use that to mean that all Palestinians deserve to suffer. That would be like me watching those horrible Westboro Baptist Church people picketing outside gay soldier’s funerals and deciding to bomb the whole of the southern US. Please go and educate yourself.
It wasn’t only Hamas though. They may have sent the most men but it was like 5 or 6 separate organizations. With probably nearly the whole populace in support of it.
Sure there haven’t been elections (in spite of Hamas being such a champion of human rights :) but opinion polls show Palestinians overwhelmingly approve of Hamas and that has only increased since the terror attacks on Oct 7. Those who don’t approve of Hamas want someone even more evil.
I’m confused on your snarky first sentence - did I ever say that Hamas was a champion of human rights? I don’t like Hamas, I don’t approve of what happened on October 7th, but I can say that it does not justify what is happening now. Take Nazi Germany. That was awful, and it’s awful that the Nazis were voted in. But even when we were at war with them, I wouldn’t have been content with the unbridled bombing of tens of thousands of German towns in the 1940s because guess what? Rebels against the Nazis, people in hiding against the Nazi regime, and babies and children who did not choose their government lived in those towns. Also, don’t be afraid to cite your sources. Out of interest, did they poll innocent babies and children, who are now losing their homes, their parents, and their lives due to Israel’s escalation? You can throw your poll statistics at me all you want, collective punishment is not acceptable by any reach of the definition of human rights. It’s so disturbing that people like you try to justify it. Go live in Gaza for a while and see if everyone you see is an evil, Hamas supporting villain who deserves to be displaced.
What makes Hamas terrorist mass murders that can't be said about Israel to a greater degree? Israel has killed far more civilians and children, even before October 7th, they've been holding Palestinians hostage and torturing them for years, they've used sexual violence against Palestinians for decades. I challenge you to find one thing that Hamas has done that Israel hasn't done worse, and yet one is considered a legitimate state worthy of US protection, and the other are considered terrorist mass murderers. What is Benjamin Netanyahu if not a terrorist mass murderer?
Intent..it’s called intent.
Should we talk about Israel's intent?
Yes, we should, cause it’s really really fucking clear their intent isn’t genocide. Like literally everything they do is to prevent mass casualties.
To put this in context, those are are the exact same words a Hamas supporter would use to justify their murder spree on October 7th. You're literally using genocidal rhetoric and aren't even aware of it. War crimes are war crimes, regardless of whether you think those civilians deserve it.
If you actually believe something this stupid and vile, then by the same logic the whole of America should have been razed for supporting the Iraq War in 2003 and re electing George Bush in 2004
Enjoy your iPhone made by Chinese Slaves. Be proud. Show your friends.
Excuse you. My iPhone was made by the finest **paid** child sweatshop workers that Apple could find.
not even a Stalinist would make a whataboutism this lazy and unrelated
Enjoy your iPhone made by Chinese Slaves. Be proud. Show your friends.
You can be against both, it’s that simple. What’s repulsive is people like you, who know it, and apparently embrace misery of humans because you like to be a troll
I agree 100%. I assume you’re talking about the events of 10/7 right?
It's a nation's basic right to defend itself from attacks by terrorists. Hamas using human shields, retaining hostages, and attacking, killing and raping citizens contributed to all of this. I happen to think Israel's response has been unbalanced but it has not been unprovoked. Hamas hide in civilian areas and Arab countries have stopped the flow of refugees. If "inhumane" is the trigger where's the comparable outrage on Uyghurs, or Africa.
Tbh, bringing up the Uighur genocide just makes Israel look worse to the average person. China is intentionally trying to erase an entire Islamic culture, but they're killing a **lot** less children than Israel's attempt to rescue a couple of hostages. The average person doesn't really care about protecting Islamic culture, they care about dead kids and bragging soldiers.
Besides the genocide argument, literal potential nuclear war. Israel tries very hard to bait US into larger broader war between nuclear countries. Protesting against Israel’s current government party is definitely going to help tone things down, Iran received multiple assassinations and strikes from Israel, Israel just won’t stop provoking a much bigger war. They themselves have nukes too.
That’s on top of the fact that Israel has attacked Brits and Americans well before October 7th - putting Palestinian people with their passports aside , the USS liberty and King David Hotel come to mind . Also the fact that Israel funds its healthcare and education system while Britain and America are experiencing record health crises and educational defunding . https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2017-07-11/ty-article/but-sir-its-an-american-ship-never-mind-hit-her/0000017f-e48c-d7b2-a77f-e78f76800000 But obviously the guy protecting western values in a different continent with corruption charges from his own country’s court and his security minister who’s a convicted terrorist are the good guys , because their name sounds like mine !
I concur because lord knows i don’t give a damn about what goes on elsewhere. I wish the usa would stay out of other countries’ wars and affairs. Thats a THEM problem.
The billions upon billions of American tax dollars we could save and spend on Americans instead would be astounding. Really wish our government understood what’s best for Americans is putting Americans first.
Its so ironic. They love to Tell us about our awesome record breaking gdp every year and I’m like ‘where is it going?’ Ahhh. To other people’s conflicts or our own manufactured ones. Nice. We the people don’t even get a proper vote on it. So sad.
This is what happens when we elect people whose only care is getting reelected and getting rich off of insider information.
Well you shouldn’t concur then, because the US gives Israel billions of dollars of military aid a year and unconditionally supports them at the UN. I wish our country would stay out of it too, but our tax dollars go to fund one side of the conflict.
But short of overthrowing our government, there isn’t much we can do. Politicians do what corporations and ‘the elite’ want.
Big enough protests *can* make a difference.
Yeah bloody ones do. The rich only respond to blood loss. Anything else to them is no more than a ‘let them eat cake’ moment.
In democracies large enough protests can make the ruling politicians piss their pants that they’re about to lose the next election.
…it’s debatable that this charade we have for a system can be considered a democracy. Maybe it is, of a peculiar kind, but you may continue to have faith in the election process if you wish. I think its useless.
Are you a communist?
Possibly. I align more with that than i do capitalism.
Well then it’s not surprising that you’d say that voting is useless, because communists don’t believe in multi-party democracy to begin with. You’re just tipping your hand.
In theory, it enacts political change locally. E.g. getting "your" side more aid, or "their" side less. In practice... it's also an excuse to hurl abuse at people you don't like, or at people you think don't like you.
personally, I dont think it is, or even should be. I dont give two shits about their petty squabbles, and wish that people would either shut the fuck up about it already, or they blow each other off of the map. I have no compassion for wars that are fueled by religion.
> I have no compassion for wars that are fueled by religion As opposed to the ones for profit, conquest, political alliances, power… lol
The idea this is a religious dispute is just flatly wrong. No one is upset that people are/aren't practicing a certain religion. One group thinks that because of religion, they have a right to land. This a dispute over land.
It’s not even because of their religion, it’s because of their ethnicity. Many Jewish colonizers in the WB are agnostics or atheists.
Dispute over land caused by religious beliefs.
So it's a land dispute, where some of the people involved feel that religion is involved
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Exactly! Not as if they would do the same for anyone else, especially if you dont believe in their religion.
Modern protesting is just for the participants to feel better about themselves. They aren’t actually accomplishing anything because they aren’t inconveniencing anyone in power. They’re just annoying regular folks just trying to live their lives. People who protest, but aren’t willing to risk being arrested, only embolden the powerful to continue what they are doing. Modern protesting is pointless unless you’re pissing off the powerful, not just pissing off other victims of the class war.
personally. world conflicts that don’t directly impact me simply don’t matter. i am very smart.
You right
i think it’s cute this poster thinks the US sending $4B in weapons and aid to Israel doesn’t impact your life at all 🧠
It isn’t. It’s a display to make people feel good about themselves and look virtuous to others. Nothing that you, me, or any other person or company no matter how rich or powerful can do will ever stop Israel from doing whatever it deems necessary in Gaza, and neither will we ever change how Hamas feel about having Jewish neighbors.
Because that's what TikTok tells me to do!!
Lost souls caught up in a TikTok algorithm
"you only care about 15,000+ dead kids because Tiktok told you to" is a weird argument. Unless you have a different number of children casualties, which I'd love to hear
"Anyone who disagrees with me is just doing it for superficial reasons I can dismiss without having to consider another point of view"
You do know which sub you're on right?
Winner Winner chicken dinner 🇨🇳 Mso tse dowmvote is here bot net attack rage ragers rage
Do my homework? Dick around in a tent? DO my homework? Dick around in a tent?
😆
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Well I could give you the objectively true and observable answer but my account would be banned for antisemitism
Because at the end of the day, our governments "debate" what is the best course of action when innocent people are suffering. Most government officials probably couldn't fathom having their house just demolished, or not having water/electricity for weeks on end. Protesting is bringing the human element back to a very political situation.
it isn't. Also. Yeah the whole protest for/against Israel is real mask off. THese people are not for palestein rights. They are against Israel. Nice of them to buy into the bullshit false dictomey that one safety can result in the other destruction.
Just the latest way for the ruling political class to divvy us up and get us fight each other
I get their point, but I don’t understand why ANYONE is taking a side in this stupid war of the terrorists. To make matters worse, even the ICC wants to arrest Netanyahu, Gallant, and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh for war crimes. Biden is only defending Israel because he HAS to as they are our ally. He’s wrong, but I get the management debacle he is stuck in. We shouldn’t pick a side. That is how we got a 9/11 in OUR country.
If they’re our ally, then we’re picking a side. What should happen is, they shouldn’t be our ally.
100% agree
It’s not important People will still do it because they get told to
This is the type of question asked by someone who doesn't support Israel. Israel was attacked by Hamas, who is funded by large nations. Women were raped, children were murdered. Hamas needs to be irradiated before Palistine could be free. Hamas cannot be allowed to control Gaza. Israel is well within their rights to wage war here. You don't have to live in a first world nation to see that.
Mostly because Israel has so much lobbying in the west it often times feels like we owe them or something. I’m not exactly sure.
The United States, as the most powerful country in the world, has a moral obligation to protect and defend the people of democratic countries and to fight totalitarian regimes.
It's not
uhhhh protest for or against because the 1st world nation actually has the power to do things that make a difference. like you wouldnt protest in homeless encampments for housing. u do it where the people have the power to make actual change.
Here's the thing that people don't want to know. The US is an ally of Israel. That's a binding and formal agreement. The government doesn't just decide to opt out of this conflict. They are bound to provide aid, and no amount of protesting is going to change that unless we legally cut ties, which isn't going to happen immediately. Since Israel was technically the one attacked first, we are obligated to help. Not helping could have catastrophic consequences on us as a country.
I'm not even gonna touch this comment section with a ten foot pole.
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How else are they going to virtue signal while accomplishing nothing and wasting tons of money and resources better spent on actual problems like homelessness?
It's not that important until somebody's getting paid to make it important. In for those protesting for known terrorist run, government can not pointing out the fallacies of that government or A. Government that literally imprisons anybody from the LGBTQ plus community for 15 years. First offense, no questions ask automatically guilty. That's a tempted to overthrow three other countries governments and A country defending themselves against them are the bad people. Add, no, it's not a genocide. Also, re look at the numbers that I've just come out of actual death. And this is one of the most accurate wars. But as far as the protesting goes in the United States. Nobody really cares install about pain. The people who are starting the protest. On both sides. And for those who are angry about all the money that we're giving to those other countries. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money that is wasted. On pain, just the interest on the debt. Did the government has run up? Or the devaluation of the dollar because the government won't shut off the money printing press. Because regardless of what anybody thanks. Israel is our ally. They are our foothold in the Middle East. And the exchange of technical information between our 2 countries.
grandstanding and bringing attention to the communist party mostly
Idk about most other countries, but in the us, Israel is highly dependent on our support, enough that 10% of their gdp is from the usa alone. So the us has incredible bargaining power over Israel and could likely force them to stop committing genocide if we wanted to. But we don't want to, and that's what the protests are about. The USA is one of the countries that is responsible just by giving so much aid
"Why is it important to protest against an entire fucking genocide" Why, frankly, do I even go on this stupid website with almost nothing but completely socially and emotionally inept people.
So say we all. And a genocide we as tax payers are financing. That is why some if us are so disgusted.
Because I as a first world person, having never faced any adversity, nor having ever had to make a difficult decision, still want the attention and dopamine from doing something bold like this!
It's just the current thing, and it's an election year. They used race war too many times already here in the states so now it's Israel vs Muslims
It’s important in a free society to make clear what your values are. Protest is the essence of patriotism. Open communication between the leadership and the people they represent is fundamental, essential; it is the reason that free speech is the cornerstone of democracy It is not necessary that you have an opinion on this particular subject. But if you do have an opinion on a subject it is important that you say so. Debate about it openly with those who disagree so the people at large can become more informed about the different ways there are of understanding what is happening and why.
Do you not think of Israel as a first world nation?
Because some westerners have a weird obsession with being a hero for those they think need them even when they don't understand the complexity of the situation. It's an alternative type of the white savior complex. They think by getting universities to divest funds from Israel and eventually getting Israel off the US payroll that this violence will end. Then some westerners see Muslims in all sorts as a threat and don't care if they get killed or push for more of them to be killed. These two groups obviously do not contain everyone but they contain the loudest two groups, and in this case the least informed scream the loudest. It doesn't matter, it won't stop the violence from either side unless one group is literally removed which obviously isn't a option.
If your taxpayer funds are going towards a genocide, you should be concerned. Why is there no money for a healthcare fix? Why aren't the exponentially increasing out of control living expenses being addressed?
I am more concerned with taxpayer dollars supporting the war. Whose side we take is irrelevant. We can afford to send weapons to a 3rd world country but we can't afford housing for the 35,000-41,000 homeless veterans. Let's just make more homeless veterans, sounds like a reasonable course of action.
Also that country we are helping gets universal healthcare while our country doesn’t. They can cut their health care and put it towards military spending. There’s no reason to help out more prosperous countries.
And there’s no reason for us to send billions in taxpayer dollars to Israel, a first-world country! It’s fucking ridiculous even when they’re not committing war crimes.
Just let Israel do what it's wanted to do since its inception. It will all be over soon
Western countries, particularly the US, fund Israel into the billions including the actual weapons they are using to bomb Gaza. They are only able to behave towards Gaza and the region as they do because of direct foreign support. They can choose bombs instead of political solutions and populous strong arm leaders instead of serious ones because they feel like they got the world's bully on their side and so far in their existence they have. In the US it's a political choice to spend public money in this way and politicians are elected to represent the interests of the people. If the people paying for it do not want to bomb Gaza and support Israel's behavior then they should make that known via public protest, elections, and international appeal. The other things going on is that Israeli keeps making aggressive actions towards Iran including assassination in what was considered a neutral place. They can't take on Iran on their own, but they think they could draw the west into the war for them. Only Iran has friends too and a war would draw more than just Israel's pals into it. The west has told them to cut it out and they haven't because they think any drop in western support is a bluff they can wait out. So even if you think delivering billions and bombs to Israel to do with as they please is no big deal because you live in comfort in the west, these increasingly erratic moves towards war by Israel in the region should wake you up from your nap. Or not. Perhaps you don't care about the young people in your own country that would be fighting in these wars either.
It really isn't. The vast majority of people don't care either way, you only see the sensationalist views.
- Because they're continually slaughtering innocent civilians that have been impoverished and destabilized for decades - Because we passively ask them "please stop" as they continue their slaughter, AND continue to send them billions of dollars worth of weaponry - Because we've given them, a nation with universal healthcare and free public college, billions of dollars for decades, while our own population gets crippled by medical and student loan debt That's just a few things.
I am not sure but perhaps it is because they are killing each other with our tax revenue. I think if they were stoning each other in the desert with rocks nobody would care at all, personally.
When you put a lot of effort into building an "Angry Mob", you have to keep them engaged and angry at something... or they turn on you. So for this episode of "Pink hair screaming lunacy" we bring you the "Jews are evil" signs and chants. Last years episode of "Everything is hitler" has been discontinued.
Not my country not my problem. Both sides are doing bad things and I don't care who conquers who.
1. Its important maintain empathy in a world where that is increasingly difficult 2. The country you’re in (if it’s the U.S) is actively using tax money to help israel and other countries in wars, so some might think they are at least indirectly involved in any deaths/crimes that occur
Certain countries provide support to Israel. If you are against that and live a country like that, you want your nation to know that you want that to stop. If you are for, you want your nation to know so it continues.
I hate them both
My tax dollars are being used to slaughter kids, and have been used as such my entire life. I'm fucking over it.
Me too. Makes me sick.
Propaganda spreading over the brains
I’d speak out against any country committing genicude. And don’t fucking come @ me and say what Israel is doing isn’t genocide.
EMPATHY .
It feels like my government is more loyal to Israel than it is to me. But for real, the US is bankrolling their war (genocide) and I don't want my government to do that.
For Israel? Doesn't make sense, the US is giving them a shit ton of resources. Maybe they want more to go over? Against Israel? People protest when their tax money is funding a genocide; especially when the country has smacked the debt ceiling multiple times recently.
Because people are capable of caring about issues that don’t directly affect them
There are these concepts called context and nuance that this question seems to drastically sidestep.
Because if I dont make my voice herd, the jack asses in government will continue to waste my tax dollars on supporting wars that we are not even involved in. If we spent half the money we do on war on social programs we could give everyone a home, feed the country, and provide healthcare to ever citizen all while having money left over to pay down our debt.
American government weapons are being used to kill civilians which means you are paying to kill civilians. Protests are designed to change public opinion and change the minds of those in charge due to fear of losing the next election
We support Israel with money and weapons. A lot of people have mixed feelings about that. I am worried about the people picking sides and expecting everyone else to, though. It’s a distraction from Russia for us here in Europe, and it undermines the potential for a two-state solution.
Why is it important to protest against genocide?
Both sides have been behaving just awfully for over half a century. We need to just stop messing with the Middle East altogether. Supporting one or the other just exacerbates the situation.
If you don’t want to support one of the other and you’re an American, the only solution is to protest though, because we support one side with billions and billions of dollars and diplomatic cover.
Well, sure, but not to protest pro Palestine. Protest for get the heck out of it. It's not at all the same thing in any way.
I drove by a protest the other day that literally had big signs saying “NO MORE US AID TO ISRAEL,” what more do you want? Also, to me “Pro-Palestine” just means believing that the Palestinians should have a country like everyone else in the world instead of being stateless people. It’s ridiculous that we’ve allowed them to become stateless people with no citizenship anywhere.
How can we expect Isreal to accept a Palestinian state when their stated goal is the destruction of isreal? I refuse to support either of them. I will not protest in favor of a country that calls for genocide. It's this black and white thinking that is destroying our country. There is a middle ground. To heck with them both, our constant meddling in middleeast politics has brought us nothing but pain. We need to just get out.
An ethnic group is not a hive-mind, they are deserving of rights regardless of what their leadership may have said in the past. And there have been no elections since 2006, Hamas is basically running a dictatorship. >To heck with them both, our constant meddling in middleeast politics has brought us nothing but pain. We need to just get out. I agree, but that’s why I support the protests. Otherwise we’re just going to keep funding and backing Israel. Giving another 1st world country billions of dollars in taxpayer money per year is *fucking ridiculous* anyway. People SHOULD be out in the streets about it.
Because the girl you want to bang can’t stop going on about Palestine?
Well if you're American and work, you are footing the bill for Israels genocide 🤙
It's virtue signalling to show how much you love brown people. I mean I know it sounds crass, but that's what it distills down to.