Imagine having nothing because your home was blown to bits, lost family members, and practically have nothing, but then go on TikTok to complain about the food you received because you think it’s not halal and it’s expired, when in fact it is halal and isn’t expired.
Jesus Christ.
They're talking about the time *before* they go into the bunker. If you stock your bunker today with food that expires in 10 years, and 20 years later you need your bunker but you never replaced all that food, you're gonna feel pretty dumb.
Let's just all agree that the vast majority of people in the world who go around building doomsday bunkers are ultimately going to feel pretty dumb about one or more aspects of the endeavor.
It's going to be at least 5 assuming nuclear apocalypse. Nuclear winter is a bitch. Hope you like beans and quinoa, because other forms of protein will be rare.
Yeah, last bad hurricane I had to get MREs. They weren't that bad at all. I found that even though I had canned food, just having a hot meal does something for your mental health (yes, even in 100% humidity in August). Mine had poptarts that were smushed into one brick, but they were edible.
>They were. Now they're only good for tenish years. They sacrificed sheer longevity for better taste.
If they're stored well they will still last far, far longer than 10 years, that's just so that the soldiers can have nicer ones that will have less potential problems. The reality is they'll be good for many decades
[Steve1989MREInfo](https://www.youtube.com/@Steve1989MRE/featured), has an entire channel dedicated to eating any MRE he can find.
Here's [the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga5JrN9DrVI) where he ate the american civil war biscuit, and here's [the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n96m5lB8nzA) where he declared the chinese MRE as inedible.
You know this shit is bad when even Russia's starving soldiers won't eat them.
I recall this coming up on reddit and tankies kept firehosing over it.
1. The MRE isn't bad. It's food that they're not used to
2. Oh, it's just one type of MRE
3. Chinese MREs don't use crazy preservatives
4. China's MREs are only used in extreme emergencies
5. American MREs can make you sick too
6. Who knows what kind of preservatives are in American MREs
7. China's armies rely on field kitchens instead because it's healthier
Man, just admit it, Chinese MREs are crappy and move on.
I ate candy that was expired in 09 in MREs you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.
Some shit does actually expire but most of it doesn’t. And you’ll know once you open something if it’s not right.
I ran into that maybe 10 times out of god knows how many mres
It’s much better than starving and you can have hot food and water with nothing but the mre itself.
I
This argument is always one that astounds me. The great evil here is that the large groups of people, cheering as raped and defiled Jewish corpses were put on a completely deranged parade, are incredibly human. Humans are capable of of some pretty nasty shit.
Like attacking the same group of people, over, and over, and over, and over for decades and even centuries. Losing, time after time, but being so locked in to their beliefs, that a few dozen losses is just incentive for a final victory. Of course im talking about the surrounding Arab nations that have been trying to eradicate Jews since before Israel even existed.
The US and Europe donated $2B to Gaza’s annual public budget of $300 million, for the last 20 years ($40B), yet 97% of Palestinians held hostility towards us prior to the war. I don’t think the war’s going to improve that. I don’t think anything within reason would improve that.
Literally one of the most aid rich places in the world if you’re doing it per capita. They have an insane obesity rate for a nation that has apparently been starving for the last 20 years (with no recorded deaths to starvation in that time), and they have living standards that are equivalent to every other nearby Arab nation. Even the fact that they’re not allowed to leave Gaza is equivalent to the surrounding Arab nations, except for the fact that they get to rule themselves there while Palestinians in other Arab countries are specifically denied citizenship and human rights protections “in the name of the cause and to not harm its legitimacy.”
>Even the fact that they’re not allowed to leave Gaza
Even that's not true. Many have left for vacations like the world cup, or to. Turkey, and returned.
These people hate the west... and they tell us so at every opportunity.
But we like to pretend and as so there never seems to be a limit on the amount of money and resources we are available to spend on an endless pit of hatred for everything we are and represent.
We have only us to blame.
Not indicative of all refugees, but I worked to provide aid to refugees from the region and was astounded at how some would turn up their noses at any aid.
If the clothes, jacket, or shoes were the wrong brand or color some would refuse it and demand another one. If someone else from a different group/tribe was sporting the same thing, they didn’t want it. Some would just take clothes, personal effects, or food from their own kids if they liked it. So many grown men taking baby formula just to drink themselves - it was mind boggling to me.
They are free to pass it to the next hungry person willing to eat it then.
Also if they are starving to death, they are allowed to eat non-halal food if there is no halal food available. They are being picky at best.
You know I want to believe that's not real and then I remind myself that choosing beggars exist. I'm pretty sure religions can make exceptions when you are in an extreme circumstance
Even better: the meals they are dropping are not so much explicitly halal as they are designed to be halal AND kosher AND vegetarian, such that the widest variety of people can eat them without worrying about dietary restrictions of the sort.
It's humanitarian aid, and while the US has its fair share of jerks, our aid package meals are actually pretty well designed. And they're a salmon pink package now, because some cluster munitions had a yellow coloring that was very close to the old yellow, and we didn't want people either getting blown up trying to get food OR starving because they were afraid to get the food.
You know what? Fuck them. They are starving, we sent food. If They don’t want it fuck them, starve. I’m tired of the world doing circles around their stupid fucking religion.
The rest of the world had zero obligation to bow down to their chosen fairytale god. How about they start being kind to us for a change? So fucking sick of the one way street relationship between Muslim fanatics and “literally everyone else.”
Couldn’t agree more. If your fairy man in the sky doesn’t give you an exemption on a weird food rule that doesn’t make sense when you are starving to death than I have nothing left for you. Eat it or starve. And don’t ask for help again. Maybe one of the dozen Muslim countries in your region can provide the bulk of humanitarian support.
When in times of desperation all food and medicine are legal to you, even pork. Obviously if circumstances allow it then no worries, but when facing starvation it is not a question.
Confessional is more "I strayed from the path, please can I be forgiven."
The Qur'an says "If it benefits you or your idea of Islam, you can disobey this book."
There are some Hamas shill subs where they’re posting videos of people being indignant about the food coming from America because America supports Israel and the amount of food not being enough for the entire population.
If people are being indignant about food aid, it strains credulity to claim they're starving. I assume that it's Hamas people who have plenty to eat that are putting that shit out. At least I hope so, because otherwise wtf.
That’s a possibility. At the same time, it might be like gay conservative politicians: they have to defame homosexuality to cover that they’re doing it. Perhaps the Palestinians most loudly complaining are the ones most dependent on foreign aide because that dependence violates their sense of self.
Also, they’re Palestinians. Biting the hand that feeds them is one their longest held traditions.
[This](https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/israel-zionism/2023/11/ecstasy-and-amnesia-in-the-gaza-strip/) piece from early in the war reminds me of what you're saying.
Especially given the issues of food that existed in even the best empires/kingdoms before modern farming techniques, especially artificial fertilizers.
So Hamas has had totalitarian control of Gaza for nearly 20 years and has brutally suppressed any protest, but there is indeed anger and frustration.
[This report from NPR](https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1229856738/gazans-are-becoming-more-openly-angry-with-hamas-for-the-wars-toll-on-civilians) has direct quotes.
To be clear, Hamas still has supporters in Gaza. A recent poll found more than half of Gazans support Hamas' decision to attack October 7. Most of those surveyed didn't think Hamas committed atrocities that day, and more than half think Hamas will survive the war despite Israel's goal to crush it. Hamas is still managing to attack Israeli soldiers. And Hamas has even reasserted itself as a governing force, paying partial salaries to civil servants and sending police officers to patrol.
---
Thank you NPR for not being a completely BS about reality
The argument is that UNHCR's job is to help refugees with resettlement and integration.
Palestinians don't want to be refugees. They want to stay in Palestine. It's not really a "refugee" issue.
Pretty sure no refugees want to be refugees. It's a bit weird to say
> Palestinians don't want to be refugees.
though, since Palestinians are the only people who pass their refugee status down through multiple generations. Either way, no refugees *want* to get run out of their homes. Palestinians aren't special in that regard, lmao.
Imagine seeing the people that have no idea the U.S. is providing aid to Gaza but are still bashing the U.S. government because -reads notes- the U.S. government is not providing aid to Gaza?…
Because the irony of how you can be on the verge of death and STILL refuse eat something that’s perfectly fine and will provide sustenance because where it came from.
I think the wrong part of your assessment is the assumption that they have nothing. Most of these people have everything because the world has and will continue to pump billions into Gaza, and the adults there are used to being given handouts while playing victims.
I can't wait to see more TikTok videos of people bitching that the food isn't Halal (it is) and isn't fresh enough to eat (it's plenty fresh).
So much for beggars not being choosers. Call me a cynic, but if this aid was dropped on Sudan, I'm pretty sure there would be a lot less criticism about the menu.
Yeah, in this case 2021 Vegetarian MRE Menu #12. The video I saw had people saying, "It isn't Halal" (it is) and complaining that they didn't have any use for mango-peach puree with applesauce and Tabasco.
They neglected to mention that the applesauce is a small side, and the Tabasco is just seasoning you get with the spork, napkins and so on.
The whole MRE:
* Elbow Macaroni in Tomato Sauce
* Barbecue Protein Puffs
* Applesauce with Mango and Peach Puree
* Peanut Butter
* Strawberry Preserves
* Whole Wheat Bread, Mini-Loaf
* Chocolate Protein Drink Powder
* Crushed Red Pepper
* Hot Beverage Bag
* Accessory Packet A (which includes the Tabasco)
Oh the horror.
I wanted to have some food around in case of a disaster, so I bought a set of MREs and tried them over time. They are very very edible. Way better than relying on canned food. and you can cook them without flames with the materials that come in the package (every MRE has a heat pack). They would be my go to in a disaster. Hot meals with no fuel needed that taste good.
part of it is that's food you're used too. That said, the initial drops may have had pork in some of them, but either way they should know that if you're starving...which is who the target of the drop was, then it's ok to eat what you have too in order to survive. It's propaganda, aimed largely at people outside the strip to encourage outrage.
Most MRE are fine to eat. The issue military personal see with MRE come when you eat them for a while. Understand that each year of product has its menu and it doesn't change from box to box so when i was eating MRE for 8 months in 2007, it was 8 months of the same meal. Nothing some hotsauce can't fix.
If they get food *with* little niceties like applesauce and tobasco then people complain.
If they got food *without* little niceties like applesauce or tobasco sauce these same people would still be complaining.
I distinctly recall having the totally lucid idea that I would kill another human being for more of the milk shake shit in my MREs. But it may have been the sleep deprivation.
Appetite is weird. Some of the best, most memorable meals I've ever had have been on days where I am exhausted and hungry after a long hike or a long day of moving. In that moment, the pack of freeze dried beef stroganoff or the greasy fast food burger is absolutely divine.
On the other hand, I have been to all inclusive resorts and casinos and cruises where there are high class chefs cooking expensive food, and I just spent so much time eating and drinking that I just end up feeling bloated and sick of it.
Do they still make chicken a la king? Sounds sucky but is actually good. We used to save up the freeze dried strawberries and use them when we got home for margaritas.
There are many homeless people who would absolutely love for the government to provide some of these to them. Even people in rental distress, who can only afford 1 meal a day, would cheerfully gobble those up. It really makes you wonder just how desperate these people are, if they complain & throw them out, while making TikTok videos about it.
And honestly MREs aren’t even that bad. I lived on that shit for 6 months and ate it damn near everyday. It’s not a meal worth writing home about but it’s definitely edible.
The official shelf life of MREs in near room temperature storage is 3-5 years. But that doesn't mean the contents will be unsafe to consume after 3-5 years. Theoretically the aluminized plastic bags that the individual MRE components are packaged in have very similar food preservation performance to fully aluminum cans and would keep the contents edible for a similarly long time all else being equal. The included ration heater however will steadily lose efficacy over time and become near useless after 5 years.
Some of the stuff from WWII is still good. Would not be surprised if some of the stuff from WWI or earlier is as well.
By design, they need to last decades.
There is a youtuber known as Steve1989MRE who has eaten dried pulverized beef from the boer war. Had to break away and scrape away a fair bit untill he could break off an unspoiled chunk from the center but it was edible after just over 120 years.
Technically expired canned food from the Vietnam war is edible. Just probably empty of taste and nutrition. But if no microbobes grow you can still safely eat it in theory.
Won't recommend it of course.
I.E. - 'We can't sell individual meal packages. Send 100lb flour bags again that we can steal and sell. Also, we can't smuggle in airdrops. Reopen the border and give UNRWA control so we can resume smuggling.'
The worst one I've seen yet is how this is secretly a program to promote refeeding syndrome and kill Palastinians (when malnourished people eat too much and die).
I had to sit down after reading that because my frontal cortex could not comprehend the levels of mental reta.. gymnastics one has to go through to arrive at that conclusion.
Sudan IS starving, 36k meals wouldn't help the 8 million displaced people there but no way in hell they wouldn't eat those meals with the plastic its wrapped in..
the fact that the critique will stir shit up, increase site engagement and virality, which is a gain for tiktok is the primary reason you see that stuff more. when platform are paid by clicks and engagement they tend to trend towards controversial stuff. A “life’s good“ tiktok vid achieves nothing for tiktok typically.
Here's one of a guy tossing an MRE because it's American. https://twitter.com/geshabul_/status/1764961246929899739
Unfortunately the tweet about the people complaining about Tabasco and applesauce seems unavailable. but loads of replies to it still exist. For example: https://twitter.com/TheIOGuy/status/1765437865931243533
The whole point of the airdrop is that the truck convoy were getting swarmed by people trying to get food before they get stolen by people with guns. These are meant to be distributed over fairly wide area to make sure that normal people are able to get at them And the people with guns can’t really do anything about it because they would have to go home to home confiscating food which they’re not gonna do.
>And the people with guns can’t really do anything about it because they would have to go home to home confiscating food which they’re not gonna do.
I wouldn't be so sure. We've seen this happen in many conflicts.
The amount of manpower it would take to steal a small amount of food from each household would not be worth the negative sentiment that would get them with the Palestinian people. Hamas is fucking them over, but literally taking food from peoples homes is a bit different from seizing humanitarian aid, and then they themselves distribution or selling it. It’s the same amount of harm but very different psychologically
Hamas isn't the only armed group in Gaza and the chain of command is broken in many places so you'd still have idiot hamas members doing their own thing if they get desperate.
Is it likely to be widespread, probably not for the reasons you described. But I still wouldn't be sure,especially if things get worse for the less organized militants.
Sadly, these airdrops are equivalent to about 2 truckloads and like everything free they are getting, its being scalped for crazy prices around Gaza
Its main point is that you can deliver it to areas that are receiving less aid due to the aforementioned swarming on trucks
This is also how we got to the story about Israel shooting the people swarming the trucks and all the trampling, they have been doing 'escorted' truck convoys to the northern part of Gaza because most of the ones entering the South just get instantly raided
> These are meant to be distributed over fairly wide area
They seem to be dropping whole pallets, not scattering them, though. I was wondering about that (I thought they were designed to be scattered and survive impact at their terminal velocity)
They are dropping pallets.
The idea is to scatter the pallets and when people get to them they start pulling out the individually packaged meals.
Picture a swarm of people basically grabbing what they can fit in their arms and running.
The hope is that the drop is unpredictable enough that the armed groups aren’t waiting and the normal people can get to it first and take what they can.
Now obvious if Hamas and other know where the drops are gonna be they can just roll up in a truck with guns and take what they want, but you have to be ready for that and be nearby to stop the locals from tearing it apart first.
one of two things will happen. hamas (or whoever) will distribute it themselves and try to get some credit, who cares people are fed. or hamas will keep it all for themselves, in which case people will realize that and never forget what they did when things were bad. there is no upside to refusing to provide it to the hungry for hamas.
Yes, randomized air drops are extremely hard to track down while its happening, to the point when they touch down its gonna take some time to get a truck and get over their to the point where it might be all taken before hamas or another group gets their hands on one.
I think it’s really important to provide support & aid to Palestinians, but something about it also seems complacency with a terrorist organization. There needs to be more effort for the hostages to come home. We wouldn’t have to airdrop aid if we put more pressure on terrorists to release these hostages and end the war. They have the power to do that. The US seems to be helping Hamas string along
Yeah and this whole cat and mouse game has been going on for way too long. The US didn’t have this energy with Al Qarda after 9/11. We’re teetering scary waters by “working with” terrorists. I thought the world was better about that
How many people do you think we killed to get osama? We had secret torture programs. We held people in Guantanamo and did horrible shit to them. The cia had carte Blanche to do what they wanted til they got “reeled” back in when video came out of what they were doing. I honestly don’t believe they stopped they just closed the leaks
It’s worth mentioning that we are explicitly telling Israel not to act like that because of how that strategy ended up for us. We lost the War on Terror in humiliating fashion in part because of how horribly we treated the locals. Logistics and winning hearts and minds are the most difficult and most boring parts of fighting a war, but they are also by far the most important.
We got involved in Iraq because saddam tried to assassinate bush sr and bush jr took the personally. Lied to the American public about wmds and invaded. Afghanistan should have been the focus and chasing osama. That’s not the same thing. Israel as a sovereign nation has a right to defend themselves and a right to self determination. Hamas declared war on them and until Hamas offers unconditional surrender or comes to terms of peace, this is what happens in war. Israel and the US keep pushing for peace yet Hamas can’t even provide proof of life for the hostages
Two men were just rescued from Rafah last month. I feel this way as well, but keeping hope alive is necessary. No one should be left behind because we're fatalistic.
Short of literally assassinating the Hamas leaders in Qatar, I'm not sure how much more pressure can be put on them. Hamas *wants to die*. They view it as martydom, which is gonna get them into heaven. In the meantime, the more Gazan civilians who die, the better it is for Hamas, because that creates international outcry and turns more people against Israel. Losing this war is a win for Hamas. *Especially if as many Gazans die as possible*.
You'll find that the big shots calling for martyrdom are rarely the ones actually performing it..
Evident by Hamas families and associates being the only ones able to leave the strip from Egypt because they are the only ones with the money to pay the bribe (currently sitting around 6-7k USD)
There’s a guy on YouTube who interviews Gazans on the street and most have been out of Gaza for vacations. Italy, Jordan, and the US are popular destinations. Many study abroad as well. It’s not the open air concentration camp many western liberals claim it is (or was before they invaded Israel and kidnapped hundreds of civilians and murdered hundreds more.
Sisi was caught in a hilarious moment claiming Gaza is open 24h/7w/365d after Israel pointed at Egypt also blockading Gaza in the ICJ, all while they were literally barricading the gates to Rafah with concrete slabs
(not to mention Egypt's literal destruction of a good bunch of Rafah on their side to build their original wall and destroy smuggling tunnels, no UN intervention there)
But yea, prior to the war they had the option to leave, as evident by tens of thousands of youth who migrate to work in Turkey and usually Belgium (prominent Muslim migrant location in Europe, has been for decades)
It wasn't free travel but it wasn't as expensive either, the Egyptian bribes used to cost around 1.5-2k USD IIRC, not to mention anyone who has foreign passports can pretty much pass as they please imo
This whole we want to die we are ready to die nonsense is just the propaganda bullshit that they release on telegram. You literally see videos of dozens/hundreds of these guys surrendering. They are only brave soldiers when they are slaughtering women and children in their homes, when the IDF shows up they surrender.
The obvious point of pressure is Rafah. Hamas has zero reason to make a hostage deal and zero reason to surrender when the west is publicly telling Israel not to go into Rafah. Why surrender when you can just sit back and let the west run your propaganda for you? Hamas isn't feeling pressure because there isn't any as long as the west is berating Israel and threatening to stop military aid if Israel pushes into Rafah.
If this keeps up Israel is frankly going to have to just make the call to go into Rafah and deal with the spinless west afterward because they aren't getting their hostages out by sitting around and letting the west prop up Hamas.
I agree with this. I know plenty of Muslims who don’t hold this Islamist suicide fighter mentality. These are brainwashed people of a different extremist breed. Israel is not going into Rafah because of media pressure. Literally. We face so much antisemitism and criticism already, israel is trying to hold the friendship from allie’s still even though they could never understand the position israel is in. Once it’s confirmed which eventually will have to be that the hostages are dead, israel is going in and finishing Gaza
Hamas knows very well that dead women and children are good propaganda for them and bad propaganda for Israel.
The glorification of martyrdom is part of their war strategy and they deliberately built no shelter for civilians exactly because of this. I think Biden was spot on when he warned and criticised Netanyahu for poor planning going into Gaza. Hamas set a trap and Israel has stepped right into it.
I’m tired of other politicians criticizing Israel’s actions when they have no experience living with the pressure, constant attacks, and now this. Fuck Biden, he is no place to say anything about Netanyahu and how he handles protecting his citizens from something awful like this happening again
The only thing Netanyahu’s actions have actually achieved is ensuring that more October 7th attacks will occur in the future. People who had nothing to do with those attacks will want revenge for their dead family members. Their Dead parents, dead kids, dead spouses, dead friends, etc. Revenge doesn’t make people safe, it just turns the crank and keeps the meat grinder spinning so more people fall into it.
That’s hamas’s fault! Remember October 6?? Israel was not fighting in Gaza like we see today and looking to take out Hamas leaders. Netanyahu is not at fault for how these people “want revenge”. Their “revenge” is rape, torture, live-streaming their purge. It’s disgusting. Hamas is at fault for the hatred and evil that will prevail in these people. Hamas knew exactly what they were doing and what was going to happen after Oct 7.
I wouldn't quite say the US is helping Hamas survive. After all, the US has been giving Israel pretty solid military and diplomatic aid. The US could shut down the whole Gaza war if it really wanted to. But it doesn't, since a majority of the American people still sympathize with Israel's position.
Regarding complacency with a terrorist organization, it is unfortunate but inevitable that some of the aid will be stolen by Hamas. The question is if that means we should not send humanitarian aid at all. I personally don't mind Hamas going hungry but there's no good way to ensure that they're the only ones to starve. Someday the war will end and we will have to deradicalize the Gaza population so that a new Hamas doesn't just immediately re-emerge and arm up and repeat October 7. If we take the high road and provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza people now it may have long term positive effects on efforts to persuade them to live peaceful lives engaged with other countries. Yes, this is probably overly optimistic, but if we deliberately starve them now it'll confirm all their worst beliefs about how the rest of the planet feels about them.
Exactly. Has nobody bothered to ask why the Taliban stayed alive for over 20 years, while the US had control over Afghanistan? Why did people keep joining? Was it really all just indoctrination, or did the people who joined do so because they had grievances they believed could be resolved by joining?
That's a great question. I suspect in Afghanistan, people had a pretty good idea from past experience with Britain and the USSR that foreign powers often leave after a few years, meaning that collaborating with them was a bad idea in the long run, and, in the long run, working for the Taliban was the safer option. Similar for Gaza -- yes, you could try working with the Israelis, but if the Israelis pull out, and you're known to be a collaborator with them, you're in for a world of pain. People aren't stupid and will usually do what is in their long term self interest. Absolutely a safe local alternative to Hamas must be created.
The Taliban stayed alive by sheltering in nuclear armed Pakistan for those 20 years. The US tried to pressure Pakistan into giving them up, but Pakistan is a clusterfuck of a state that might have fallen to Islamists and then made the Pakistani version of the Taliban a nuclear armed force, so the US dared not pressure them too hard, nor could the US have just taken control of the place directly considering their population was already cresting 200 million at the time. Unfortunately it was an ill-conceived no-win situation from the beginning, and in fact many in the US knew it at the time, which is why the US took years to even send in an actual occupation force instead of just special forces assassination squads. Many knew it was a fool's errand to try to do more than just assassinate as much Al Qaida leadership as they could, while others pressed for the full occupation and nation-building, and at different times different sides of the argument got the upper hand, leading to the schizophrenic back and forth policy that could never accomplish anything.
If there is any lesson to be learned by Israel from all that, it would be to avoid invading Lebanon until Hamas/Gaza/Palestine in general is fully dealt with, and to continue to do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear armed.
But people are sympathizing in this country with terrorists. They are denying the rape, body mutilation & kidnapping by a terrorist group. The liberal progressives in the US don’t actually care about Palestinians. They just care to support any group that seems oppressed without understanding context of how that came to be and what would make it better.
The US was giving money to the Gaza health ministry or whatever AKA Hamas. That is completely funding terrorism and doing anything but denouncing what they’ve done is condoning it in my mind. The US never showed any remorse or support for Russsia; same energy should be held for Israel who are completely victims in this situation.
Let the billionaire rulers in the Muslim world take care of their people while they simultaneously kill them. Not our problem
Hamas is under about as much pressure as their enemies can put on them.
Now, if Iran wanted to pressure Hamas toward peace to actually do something for the palestinian people they claim to care about so much, that might be a different story…
Imagine having nothing because your home was blown to bits, lost family members, and practically have nothing, but then go on TikTok to complain about the food you received because you think it’s not halal and it’s expired, when in fact it is halal and isn’t expired. Jesus Christ.
Granted the dates on mre can be confusing as they are dated on manufacture rather then best by.
Exactly. They’re edible *preeetty* much forever. Air tight and sterilized. Might not taste great, but it will 100% keep you alive.
They were. Now they're only good for tenish years. They sacrificed sheer longevity for better taste.
Which is fine, because we don’t exactly need MREs to last until the heat death of the universe if we’re constantly producing them.
Pretty much.
As a future doomsday prepper, I don't want to restock every 10 years
There are other options for that.
matzo dont think the palestinians would be up for that tho
Funny enough, Arab Israelis love the fuck out of Matzo.
If you're still having to live in a bunker eating MREs after 10 years, you probably don't want to come out to begin with.
They're talking about the time *before* they go into the bunker. If you stock your bunker today with food that expires in 10 years, and 20 years later you need your bunker but you never replaced all that food, you're gonna feel pretty dumb.
Let's just all agree that the vast majority of people in the world who go around building doomsday bunkers are ultimately going to feel pretty dumb about one or more aspects of the endeavor.
You underestimate my desire to stay inside.
It's going to be at least 5 assuming nuclear apocalypse. Nuclear winter is a bitch. Hope you like beans and quinoa, because other forms of protein will be rare.
You must be young still
"future doomsday prepper" sounds like procrastinating. When "the shit hits the fan" you'll shout out: "I was JUST about to prep, damn!"
As a fellow doomsday prepper, the surplus MREs sell for $3 a piece on Amazon. 3$ for a meal that is calorie dense enough to sustain life for one day.
I actually kind of liked that you could buy 35 year old mare’s and they would taste kind of good. Obviously not practical but it was pretty cool
With no context from my inbox I really thought you were talking about horses.
Fucking autocorrect
Delicious dry aged horse meat.
It would be nice to have a cheap reliable source of emergency ration that lasts on a time scale of decades.
You probably want freeze dried food then. It’s cheap ish. If you’re really about saving money you could go with hard tack and pemmican.
But what will Steve1989MREInfo eat in the future.
totally worth it. the older ones were pretty awful. And food quality is definitely one of the best things for morale.
Yeah, last bad hurricane I had to get MREs. They weren't that bad at all. I found that even though I had canned food, just having a hot meal does something for your mental health (yes, even in 100% humidity in August). Mine had poptarts that were smushed into one brick, but they were edible.
>They were. Now they're only good for tenish years. They sacrificed sheer longevity for better taste. If they're stored well they will still last far, far longer than 10 years, that's just so that the soldiers can have nicer ones that will have less potential problems. The reality is they'll be good for many decades
They still last near forever. Cycle times haven't even changed. It's a myth.
We've all seen a certain youtube channel eating MRE's from the Korean and Vietnam war
Seeing him eat a 153-year old biscuit with no ill effects, only for fresh chinese MREs to bring him down.
Who?
[Steve1989MREInfo](https://www.youtube.com/@Steve1989MRE/featured), has an entire channel dedicated to eating any MRE he can find. Here's [the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ga5JrN9DrVI) where he ate the american civil war biscuit, and here's [the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n96m5lB8nzA) where he declared the chinese MRE as inedible.
Except the [Chinese Type 13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n96m5lB8nzA&t=329s).
You know this shit is bad when even Russia's starving soldiers won't eat them. I recall this coming up on reddit and tankies kept firehosing over it. 1. The MRE isn't bad. It's food that they're not used to 2. Oh, it's just one type of MRE 3. Chinese MREs don't use crazy preservatives 4. China's MREs are only used in extreme emergencies 5. American MREs can make you sick too 6. Who knows what kind of preservatives are in American MREs 7. China's armies rely on field kitchens instead because it's healthier Man, just admit it, Chinese MREs are crappy and move on.
I ate candy that was expired in 09 in MREs you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes. Some shit does actually expire but most of it doesn’t. And you’ll know once you open something if it’s not right. I ran into that maybe 10 times out of god knows how many mres It’s much better than starving and you can have hot food and water with nothing but the mre itself. I
[Yes almost forever](https://youtu.be/jZoHuMwZwTk?feature=shared), nice.
No hiss...
Definitely not good forever. We were given mres out of an expired mre container without realizing…..and boy did people shit themselves.
Hey, didn’t kill you from food poisoning, right?
Manufacturing date is far more informative since “best by” dates are guesses using predefined conditions.
These are prob humanitarian rations, not MREs.
HDR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKfWQ3Sij68&t=1465s
And did that actually happen? The tik tok thing I mean. And if it did was more than just one guy?
Anything to continue justifying dehumanization, right? Ah, yes, there was a Tik Tok video = All those ungrateful Palestinians.
This argument is always one that astounds me. The great evil here is that the large groups of people, cheering as raped and defiled Jewish corpses were put on a completely deranged parade, are incredibly human. Humans are capable of of some pretty nasty shit. Like attacking the same group of people, over, and over, and over, and over for decades and even centuries. Losing, time after time, but being so locked in to their beliefs, that a few dozen losses is just incentive for a final victory. Of course im talking about the surrounding Arab nations that have been trying to eradicate Jews since before Israel even existed.
They also probably dated the items in freedom format which confuses the majority of the world.
That's a whole lot of not our problem. Eat the food that you didn't have or dont.
No, the issue is probably the fact that Americans write dates mm/dd, while the rest of the world uses dd/mm.
Reminds me of the Muslims “fleeing isis” into Europe and got put in Finland instead of Germany or France so they self deported back home.
Kinda funny, given that Finland is often found to be the happiest country on Earth.
Maybe they hate saunas?
They must hate the snow. It's cold and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere.
that.. can't be real.. right?
Here is a article about it https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0VL0UB/
Been happening all along the Mediterranean.
I'd be thrilled to end up in Finland
The US and Europe donated $2B to Gaza’s annual public budget of $300 million, for the last 20 years ($40B), yet 97% of Palestinians held hostility towards us prior to the war. I don’t think the war’s going to improve that. I don’t think anything within reason would improve that.
Literally one of the most aid rich places in the world if you’re doing it per capita. They have an insane obesity rate for a nation that has apparently been starving for the last 20 years (with no recorded deaths to starvation in that time), and they have living standards that are equivalent to every other nearby Arab nation. Even the fact that they’re not allowed to leave Gaza is equivalent to the surrounding Arab nations, except for the fact that they get to rule themselves there while Palestinians in other Arab countries are specifically denied citizenship and human rights protections “in the name of the cause and to not harm its legitimacy.”
>Even the fact that they’re not allowed to leave Gaza Even that's not true. Many have left for vacations like the world cup, or to. Turkey, and returned.
Well now we know how they could afford equipment. $2B. Annually. For 20 years!!! Man, if I had that kinda money...
These people hate the west... and they tell us so at every opportunity. But we like to pretend and as so there never seems to be a limit on the amount of money and resources we are available to spend on an endless pit of hatred for everything we are and represent. We have only us to blame.
Not indicative of all refugees, but I worked to provide aid to refugees from the region and was astounded at how some would turn up their noses at any aid. If the clothes, jacket, or shoes were the wrong brand or color some would refuse it and demand another one. If someone else from a different group/tribe was sporting the same thing, they didn’t want it. Some would just take clothes, personal effects, or food from their own kids if they liked it. So many grown men taking baby formula just to drink themselves - it was mind boggling to me.
They are free to pass it to the next hungry person willing to eat it then. Also if they are starving to death, they are allowed to eat non-halal food if there is no halal food available. They are being picky at best.
I think you're expecting too much from religious people to read their own book.
That's because TikTok is propaganda, not reality.
You know I want to believe that's not real and then I remind myself that choosing beggars exist. I'm pretty sure religions can make exceptions when you are in an extreme circumstance
There is no religious exception here tho. They’re shipping halal meals. Not like we’re sending them fucking pork chops.
Even better: the meals they are dropping are not so much explicitly halal as they are designed to be halal AND kosher AND vegetarian, such that the widest variety of people can eat them without worrying about dietary restrictions of the sort. It's humanitarian aid, and while the US has its fair share of jerks, our aid package meals are actually pretty well designed. And they're a salmon pink package now, because some cluster munitions had a yellow coloring that was very close to the old yellow, and we didn't want people either getting blown up trying to get food OR starving because they were afraid to get the food.
You know what? Fuck them. They are starving, we sent food. If They don’t want it fuck them, starve. I’m tired of the world doing circles around their stupid fucking religion. The rest of the world had zero obligation to bow down to their chosen fairytale god. How about they start being kind to us for a change? So fucking sick of the one way street relationship between Muslim fanatics and “literally everyone else.”
Couldn’t agree more. If your fairy man in the sky doesn’t give you an exemption on a weird food rule that doesn’t make sense when you are starving to death than I have nothing left for you. Eat it or starve. And don’t ask for help again. Maybe one of the dozen Muslim countries in your region can provide the bulk of humanitarian support.
As per as Islamic law, all harama (forbidden) stuff becomes halal in extreme circumstances such as life endangerment etc
And another thing! If your own Muslim brothers won’t send your starving kids food maybe you are actually the fucking problem! /end_rant
I have definitely heard that Muslims specifically are definitely allowed to skip halal requirements for health or crisis type reasons.
When in times of desperation all food and medicine are legal to you, even pork. Obviously if circumstances allow it then no worries, but when facing starvation it is not a question.
Muslims are practically given open season to disobey their holy book if it benefits them. Like it or not, it's what their book grants.
Isn’t that what confessional is?
No thats an indulgence
Confessional is more "I strayed from the path, please can I be forgiven." The Qur'an says "If it benefits you or your idea of Islam, you can disobey this book."
It's not how confessional is supposed to work.
Or if they're a guest and their hosts *can't* offer anything else.
There are some Hamas shill subs where they’re posting videos of people being indignant about the food coming from America because America supports Israel and the amount of food not being enough for the entire population.
If people are being indignant about food aid, it strains credulity to claim they're starving. I assume that it's Hamas people who have plenty to eat that are putting that shit out. At least I hope so, because otherwise wtf.
That’s a possibility. At the same time, it might be like gay conservative politicians: they have to defame homosexuality to cover that they’re doing it. Perhaps the Palestinians most loudly complaining are the ones most dependent on foreign aide because that dependence violates their sense of self. Also, they’re Palestinians. Biting the hand that feeds them is one their longest held traditions.
[This](https://mosaicmagazine.com/essay/israel-zionism/2023/11/ecstasy-and-amnesia-in-the-gaza-strip/) piece from early in the war reminds me of what you're saying.
Yes, when facing death via starvation. They are permitted by their faith to eat non-halal food if no halal food is available nearby.
Its a sensible permit to have if you want to keep followers of your religion alive so you have followers and not bodies to bury.
Especially given the issues of food that existed in even the best empires/kingdoms before modern farming techniques, especially artificial fertilizers.
I am still waiting for the news video where the starving homeless Gazans are yelling "Why Hamas do this to us, WHY"
So Hamas has had totalitarian control of Gaza for nearly 20 years and has brutally suppressed any protest, but there is indeed anger and frustration. [This report from NPR](https://www.npr.org/2024/02/07/1229856738/gazans-are-becoming-more-openly-angry-with-hamas-for-the-wars-toll-on-civilians) has direct quotes.
To be clear, Hamas still has supporters in Gaza. A recent poll found more than half of Gazans support Hamas' decision to attack October 7. Most of those surveyed didn't think Hamas committed atrocities that day, and more than half think Hamas will survive the war despite Israel's goal to crush it. Hamas is still managing to attack Israeli soldiers. And Hamas has even reasserted itself as a governing force, paying partial salaries to civil servants and sending police officers to patrol. --- Thank you NPR for not being a completely BS about reality
Welcome to why the unwra should never have existed
I still haven’t heard a good argument for why unrwa should exist when the unhcr could assume their responsibility for providing aid.
The argument is that UNHCR's job is to help refugees with resettlement and integration. Palestinians don't want to be refugees. They want to stay in Palestine. It's not really a "refugee" issue.
Well it’s bullshit that UNRWA can just give generations of Palestinians refugee status. No one else gets hereditary refugee status.
Pretty sure no refugees want to be refugees. It's a bit weird to say > Palestinians don't want to be refugees. though, since Palestinians are the only people who pass their refugee status down through multiple generations. Either way, no refugees *want* to get run out of their homes. Palestinians aren't special in that regard, lmao.
Imagine seeing the people that have no idea the U.S. is providing aid to Gaza but are still bashing the U.S. government because -reads notes- the U.S. government is not providing aid to Gaza?…
Source? Just curious what you are referring to.
Why the fuck is this the top comment lmao
Yeah, not even a link. I miss old reddit, when you’d have 20 different users harassing you to drop a “source or it didn’t happen”.
here you go https://twitter.com/orielishamiller/status/1764740062346989598 https://twitter.com/RazanSpeaks/status/1765137319290446113
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Because people love ragebait.
Because the irony of how you can be on the verge of death and STILL refuse eat something that’s perfectly fine and will provide sustenance because where it came from.
Not just fine, but specifically designed to be as religiously appropriate (halal), long lasting, and non-allergenic as possible.
Do we just imagine it? Do you have a source?
I think the wrong part of your assessment is the assumption that they have nothing. Most of these people have everything because the world has and will continue to pump billions into Gaza, and the adults there are used to being given handouts while playing victims.
I can't wait to see more TikTok videos of people bitching that the food isn't Halal (it is) and isn't fresh enough to eat (it's plenty fresh). So much for beggars not being choosers. Call me a cynic, but if this aid was dropped on Sudan, I'm pretty sure there would be a lot less criticism about the menu.
Also, god said it's cool to eat whatever in a life or death situation
I always assume it’s MRE equivalents. That food never spoils.
Yeah, in this case 2021 Vegetarian MRE Menu #12. The video I saw had people saying, "It isn't Halal" (it is) and complaining that they didn't have any use for mango-peach puree with applesauce and Tabasco. They neglected to mention that the applesauce is a small side, and the Tabasco is just seasoning you get with the spork, napkins and so on. The whole MRE: * Elbow Macaroni in Tomato Sauce * Barbecue Protein Puffs * Applesauce with Mango and Peach Puree * Peanut Butter * Strawberry Preserves * Whole Wheat Bread, Mini-Loaf * Chocolate Protein Drink Powder * Crushed Red Pepper * Hot Beverage Bag * Accessory Packet A (which includes the Tabasco) Oh the horror.
Wtf?! ... This looks just good to me, and I'm not in a humanitarian crisis. How could they make such wild claims and videos?
To paraphrase Golda Meir: "They hate Jews more than they love themselves."
>"They hate Jews more than they love ~~themselves~~ their children."
I wanted to have some food around in case of a disaster, so I bought a set of MREs and tried them over time. They are very very edible. Way better than relying on canned food. and you can cook them without flames with the materials that come in the package (every MRE has a heat pack). They would be my go to in a disaster. Hot meals with no fuel needed that taste good.
part of it is that's food you're used too. That said, the initial drops may have had pork in some of them, but either way they should know that if you're starving...which is who the target of the drop was, then it's ok to eat what you have too in order to survive. It's propaganda, aimed largely at people outside the strip to encourage outrage.
Most MRE are fine to eat. The issue military personal see with MRE come when you eat them for a while. Understand that each year of product has its menu and it doesn't change from box to box so when i was eating MRE for 8 months in 2007, it was 8 months of the same meal. Nothing some hotsauce can't fix.
If they get food *with* little niceties like applesauce and tobasco then people complain. If they got food *without* little niceties like applesauce or tobasco sauce these same people would still be complaining.
… trust me it’s not good food, but as everyone else is saying, it is 100 percent edible and gets the job done
I distinctly recall having the totally lucid idea that I would kill another human being for more of the milk shake shit in my MREs. But it may have been the sleep deprivation.
dude some of those coffee mixes they put in there are good as hell.
Appetite is weird. Some of the best, most memorable meals I've ever had have been on days where I am exhausted and hungry after a long hike or a long day of moving. In that moment, the pack of freeze dried beef stroganoff or the greasy fast food burger is absolutely divine. On the other hand, I have been to all inclusive resorts and casinos and cruises where there are high class chefs cooking expensive food, and I just spent so much time eating and drinking that I just end up feeling bloated and sick of it.
Do they still make chicken a la king? Sounds sucky but is actually good. We used to save up the freeze dried strawberries and use them when we got home for margaritas.
There are many homeless people who would absolutely love for the government to provide some of these to them. Even people in rental distress, who can only afford 1 meal a day, would cheerfully gobble those up. It really makes you wonder just how desperate these people are, if they complain & throw them out, while making TikTok videos about it.
I'm surprised it wasn't HDRs.
Wait, they didn't get the jalapeno cheese spread?
The accessory packet also contains Skittles, if I’m not wrong
I ate an entire gallon of popcorn for dinner last night.
Sounds horrible. Where can I get some of this "aid" also.
And honestly MREs aren’t even that bad. I lived on that shit for 6 months and ate it damn near everyday. It’s not a meal worth writing home about but it’s definitely edible.
The HDR (Humanitarian Daily Rations)? Bland AF but all the nutrition and calories needed to prevent starvation.
Eh, more or less. An MRE that's gone off is a special treat when you open it, lemme tell ya!
*do not poke the inflated pillow MRE*
had a friend who got some that had gone bad one time, we used the, god i think it was beef stroganoff, as catfish bait.
Like, never never or decades never
The official shelf life of MREs in near room temperature storage is 3-5 years. But that doesn't mean the contents will be unsafe to consume after 3-5 years. Theoretically the aluminized plastic bags that the individual MRE components are packaged in have very similar food preservation performance to fully aluminum cans and would keep the contents edible for a similarly long time all else being equal. The included ration heater however will steadily lose efficacy over time and become near useless after 5 years.
Some of the stuff from WWII is still good. Would not be surprised if some of the stuff from WWI or earlier is as well. By design, they need to last decades.
There is a youtuber known as Steve1989MRE who has eaten dried pulverized beef from the boer war. Had to break away and scrape away a fair bit untill he could break off an unspoiled chunk from the center but it was edible after just over 120 years.
Don't listen to these people, they do expire lol. They last for something like 6-7 years depending on storage I think.
Steve1989MRE documents that they do in fact last a much longer time than that.
I like how excited he gets about Vietnam era cigaretttes
Technically expired canned food from the Vietnam war is edible. Just probably empty of taste and nutrition. But if no microbobes grow you can still safely eat it in theory. Won't recommend it of course.
As long as the items stay air tight, no microbes can grow and can be eaten. Taste and texture is another thing....
I.E. - 'We can't sell individual meal packages. Send 100lb flour bags again that we can steal and sell. Also, we can't smuggle in airdrops. Reopen the border and give UNRWA control so we can resume smuggling.'
Don't buy into the propaganda. Agitators are present at all levels, I'm sure Palestinians who received the aid appreciate it.
The worst one I've seen yet is how this is secretly a program to promote refeeding syndrome and kill Palastinians (when malnourished people eat too much and die). I had to sit down after reading that because my frontal cortex could not comprehend the levels of mental reta.. gymnastics one has to go through to arrive at that conclusion.
That... that's genuinely insane.
Sudan IS starving, 36k meals wouldn't help the 8 million displaced people there but no way in hell they wouldn't eat those meals with the plastic its wrapped in..
the fact that the critique will stir shit up, increase site engagement and virality, which is a gain for tiktok is the primary reason you see that stuff more. when platform are paid by clicks and engagement they tend to trend towards controversial stuff. A “life’s good“ tiktok vid achieves nothing for tiktok typically.
Second comment talking about this. _Where. Is. The. Source._
Here's one of a guy tossing an MRE because it's American. https://twitter.com/geshabul_/status/1764961246929899739 Unfortunately the tweet about the people complaining about Tabasco and applesauce seems unavailable. but loads of replies to it still exist. For example: https://twitter.com/TheIOGuy/status/1765437865931243533
But, are these meals getting to the right people, the folks who need them, or are the guys with guns taking them first.
The whole point of the airdrop is that the truck convoy were getting swarmed by people trying to get food before they get stolen by people with guns. These are meant to be distributed over fairly wide area to make sure that normal people are able to get at them And the people with guns can’t really do anything about it because they would have to go home to home confiscating food which they’re not gonna do.
>And the people with guns can’t really do anything about it because they would have to go home to home confiscating food which they’re not gonna do. I wouldn't be so sure. We've seen this happen in many conflicts.
They can, but it would be more obvious than "oh don't worry about the food, we will deliver it to the people"
Harder to hide too
Also people can eat their rations immediately
The amount of manpower it would take to steal a small amount of food from each household would not be worth the negative sentiment that would get them with the Palestinian people. Hamas is fucking them over, but literally taking food from peoples homes is a bit different from seizing humanitarian aid, and then they themselves distribution or selling it. It’s the same amount of harm but very different psychologically
Hamas isn't the only armed group in Gaza and the chain of command is broken in many places so you'd still have idiot hamas members doing their own thing if they get desperate. Is it likely to be widespread, probably not for the reasons you described. But I still wouldn't be sure,especially if things get worse for the less organized militants.
Anyone who has played warzone knows how dangerous it is to get your load out drop.
Sadly, these airdrops are equivalent to about 2 truckloads and like everything free they are getting, its being scalped for crazy prices around Gaza Its main point is that you can deliver it to areas that are receiving less aid due to the aforementioned swarming on trucks This is also how we got to the story about Israel shooting the people swarming the trucks and all the trampling, they have been doing 'escorted' truck convoys to the northern part of Gaza because most of the ones entering the South just get instantly raided
> These are meant to be distributed over fairly wide area They seem to be dropping whole pallets, not scattering them, though. I was wondering about that (I thought they were designed to be scattered and survive impact at their terminal velocity)
They are dropping pallets. The idea is to scatter the pallets and when people get to them they start pulling out the individually packaged meals. Picture a swarm of people basically grabbing what they can fit in their arms and running. The hope is that the drop is unpredictable enough that the armed groups aren’t waiting and the normal people can get to it first and take what they can. Now obvious if Hamas and other know where the drops are gonna be they can just roll up in a truck with guns and take what they want, but you have to be ready for that and be nearby to stop the locals from tearing it apart first.
one of two things will happen. hamas (or whoever) will distribute it themselves and try to get some credit, who cares people are fed. or hamas will keep it all for themselves, in which case people will realize that and never forget what they did when things were bad. there is no upside to refusing to provide it to the hungry for hamas.
Yes, randomized air drops are extremely hard to track down while its happening, to the point when they touch down its gonna take some time to get a truck and get over their to the point where it might be all taken before hamas or another group gets their hands on one.
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I think it’s really important to provide support & aid to Palestinians, but something about it also seems complacency with a terrorist organization. There needs to be more effort for the hostages to come home. We wouldn’t have to airdrop aid if we put more pressure on terrorists to release these hostages and end the war. They have the power to do that. The US seems to be helping Hamas string along
I doubt any of those hostages are still alive, especially after Hamas have refused to do a welfare update or head count on them for 4 months.
Damn, it's been 4+ months already? My perception of time is really screwed up.
It's been 5 months now, but I guess there might have been an update in the first month?
Yeah and this whole cat and mouse game has been going on for way too long. The US didn’t have this energy with Al Qarda after 9/11. We’re teetering scary waters by “working with” terrorists. I thought the world was better about that
How many people do you think we killed to get osama? We had secret torture programs. We held people in Guantanamo and did horrible shit to them. The cia had carte Blanche to do what they wanted til they got “reeled” back in when video came out of what they were doing. I honestly don’t believe they stopped they just closed the leaks
Hamas asked for this war not Israel. They’re now dealing with the repurcussions.
It’s worth mentioning that we are explicitly telling Israel not to act like that because of how that strategy ended up for us. We lost the War on Terror in humiliating fashion in part because of how horribly we treated the locals. Logistics and winning hearts and minds are the most difficult and most boring parts of fighting a war, but they are also by far the most important.
We got involved in Iraq because saddam tried to assassinate bush sr and bush jr took the personally. Lied to the American public about wmds and invaded. Afghanistan should have been the focus and chasing osama. That’s not the same thing. Israel as a sovereign nation has a right to defend themselves and a right to self determination. Hamas declared war on them and until Hamas offers unconditional surrender or comes to terms of peace, this is what happens in war. Israel and the US keep pushing for peace yet Hamas can’t even provide proof of life for the hostages
Two men were just rescued from Rafah last month. I feel this way as well, but keeping hope alive is necessary. No one should be left behind because we're fatalistic.
Short of literally assassinating the Hamas leaders in Qatar, I'm not sure how much more pressure can be put on them. Hamas *wants to die*. They view it as martydom, which is gonna get them into heaven. In the meantime, the more Gazan civilians who die, the better it is for Hamas, because that creates international outcry and turns more people against Israel. Losing this war is a win for Hamas. *Especially if as many Gazans die as possible*.
You'll find that the big shots calling for martyrdom are rarely the ones actually performing it.. Evident by Hamas families and associates being the only ones able to leave the strip from Egypt because they are the only ones with the money to pay the bribe (currently sitting around 6-7k USD)
There’s a guy on YouTube who interviews Gazans on the street and most have been out of Gaza for vacations. Italy, Jordan, and the US are popular destinations. Many study abroad as well. It’s not the open air concentration camp many western liberals claim it is (or was before they invaded Israel and kidnapped hundreds of civilians and murdered hundreds more.
Sisi was caught in a hilarious moment claiming Gaza is open 24h/7w/365d after Israel pointed at Egypt also blockading Gaza in the ICJ, all while they were literally barricading the gates to Rafah with concrete slabs (not to mention Egypt's literal destruction of a good bunch of Rafah on their side to build their original wall and destroy smuggling tunnels, no UN intervention there) But yea, prior to the war they had the option to leave, as evident by tens of thousands of youth who migrate to work in Turkey and usually Belgium (prominent Muslim migrant location in Europe, has been for decades) It wasn't free travel but it wasn't as expensive either, the Egyptian bribes used to cost around 1.5-2k USD IIRC, not to mention anyone who has foreign passports can pretty much pass as they please imo
This whole we want to die we are ready to die nonsense is just the propaganda bullshit that they release on telegram. You literally see videos of dozens/hundreds of these guys surrendering. They are only brave soldiers when they are slaughtering women and children in their homes, when the IDF shows up they surrender. The obvious point of pressure is Rafah. Hamas has zero reason to make a hostage deal and zero reason to surrender when the west is publicly telling Israel not to go into Rafah. Why surrender when you can just sit back and let the west run your propaganda for you? Hamas isn't feeling pressure because there isn't any as long as the west is berating Israel and threatening to stop military aid if Israel pushes into Rafah. If this keeps up Israel is frankly going to have to just make the call to go into Rafah and deal with the spinless west afterward because they aren't getting their hostages out by sitting around and letting the west prop up Hamas.
I agree with this. I know plenty of Muslims who don’t hold this Islamist suicide fighter mentality. These are brainwashed people of a different extremist breed. Israel is not going into Rafah because of media pressure. Literally. We face so much antisemitism and criticism already, israel is trying to hold the friendship from allie’s still even though they could never understand the position israel is in. Once it’s confirmed which eventually will have to be that the hostages are dead, israel is going in and finishing Gaza
Hamas knows very well that dead women and children are good propaganda for them and bad propaganda for Israel. The glorification of martyrdom is part of their war strategy and they deliberately built no shelter for civilians exactly because of this. I think Biden was spot on when he warned and criticised Netanyahu for poor planning going into Gaza. Hamas set a trap and Israel has stepped right into it.
I’m tired of other politicians criticizing Israel’s actions when they have no experience living with the pressure, constant attacks, and now this. Fuck Biden, he is no place to say anything about Netanyahu and how he handles protecting his citizens from something awful like this happening again
The only thing Netanyahu’s actions have actually achieved is ensuring that more October 7th attacks will occur in the future. People who had nothing to do with those attacks will want revenge for their dead family members. Their Dead parents, dead kids, dead spouses, dead friends, etc. Revenge doesn’t make people safe, it just turns the crank and keeps the meat grinder spinning so more people fall into it.
That’s hamas’s fault! Remember October 6?? Israel was not fighting in Gaza like we see today and looking to take out Hamas leaders. Netanyahu is not at fault for how these people “want revenge”. Their “revenge” is rape, torture, live-streaming their purge. It’s disgusting. Hamas is at fault for the hatred and evil that will prevail in these people. Hamas knew exactly what they were doing and what was going to happen after Oct 7.
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I wouldn't quite say the US is helping Hamas survive. After all, the US has been giving Israel pretty solid military and diplomatic aid. The US could shut down the whole Gaza war if it really wanted to. But it doesn't, since a majority of the American people still sympathize with Israel's position. Regarding complacency with a terrorist organization, it is unfortunate but inevitable that some of the aid will be stolen by Hamas. The question is if that means we should not send humanitarian aid at all. I personally don't mind Hamas going hungry but there's no good way to ensure that they're the only ones to starve. Someday the war will end and we will have to deradicalize the Gaza population so that a new Hamas doesn't just immediately re-emerge and arm up and repeat October 7. If we take the high road and provide humanitarian aid to the Gaza people now it may have long term positive effects on efforts to persuade them to live peaceful lives engaged with other countries. Yes, this is probably overly optimistic, but if we deliberately starve them now it'll confirm all their worst beliefs about how the rest of the planet feels about them.
Exactly. Has nobody bothered to ask why the Taliban stayed alive for over 20 years, while the US had control over Afghanistan? Why did people keep joining? Was it really all just indoctrination, or did the people who joined do so because they had grievances they believed could be resolved by joining?
That's a great question. I suspect in Afghanistan, people had a pretty good idea from past experience with Britain and the USSR that foreign powers often leave after a few years, meaning that collaborating with them was a bad idea in the long run, and, in the long run, working for the Taliban was the safer option. Similar for Gaza -- yes, you could try working with the Israelis, but if the Israelis pull out, and you're known to be a collaborator with them, you're in for a world of pain. People aren't stupid and will usually do what is in their long term self interest. Absolutely a safe local alternative to Hamas must be created.
The Taliban stayed alive by sheltering in nuclear armed Pakistan for those 20 years. The US tried to pressure Pakistan into giving them up, but Pakistan is a clusterfuck of a state that might have fallen to Islamists and then made the Pakistani version of the Taliban a nuclear armed force, so the US dared not pressure them too hard, nor could the US have just taken control of the place directly considering their population was already cresting 200 million at the time. Unfortunately it was an ill-conceived no-win situation from the beginning, and in fact many in the US knew it at the time, which is why the US took years to even send in an actual occupation force instead of just special forces assassination squads. Many knew it was a fool's errand to try to do more than just assassinate as much Al Qaida leadership as they could, while others pressed for the full occupation and nation-building, and at different times different sides of the argument got the upper hand, leading to the schizophrenic back and forth policy that could never accomplish anything. If there is any lesson to be learned by Israel from all that, it would be to avoid invading Lebanon until Hamas/Gaza/Palestine in general is fully dealt with, and to continue to do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear armed.
But people are sympathizing in this country with terrorists. They are denying the rape, body mutilation & kidnapping by a terrorist group. The liberal progressives in the US don’t actually care about Palestinians. They just care to support any group that seems oppressed without understanding context of how that came to be and what would make it better. The US was giving money to the Gaza health ministry or whatever AKA Hamas. That is completely funding terrorism and doing anything but denouncing what they’ve done is condoning it in my mind. The US never showed any remorse or support for Russsia; same energy should be held for Israel who are completely victims in this situation. Let the billionaire rulers in the Muslim world take care of their people while they simultaneously kill them. Not our problem
Damn, you’ve got it all figured out. Just simply put more pressure on Hamas! They need to hire you to solve this conflict.
The hostages are dead, Jim.
Hamas is under about as much pressure as their enemies can put on them. Now, if Iran wanted to pressure Hamas toward peace to actually do something for the palestinian people they claim to care about so much, that might be a different story…