I mean they are all probably sympathetic to Hamas, whats the difference

12/21/2023 9:42:06 PM

Netanyahu is going to go down as one of the most evil leaders of the 21st century

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2VRrCYPRzT/?igsh=ZGt3a281MGllY205

1/20/2024 2:21:16 PM

That's not going to be good for business (education)!

1/20/2024 7:03:52 PM

https://www.vice.com/en/article/ak384p/idf-israel-run-telegram-72-virgins-psyop

Quote :

"IDF Admits It Ran Gory Telegram Calling Palestinians ‘Roaches’ to be ‘Exterminated’"

2/5/2024 1:57:58 PM

Not a good look.

2/6/2024 7:01:53 AM

I met a few Israelis once. They were quite fervent in matters of their country, or any political issue in general, but I suppose that is only natural given their situation. Take post 9/11 rhetoric, and then make that constant. It is not hard to imagine that kind of language being normalized. It makes the responsibility of the US in this matter even more important, given our influence

[Edited on February 7, 2024 at 8:15 AM. Reason : Nothing of importance. Man, I need to start getting my comments right the first time ]

2/7/2024 8:13:21 AM

Quote :

"Netanyahu is going to go down as one of the most evil leaders of the 21st century https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2VRrCYPRzT/?igsh=ZGt3a281MGllY205"

How much different do you think it could've been had a different leader been in charge when this whole situation started? I ask cause I'm not too familiar (at all) with internal Israeli politics.

Because, of course as reality beckons, he should be assigned blame for his own actions regardless, but from a historical purpose it can be good to differentiate between the extents of someone being a product of the circumstances and them changing the circumstances themselves.

2/7/2024 8:17:52 AM

https://indyweek.com/news/durham/durham-council-votes-to-adopt-gaza-ceasefire-resolution/

2/28/2024 1:24:28 PM

That's sure to work.

2/28/2024 7:43:13 PM

^It's something

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dozens-killed-gaza-aid-queue-overall-death-toll-passes-30000-2024-02-29/

2/29/2024 3:15:22 PM

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israeli-tank-strike-killed-clearly-identifiable-reuters-reporter-un-report-2024-03-13/

3/13/2024 5:05:45 PM

Top Jewish elected official in the US called for new Israeli leadership today

3/14/2024 6:32:45 PM

Quote :

"Israel accidentally bombed a food aid convoy which had shared their coordinates with the IDF in advance. Then they accidentally bombed it again. Then they accidentally bombed it a third time to finish off the survivors"

4/2/2024 7:37:34 PM

I blame

4/3/2024 12:43:49 AM

. . .

4/3/2024 7:32:35 AM

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/01/politics/biden-administration-f15-fighter-jets-israel/index.html

Quote :

"The Biden administration is close to approving the sale of as many as 50 American-made F-15 fighter jets to Israel, in a deal expected to be worth more than $18 billion... The transaction, which would amount to the largest US foreign military sale to Israel since the country went to war with Hamas on October 7, comes as the administration is also expected to notify Congress soon of a large new sale of precision-guided munitions kits to Israel..."

4/3/2024 10:08:02 AM

Iran launching drones

4/13/2024 5:27:01 PM

Why did Israel attack the Iranian Embassy in Syria, again?

4/13/2024 5:57:29 PM

Because A) they're fucking stupid and know we'll bail them out of bad decisions, and B) Iran was probably running some of Hamas' operations from within Syria

4/13/2024 11:59:19 PM

I am on standby, President Biden

take me, take me

4/14/2024 12:56:35 AM

^^

yes, well said

4/14/2024 12:56:58 AM

So apparently Israel (and someone else??) shot down most (or all?) 300 drones and ballistic missles that Iran launched at them (first time Iran has directly attacked Israel).

I haven't done any exhaustive reading about this, but what was Iran hoping to accomplish with this? Did they they think some of the drones/missles were going to get through and bomb military bases? Civilians? Or did they know that none would get through and it was just symbolic? (although it makes Iran look incapable)

4/15/2024 11:03:11 AM

Seems like it was diplomatic retaliation. They're taking an action knowing allied forces will help neutralize it, meaning no valid reason for Israel to escalate. Looks like it worked, US and UK both appear to be saying "it's done" we'll see if Netanyahu listens.

4/15/2024 11:10:28 AM

^guess not. Israel says they are preparing a response. Determined to start a new war to take attention away from genocide

[Edited on April 15, 2024 at 4:53 PM. Reason : E]

4/15/2024 4:53:16 PM

^going to purposely try to avoid civilian casualties at least if they respond

4/15/2024 5:45:32 PM

But leaving Iran no choice but to also respond. Israel wants the first and last word, which is the path to war.

4/15/2024 8:07:18 PM

I think your national slogan being "Death to Israel" was the path to war

4/16/2024 8:00:25 AM

Quote :

"But leaving Iran no choice but to also respond. Israel wants the first and last word, which is the path to war."

Are we just ignoring all of Iran's proxies' actions?

4/16/2024 8:52:16 AM

Are we just ignoring Israel's long-going actions? And Israel's "proxies'" actions?

4/16/2024 9:04:00 AM

when was the first "action" and who did it?

4/16/2024 8:47:02 PM

I blame God tbh

4/16/2024 9:12:12 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tIdCsMufIY

Was it from a duly poster on TWW that I first found this video? I'm not sure.

Either way, worth a reshare.

4/16/2024 9:14:16 PM

I'm usually for Israel laying the smacketh down, but i actually wish they'd kinda go easy on the Iranians for a minute. No assassinations, bombings, etc for like a week or 2

4/16/2024 9:19:27 PM

^^Not believable that all those mans have exactly the same signing voice or that that guy with the shepherd's crook beats a sharp bladed weapon head-to-head.

4/16/2024 9:36:49 PM

Let's test that out on the brickyard on May 14th, 2056.

[Edited on April 16, 2024 at 10:13 PM. Reason : date change]

4/16/2024 10:12:48 PM

^^

Quote :

"SAME SIGNING VOICE"

4/16/2024 10:17:12 PM

https://archive.md/UQELN

I have no problem with this

4/16/2024 11:33:25 PM

Quote :

"Seems like it was diplomatic retaliation. They're taking an action knowing allied forces will help neutralize it, meaning no valid reason for Israel to escalate. Looks like it worked, US and UK both appear to be saying "it's done" we'll see if Netanyahu listens."

100%. Actually the whole thing was a master class in retaliating without escalating and really highlights how Iran is, in fact, a rational actor. And the United States (and Biden admin in particular) were instrumental in making it all work out as almost a "win-win."

Israel gets to say, "Behold the power of our Iron Dome, we were invincible!" Iran gets to claim a major retaliatory action, and also demonstrates that with a fraction of its capabilities it can stretch Israel's defenses so thin that it needs help from a bunch of other countries.

Quote :

" Israel says they are preparing a response."

My hope - and, I believe, the most likely outcome - is a more or less performative strike on a couple of Iranian launch facilities, again allowing both sides to claim a win. Israel gets to pretend it got the last word and diminished Iran's ability to launch similar strikes in the future. Iran will get to plausibly claim that the strike accomplished nothing.

My main concern (aside from some whoopsie-daisy accidentally escalating things beyond what either side wants) is the small but nonzero possibility that Netanyahu and some portion of his government have reached the conclusion that the only way to retain U.S. support and stay in power is if they get in a shooting war with Iran. No matter how much we say we won't back Israel's play if it counterattacks, I have a hard time believing we'd just abandon it to its fate during an election year. I wish we would abandon it, since the so-called "alliance" with Israel is a major boon to them and a huge liability to us, and because I'm confident in their ability to protect themselves from Iran without us footing the bill. I just don't think we will.

4/17/2024 10:27:44 AM

Do Israel and Iran have the force projection capability to do more than lob missiles and drones at each other?

4/17/2024 1:21:37 PM

Iran can agitate proxies on Israel's borders (Hamas, Hezbollah) but beyond that, no. They've got a lot of pull with Syria and Iraq, but marching conventional forces across those two in order to attack Israel is absurd politically, logistically, and militarily. So they lob missiles and drones (or, in Israel's case, airstrikes).

I think historically this has served both sides reasonably well, because it gives each country an external enemy to focus discontent on with low risk of high-intensity conflict. The balance was upset somewhat with Israel's rapprochement with the Arab states, which is ultimately what precipitated the October 7 attacks and the current war, but even though the risk has increased it remains constrained by geographic reality.

4/18/2024 9:24:15 AM

Air strikes against Iran tbd damage scale


Also couldn't find a free speech thread but bw the valedictorian and then columbia today mass arresting peaceful protestors, I wonder where are the campus free speech warriors?

4/18/2024 10:56:35 PM

The campus free speech warriors are known as

[Edited on April 18, 2024 at 11:04 PM. Reason : Anyways, sorry...although israel is not great, the alternative is death to israel. Need happy medium]

4/18/2024 11:03:13 PM

Quote :

"Mayor Eric Adams said on Thursday evening that while Columbia has a “proud history of protest,” students did not “have a right to violate university policies and disrupt learning.”"

Lmao, fucking admin nerds.

There is only one University which has stood the course and proven its mettle in this regard... Chicago.

4/18/2024 11:55:20 PM

Quote :

"https://www.wral.com/story/columbia-university-faces-full-blown-crisis-as-rabbi-calls-for-jewish-students-to-return-home/21392484/"

I keep hearing about "chaos" on campus and people being arrested and calls for violence against jews and actual violence against jews... but I haven't seen any actual stories of violence or calls for violence against jews. Are there actual instances of that? Or are people just mad because they're protesting in support of Palestinian People and against the nation of Israel's handling of the war?

4/22/2024 1:04:57 PM

I'd say it's a mix of 2 things.

At the risk of being accused of heinous stereotyping, the first is that Jews have a tendency to be hyper-vigilant with regards to criticism of anything even remotely Jewish-adjacent. It probably has something to do with being shit on by the majority populations of damned near every land they've been in for the last 2000ish years, not to mention that whole Holocaust thing you might have heard about. I've noticed this among close friends and colleagues whom I discern to be generally reasonable people. Criticism of Israel is taken as thinly-disguised attacks on Jews, and they are quick to shut it down. It doesn't help that, in some cases, such criticism actually has been a disguised attack on Jews. Some Middle Eastern colleagues of mine use "Jew" and "Israeli" interchangeably, to the point that I have trouble discerning at times what their critiques really are pointed at. Either way, things that you and I would take as valid critiques are seen as far more nefarious attacks.

The second is more up my alley, namely dissin on snowflakes. To put it mildly, the progressive left has spent the last decade telling us that words are violence, that microagressions are akin to punching someone in the face. That's all this shit is. The slightest disagreement is "erasing my identity." Ironically, I've made it clear in my critiques of that bullshit that the Israel/Palestine issue was going to show the fallacy inherent in it. And, well, here we are. Criticizing Israel is anti-Semitic; criticizing Palestine is anti-Muslim. The Progressive circle jerk on this is unraveling, and I'm quite amused by it.

4/23/2024 11:24:05 PM

I feel icky even thinking about this

4/23/2024 11:34:32 PM

Having said all this, if you aren't seeing reports of this violence, you aren't looking too hard...

Quote :

" Students illustrated the madness by showing me videos on their phones. One depicted the assault of a Jewish classmate, an Israeli flag ripped from his hand. Another showed a Jewish student being screamed at by a fully masked individual who came right up to his face, his voice shaking with fury. I saw a photo of someone standing in front of openly Jewish students; she held up a sign that read, “Al-Qasam’s next targets,” a reference to an armed wing of Hamas. I saw images of oversized posters planted on the Columbia quad, each lionizing men Israel viewed as terrorists. Demonstrators calling openly for Hamas to burn Tel Aviv. Others yelling that October 7 is about to be every day. "

https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/23/opinions/columbia-university-protests-greenblatt/index.html

The page offers links to each example, btw.

4/24/2024 10:13:27 AM

No, I wasn't looking too hard. I was wondering if this was an actual thing around campuses, or if there were just some isolated incidents of this in a few place among a few extremist individuals/groups.

Quote :

"At the risk of being accused of heinous stereotyping, the first is that Jews have a tendency to be hyper-vigilant with regards to criticism of anything even remotely Jewish-adjacent."

This seems to be what a lot of it is. Anything pro-Palestinian or anti-Zionist is quickly (and inaccurately) labeled as "Anti-Semitism" and "Calls for Violence" by some (but by no means to all).

4/24/2024 12:23:20 PM

Surprised that I didn't get slapped down for that. But, to your point about the hasty accusations of anti-semitism being leveled to otherwise valid critiques, that line of defense is the stock in trade of progressives, frankly. Disagreeing with the progressive position on basically anything gets you labeled as racist, anti-gay, anti-woman, or anti-whatever, depending on what the specific issue is. It'll be interesting to see if liberals (not progressives) learn from this and begin to push back.

Anyway, shit is going down at universities across the nation right now. UT Austin arrested folks today. Minnesota had some shenanigans. Even SouthernCal is clearing their encampment. A Cal Poly campus currently has two buildings occupied and barricaded by these fools. Shit's about to get real ugly, real fast.

4/25/2024 12:04:27 AM

Lol, Carol Folt is the current president of USC. She's gonna get fired from two universities for fucking up the response to protests

4/28/2024 11:41:27 AM