Why are the anti-Israel forces now being open about wanting Israel’s destruction?
For many many years the 2-state solution was the mantra of diplomats, the US, the West, and even the Palestinians – when the latter were speaking in English to a Western audience, that is. “From the river to the sea” was heard at times, but it was kept rather hush-hush in general, and the idea of obliterating Israel was more subtle and mostly noticed only by those who delved into Palestinian textbooks or Arab-language speeches. There were pro-Palestinian anti/Israel demonstrations in cities at times, to be sure, but they were usually relatively small.
Campuses were hotbeds of the BDS movement, but like so many dangerous elements of university life it was easy for the mainstream to ignore. And those who advocated all these anti-Israel measures were usually careful to frame them as anti-Israel and anti-Zionist but not – oh no of course not – anti-Jewish.
October 7 put an end to those days of hiding the truth, which is that the movement is and always has been devoted to Israel’s extermination, profoundly anti-Jewish, and the product of a nasty wedding of Islamist jihadi ambition combined with postmodern leftist gobbledygook – the same wedding that toppled the shah and in which the left in Iran was defeated and purged by the mullahs who remained standing, wiping the leftists’ blood off their hands.
That should be a warning to the left as to where their own interests lie right now, but they haven’t learned from history and probably never will. Do they even know history?
So, why is the mask ripped off the pro-Palestinian movement now? They must believe it’s in their interest. Nor are these demonstrations spontaneous. They are well-organized, I suspect by an amalgam of groups from those two entities that form a potent odd couple: jihadis and leftists.
But why the decision to go ahead with such a barbaric and widespread massacre in the first place? I do know some of the ostensible goals of the massacre, which I will list: to derail Israel’s rapprochement with the Saudis; to embarrass and humiliate Israel; to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war and avenge their defeat; to inflict tremendous suffering on Israel, Jews, and their supporters; to take advantage of Iranian coffers filled by Joe Biden’s administration; to take advantage of Israel’s bitter political disarray; and to take advantage of the fact that Biden is weak and probably would not fully support Israel and might even undermine it. In addition, the BLM Floyd protests and riots and the reduction in police forces probably convinced them that subsequent pro-Hamas demonstrators couldn’t or wouldn’t be stopped by the authorities.
All those things seem to be operating. But I still wonder why Iran and Hamas believed that the massacre would help their cause more than it would hurt it. One might think it would undermine them in the eyes of the world, but I suspect that one reason they went ahead is that they know that terrorism and barbarism actually only increase their support on the left (at least, they seem to have worked that way in the past), since the left takes both as evidence of Palestinian sincerity and the depth and intensity of Palestinian despair. Another is that violence sells in the movies, at least to a certain crowd, and the same appears to be true in the real world (alas). Another is that they are sadists and just wanted to do this. There also may be (and probably are) other reasons of which I’m unaware.
Did they kill more people and torture more people and kidnap more people on October 7 than even they expected? Perhaps. I wouldn’t know, but it’s possible, and so perhaps that’s why they didn’t expect quite the strong and determined response Israel has mounted so far. But they also may have calculated that, whatever Israel did or didn’t do, most of the world (and certainly most of the Western MSM) would condemn Israel and support the Palestinian cause. They may have thought that ultimately this would make Israel quit too soon, as it so often has in the past.
And of course, the hostages were the Palestinians’ insurance policy, an actual real-life get-out-of-jail-free card by which they thought they’d get all their comrades back. Why not? It had happened before in a thousand-to-one ratio, and now they had hundreds to exchange.
But once October 7 happened, and the clear-eyed could no longer deny the genocidal intent of Hamas and other Palestinian jihadi groups, and the genocidal sympathies of so much of their brainwashed-from-childhood population, then there would be no reason not to unleash crowds of demonstrators yelling “gas the Jews” and similar Nazi-esque sentiments.
Do they also think they’ve reached some sort of critical mass of power in Europe and the US, due to immigration and the takeover of the universities? Did they also think they needed to strike while Biden was still president, on the off chance that a Republican might get elected in 2024?
The same question could be asked about the left in this country: why are they now openly advocating for America’s destruction? They don’t call it that of course, they dress it up in soothing language about “inclusion” and “equity” and “rights” but they make it clear that in their mind 165,000,000 Americans, i.e. half the country should be subdued and silenced, by force if necessary.
Why are anti-Israel forces being open about calling for Israel’s destruction? Because they don’t think that they have to be circumspect about it anymore and they’re closer to accomplishing their goal than they have been in years.
And they’re not wrong. I never would have imagined thousands of anti-Israel protesters in American cities.
A lot of these events seem not like protest marches, but rather assertions of conquest…or at least demands for surrender.
David Foster:
Agreed.
“A lot of these events seem not like protest marches, but rather assertions of conquest…or at least demands for surrender.”
I think that may be it. Muslims, after 1300 years, now have a critical mass of supporters and stalwarts across Europe. Their Prophet told them that it is their religious duty to subdue the other People of the Book, and kill the rest of the nonbelievers in the world. They were forced to stand back from this mission after the Turks lost power internationally as a result of their corruption. We thus had a 300 year respite from Muslims using violence to either convert, or kill the rest of us, in the name of their Prophet.
Western Europe now faces religious violence, on the part of their massive influx of Muslims, and don’t appear to have the fortitude to resist. We have a similar problem here, in the US, but less because of the numbers. But they have the left behind them, in some sort of anti colonial solidarity (despite the Muslims self professed demand for subjugation of all non Muslims, including, most urgently, sexual deviants, homosexuals, and even feminists).
It’s a Catch 22. Iran’s ready to go nuclear. Neither Israel nor the US can stop it without starting WWIII. Meanwhile Hamas wants to succeed where all other aggressors against Israel have failed and Iran is shaping the battlefield for that to happen while keeping Israel and the US in check. The Gulf states are playing both sides while watching the fight with interest.
Hamas has never concealed its aims.
==
Nothing done by Hamas, the Hezbollah, or Iran at this point suggests they have any tactical or strategic instruments to avoid the liquidation of Hamas as a military force. If there is a target, it might be the Abraham Accords.
==
The mass demonstrations in various western cities are an indicator (in case we needed one) that there is a malicious element in occidental societies against which their should be mass popular revulsion, but there does not appear to be at this time.
I can’t find my old copy of Dune, but toward the end of it there is some dialog between the (evil) Baton Harkonnen and the (pragmatically somewhat less evil but not great) Emperor Saddam (I just remembered that his name was Saddam – wow. At least, I think I’m right about that).
For the uninitiate, the second half of Dune focuses on the young Duke-in-exile Paul-Muad’dib, who has co-opted the native population of the planet Arrakis (Dune), the Fremen, to his cause of avenging his father’s murder by Baron Harkonnen and retaking Arrakis, his ducal fief. The Fremen have a mission of their own: they want to make their desert planet bloom. They have already spent two generations secretly hoarding the meager moisture they can capture from the atmosphere and they’ve calculated the amount of water they need to establish a self-sustaining cycle.
But when it becomes clear that Paul’s ambitions can reach beyond the dukedom to encompass taking the imperial throne, the Fremen jump onboard – with their guy as emperor, they can just buy the water they need. Basically that’s about how the book goes.
But I wanted to recount this conversation between the Baron and the Emperor. The Baron is describing how these barbaric Fremen fight: they are berserkers. The women, he says, throw their babies onto the Baron’s soldiers’ bayonets to open a wedge for their own fighters. They hold a funeral for every Fremen prisoner the Baron’s forces take.
The book was very obviously informed by Frank Herbert’s research about the Middle East. And he presents the Fremen as absolutely the heroes. He writes them as doing terrible things to their own people rather than committing atrocities against others, but his point is that they have a dream of a future they can only achieve through all-out whole-society effort and self-sacrifice.
Where am I going with this? Honestly I’m not really sure – but Herbert wrote Dune in the ’60s (it was published in 1965), and it’s not a stretch to think that he had the continuing struggle between the young nation of Israel and the firebrand Palestinians somewhere in mind. Note: I do not think today’s college kids are romantically inspired by Dune; the latest version of the movie only gets halfway through the book, and I would be very surprised to learn any of them have read the novel. But I can easily see their being romantically inspired by the sort of archetype that also inspired Herbert.
“which their should be mass popular revulsion, but there does not appear to be at this time.”
For many people I know, Covid broke their psyche in the sense they went through two years of hell. They now want/need some semblance a normal life. Yet, events such as Oct 7 intrude. It’s not that the people I know are not repulsed by the Jew hatred and the demonstrations. It’s that they just don’t have the psychic energy to do much about it.
The Left never seems to run out of such energy; and almost seems to feed off of bad events and chaos.
well lets consider that not only the Iranian network seeded by Malley, across the organs, but like minded figures in the Foreign Office, and the Quai D’Orsay the ones who have funded Hamas and other elements, Sir Richard Dalton is one of those players outside the Government, at Chatham House, who ‘understand’ Hamas motivation,
They’re doing it now because they can – they had a few smaller protests immediately after Oct. 7, and the violence accepting response encouraged more protests.
Hate is fun. Hate the Jews, hate Trump, hate racism, hate pollution, hate injustice, hate the Green Goblin or any other villain in the Marvel or DC comics.
Hate, anger, rage … leads to the Dark Side.
It really does, but it’s also fun.
Until it isn’t.
Gaza now is some significant punishment to the Gaza folk, especially the guilty but quite a few less guilty.
So far too few US protesters or picture destroyers or window defacers, have faced any penalties for violating US laws. Until that changes, more laws will be violated.
Bari Weiss gave a great talk to the Federalist Society:
https://www.thefp.com/p/you-are-the-last-line-of-defense
A close analog to Sir Dalton, was Ray Close, the founder of the VIPs which bedeviled the W administration, with the whole plame shamarama
Jamie,
It was Shaddam IV. No doubt same root as “Saddam”, but not Saddam.
Whether Khamenei (who is a similar construct to Arafat, he’s an Azeri, reputedly with Russian ties) really believes in this chiliastic vision, the rank and file commanders of the IRGC certainly do, so do the members of the Nukbah commanders
“Do they even know history?”
They know the broken fun house mirror version of history that they have spent 50-80 years using to push out the previous much more accurate version of history.
note: Jamie the Emperor of the Dune galaxy was name Shaddam.
Jamie,
It was Shaddam IV. No doubt same root as “Saddam”, but not Saddam.
That’s right! Thanks, guys.
it is not one of one piece, shes one of the leading figures behind code pink
https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1724552655094378773
Because they don’t think that they have to be circumspect about it anymore and they’re closer to accomplishing their goal than they have been in years.
==
This is a fantasy.
The over-the-top violence is a dominance play. You saw a similar thing with ISIS in the unregulated areas of Syria and Iraq after the US withdrawal from Iraq.
It is meant to intimidate, and it is very effective in places where there is no organized armed resistence.
A few things that come to mind.
Firstly: They’re only being SO open about it. Which is why you see a great deal of mealy mouthed “Multicultural Free Secular” lies, especially about the “From the River to the Sea” nonsense. This in particular was highlighted by some Harvard Hamas shills trying to criticize the President’s bandaid condemnation of Hamas.
Secondly: I think that the boldness and confidence has part of it, but I think there’s an element of desperation. The feeling that this is a “culminating moment” and if they don’t push things NOW, they won’t succeed at all. Bibi’s always been a muscular Zionist Israeli Firster and in addition to obviously feeling Israel’s back to the wall he is also personally desperate and fighting for his own political (and possibly biological) survival. Meanwhile it seems clear to me that Hamas intended this to just be the starter pistol on a multifront, multipronged offensive by Iran’s “resistance bloc” such as Hamas and Hezbollah to if not decisively destroy Israel, at least brutalize it and cripple it while definitively embarrassing Fatah. Hamas seems pretty clearly shocked that they were left hanging alone, and we can see it in things like the quick about face and querying for a ceasefire.
And a lot of Israelis no longer believe anything Hamas has to say, regardless of what the public says. So I think many Hamas goons feel they have to “hang in there” and continue the Jihad in the hopes of reinforcement, or else they will get wiped out or crippled and justifiably so.
Especially since this was so egregious I think we are starting to see some more cleavages and even tentative housecleaning in the West, such as deportations of those deemed too pro-Hamas and blackballing its supporters even at Harvard. It’s hard for me to put this into words but I think this is likely going to be a decisive moment. I’m just not sure how, and Hamas and their apologists and the wider “Balestinian” movement clearly want to Motte and Bailey things so that even if Hamas is destroyed then the idea of Arab Supremacist Irredentism over all of Israel remains.
And yes, it is Shaddam IV (of House) Corrino not Saddam. Have been a fan of Dune for years and years.
Well it’s what we have discovered through MEMRI, they have been teaching for some 20 years, if say a Nukba fighter is 25, since age 5 under UNWRA auspices, they have internalized their version of the Jud Suss’ I think that’s the proper reference point, the old Saudi texts still circulate in the territories, so consequently what would be their first impression, when even confronting innocent men women and children,
it does seem like Leon Cooperman and Bill Ackman, to cite two, have figured out what we’ve known for years, about the corrupting influences in American academia, and the knowledge industry that Daniel pipes and Steven Emerson has noted since the 90s, also Martin Kramer from the outside in Jerusalem,
Meanwhile it seems clear to me that Hamas intended this to just be the starter pistol on a multifront, multipronged offensive by Iran’s “resistance bloc” such as Hamas and Hezbollah to if not decisively destroy Israel, at least brutalize it and cripple it while definitively embarrassing Fatah. Hamas seems pretty clearly shocked that they were left hanging alone, and we can see it in things like the quick about face and querying for a ceasefire.
The blogger “Diplomad 2.0” has concluded that this another Tet Offensive. Iran concluded that Biden is weak, Netanyahu is under attack by the left and now is the time to test the theory. Hamas is the weaker of Iran’s proxies. Hezbollah is Shia and has a larger base in Lebanon. If the IDF gets into those tunnels, Iran will probably write off Hamas.
This is an age of Bubbles. Social medial has created a situation where groups can reinforce their beliefs without conflicting information from the real world. These bubbles are extremely opaque.
The culture of competitive victimization is a major factor. Palestinians fit this narrative perfectly. The zero sum belief is part of the mix. Jews doing well must mean the Palestinians are being screwed.
They take extreme positions because they think everyone is with them. They really believe that their bubble is the world. They see no credible information that would inform them differently.
I agree with Neo’s and Bauxite’s thoughts but there might be another ‘why now’ reason: loss of fear.
It’s been said that bullies are also cowards when they meet resistance, and in the past, Iran and its proxies were also more fearful of condemnation. But now, given the worldwide turn for the worse in Jew-hatred and seeing domestic pushback against support of Israel in many nations, Iran’s losing its cowardice, knowing that said nations will also have to contend with their domestic disagreements as to Israel and Jews.
Of course, I’ll be proven wrong if Israel eliminates Hamas, gives Hezbollah a bloody lip and Iran still steps up their war against the Jews.
what did tom paine say ‘these are the times that try mens souls,’ this what norman podhoretz feared when he wrote ‘lamentations’ that essay in commentary in 1989 thereabouts, the hollow men, those without conviction, vs those with passionate intensity,
in keeping with the tet parallel, I noted back on my old blog, re benghazi, they had chosen a particular date, that was resonant with the local tribesman, the 26th of Shawwal, similarly they chose a certain month, Rabi Al Awal, but not a particular day,
And on the home front
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12749001/Suspect-released-murder-Jewish-Samantha-Woll.html
Here’s an historian’s take on Jew-hatred: https://www.commentary.org/articles/paul-johnson-3/the-anti-semitic-disease/
And he makes the point that every nation and culture that has partaken of this ‘disease’ inevitably suffers.
paul johnson was very perceptive, on these matters,
https://twitter.com/alanfryermedia/status/1724560660460155166
crasey
Mark Helprin’s article (cited in Maggies’ Farm) points out that of the 3 threats to Israel- Gaza, Hezbollah, & Iran- Gaza is the least threatening. Hezbollah has many more rockets than Hamas. The Iron Dome defenses are greatly depleted from dealing with Hamas, making defending against Hezbollah rockets more problematic. Iran has ballistic missiles plus a developing nuclear capacity. The implication is that Iran and Hezbollah will strike when they see fit, waiting until they see Israel sufficiently weakened. Time will tell.
I was shocked at the pro-Hamas support at American universities. This is a case of leftist dominance in social studies and humanities. Powerline had an article which pointed out that at Columbia University, faculty support for Hamas was about 10% in Business- Economics-Law and Engineering faculty, and about 60% in Social Sciences and Humanities (excluding Economics).
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2023/11/the-daily-chart-the-rottenness-of-college-faculties-in-one-graphic.php
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2023/11/12/israel_at_the_precipice_once_again_150047.html
The history is that Islam has had an unresolved schism for 1300 years. Therefore, Islam is still anchored in 770. They are barbarians and will continue so until their schism is resolved. The stupidity of the Western World in trying to deal with Islam when they are in a schism is striking. Make friends with the Sunni and create an enemy of the Shiites. And vice versa. The ONLY practical path is to shun them completely until they resolve their schism.
They are barbarians and will continue so until their schism is resolved.
==
Terrible political cultures are modal in Islamic societies. Outside of Tropical Africa, they’re generally middle-income countries with proportionately large industrial and service sectors and urban populations. They also have low homicide rates with a few exceptions. No clue how they qualify as ‘barbarians’ in your mind.
“…That should be a warning to the left as to where their own interests lie right now,”
If they knew where their interests lay, they wouldn’t be leftists.
Isn’t Europe, thanks to its feckless and reckless unfettered immigration program, now close to the storied ‘10% of the population’ tipping point, where it concerns Muslim activism?
Isn’t the West, generally, in the thrall of an era of pacification, where society is being trained both subliminally and directly to comply and obey? Isn’t it one of the aims of modern education to indoctrinate into increasingly un-western prinicples and sensibilities, to jettison time-honored cultural norms?
Maybe this is the culmination. Young people wanting excitement and activism have what, precisely, as their options to select from? PETA? Environmentalism? Antifa? Drugs? Antisemitism? All of these ’causes’ are anti-social in nature, none of them predicated on constructive change.
The activists are betting, perhaps correctly, that a taunting assertion of conquest is in order, as it might just be enough to trample over the cowed, well-conditioned victims.
Isn’t Europe, thanks to its feckless and reckless unfettered immigration program, now close to the storied ‘10% of the population’ tipping point, where it concerns Muslim activism and its felt political influence?
Isn’t the West, generally, in the thrall of an era of pacification, where society is being trained both subliminally and directly to comply and obey, increasingly regulated? Isn’t it one of the aims of modern education to indoctrinate students to increasingly un-western principles and sensibilities, to jettison time-honored cultural norms?
Maybe this is the culmination. Young people wanting excitement and activism have what, precisely, as their options to select from? PETA? Environmentalism? Antifa? Drugs? Antisemitism? All of these ’causes’ are anti-social in nature, none of them predicated on constructive change.
The activists are betting, perhaps correctly, that a taunting assertion of conquest is in order, as it might just be enough to trample over the cowed, well-conditioned victims that represent western society.
I’m one of those kooks who believes there is a spiritual, supernatural component to this.
I frankly think their demons drove them, are driving them.
The effect is across borders.
I trust they have misplayed their hand.
Barbarians don’t believe in free speech. Ergo, they don’t believe in freedom of religion. If they resolve their schism then they will be on the path to religious freedom. OTW, they will continue to be barbarians.
Islam does its best to make everyone else “the Other”. It is very, very difficult to think differently when this has been reinforced consistently since you were a child. And continues into the ages when people start to question the ideas they grew up with. When Western born Moslems get radicalized it’s through religion. Not politics, not social justice concerns for but religion. Why do you think that is?
And in just another instance of “Narrative Uber Alles”…
“Unreal: Veteran New York Times reporter blames Israel for Oct. 7 attacks”—
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380348
Note: That headline, about Ethan Bronner, should more correctly read, “Former NYT reporter…” instead of “Veteran NYT reporter…”
In any event, Bronner was always a piece of work. (He actually was able to make Judi Rudoren look half-way decent…)
I would suggest: Never underestimate the value to our government of a huge distraction, which this all too clearly is.
It may well be that the vocal and demonstrative bunches got the Word that their shit would be tolerated. And the lying shit merdia got the word to support this crap.
So, towards that end, look for evidence of something of some importance going down in corners where the light might have been shown, but now won’t be.
Not saying this is happening, but it certainly might be.
For example whatever is going on in the Ukraine right now might be a huge concern, if there wasn’t focus on Israel/Palestine…
Or is there some investigation into the Bidens which might be in the news, but for this focus?
And then there’s the obvious — Never attribute to malice and ill will that which can be explained by stupidity. How much of this is just clueless stupidity in action? :-/
Compare and contrast:
1.
“Gazan man: Why does Hamas hide in the hospital, why don’t they go hide in hell?
“Al Jazeera stops interview with man in a Gaza hospital as soon as he begins criticizing Hamas for using the hospital for military purposes.”—
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380357
(With echoes of those various televised interviews with the “Son of Hamas” who has cut off ties with Hamas and is scathingly critical of it.)
2.
“Israel should use ‘maximum restraint’ to protect civilian life in Gaza Strip: Trudeau”
https://archive.li/cqDQL#selection-3825.26-3825.111
H/T Blazingcatfur blog.
https://blazingcatfur.ca/2023/11/14/trudeau-says-israel-should-take-it-easy-hunting-hamas-in-nod-to-his-islamist-supporters/
Yep, the same Trudeau who kept harping on that earlier Gaza Hospital Hoax for a week or so after it was debunked.
“And then there’s the obvious…”
Um, not so sure about that…
…i.e., with regard to the Obama/”Biden” gang of criminals, miscreants, liars, imbeciles and degenerates.
No, I think we’ve come to the end of the road on that one…
…so that it is ONLY PRUDENT to say of them at this stage of the game—NO MATTER how tempting it might be to deploy the ‘stupidity/foolish/dumb/idiotic/gormless/feckless’ card: “Never attribute to stupidity, etc., that which can be explained by MALICE….”
They have made a mistake, a great one. But time will eventually even it out and this will be forgotten ( by both sides) and we’ll be back where we started.
Barbarians don’t believe in free speech.
==
That’s not the signature feature of a barbarian.
They do it because they can. Violence works. The George Floyd riots helped overthrow Trump. Why wouldn’t the Moslem terrorists?
Patriots should take note.
The most obvious reason for the decision by the leaders of Hamas to open hostilities was that they were told it would be acceptable. Who told them, you may ask? The answer is to be found in the Obama wing of the Washington DC cabal. The ones who put their names to the memo(s) recently disclosed from “State Department Officials” who demanded an immediate cease fire and an end to American support for Israel. Robert Malley and his ilk, who were put in place by Obama and kept there by the current “administration” obviously were the conduit of information to Hamas through Iran that the time was propitious for action. The people who really run our central government–the ones who get appointed and stay forever regardless of which party is in the majority or who gets elected–have become the locus of power. They need to be uprooted and defenestrated, but knowing that, they will fight all the harder and more persistently to remain esconsed in their sinecures. As a student of WW II I am reminded of the battle of Iwo Jima. I hope the outcome will be similar, but many casualties are inevitable and as yet the resolution remains unclear.
IDF: “We’ve entered a certain part of Shifa along with medical teams and Arabic speakers”
BBC: “The IDF has entered Shifa Hospital to target medical teams and Arabic speakers.”
IDF: WTF?
BBC: Oh, sorry. Our “mistaken” “reading”.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/bbc-apologizes-for-false-claim-idf-targeting-medical-staff-arabic-speakers-in-gaza/
Why are they so vocal?
All hat no cattle. Hamas is being systematically destroyed in Gazaland. Hamashite sympathizers are wailing throughout the world.
“The Thousand Year Reich, From the River to the Sea” hasn’t worked out. So the masks come off.
They really are the “baddies.”
And from the “Where Do They FIND These People?” File…
“UN Palestine envoy: Israeli right to self-defense ‘non-existent’;
“Francesca Albanese claims Israel has no right to wage war on Hamas due to being the ‘occupying power’ even after October 7 massacre.”—
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/380363
Um, does anyone wanna’ break her the news…?
(Yep, it’s Democratic Party rules! IOW, making up the rules as they suit ye’…)
Shes an italian dhimmi enabler of the various arab factions a georgetown professor
https://melaniephillips.substack.com/p/the-excruciating-dilemma-of-gazas
All the way back in 1987 jesse jacksons camp was pushing for the palestinians they got their way with clinton six years later
@Barry Meislin @sdferr
This abject nonsense makes my blood boil. It’s evil. And there need to be consequences for it.
And there can be.
For Albanese it’s pretty easy. Bitchslap her by citing the law. Demand she ask if British soldiers occupying their parts of Cyprus do not have a right to defense merely because they are occupying soldiers. Demand she answer this in public.
And then declare her Persona Non Grata and kick her out of the country.
It will be controversial. It will make the usual suspects whine. Ignore them. There is no justification for this. Self-defense is an inherent right, and the only reason why she would be denying self-defense in response to the October 7th massacres is if she were trying to abet in genocide.
Likewise to the BBC. Make them issue groveling apologies for this because of the possible consequences. Then tell them that if any more such “misreadings” without sorely disciplining the people responsible, their entire outfit will be banned from Israel altogether. Then make them cover -in loud and prominent fashion – evidence and sources from the IDF.
It will be controversial. It will make the usual suspects whine. Ignore them too. And give the coverage and connections that would have gone to the BBC to other sources.
Here’s the answer to the question:
https://www.city-journal.org/article/the-anti-liberal-crusade
Turtler, “Kick her out of the country” this administration? What, is she guilty of homeschooling her children or something?
Tom Grey at 6:23pm: Thanks for the link to Bari Weiss’ speech to the Federalist Society. It was excellent, and I recommend watching it rather than just reading it. I will be sharing it.
Also, I agree that for many people hate is just fun. Especially when they can continue to think of themselves as good and virtuous people.
Yeah, a genuine anti-Fallaci…
But JFM’s right: one would have to assume she’s safe as long as she doesn’t start using wrong pronouns…
As for the puerile (if incendiary) BBC, they think they’re really cute…aaannnnd sophisticated (a lethal combination, to be sure).
The government should take away their matches.
(Or if that’s not gonna happen, allow them to use ’em ONLY under adult supervision.)
Ed Bonderenka, I’m with you. The depth and spread of hatred cries out for spiritual, supernatural incitement.
Chris B, per your comment one might say “People love to hate”
Looks like “HUMANITARIAN” is THE Magic Word….
“White House Gives Iran $10 Billion Reward For October 7”—
https://victorygirlsblog.com/white-house-gives-iran-10-billion-reward-for-october-7/
Though one indeed COULD argue that the Mullahs earned it. (And Hamas’s turn is next no doubt… Oh, wait, with all this cash going to the Mullahs, “Biden” really doesn’t have to give anything to Hamas directly….)
In any event, I guess erasing Israel from the map is the new “Humanitarianism”.
Nothing new here, though. Schiklgruber was trying to save humanity, too.
(Not to mention Marx, Engels, Lenin, Bronstein, Mao and Decent Joe Jughashvili…and, no doubt, several others. E.g., I suppose one oughta throw Pol Pot in with that illustrious crew….)
Yep, Humanitarianism…
(Remember that word!!)
A somewhat minor example.
Hundreds of members of Detroit’s Jewish community flew to Washington, D.C., to march in solidarity with Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza on Tuesday, but some of them say they had trouble participating because of what they said was a “malicious walk-off” by some bus drivers.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/11/14/hundreds-of-metro-detroit-jews-stranded-at-d-c-airport-by-absent-bus-drivers/71582002007/
Meet Saleh Aljafarawi (MrFAFO), courtesy of Liel Liebovitz: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/mr-fafo-real-liel-leibovitz
Miguel, per the Melanie Phillips link, I wonder, why does the IDF ask the Hamas terrorists under Shifa to surrender? Given their killing of civilians, why not eliminate them all and spare the court costs & risks of going free? Life in prison never seems to mean life in prison anymore.
Because the courts still have large influence on military operations thats what the protests were about in part
And given Israeli public opinion, wouldn’t it be advantageous for the IDF to say either “We didn’t get the memo” or “They never surrendered”?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/un-security-council-working-on-new-resolution-demanding-humanitarian-pauses-in-gaza/
I graduated high school in 62. I knew a couple of people who seemed to be of the opinion that, if everybody believed a certain way about an issue, they’d take the opposite and be the clued-in intellectual superior class. Didn’t need facts, just believe the opposite of what the ordinary masses believed.
Got to college and it was thicker, and the more I got out into activities and knew people from one or another kind of opinion, the more it seemed prevalent.
And the point was that the West was wrong. Capitalism, form of government, freedom for the lower orders, prosperity, et cetera.
And so the opposite had to be true. To be Good and Superior, one (or a political force or another nation) had only to oppose the west.
Facts were irrelevant or fascist.
Okay. So Israel was evil, being free and prosperous and hated by all the Right Sort of Nations. Followed and not surprising. By people who insolently benefit from all they hate.
But hating individual Jews in the United States of America? I can’t say I am easily surprised by human nature, but I am gobsmacked. Individual people? Not Zionists? Not Israelis studying here? Ordinary people whose father is a lawyer, a teacher, a pharmacist, an insurance agent? Not annoyingly loud radios in the dorm, not taking up two parking spaces, just ordinary people.
Oh, sure, there were a few anti-Jew jokes. The KKK and the Ivies. Few country clubs. Here and there. But this….
Where in hell has it been hiding?
Where in hell did that come from?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12753291/What-Israel-discovered-beneath-Al-Shifa-hospital-World-waits-evidence-Hamas-HQ-IDF-saying-substantial-infrastructure-vicinity-hours-IDF-troops-moved-in.html
Its a toxic brew of monies from prince talal and qatari of soros and wannabe influencers like chambers and evans and mirror images in the deep state
Oh, nothing that a few new Holocaust Museums can’t solve….
Oh
https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/1724714910163014013
John Anderson interviews Niall Ferguson, “Israel, Islam and the New Cold War” (58:15): https://youtu.be/_DfTlPY_UQQ?si=cV3bJfSiM2u-qO9F
sdferr:
Talk about a power couple – Niall Ferguson is married to Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
Yep, he speaks of key ideas and insights Hirsi Ali has given him.
The speed, breadth & organizational features of this nationwide pro-Palestinian movement smacks of BLM/Antifa 2.0. It doesn’t bode well for the 2024 election.
“BLM/Antifa”
Ah yes, the Democratic Party’s shock troops.
Well, THAT makes sense….
It seems to me with the big Israel rally in DC, the establishment Dems are trying to push their party towards the pro Israel side.
This thing has been a big problem for Democrats. Biden, already unpopular, is bleeding support. His State Dept is in near revolt. At least some left wing Jews are leaving the Democrats.
Come to think of it, this should be in Neo’s wheelhouse when it comes to political conversions.
Let’s introduce a long overdue term to describe Hamas supporters, “hate crazy”. Anyone on a major campus has seen the carriers of the ailment. The symptoms are an inability to place self-interest over the need to hate, indeed hate trumps everything. The disease’s carriers can easily intimidate and get what they want by appearing irrational and potentially violent. Hence ego gratification and reinforcement.
David Forster is right, they are asserting conquest; the crazies intimidate the rational and non-violet into surrender.
But I still wonder why Iran and Hamas believed that the massacre would help their cause more than it would hurt it.
–neo
An entirely reasonable question. Except the parties involved may not be reasonable. They may simply be irrational.
To quote again from the Richard Fernandez article I mentioned in today’s OT:
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The downfall is so calamitous some analysts now believe Hamas never calculated strategy beyond its Oct 7 raid.
For instance Edward Luttwak writes: “Muslims even Columbia U profs exploded in sheer joy — finally a victory. But no Day 2 plan.”
–Richard Fernandez, “Belmont Club: The Amorite Iniquity Effect”
https://pjmedia.com/richard-fernandez/2023/11/16/belmont-club-the-amorite-iniquity-effect-n4923962
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I’m always interested when I see my enemies acting, at least as I assess the matter, against their own interests.
huxley
Let’s take a long view and game out various possibilities. What if Iran or some other force set Hamas up for destruction in order to….get other forces into the fight due to the Muslim view that an enemy’s self-defense is a grave offense against Islam?
Somebody’s going to have to be in charge in Gaza. If Israel, it will burn up their resources and military lives to barely maintain a miserable, violent status quo. Going no place at a high price. Eventually, Israel will be burning its capital, not its interest.
If an international force, it will inevitably side with and facilitate Muslim violence against Israel.
If America, we’re the Bad Guys every time some terrorist pulls a Freddy Grey and the Right Sort of People will come down on us. Meantime, what happens to a US soldier captured by the terrorists who will inevitably be there doesn’t bear thinking about.
The collapse of Hamas as a loss for the other side presumes they’d expected Hamas to remain a useful and organized force. Maybe they were deliberately expended in order to leave a vacuum in Gaza where no conceivable arrangement could benefit Israel or the West. Worse than having Hamas there. After all, the crummy living arrangements could now be blamed on somebody more directly than earlier.
Just spitballing, here, but presuming this is a catastrophe for the other side overlooks the international nature of the opposition. They lost Spain, right?
What if Iran or some other force set Hamas up for destruction …
Richard Aubrey:
Fair enough!
However, in that case Hamas unknowingly and foolishly sacrificed itself for Iran’s or some larger entity’s interests.
We’ll see how that larger entity makes out.
I remain convinced that all of the flavors of Islam are going to lose. They are angry and not too smart. If they do manage to take Israel out, they in turn will be taken out.
“Taken out” presumes something quick.
Is there such a thing as a “gramscian march” to apply to Islam?
I mean, I can understand the college kids’ fondness for Hamas, on account of their fondness for any enemy of the US or the West. Islam hardly had to spend a dime to get that going.
What shocks me is the degree of Jew-hate not filtered through anti-Zionism or BDS. It’s straight-up hate of individuals who happen to be Jewish because they are Jewish. Never saw that coming. Didn’t take a terrorist attack to insert that into college curricula.