Israeli–Palestinian conflict

[5 from the wing on debut]

<Split from "Things that make you go.......WTF? Part II" thread.>

When Hamas bombs Israel you just know it isn't going to end well for one of them.

https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/gaza-israel-map-shows-chaos-as-fullscale-war-looms/news-story/ecb7b071133c813e738ad02f1523473f

[David]

It actually works out very well for Hamas, as it does for Likud. Continuing violent escalations like this (which seems to have started with Israeli police brutality and gone from there) ensure that the extremists stay in power and moderates don't get a look in.

[5 from the wing on debut]

Wasn't the Hamas charter stated to be the destruction of Israel?
What's the difference between an extreme terrorist organisation and a moderate terrorist organisation?

[David]

There may well be such factions within Hamas, but here I'm less interested in suggesting internal divisions than contrasting them as a whole with, say, Fatah, who have been shut out of Gaza Strip politics since 2006 – not coincidentally, around the time of one of the most recent Israeli blockades and subsequent massacres.

[5 from the wing on debut]

A charter isn't a faction. It is a statement of what an organisation stands for. I assume that is why many countries have declared it to be a terrorist organisation. I am not really interested in them or their politics though, as long as they aren't lobbing bombs at us.

I only posted about this as their operating procedure - to lob their bombs from civilian areas rather than open areas - is going to lead to a lot of civilian deaths. That's what they want but it's their own civilians they are bringing it upon. Must be worth it, it's all for the cause.

Did the PLO do that when Yes Sir Crack A Fat was in charge?

[stui magpie]

Hamas Charter.

https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp

[5 from the wing on debut]

That reads as if it was drafted by pietillidie.

Assuming that's a faithful translation, there's not much moderation in the stated violence.

Apparently in my part of the world we are smitten with vileness, although that could also just be a generic thing for Collingwood supporters.

[David]

[5 from the wing on debut]

Yes, especially near election time.

[stui magpie]

The Israeli Defense Forces Twitter feed is very informative, as are the comments. Absolutely polarised.

[stui magpie]

https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/worse-than-raw-sewage-vile-weapon-used-by-israeli-forces/news-story/6baa249cbaee2e6c776e0830cd406ac7

1200 rockets in a day launched by Hamas. The Israelis respond with non lethal skunk water.

[David]

65 Palestinians (including 16 children) killed, 6 Israelis. Same old story.

[5 from the wing on debut]

That's in Jerusalem. Better stinky than dead.

I read a while ago about part of Israel's response to the PLO murdering their athletes at the Olympics in 1972. In 1973, Ehud Barak, who was then in the Israeli army but went on to become PM, was one of a couple of commandos that went into Beirut dressed as a woman, then located and killed 3 PLO leaders that were involved in the murders.

Israel isn't a country that you take on lightly. Their leaders are nothing like ours. They don't worry about rhetoric or feelings on these issues. They do what they believe has to be done. I wouldn't want to be a Hamas leader.

[stui magpie]

[David]

You can denounce the image below as one-sided, but it certainly seems a good deal closer to a fair representation of reality than much of the mainstream reporting, which tends to characterise the Israeli strikes as mere retaliation. A bit of context certainly wouldn't go astray.