Certainly a fascinating thread to watch on here. As I've said before, one of the best things about the Caf is the somewhat arbtitrary slice of humanity that it attracts. You really do get opinons from every piece of the geopolitical spectrum. Obvioulsy I'd encourage posters on both sides to not view this thread as an opportunity to 'win the internet' which the last 24 hours has kind of descended into.
There's far too much desire to reduce this to who is right and who is wrong, and then simply attack the other side. The reality of the situation is that it's a mess, it's been a mess since before any of us were born and despite the efforts of some of the most powerful, thoughtful people on Earth thinking about it, no resolution has come.
I'm not sure if I believe in the way that the current nation-state of Israel was founded, but I do believe the Jewish people are entitled to a safe place that they can retreat to in the not hugely uncommon situation that they're persecuted to death. Did it have to be where it is? If you looked at it today, obviously not, but that's when this decision was made. When it was, there were only about 700k Palestinians in the entire area - ie - plenty of room for neighbours. Now, clearly it was too much to expect everyone to play nicely, but at the time perhaps it felt more likely. Regardless.
We are where we are today. Following numerous wars and escalations, the rough borders are where they are. Since 2006, Israeli occupation of Gaza has ended, and it has become as all will tell you, a quasi open air prison. One of the worst places on Earth to have the poor fortune to be born in, and for whatever reason, there have been a lot of births there recently. It is 'governed' by a literal terrorist organiation, who treat its own citizens as little more than cannon fodder in some testosterone-fueled religious pogrom against their neighbours. And the neighbours want nothing to do with the whole place, and realistically just wish it would stop being a problem.
So. That's where we are, in September 2023. The international community has a presence there, but it only makes the news every now and then, and certainly isn't top of mind. The nearby Arab states show even less interest in helping than the West. Indeed, Iran actively de-humanises them, while also arming Hamas in the hope of just keeping the Israeli's on edge. Syria is somehow even worse. The rich gulf states are doing sweet f*ck all. Netanyahu has shown no interest in either escalating or de-escalating, favouring doing nothing while he tries to dismantle the courts that want to put him in jail, rightly. Gazans are treated terribly, but deaths are relatively low, and isolated. Again, no one is helping.
At this point, I think most of us would have nothing but sympathy with the Palestinians, but not really know what to do.
Then October 7th. And as posts at the time suggest, I was utterly horrified. Not just by the scale of the attack, but what would surely follow. The knowledge that as the death toll ticked up, it was only going to multiply back in the other direction. Children, civilians. Not the fighters. Not the cowardly Hamas actors, hiding either in Qatari palaces or behind innocent Gazans.
I categorically refuse to exonerate in any way the actions of Hamas. Their actions are not the natural strategy stemming from Israel's occupation. Their actions are the driving force betwen the estimated 33 Gazan deaths last year and the > 5,000 that will be the figure this year. Literally every person who knows about the area knew this is how Israel woudl react - we all said it 10 days ago. They are cowards, terrorists with their own agency and they chose this as a strategy. They should be hunted and brought to justice. They are the catalyst behind the people they represent dying en masse.
I also categorically refuse to accept the actions of this Israeli government are anything other than disgusting, deplorable and deserve widespread condemnation. I desperately wish that Biden had told Netanyahu that if this didn't end, the spiggot of funding stops.
Both of these things can be true.
It seems like this thread is now dominated by one viewpoint, but I hear extraordinarily few suggestions on realistic action to move forward. That's what I'd personally love to see.
