As I write these words, I am sitting at home in Tel Aviv, trying to figure out how to protect my family in a house with no shelter or safe room, following with growing panic the reports and rumors of horrible events taking place in the Israeli towns near Gaza which are under attack. I see people, some of them my friends, calling on social media to attack Gaza more fiercely than ever before. Some Israelis are saying that now is the time to eradicate Gaza entirely — essentially calling for genocide. Through all the explosions, the dread and the bloodshed, speaking about peaceful solutions seems like madness to them.
Yet I remember that everything that I am feeling now, which every Israeli must be sharing, has been the life experience of millions of Palestinians for far too long. The only solution, as it has always been, is to bring an end of apartheid, occupation, and siege, and promote a future based on justice and equality for all of us. It is not in spite of the horror that we have to change course — it is exactly because of it.
I’m sorry but that’s not true, there are going to be consequences for this. Israel cannot back down now because it sets an absolute precedent that you can do shit like this to get your way. I do not agree with Israel’s policies in the region or the atrocities that they certainly have committed but this… this has the power to turn public opinion. The repercussions are going to be horrifying and hamas knows it, and they don’t care.
This is the absolute truth. People on here are nuts cheering on Hamas. Keep defending terrorists. This will be devastating to everyone living in Gaza. The Israelis are going to want to level Gaza. There are 2 million people in Gaza, one of the most densely populated places on the planet. Hamas’ actions today have signed the death of possibly tens of thousands of people.
I don’t like the Israeli government. I don’t like Hamas. Both sides are bad and do very bad things. But there are millions of people living in this region and the escalation today was done by Hamas and it puts these millions of people at risk. They went to a concert and kidnapped young adults, basically children. Slaughtered civilians at bus stops and in their homes and these are the pictures the world will see. The world powers have made it clear that Israel has their full support. Like it or not. Israel has no choice but to wipe out Hamas. Politically, Netanyahu needs to show strength, his life depends on this victory. This is his chance to unite Israel under him when mere weeks ago there were protests in the streets of Jerusalem. It’s an opportunity for him to sieze power and protect himself from the punishment for his crimes.
This will end horribly for the Palestinian people more than anyone else. Israel will lose much less people, but they’re all still people. All people dying. But make no mistake, Israel will hit back way harder, and they will win.
This shitty world was better yesterday before this happened.
Yes, they should just lay down and take it. Maybe we should give them all some of those super loud rape whistles and they can just all blow them constantly. That will surely make the Israelis stop.