Craig Mokhiber, director of human rights body, accuses the US, UK and much of Europe as ‘wholly complicit in the horrific assault’

  • jet@hackertalks.com
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    1 year ago

    “We must support the establishment of a single, democratic secular state in all of historic Palestine, with equal rights for Christians, Muslims, and Jews,” he wrote, adding: “and, therefore, the dismantling of the deeply racist, settler-colonial project and an end to apartheid across the land.”

    What a controversial statement, that a government should represent the people that it governs. Crazy

    By contrast, Anne Bayefsky, who directs Touro College’s Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust in New York, accused Mokhiber on social media of “overt antisemitism”. She said he had used a UN letterhead to call for “wiping Israel off the map”.

    I see the if you’re not with us you’re against us rhetoric is coming out. They’re deliberately using language that makes it sound like someone wants to remove the Jewish people, when really they’re talking about the government needs to change. Wanting to change a government is not anti-Semitic by any extent, deliberately calling people anti-Semitic by trying to improve the living conditions, and the ability of a government to govern, isn’t helping anybody. It’s hurting people it’s disingenuous

    If removing Hamas, and changing the government of Gaza, isn’t anti-Muslim, then people wishing to change the government of Israel should be measured by the same yardstick.

    • Omegamanthethird@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      I’ve seen a lot of reporting on antisemitism increasing. And I’m sure it is. But shit like this and the fact that I’ve seen ADL referenced twice now makes me really question how severe it is.

      • PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.org
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        I would try to be cautious about that line of thinking. Some incidents that have nothing to do with criticism of the Israeli government: the threats this week at cornell, high profile people like kanye getting away with and normalizing overt hate (not criticizing israel, saying literal weird antisemitic stuff), the qanon stuff, the Pittsburgh shooting, the hate incidents in Florida, the neonazi and fascist militias increasing in many parts of the u.s., etc. These are people making threats, specifically against Jewish people, and saying that Jewish people existing is a problem. These are not people criticizing Israeli government policy. I think the ADL and other entities have been criticized for sometimes not making a clear distinction, but incidents completely unrelated to criticism of Israel’s gov have definitely been rising in a lot of places and it’s unfortunate that bad faith geopolitical rhetoric is obscuring that.

        • Omegamanthethird@beehaw.org
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          ABSOLUTELY! I do want to clarify that when I say that I question how severe it is, I don’t mean to minimalize it.

          ADL has pretty consistently exaggerated numbers. So when I see 4000% increase, I don’t believe it. They absolutely include Israeli government criticisms.

          But I do expect that there’s extreme increases, in the same way there has been increases in Islamophobia. Probably more. The incidents are real and cannot be ignored.

          I just do not trust what the news is putting out when it relies on subjective information or an outside source. This has honestly been the sloppiest news I’ve witnessed in my life.

          • PotentiallyAnApricot@beehaw.org
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            1 year ago

            Oh ok, sorry for misinterpreting! I also feel the same way. It seems that while multiple incredibly serious things are ongoing, every possible source of information on any of it is kind of… full of gaps at best, deliberately propagandizing or misleading at worst. It’s maddening. Feels almost impossible to get a full and clear picture of anything which is, of course, the point for at least some of the governments and news orgs involved. It sucks.

      • jet@hackertalks.com
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        1 year ago

        So your philosophy is: we have to kill them first, otherwise they’d kill us?

        Doesn’t seem like there’s any de-escalation from that position.

      • prole@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Now hold on… Your claim here is that, if there were a one-state solution, that the Palestinians would somehow, magically, gain the upper hand on Israelis and set up pogroms (just going to set aside the irony here that the Israeli government is literally doing this to Palestine at this moment, and have been since long before this current outbreak).

        Where will all of this power have suddenly come from? They’ve been oppressed for generations. Israel has the backing of the most powerful military on the planet. Please, explain to me how the Palestinian people are going to suddenly pull an “Uno Reverse” card and gain all of the power in the region.

        Give me a fucking break. And before you pivot and make this about the idea of a one-state solution, while ignoring the rest of my comment. Just don’t.

      • bdonvr@thelemmy.club
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        Well firstly any settler with citizenship elsewhere should leave if possible. A large percentage of Israelis are first generation settlers.

        Obviously a completely borderless Palestine wouldn’t happen immediately, it would have to take quite some time and possible administrated by some outside force for some time.

        Unfortunately decades of stealing homes and land, and killing thousands does tend to leave some harsh feelings eh?