Like many things, this is actually Trump’s fault.

Netanyahu and the Israeli government work really hard at “bipartisan” support. They try to lobby (and bribe) members of both parties in the US and spread their influence around broadly. Trump tipped the scales by not only being hyper pro-Israel (and thus inviting Democrats to go the opposite direction) but he also publicly tweeted that Ilhan Omar and other Democrats should be banned from Israel and that Netanyahu is weak for not banning them. Netanyahu had planned to allow her and others in to keep the bipartisan lobbying going, but after Trump embarrassed him he cancelled their visas. It caused immediate blowback by Congress and damaged the bipartisan balance Netanyahu worked hard for decades on.

So of course this emboldened Netanyahu to ban others.

Supposedly she has a lot of homeland security protection. But not good enough to stop her stuff from being stolen?

He’s such a whiner. This is people’s idea of strength?

Frankly this is a good idea in the long term despite a possible short term loss.

The Tea Party hurt the Republicans in the short term, but they took over the party and purged the liberal elements. They replaced Eric Cantor with a speaker who does everything they want. They’re a monolithic block now and have been winning out on their strategies ever since.

AOC ousted 10-term congressman Joe Crowley in a primary by a huge margin. A few more of those couldn’t hurt.

Collective Responsibility is what Israel has been arguing to justify violence against Palestinian civilians for literally decades.

“I asked the hit man to not carry out what I ordered and he said no. But of course I’m still paying him. See how powerless I am?”

Republicans are worried and nervous. Kicking up a big fuss, saying that Republicans are destroying the country and unpatriotic, marching in the streets and promising to raise millions to run against anyone who votes for these unpopular bills, makes the republicans back down. We see it time and again.

IBM had a role in the holocaust. Those numbers tattooed on everyone in the concentration camp? Those were IBM ID numbers for the punch cards.

If IBM staff protested about their role, it’s been lost to history. But it’s repeating today with Gaza and the staff who speak out are being demonized. Israel’s Lavender AI is being used to kill civilians. History will prove this woman and the other employees right in the end.

The IDF uses plenty of Microsoft technology including Azure. The details of Lavender are classified.

IBM had a role in the holocaust. Those numbers tattooed on everyone in the concentration camp? Those were IBM ID numbers for the punch cards.

If IBM staff protested about their role, it’s been lost to history. But it’s repeating today with Gaza and the staff who speak out are being demonized. Israel’s Lavender AI is being used to kill civilians. History will prove this woman and the other employees right in the end.

Because Trump is getting demented. This is all his idea

Not at all what I believe but you’re looking for some kind of excuse to dismiss what I’m saying. I find that it’s always the excuse by Zionists on this sub when an atrocity is pointed out that they support, “it’s complicated,” as if that is a reason to keep up with the injustice. In this case, no it’s not complicated. Germany is violating their free speech laws and undermining their commitment to international law because they are supporting an atrocity. There’s actually easy solutions here with a sensible middle ground, and of course Germany isn’t doing it.

Peace.

No, Germany feels a responsibility to help Jews as reparations for the holocaust. Not a blank check to the rightwing Israeli government or giving them a pass when they violate international law. And certainly not violating Germany’s free speech laws by arresting nonviolent protestors condemning a foreign government for their war crimes. There’s no challenge here unless you think every protestor is an anti-Semite.

It’s not delicate at all.

If you don’t stick to your values when they’re being tested, they’re not values: they’re hobbies.

—Jon Stewart

This type of people exist in every generation, whether forming a mob to enforce segregation or engaging in pogroms.

Condescending and concern trolling. Nice. As if I haven’t been following the conflict for decades or spent years studying it in school or multiple trips to both Israel and Palestine and surrounding countries. Should we show our diplomas too?

I never said moral qualms are a luxury or that you have to solve things before condemning, you’re creating a strawman to beat. I said you’re trolling by pretending that you have a better solution for Palestinians and lambasting them for not following your enlightened opinion from your ivory tower. Hate cannot drive out hate, but Netanyahu’s government is certainly trying their hardest despite decades of failure. What’s going to end the cycle is for the rest of the world to call them out; for the Israeli government pursuing maximalist expansion and deprivation of human rights for millions and oppression of their own citizens. You instead mouth platitudes with your condescension and sound deeply out of touch, belying the claim that you’ve allegedly been following this conflict so closely.

It’s so easy for you to criticize from your position of comfort and privilege, but meanwhile YOU have offered no solutions other than to try knocking down everyone else. Palestinian children were dying before the attack and are dying after. Even before October 7, Gazan children were malnourished and food insecure to the point where they are shorter than Palestinians on the other side of the wall. Most had signs of PTSD even back in 2022. Spare me your phony concern trolling if you were doing nothing about it before and have no solutions except to blame victims.

I’m going to push back on that, Gazans have zero options to prevent children dying. No options at all. They can’t even send them away since Israel won’t let them out. Hamas surrendering won’t save children’s lives. They have no “best” option since even Israeli officials are saying that Arab children are a threat that must be addressed now early or later. There’s no winning against a genocidal threat. Even former PM Ehud Barak, no friend to Palestinians, said if he was born Palestinian he would have joined a terrorist organization.

They’ve discarded any hope of moral rectitude and are simply trying to win the fight in practical terms by whatever means available.

Children. Are. Dying.

Standing on principle for decades is good, but you cannot ask people to watch whole families die and do nothing. Israel shooting and killing hundreds of unarmed protestors with no consequences from the rest of the world showed that the Gandhi-style strategy will never work. You ask about effectiveness, Israel showed that they won’t allow nonviolent protest, they lock up moderate politicians and fund extremists, and make any sort of peaceful reconciliation impossible. The large majority of Israelis and Palestinians who want peace are actively blocked by the Netanyahu government. It’s nice to tell people how they should do things from the comfort of your safe home with electricity.

Read this New Yorker interview of a Hamas leader. Palestinians tried everything the “right” way. They engaged in nonviolent protest and were shot by the IDF. They went to the UN and Israel called it “diplomatic terrorism” and sanctioned the PA. They offered deep concessions to move forward on a two state solution and Netanyahu refused with no counter offer. They called for new elections and were blocked. There was really no way to left to resist Israel peacefully. The IDF was and is raping Palestinians.

“We rolled down all of the pathways to get some of our rights—not all of them. We knocked on the door of reconciliation and we weren’t allowed in. We knocked on the door of elections and we were deprived of them. We knocked on the door of a political document for the whole world—we said, ‘We want peace, but give us some of our rights’—but they didn’t let us in.” He added, “We tried every path. We didn’t find one political path to take us out of this morass and free us from occupation.”