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submitted 2 years ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

They exchanged text messages and emojis. Brief status updates with words of encouragement. A picture of the beloved family dog "Tutsi."

Until no more messages came.

And then, Cindy Flash, an American, and her Israeli husband Igal vanished into the violence, presumed kidnapped by Hamas.

Four days after Hamas attacked Israel, more than 100 Israelis and potentially dozens of foreign nationals are thought to be held captive in the Gaza Strip. At least 14 U.S. citizens have been killed and an unknown number are still unaccounted for.

Flash, 67, originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, is one of them. She lives in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel near Gaza, where some of the most harrowing and grisly stories have been emerging during the last few days.

"They are breaking down the safe room door," Flash said in one of her final messages to her daughter Keren, 34. "We need someone to come by the house right now." She had been communicating with her parents from a few houses away.

Keren described her mother, who worked as an administrator in a local college, as someone who had the "sweetest biggest heart," who everyone knew and loved, and who had spent a lifetime advocating for the rights of Palestinians, including those who live in Gaza where she may now be held.

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[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 65 points 2 years ago

Palestinians knew who they were when they elected them.

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 97 points 2 years ago

Israel knew who Netanyahu was when they elected him.

[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago

Sure. And Netanyahu is a right-wing asshole. But he isn't a terrorist.

You see the difference?

[-] OneOrTheOtherDontAskMe@lemmy.world 60 points 2 years ago

I'm not here to argue semantics, Hamas are terrorists, Netanyahu is a terrorist.

[-] Browning@lemmings.world 24 points 2 years ago

If a terrorist is someone who attacks civilians for political aims, then yes.

[-] tryptaminev@feddit.de 15 points 2 years ago

That is pretty much textbook. Someone or some party that uses violence and the threat of violence to create fear in the pursuit of political goals.

Problem is that applies to most nation states that are active on the global scale. So the political use can be reduced to "terrorists are always the others"

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[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

Yeah, if I was dead wrong about what words mean, I wouldn't want to argue semantics either.

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[-] Sparlock@lemmy.world 30 points 2 years ago

Hamas are terrorists, Netanyahu is a terrorist. If a terrorist is someone who attacks civilians for political aims.

I find it hard to discriminate Civilian A who was killed from Civilian B who was killed by the other side. Apparently that is a controversial statement around here. Ya'll are fucked.

[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

Hamas are terrorists because the target civilians for death.

Netanyahu is a corrupt right-wing asshole, but he doesn't target innocent civilians for death.

If you broaden the word "terrorist" to apply to anyone you don't like for any reason, the word ceases to have any meaning or weight.

And that gives cover to ACTUAL terrorists.

[-] Sparlock@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years ago

Deliberately cutting off water, electricity and medical aid will result directly in children dying. Again I find it hard to see the difference between civilian A and civilian B being killed just on the basis of WHO killed them. But you do you.

[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Again, you're pretending that INTENTION doesn't matter. That collateral damage is morally equivalent to a targeted killing.

I just 100 percent disagree.

[-] Sparlock@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

What other result is there for INTENTIONALLY cutting off food, water and electricity. BTW I just asked my 12 yr old if I cut off the food water and electricity to a population would mean I be responsible for the deaths and her answer was "DUH!" This isn't hard man.

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[-] Cethin@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

They're intentionally killing civilians. It's equally targeted. It's not just collateral damage any more than nuking a civilian populace to kill one person is collateral damage. They also intentionally targeted and bombed the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza after telling civilians to flee there.

Just because one side can kill the other with technology and superior firepower doesn't make it morally different.

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[-] Fedizen@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago

bro you can you read? hear words? Israel is currently bombing apartments, ambulances, etc. Specifically with the goal of killing every last citizen in gaza that doesn't flee.

[-] medgremlin@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 2 years ago

So what is your response to the report that IDF missiles are hitting hospitals in Gaza and nearly killing MSF workers?

https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/latest/gaza-situation-catastrophic-hospitals-are-overwhelmed

[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Hamas's well-documented use of its own civilians as human shields, as well as its use of mosques, hospitals, schools and private homes as weapons storage facilities and firing platforms, violates international humanitarian law.

https://www.jns.org/hamas-again-using-human-shields-in-gaza/#:~:text=Hamas's%20well%2Ddocumented%20use%20of,Source%3A%20IDF%20International%20Cooperation%20Division.

[-] Sparlock@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

More apologetics for Netanyahu killing civilians that you deem worth killing. You are fuckin sick in the head dude. Stop makin excuses for people committing war crimes no matter the side.

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[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago

Obviously not.

[-] SCB@lemmy.world 71 points 2 years ago

Hamas was never elected as sole leadership in Palestine. They never won a plurality of votes, ever.

They formed a unity government, then fought the other government, usurped control, and cancelled elections forever.

[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 17 points 2 years ago

Hamas won 74 out of 132 seats. They did it with 44 percent of the vote. Not sure how that worked.

Anyway, you're kind of right, kind of wrong.

[-] SCB@lemmy.world 20 points 2 years ago

Same way Republicans do it in Ohio, one assumes. Heavy concentration in minority-population areas.

[-] ComradeKhoumrag@infosec.pub 13 points 2 years ago

And the Palestinian authority is really a puppet government that Israel allows Palestine to have, so it's not like any available option is really good

[-] SCB@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

No lol. One of Israel's dumbest moves ever was empowering Hamas as they saw it as an alternative to the Palestinian Authority

[-] CosmicCleric@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

This should be said more often and more forcefully, as its knowledge people (including myself) are not generally aware of.

[-] zaph@sh.itjust.works 65 points 2 years ago

20 years ago. Around half of today's population didn't vote and of the ones that did many didn't vote for hamas. Find a new way to blame innocent people, this one doesn't work.

[-] mycatiskai@lemmy.one 52 points 2 years ago

Half of the population is below 19 years old. So they weren't even born when Hamas was elected.

The average age of Palestinians is 19. The average age of Israelis is 30. That tells you one thing, that you don't live a long life if your Palestinian.

[-] Gormadt 31 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Living in what human rights groups and the UN describe as an open air prison under bombarded from a neighboring country isn't exactly the best thing for life expectancy.

Roughly 2.3 million people live on the Gaza Strip out of the roughly 5 million people living in Palestine BTW, which is the area currently being bombarded by Israel in response to the terrorist attack by Hamas.

[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in how the United Nations describes anything to do with Israel. Their bias is of the charts.

Remember, this is an organization that officially denounced Israel for human rights violations 20 times in one year, and for every other nation on Earth, with all the modern slavery, sex trafficking, genial mutilation, honor killings, murder of LGBTQ, marriage and rape of 7-yr-girls, denying basic education to women, forcing women to fully cover their bodies, mass incarcerations, etc,etc... For all the rest of the world, 6 denouncements.

So yeah, the UN is not a serious organization when it comes to Israel.

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years ago
[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Any organization that calls Israel "apartheid" is comically biased.

Israel is the only country in the region where a lesbian Muslim woman can vote, get an education and hold elected office.

Claiming it's apartheid is like claiming the US was apartheid when occupying Iraq because we didn't allow Iraqis to be citizens of the US.

Words have meanings, and the accusation is demonstrably absurd.

[-] Gormadt 23 points 2 years ago

I can't help but notice your only issues here is with how terms are used in regards to Israel and Palestine but not with the bombardment of Gaza in response to a terrorist attack from Hamas. A place where nearly half of Palestine's population lives.

Do you not have an issue with Israel's response or something?

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[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 12 points 2 years ago

Take the word of some random guy on internet, or an international NGO? Tough call 📞

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[-] Siegfried@lemmy.world 18 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

50% of the persons living in palestina are under 18

Edit: had a stroke

[-] flossdaily@lemmy.world 14 points 2 years ago

Yeah. I wish their parents loved them more than they hate Israel.

[-] Siegfried@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago

Are you a troll or something?

[-] SCB@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago

No he's just right.

this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
419 points (100.0% liked)

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