Quote:
Originally Posted by chezlaw
I do believe than in a democracy we all bear some moral resposnsibility for our what our coutnry does. That is a totally different category to deserving to being destroyed by bombs/etc.
I dont for a moment believe the ICJ should issue arrest warrants against all israelis but that is what you are arguing. Israel is far more democratic and you are really condemning all Israelis (and american and brits for what our countries have done in iraq etc). I'd reject any argument that any Israeli actions before October 7 could possible mean they weren't innocent victims.
Ah. I see that we are discussing different points.
Do I believe the Palestinian people deserve to suffer the hell of war? No. But this was never the question or my point.
The original question is "are the Palestinian people INNOCENT VICTIMS"? No. I do not think so. To reiterate, the Palestinian people in Gaza elected Hamas to represent them and the majority of Palestinian people believe that Israel should be destroyed. If the war were to stop today, and a cease fire put in place, Hamas would use all the resources given to the Palestinian people to re-arm themselves, build more tunnels, and gain strength enough to attack Israel again. The Palestinians in Gaza, as a majority, would agree with Hamas doing this. This makes them enablers. They are therefore definitionally not innocent. Yes, of course there are those in Gaza who want peace and who do not support Hamas. They are the innocent victims. But they are in the minority.
Because the Palestinians are brainwashed I feel sorry for them. I truly wish that something could change their mindset wherein they would be willing to live in peace next to Israel. But since the Palestinians, themselves, do not want this, peace is currently not an option. A war was started by Hamas, and now the Palestinians people are suffering terribly because this time Israel has said "Never Again". I do not believe anybody credible wants this war, and the misery it is causing. But, sadly, much of the world enables this war and therefore deserves blame for what is happening.
I do not believe that many of the posters here are "innocent". Many of the posters here have outright said that they do NOT believe that Israel has the right to exist and I am quite sure that a number of them chant from "the river to the sea" with complete sincerity. By keeping alive the notion that the destruction of Israel is a viable option, enablers here on this board and around the world make it impossible for Israel to stop what it is doing.
If anyone deserves "blame" for what is happening, it is Iran and its enablers. The world could demand that Iran stop funding Hamas, and to stay out of an issue that has nothing to do with them. But the world stays silent on that because there are many in the world who want Israel destroyed (or at least they wouldn't care if it actually happened). What most people fail to understand is that Israel's primary goal is
not the destruction of the Palestinian people. It is happening, but it isn't the goal. Israel's primary goal is to destroy the idea that there can be a future without Israel. Very few seem able to grasp this, and therefore they are incapable of understanding the harm they are causing the Palestinian people by keeping that idea alive. The more the world believes there is anything other than the binary option of total destruction or total peace, the more the world enables the plight of the Palestinians.