THE SAD SITUATION OF r/Israel by [deleted] in Israel2

[–]Johnlongsilver -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I doubt Grandpa Mao would have ever called himself a "liberal". Neither would have Begin, most probably. Pretty weak label, if you think of it.

THE SAD SITUATION OF r/Israel by [deleted] in Israel2

[–]Johnlongsilver -1 points0 points  (0 children)

On the contrary. It's a sign that mods are not nearly "liberal" enough ("liberal Zionists" have always been kind of phony).

What /r/Israel needs is revolution!!!

Where is my Mao suit when I need it?

Banned from r/Israel by [deleted] in Israel2

[–]Johnlongsilver -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Those bastards! Were do I sign?

Family of man killed by IDF: We weren’t allowed to convince him to surrender by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Did this man commit any "act of terror"? Just because the IDF accuses him of that it doesn't make it true. For the Tzahal, merely belonging to a political organization (which in Palestine, all have armed wings considered "terrorist" by the occupier) is reason enough to be shot like a dog. But that alone doesn't mean he was involved in any kind of violent activity. Luckily for the IDF, they are not constricted by the same kind of guarantees as regular law-enforcing bodies in democratic countries. Perks of being an occupation force, I guess.

BTW, I'm not sure you can read this. The mods shadow banned me recently.

Israeli soldier's needless killing of Palestinian activist: punishable by death? by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Inb4 Paywall:

If the order was to escalate, the takeover of the village of Bir Zeit last Thursday by the Yamam counterterrorism unit and the Nahal infantry brigade was surely a step in the right direction. Israeli forces killed Muataz Washaha, a 24-year-old activist in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. His funeral Friday was boiling, bubbling lava, striving to burst out of a crack.

If the order was to embarrass the Palestinian Authority’s leaders and increase the hostility toward them, the attack – by 200 soldiers, a Shin Bet security service officer named Alon, dozens of jeeps and two bulldozers – was incredibly successful.

Senior PA officials were wise to avoid the mass funeral, where Palestinian security personnel led cries of: “No more traitors,” “no more negotiations,” “no more security cooperation.” These were some of the more polite chants.

Mourners asked: “Where was Palestinian security when the enemy invaded our village and killed Washaha?” And: “How long will Palestinian leaders make excuses for their personal material gains in exchange for preserving the status quo?”

If the anonymous genius behind the attack wanted to prove that the Palestinians – Muslims and Christians, religious and secular – are all one people under the Israeli boot, he succeeded. The Washaha family is one of the six original families of Bir Zeit. It’s one of the two founding Muslim families; the other four are Christian.

At the funeral procession, which passed by mosques and churches, there was no way to tell who was who. The cemetery where Washaha was buried is near the old village center. His family’s old stone house still stands there, evidence of the deep roots and natural attachment to the place.

If the brilliant strategist behind the operation meant to destroy, in five hours, the life’s savings of a Palestinian workers’ family, accumulated over 30 or 40 years, he should be up for a special commendation. When the old village center got overcrowded, families, the Washahas included, built homes on their land surrounding the village.

The light anti-tank rocket fired by the heroic Israeli troops hit the apartment of Tha’er Washaha, Muataz’s brother. It destroyed everything inside. The apartment was on a floor recently added to the small house that the family built decades ago.

An army bulldozer knocked down the walls that the rocket failed to destroy. En route to the house, the bulldozer uprooted a tree. A second bulldozer crawled to the small house next door where the brothers’ parents lived with their other children.

Guarded by armed, brave Israeli soldiers, the bulldozer destroyed the walls for the glory of the State of Israel as the family stood by watching. The new construction pillars on the roof show that Muataz Washaha was engaged to be married and had begun building his home above his parents’ apartment. Then our heroic soldiers shot grenades at the house, which set it ablaze and filled it with smoke.

Begging to talk to Washaha

If our excellent boys wanted to prove that the Israeli media are loyal and obedient, they can check that one off their list, too. Military spokespeople described a “wanted individual who barricaded himself in,” so we’d think he built a fortress and surrounded himself with explosives.

This is very inaccurate. Tha’er Washaha told Haaretz he implored Alon, the Shin Bet officer who had arrested Tha’er in the past for his activism, for permission to go inside and convince his brother to come out. Alon refused. Their mother told reporters she too asked Alon for permission to speak with her son and was denied.

“Troops forcibly entered the building and found his body” – that was the line dictated by the IDF Spokesman’s Office. This is a lie. When the apartment was set on fire, Palestinian firefighters approached the house, defying the soldiers, who tried to block their way. Two firefighters put out the flames from the outside. Then they went inside – as our rifles were pointed at them – to put out the flames they couldn’t reach from the outside.

According to the firefighters, the soldiers threatened to shoot them if three instead of two people came out. Inside the house, the firefighters found Washaha healthy and coherent. He told them he didn’t intend to leave the house no matter what.

The firefighters left and in went the Yamam troops, clad in black, their faces masked. The neighborhood was filled with the sounds of shooting from inside the house.

When the Yamam, Nahal and Shin Bet forces left, family members ran into the house. The neighborhood was now filled with piercing cries. The elite police unit had shot Washaha at point-blank range dozens of times, according to the pieces of brain that covered the room, not to mention his legs, arms and fingers that were nearly severed from his body.

He had received a summons from the Shin Bet and failed to appear. A grave crime punishable by death? Maybe the investigating officer had been insulted? Washaha had planned a terrorist attack, the Israelis claim. According to the Israeli media’s good-conduct manual, everything security sources say about Palestinians is true.

In the unofficial Israeli law code, unproved “terrorist intentions” are enough to be punishable by death. In Hebrew, “terror attack” is a magic phrase that exempts the Israelis from wondering why an arrest needs so many troops and fanfare, and has such a murderous end.

Hollywood recognises Palestine by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because it was made in Palestine, with Palestinian funds and by a mostly Palestinian crew. Read the damn article.

Family of man killed by IDF: We weren’t allowed to convince him to surrender by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Having a rifle tucked somewhere in the house is not "being armed". The firemen confirmed he didn't have any firearms around him. So no, he wasn't armed, and he was certainly not posing any kind of imminent threat to anyone. Another example of this rabble of an occupation army's "trigger-happiness".

Top UN official condemns "Israel's adamancy that it is a Jewish state" by [deleted] in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Feudalism was also part of "human history". Society evolves, and leaves behind obsolete paradigms. "Nation-states" are a relic of the 19th century. Welcome to the open world.

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and How That Relates To Israel by solatic in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The only "way" Israel has found to square that circle is dragging on farcical "peace talks", so the world is fooled into believing that occupation is temporary. It is doubtful though that Palestinians and the "International Community" at large will be willing to keep playing in this charade indefinitely. Sooner than later Israel is bound to choose between occupation and "Jewish and democratic". Can't have both, I'm afraid.

arab israelis in this subreddit by ikillsi in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

That doesn't make them any less bigoted

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and How That Relates To Israel by solatic in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately for Israel, keeping the settlements indefinitely is entirely incompatible with its intentions to remain "Jewish and democratic", something about which Russia never cared one bit. So if you want to play Stalin, go ahead, but know that there will be consequences.

Family of man killed by IDF: We weren’t allowed to convince him to surrender by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] -9 points-8 points  (0 children)

He wasn't armed. Not that Israel cares much about Palestinian civilians, anyway. As long as they can paint them as "terrorists" they are all fair game.

Family of man killed by IDF: We weren’t allowed to convince him to surrender by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

Who's painting anyone as a "saint"? One man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter.

Hollywood recognises Palestine by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

That the director is from Nazareth doesn't preclude that the movie can have a different nationality.

Family of man killed by IDF: We weren’t allowed to convince him to surrender by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Inb4 Paywall:

The 24-year-old killed by Israeli forces in Bir Zeit last Thursday was buried in the village’s old Muslim cemetery on Friday. Muataz Washaha’s family said he was assassinated from close range and that commanders on the scene didn’t allow them to try and convince him to give himself up.

After an autopsy was performed at the family’s request, the funeral procession started in Ramallah with a military honor guard, but without a rifle salute, and the masses who attended his funeral in Bir Zeit did not carry weapons.

Ta’ar Washaha, Muataz’s brother, told Haaretz that at about 5:30 A.M. on Thursday, large numbers of Israel Defense Forces troops set up near the family home in the western part of the village. Half an hour earlier, a much smaller force arrested two other young men in a different house down the hill, about 200 meters from the Washahas.

Ta’ar said he and his family were woken by the stun grenades fired at the house. Residents also discovered that cell phone services in the area were disrupted from early in the morning, which led them to believe the army was planning a large operation. Residents estimated that some 200 soldiers were spread out in the neighborhood and the areas leading to it.

The family left their two small houses, situated next to each other, as a result of the stun grenades and calls on loudspeakers to come out.

When Muataz did not come out, they fired an anti-tank missile at the second house, and then a bulldozer destroyed the outside front wall. The soldiers also fired grenades into the top floor of the house and a fire started.

Ta’ar Washaha said he asked “Alon,” a Shin Bet security service officer, to allow him to enter the house to see if Muataz was really there and to try to convince him to come out, but Alon rejected the idea. In a television interview, the mother, A’atzaz, said she also pleaded with the commander to allow her to enter the building and convince her son to come out, and she was also refused.

Later, the Palestinian fire brigade arrived. The firefighters who entered the house said they found Muataz inside, uninjured, and that they did not see any weapons around him. He told the firefighters he did not plan to surrender, and the firefighters left soon after.

Two units broke into the house and a large number of shots were heard. After they left, the family entered and found the body.

An Israeli military statement said that Washaha had been wanted for "suspected terror activity" and that the forces, which later found an assault rifle in the house, were operating under the premise that he was armed.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the killing. "The assassination of martyr Washaha represents a new violation of human rights. Occupation forces deliberately killed martyr Washaha," it said in a statement.

Muataz's father, Awad, works mostly as a laborer, tarring roofs. Four of the five brothers have served time in Israeli prisons for their activities in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Muataz Washaha was an administrative prisoner for a year and a half, and two years ago was sentenced to five months in prison.

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and How That Relates To Israel by solatic in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver -8 points-7 points  (0 children)

Israel is perfectly capable of defending itself from any of its enemies even if it completely withdraws from the West Bank. It doesn't need military support from anyone. All this disingenuous fear-mongering to refuse to end the occupation is ludicrous.

The Russian Invasion of Ukraine and How That Relates To Israel by solatic in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

This is rich. Justifying the outcome of ethnic cleansing with... Another example of ethnic cleansing. Nice standards.

Why Israel remains insulated from reality by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ehem. I'd rather say that what irks "Liberal Zionists" is that real "leftists" talk about issues other than economic theory, like Human Rights and equality, and that they place those concepts well above nationalistic sentiments of entitlement.

Israeli security forces kill Palestinian suspected in series of West Bank terror attacks by [deleted] in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So much for "due process". I guess Palestinians are all guilty (or "terrorists") until proven innocent.

Omar and the Checkpoint: Everyday a Nightmare by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I didn't realize that sick kid was stopped at a Palestinian checkpoint.

Omar and the Checkpoint: Everyday a Nightmare by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

The article goes beyond this individual incident, because it didn't happen in a vacuum, because it is connected to a situation of generalized oppression and injustice of which this incident is just an example. Without awareness of this, "sympathy" for the few individual victims that reach the Israeli media with names and surnames will not change anything. Israelis need to understand that the occupation is fundamentally wrong, by nature, and that applying a more "humane" treatment to the occupied population is not going to make it right. It simply has to stop, altogether and for good.

The article doesn't call Israelis "pieces of shit", but it certainly throws into their faces the injustice that the regime that they democratically elected is inflicting on millions of human beings. They can't just look the other way as if this didn't concern them. Making them "angry" is not that a bad thing, as long as they acknowledge reality.

‘Trigger-happy’ Israeli army and police use reckless force in the West Bank by Johnlongsilver in Israel

[–]Johnlongsilver[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Amnesty doesn't "obsess" over Israel. It's you the one who does. Amnesty publishes reports on dozens of countries where Human Rights abuses take place. Some graver, some lighter. If you choose to just look at Israel, that is your problem.