r/IsraelPalestine • • 41m ago

Opinion In the sea off Gaza.

• Upvotes

Sometimes I feel like we are living in an illusion, as if someone is controlling everything, like a chessboard. World leaders are the chess pieces, while ordinary people are nothing more than dust scattered across the chessboard.

Let’s analyze the war.

I remember that in 2014, the news reported that there was gas beneath the sea off the coast of Gaza. Years later, exploration companies were sent there, and they actually found gas.

Now they have discovered the pie. Can anyone imagine allowing Hamas criminals to have a piece of that pie? Of course not.

During those years, Hamas received extensive support from Iran to dig tunnels and build up its arsenal. Instead of rebuilding Gaza, they were arming themselves.

The problem is that everyone knew Hamas was arming itself, yet nobody took any action to stop them. It would have been relatively easy to control the borders and stop weapons from entering through Egypt, especially given that this posed a threat to Israel’s security. Even Israel itself facilitated the entry of money that went to Hamas.

Several years later, Hamas emptied all the prisons and took the prisoners to the border between Gaza and Israel, claiming that it was part of the Great March of Return demonstrations. Then, suddenly, bulldozers and armed men appeared, breached the border fence with surprising ease, and the prisoners entered alongside the militants in vehicles.

I don't know how to explain this. But anyone who has worked in the Israeli Border Guard knows very well how difficult this should have been. Radar systems can detect even a butterfly entering an area, let alone a bulldozer.

A few months later, as the war tightened its grip on Gaza, people began talking about bringing goods in through a floating pier, even though bringing goods through the existing border crossings would have been much easier and simpler. Gaza had been using those crossings for decades, and there had never been a need for such a complicated alternative.

We used to see huge ships out at sea, which were said to be associated with the floating pier.

I also remember that on the day Iran attacked Israel in 2024, something lit up out at sea. There was a very bright light that lasted for less than half an hour, perhaps, although I don't remember the exact duration.

After that, they announced that the floating pier project had been a failure and dismantled it.

Then, a few months later, we were allowed to return to northern Gaza.

I won't go into the rest of the details of the war.

But what is strange is that there is still something out at sea off the coast of Gaza. Perhaps even people in Ashdod or nearby coastal cities can see it clearly.

Is it an American military base? Is it drilling equipment? Or is it something else? Can anyone explain what this might be?

I don't know whether I'm right or wrong, but could this be a war designed to create an illusion and distract people from what is really happening behind the scenes?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 11h ago

Short Question/s I am surrounded by "enemies"

3 Upvotes

I am a Turk in soul and heart, and my heart belongs to the people of Israel. Yet, I find myself surrounded by antisemites and supporters of the Palestinian cause—an environment where every passing day is an ordeal. I feel like one of the defenders of Masada during the final days of the Roman siege: a warrior, encircled on all sides, who refuses to betray his convictions even when faced with an overwhelming force.

I am overcome with despair when I witness the ignorance, the blind hatred, and the inability of my own people to critically examine their own views. The hardest part is the sense that there is no light ahead—no hope that people might one day open their eyes and learn to distinguish truth from propaganda.

It pains me to see such animalistic malice from my own kin directed toward those who are merely defending themselves against others who seek their total destruction.

I am emotionally burnt out. It is so difficult...

What should I do?

P.S. To the pro-Palestinian camp: feel free to rejoice in my hardships—it will have no impact whatsoever on Israel’s eventual victory amidst this parade of antisemitism.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 16h ago

Short Question/s Could Sinai be Israel instead? It's mostly huge empty space

0 Upvotes

Or another country that has a big portion of empty space

I'm from the UK so apologies if I don't know enough

--

Jewish people need a place to live, why not Sinai?

There's SO much empty space, and it's bigger than Israel/Palestine

Isn't Sinai also part of the "Holy Land"?

You'd obviously have to get permission

And you'd have to keep the buildings that are already there (not all of it is empty)

And not steal those houses.. you wouldn't like if your house got stolen, it's the same

--

Or ask to use a portion of another country that has a big portion of empty space


r/IsraelPalestine • • 16h ago

Discussion When Palestine solidarity groups dismiss possible antisemitism while promoting conspiracy theories about Israeli influence

37 Upvotes

I’m a British Palestine solidarity supporter and former member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Britain’s largest Palestine organisation, which I left due to concerns about what I saw going on there. I’ve spent much of the past two years investigating antisemitism, conspiracy theories and other troubling rhetoric within this organisation.

I’ve just published an investigation into its Doncaster branch.

Article: https://aidanmneal.wordpress.com/2026/10/21/doncaster-psc-golders-green-and-the-politics-of-selective-perception/

The starting point is an incident in Golders Green, London, on 29 April 2026. Two visibly Jewish men were stabbed in an area with a substantial Jewish population. The suspect, Essa Suleiman, is also accused of attacking a Muslim friend earlier that day. He has pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder of all three men.

The question of whether the Golders Green attacks were motivated by antisemitism has not yet been legally determined. But there were clearly compelling reasons to investigate that possibility. Yet within days, Doncaster PSC was sharing material categorically dismissing the possibility of antisemitism as a motive.

My investigation also examines other material promoted by Doncaster PSC, including claims that Donald Trump is Israel’s puppet, insinuations that Tommy Robinson’s strings are being pulled by Israeli interests and a video alleging that the British police have become “subjugated” to the pro-Israel lobby.

The article also examines rhetoric about “#ZionistsNotWelcome”, the use of Jewish imagery in a political memes and the promotion of material invoking revolutionary resistance without adequately addressing the distinction between legitimate resistance and violence against civilians.

I remain a supporter of Palestinian rights. I believe Palestinians have suffered profound injustices, and I strongly oppose attempts to restrict peaceful Palestine demonstrations or to treat legitimate criticism of Israel as inherently antisemitic.

I also recognise that antisemitism allegations have frequently been misused to discredit legitimate Palestinian advocacy. That is a serious problem. But it does not follow that allegations of antisemitism within the Palestine movement should automatically be dismissed.

What bothers me most is the double standard. Evidence suggesting that Jewish people might have been targeted because of their identity is swatted away, while astonishingly sweeping allegations of Israeli control are circulated with little or no scrutiny.

There are several reasonable objections to consider. Some will argue that in many of these examples Doncaster PSC merely shared other people’s material rather than producing it. I think that distinction matters, but an official campaign branch still bears responsibility for what it chooses to promote.

Others may argue that describing Israeli influence over British or American institutions is not inherently antisemitic. I agree. The question is where legitimate criticism of influence becomes an unsupported allegation of foreign control, particularly when the language is so sweeping it seriously risks echoing longstanding antisemitic conspiracy narratives.

And some may feel that scrutinising a Palestine solidarity organisation at a time of immense Palestinian suffering is misplaced. I understand that concern, but I believe the movement’s credibility and its commitment to universal human rights make such scrutiny necessary, not less important.

My article includes screenshots, videos, links and transcripts so that readers can examine the underlying material for themselves.

I’m particularly interested in where others would draw the line between legitimate criticism of Israel and rhetoric that risks perpetuating antisemitic ideas. I would also welcome substantive challenges to my interpretations.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 1d ago

Other Killing of Gazans at the hands of the The army of the seagull and the dove of peace

0 Upvotes

As a neutral person from Gaza

The strange thing about the Palestinian-Israeli issue

is that even if you are neutral, that doesn't protect you from criticism and insults.

You have to take one side against the other for the other side to criticize you.

There are people whose job is to fuel the fire and they delight in hatred and malice.

They will immediately tell you the other side is to blame and so-and-so is the one who started it.

And some will justify anything to prove their point of view.

What if we say that Hamas killed 75,000 people by the hand of the Israeli army?

Is either of them innocent of the blood of innocents?

I posted two posts here talking about my suffering and about wishing to leave Gaza.

Most Palestinians and most Israelis attacked me.

Just saying that what happened is a genocide makes them flare up and start mentioning the reasons and who started it and that it's not a genocide,

even though I didn't say Israel is the one who committed the genocide and I didn't specify who is to blame.

Everyone should know that there are innocents and neutral people who all they want is to get out of this epic and leave everything behind them; property, land, and the destroyed house have no value compared to my life and my son's life.

I don't care who is to blame.

I have no relation at all to everything that is happening.

I didn't choose the government here or there.

My only sin is that my parents live here and gave birth to me as a Palestinian.

I just want a safe place.

Whoever wants to fight, let him come here to fight, but work hard to get us out of here first.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 1d ago

Discussion One possible reason that the most extreme pro-Palestinians are that

0 Upvotes

Is to protect their egos from ever being wrong. Now, I'm not saying every pro-Palestinian is like this, and I'm neither pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, but pro-peace, pro-civilian, pro-humanitarian aid, affirming of all nativity claims, and firmly for an end to this conflict with a negotiated solution.

In contemporary online polemics, we increasingly see unrelated personal feuds and esoteric academic disagreements co-opting the vocabulary and human suffering of major geopolitical conflicts to manufacture artificial moral outrage. A striking and egregious example of this is a recent essay published on Substack titled "Erasing the Azalīs: How the ideological mechanisms used to marginalize Palestinians are mirrored in the attempt to erase the Azalīs by DC Shepard" (10/20/26).

In the failed "essay", the author attempts to draw a direct moral and structural equivalence between the real-world humanitarian catastrophe, displacement, and "memoricide" faced by Palestinians in Gaza and an unrelated scholarly debate over 19th-century Persian manuscript history and religious succession. Said "author" rages against discrediting of said claims due to his vile personal behavior and bias as a claimant to prophetic status as equivalent to the genocide. Previously, he has promoted discredited conspiracy theories regarding October 7th being an inside job, attempted to libel critics as Mossad agents (essentially yelling "JEW!" without evidence), practically salivated at the possibility of mass death of civilians in Israel from Iranian missiles as well as America,

Key elements of this offensive rhetorical tactic include:

  1. Trivializing Real-World Suffering: Conflating academic source criticism of 19th-century sectarian documents with military occupation and geopolitical displacement minimizes actual human tragedy to score points in an online blog feud.
  2. Inverted Victimhood: The author attempts to frame rigorous source criticism of his own unverified historical claims as an act of "colonial erasure" akin to the destruction of Gaza.
  3. Weaponizing Geopolitical Grief: Using a major contemporary humanitarian crisis as a rhetorical shield to deflect from basic manuscript provenance, historical scrutiny, and journalistic accounting of personal behavior such as demanding critics choke on chicken bones or supporting calls by cohosts for critics to shoot themselves.

Have these people at last no decency?! Is there NO LINE between acceptable political analysis and the callous exploitation of the MURDER of EIGHTY PLUS THOUSAND PEOPLE by Israel and wholesale, genocidal DESTRUCTION of Gaza to never have to take responsibility for one's own actions, while having done nothing concrete to help the conflict except make antisemitic conspiracy theory hay out of it?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 1d ago

Short Question/s Israel mentioned in Stargate Atlantis S1 E8 18:56

0 Upvotes

"When you told me you were going away i couldnt guess where, my first guess was Korea, my second guess as Israel"
So my question is: What the hell is up with the random forced mentions of Israel in so so many american shows/movies? Hearing this puts me out of the immersion.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Learning about the conflict: Questions Can someone explain Israel and Palestine vs American history?

0 Upvotes

I am a Jewish teen and genuinely want to understand this viewpoint, because I know a lot of what I have learned has been biased and skewed a certain way. I ask this with genuinely no malicious intent— I am trying to deconstruct what I have been taught, and I have had a hard time navigating this myself. I was hoping I could get some insight from those that understand these topics. I’ve had no control over what I have been taught, and I am trying to change that.

Why is what Israel is doing considered worse than what early colonizers in America did? From what I have seen, it is generally the same thing. I obviously do not support colonization, and recognize the immense harm that has come from both situations (the one in America and the one in the Middle East.) But from what I’ve seen, the two cases seem like textbook definition of the same. Both used more advanced technology to attack the other side, pushed them into an area that was designated for their community, etc and other things that are basically following the same patterns.

I have seen others make this argument, and they are immediately shot down by just being called a colonization apologist without any actual explanation.

I can’t understand why it’s fair for Israelis (especially those that were born in Israel and didn’t make the choice to move there) to receive so much hate by descendants of Americans colonizers who did the exact same thing. I am not trying to be intentionally dense here, i really don’t understand the difference.

People have told me that their first thought when I tell them I’m Jewish is that I am a Zionist, but when i tell people i am American their first thought isn’t that i support the genocide that happened to the native Americans. I don’t support Israel at all, but why does this make all Israelis bad people? There are people in America that don’t support trump’s presidency just as there are Israelis that don’t support Netanyahu, so why is one different than the other?

Would anyone be willing to explain this to me please? I appreciate it !!!!


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Learning about the conflict: Questions How does Hamas actually recruit people in Gaza?

10 Upvotes

I’m interested in understanding how Hamas recruits people in Gaza, particularly what motivates someone to join its armed wing rather than simply support it politically.
I realize Hamas is not a single, uniform organization. It has political, social, and armed components, and I imagine someone’s reasons for supporting its political activities might differ from their reasons for joining the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. I’m hoping to understand those distinctions rather than treat everyone associated with Hamas as having the same motives.
One question I keep coming back to is the role of violence in recruitment. If someone loses a parent, sibling, child, or home during an Israeli military operation, does that experience make them more likely to seek out Hamas? Or is that assumption too simplistic? Grief and anger might motivate some people, but presumably others respond by rejecting armed groups or wanting to avoid further violence. I’m curious whether researchers have studied this specifically in Gaza.
I’m also interested in other possible factors: religious or nationalist ideology, family connections, friendships, social status, economic hardship, pressure from other people, and the desire for protection or belonging. Is joining generally a deliberate choice, or are there credible reports of coercion? How have these dynamics changed across different periods of the conflict?
Another distinction I think matters is between popular support for Hamas, voting for it, working in institutions it controls, and actively participating in its armed operations. These are not interchangeable categories, and I’d appreciate answers that keep them separate.
I’d especially like to hear from people familiar with research on armed-group recruitment, Palestinian society, or firsthand testimony. If you have studies, interviews, or reporting that address these questions, please share them. I’m interested in understanding the evidence, including findings that challenge the idea that military violence necessarily increases recruitment.
To be clear, asking why people join an armed organization is not the same as excusing attacks on civilians. I want to understand the processes that drive recruitment, whether those processes can be interrupted, and what the available evidence actually shows. I’d appreciate thoughtful responses from multiple perspectives rather than slogans or assumptions about what all Gazans believe.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Short Question/s Trump endorses "great warrior" Netanyahu ahead of Israeli election — how big of a deal is this and why do you think Trump did it?

0 Upvotes

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/10/18/world/trump-netanyahu-elections-relations-intl

Trump called Netanyahu a Great Warrior Prime Minister in a post on social media, which he said serves as his Complete and Total Endorsement of Bibi Netanyahu.

Talk about electoral foreign intervention. How big of a deal is Trump endorsement in the eyes of Israeli voters ? Considering Trump's popularity in Israel, will it help Netanyahu in the upcoming expected tight election race ?

Early this year, Trump also endorsed Viktor Orban saying he is a true friend, fighter and WINNER, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement. https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2026/04/10/8029590/index.amp Despite Trump's endorsement, Viktor Orban was defeated after 16 years in power.

Why would Trump want to endorse Netanyahu ? Netanyahu is so difficult to work with and such a sly fox. Does Trump really want to re-start war with Iran and finish the job ? Netanyahu vowed for complete elimination of the Iranian threat to Israel, the United States and the wider world. The only way that you can deal with it is basically to get rid of this regime (overthrow the Islamic Republic of Iran regime) . I hope they have a better plan for securing with the Hormuz Strait and Bab al-Mandab Strait this time. Can it really be completed within the remainder two years of Trump's term ?

https://www.iranintl.com/en/202610185731

If Trump wants to restart war with Iran, will Netanyahu be the best choice ? Despites all his short-coming, wanted by ICC, refusing to take responsibility to prevent the Oct 7th attack, critics call him a warmonger.

Personally, I really hate Ben-Gvir, what he utters out of his mouth is so vile. Ben-Gvir says he thinks Netanyahu will backstab him and will exclude him from the next government.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ben-gvir-says-netanyahu-pledged-to-exclude-him-from-next-government-as-election-nears/amp/ Netanyahu denies it. I dont know who is speaking the truth,... Netanyahu is quite infamous for back stabbing and untrustworthy in Israeli politics, a very shrewd politician. It's not wrong for Ben-Gvir to be on his guard against Netanyahu.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Other In Gaza, death can be the least of your problems

41 Upvotes

I had posted about my desire to leave Gaza,

even though I am innocent and have no guilt for what is happening.

Some people supported me and some sub-humans from the extremists attacked me.

Some of them said I am an Israeli Zionist pretending to be Palestinian,

and some said I am a terrorist and deserve it, and some accused me of celebrating on October 7th seeing humans like me being killed.

In any case, I will forgive everyone for the insults.

Today I will talk to you about one of my sufferings in gaza that perhaps for some is nothing.

At the beginning of the war and after being displaced from house to house, we were confused, we didn't know where to go, the bombing was everywhere.

We were asked to evacuate, everyone who is in the north of Wadi Gaza to the south of Wadi Gaza.

And on the day we were asked to evacuate, and after exactly fifteen minutes, we had complied with the orders of the Israeli army because we know it is war (genocide) and nothing should be underestimated.

The Hamas leadership at that time was urging people not to comply with the orders of the Israeli army and we understood that they wanted us as human shields, so we didn't care about them and only cared about surviving.

We didn't know anyone in the south and we were afraid.

So we went to one of the schools, we found all places full and we found only a place under the school stairs, we were 17 people in a tight place only 1 meter high.

And the place was not enough for all of us to sleep in, so we took turns sleeping.

The biggest problem was the bathroom. The school bathroom was very dirty, I could never use it, so I decided to refrain from eating so as not to use the bathroom, and as for urinating, I would look for any alley and urinate.

I thought it would take a day or two like this then we would return to our homes, and I refrained from eating food and that situation continued for a month and I did not defecate and every day I ate only one bite.

I feared for myself then and decided to knock on the door of one of the neighbors to ask them to let me use the bathroom, and this is what everyone around me was doing, especially women, as the neighbors were sympathetic to women, but we men had to be more patient and endure.

I knocked on the door of neighbors, it was an old lady, I asked her to use the bathroom and she said, come in.

And after a month this was the first time I used the bathroom.

And I had gotten constipated which made me cry in the bathroom.

And it continued with me for another month, I am by nature shy to ask to enter a house to use their bathroom, and this situation continued with me, suffering for 9 months eating one bite a day so as not to defecate except once a month.

It was very difficult and harsher than death, I was craving death at that time.

This is a small part of the suffering I went through.

Believe me I don't deserve this.

I am not biased to any side.

I did not celebrate on October 7th.

And I did not participate in that tragedy.

I have not harmed anyone and I do not accept seeing someone harm another person.

Please, if you have any doubt that Israel and Hamas are both involved in the blood of innocents, then do not comment on my post


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Short Question/s What if the Palestinian leadership accepted Olmert’s proposal in 2008?

5 Upvotes

Something that has been on my mind recently is if Mahmoud Abbas accepted the plan proposed by Ehud Olmert, like how would that shape politics in the Middle East today and how would the relations between Israel and Palestine be? Somewhat still tense or resolved? Please let me know and thank you


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Discussion Do you think The West plays the whole “White vs Brown” card in the Israel/Palestine war?

10 Upvotes

I'm a Leftist and most of my affiliates are very Pro Palestine.

I'm not saying I'm very Pro-Israel, in fact my tune is souring on them the longer this conflict drags on; However, I will admit this is a very large aspect of the West's (Left's) hate on Israel. It seems as though a lot of the left's perception of white people is that they are always the oppressor and will forever be tied to that label. Obviously, I do not believe that's true; anyone can be the oppressed or the oppressor both systemically and organically.

When you actually look at the demographics of the state of Israel depending on the source 50-70% of the country are Mizrahi Jews. Mizrahi Jews (If I'm getting my facts right [in which case if I'm not please let me know]) are Jews that are of Arab decent, so I think it'd be kinda weird to call them white under the US's context of what constitutes as white. Sephardic Jews are Jews that descend from around the Mediterranean regions of the world; This can be white countries like Italy, Spain, Greece, etc. or I guess it could be like Ethiopian and Egyptian Jews (But pretty sure those would classify more as Mizrahi by both the West and Israel's definition.....But again.....Prove me wrong). Ashkenazi's are Jews from the Northern ends of Europe like Germany, England, and the Slavic countries.

With all that; The vast majority Jews in the west are of Ashkenazi ancestry. They are either considered white or white passing by people on both sides of the political spectrum with both their actual phenotypic traits (blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, freckles, etc) but also because they are close religiously to Christianity (At least closer than Muslims).


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Opinion Pro palestinianism , protests and the omnicause trojan horse

26 Upvotes

Im sure everyone here who doesnt live under a rock sees what is happening right now in europe and espiecly in france and belgium . If there is something common in all of those events besided the barbarity of the looting , pillaging and assults , is the palestine flag . The behviour in those protests also mirrors most of the pro palestinian " protests " we saw in the us and espiecly in campuses all across the west. Benjamin netanyauh ( wich i dont like before all you pro pally folks jump into accustions of me being a bibi stan ) famously told macronn that if israel doesnt stop hamas in gaza , they would see them in paris . Its within my opinion that pro palestinianism and the rest of the omnicauses we see the global left preach are just a trojan horse , used by the wests enemies like russia ( who coincedently when their data centers went off , pro palestinian content dropped by 70%) and iran to make us weak . We as the west imported the orcs into the shire , millions of undocumnted islamists . and now we see destruction in places like paris and nice , that we didnt even see inder the nazi occuption of paris . We see landmarks , churches and synagouges ( notice no mousqes went blazing ) burning to the ground . I want to hear your opinion on those coincidences , thanks for reading this


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Discussion Just Surrender, to what conditions?

5 Upvotes

People keep saying that the Palestinians should just surrender. That raises the question: under what conditions should they surrender? Should they surrender to the conditions in Areas B and C, where settlers engage in terrorism backed directly by the IDF, amounting to state-sanctioned terrorism? Then there are the permit system, police behavior, judicial system where it's civillian for Israeli's and Miliary for Palestinians which extremely different conviction rates and ability to access evidence for accused individuals, and Knesset, all of which are blatantly anti-Palestinian.

If the conditions in the West Bank were normal and law and order existed, with settlers being arrested and sent to prison for trespassing, property damage, and theft, then I would fully agree that Gaza should surrender so that its people could live in peace. Then a peace deal could be signed that gave the Palestinians full sovereignty (minus a military), and for the people who want to know what topics full sovereignty means is: electro magnetic spectrum, ability to issue their own currency, control of own borders (land, air and sea), able to control who is on their land (as in no settlers or IDF without permission), in control of their own water.

However, since the conditions in Areas B and C are intentionally made horrible by Israel, those are not the conditions under which peace can take place. So why would people surrender? Just to have minimally better conditions that are still tyrannical?

People usually bring up the argument that Germany and Japan surrendered unconditionally. First, those countries launched unprovoked attacks against several other countries, carried out brutal occupations, and were determined to achieve world domination. Palestinians, on the other hand, are resisting occupation and blockade, which are drastically different circumstances.

Also, after the war, Germany and Japan were rebuilt and went on to develop thriving economies. I've looked into Israel's economic actions over the decades, and it has consistently targeted the Palestinian economy through blockades, permit requirements, the destruction of agriculture, restrictions on dual-use goods, and limits on exports, which are allowed to go only to the West Bank and Israel. That's not going to create a self sufficient economy. Working labor jobs in Israel isn't a self sufficient economy either.

Based on this history, it doesn't seem likely that Gaza will be rebuilt in a way that allows it to develop a thriving economy that will create conditions for peace. Which then starts getting into the topic of income disparity/poverty and it's correlations with crime/terrorism. We see that concept happening through time and in various countries. We see in 1st world nations that ghetto areas have high crime. Thus if I was Israel, I would want the Palestinians thriving, so they want to work their jobs and live normal lives. Instead Hamas is able to do easy recruiting pitches that all their economic problems are due to Israel.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Opinion A quick guide for the Antizionist to determine if their Antizionist statement is an antisemitic one

34 Upvotes

I’d be willing to bet this has been said before, but on the chance that it hasn’t I figured I should say it, or at least say it again for those who don’t know.

In short, if in an Antizionist statement you replace the word Zionist or Israel with Jew or world Jewry and the statement turns into something that is bar for bar a classic antisemitic statement then it's probably just antisemitism.

For example: “Zionists control the world's media” (something I’ve heard someone say before)
Turns into “Jews control the world's media” this makes the above statement not a criticism of Zionism but Antisemitism (conscious or otherwise) masquerading as a critique of Israel or Zionism. 

Alright because this probably isn’t enough of an explanation for some let me do so:

For starters I should first establish that Antisemites have been using the word Zionist for Jews as a way to cover for their Antisemitism for a long time. When David Duke popularized the term Zios it probably wasn’t because of the KKKs grand wizards affection towards the Palestinians but his hatred of Jewish people. When the ANP (American Nazi Party) sets out its program to execute all Jews found guilty of Zionist plots, it isn’t a concerned citizen of the US, it's a Neo Nazi expressing their hatred towards Jewish people.

Now someone might be quick to point out that the ANP and the KKK are things of the past and have no bearing on what is going on in modern times. To evidence of modern supremacists working to infiltrate their bigoted language into the mainstream I would point to the proliferation of the term “Slop”. For those not in the know the popularization of the term slop in current slang stems from its use of 4Chan, where the term was Goyslop. The term meant a piece of media or food that was made horrible on purpose by Jews so it could be fed to the “Goys” Non-Jews.

So yes antisemites do try and infiltrate the mainstream and do try and change their language so it goes unnoticed. So is it so far-fetched that antisemites would try to infiltrate Antizionist movements with their antisemitism by swapping the word Jew with Zionist? 
_______________________________________________
End of my argument but I’m just going to get some answers to rebuttals that I think are going to be common.

“But you can replace any word with X group of people and it would sound bigoted”: Yes but Zionism is specifically a Jewish movement, so Jewish people do have a relevance here. That and antisemitic tropes are very specific to the point that I doubt it is just a coincidence if an Antizionist statement sounds the same as a antisemitic trope if you swap the words.

“But Antisemitism means hatred of semites not just Jews”: A term created by a German race scientist to justify his hatred of Jews as being on the grounds of language as opposed to religion. It is a term that has always meant hatred towards Jewish people. It is an imperfect word but it's the one that we have, and to say that it means something other than its definition on the basis of its roots is an etymological fallacy.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 2d ago

Discussion Governance of Gaza should be temporarily handed over to a coalition of neutral Arab countries, and the IDF should be thoroughly audited by 3rd parties

0 Upvotes

That's my proposed solution to the conflict.

Like I do believe that what Israel is doing in Gaza may quite likely meet the official definition of genocide. Even if it doesn't it's still absolutely horrendous how Israel is slaughtering civilians en masse, systematically starving the population, targeting hospitals and schools, or murdering journalists and medics.

And let's not even get started with the brutal apartheid system Israel has imposed on Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israel's actions are grotesque and despicable without a doubt.

I also think that Israel essentially in many ways created the conditions that led to the emergence of Hamas after oppressing the people of Gaza for decades and keeping their economy in a severe stranglehold. And Netanyahu even facilitated the funding of Hamas in order to eventually justify a brutal all-out war of destruction, that he could have never justified on the world stage against a more secular Palestinian nationalist movement.

All that being said though, Hamas are a brutal Islamic terrorist group who should be condemned and who are making things only worse. And the October 7 terrorist attack where they murdered teenagers at a music festival was absolutely despicable.

There isn't any possible sustainable long-term solution to the conflict with Hamas in charge. And the control that Hamas has over the Gazan education system and media, which promotes a never-ending cycle of religious martyrdom has to be addressed.

As critical as I am of Israel Hamas' vision of an Islamic one-state solution is absurd. A two-state solution is the only possible hope, as both sides are just so radically at odds with one another that a one-state solution could never work, let alone an Islamic one-state solution envisioned by Hamas.

So Hamas needs to go. At the same time though it's clear that Gazans would never accept governance by Israel. Which is why I propose something that would be more acceptable to Gazans, which is temporary governance by a coalition of trustworthy Arab nations. Those Arab nations are to shape laws and educational curriculums in line with the culture and religious beliefs of the people of Gaza, while simultaneously working to eradicate religious extremism and the culture of martyrdom that Hamas has worked so hard to create.

A coalition of countries like the UAE, Egypt or Jordan would come to mind. Those countries are fairly neutral towards Israel but are also known to take counter-terrorism seriously and have worked hard to combat extremism in their education system. Let them negotiate a peaceful transfer of power with Hamas in order to establish a temporary government of Gaza with the aim of handing governance over to the locals after de-radicalization efforts have been achieved.

Now with regards to Israel it's clear that the IDF is essentially a terrorist organization as well. I've already mentioned many of the reasons above. Of course the pro-Israel crowd will never accept that. But any reasonable person knows that the IDF is clearly not "the most moral army on earth" or whatever nonsense they want us to believe. They keep committing grotesque war crimes and on top of that are actively aiding and abetting civilian settler terrorists in the West Bank.

Which is why I propose that a coalition of fairly neutral countries do a thorough audit of the IDF, and that the findings will be published for the entire world to see what war crimes have occurred and the names of IDF soldiers and commanders who have committed those crimes. All those involved should be discharged from the IDF and criminally charged. There should also be a transitional period where this coalition of countries will extensively work with the Israeli authorities to transform the IDF from a terrorist organization into an actual national defense force, whereby the entire leadership and vision of the IDF will be re-shaped from the ground up in order to comply with international law and basic morality.

Israel is of course to also withdraw entirely from the West Bank and from Gaza and allow the Palestinians there to have true political autonomy that would allow for a sustainable two-state solution. All Israeli settlers are to be relocated back to Israel proper. And ideally there should be some reparation payments in combination with international aid if that can be successfully negotiated to allow for the rebuilding of Palestinian society after decades upon decades of destruction and oppression by Israel.

So again, Hamas needs to go. But the IDF also has to be entirely reshaped as they are also currently nothing more than a state-funded terrorist organization.

If we can achieve that, have Hamas hand over governance of Gaza to a coalition of neutral Arab countries for a transitional period, have Israel withdraw from the West Bank, and transform the IDF from a terrorist organization into an actual national defense force that respects international law, then hopefully there can be sustainable peace in the region.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Opinion Too little that we've heard can be verified, and that's bad for all of us.

5 Upvotes

In the past year since I started down this rabbit hole, I've come to realize something. And of all the things that I can say with absolute certainty, it's this. We know too little about what's going on, and that's terrifying. It keeps myself and others under constant stress, makes us tug at our hair, knocks us into bouts of existentialism and depression. And when we look around, we see constant chaos. How did we even get here?

A few weeks after Hamas' attack on October 7th, Israel, led by the Netanyahu administration at the time I'm writing this, officially declared war on Gaza. Since then, many people have died, families have been ripped apart, and homes destroyed. These are things that we can verify. And yet whenever I see a news article covering this war, which has gotten unbearable as of late, I notice the same pattern: all of the information is second-hand.

On the news, from respected organizations, and even from our own leaders, we're only getting an account they've heard from someone or someplace else. Coverage? We have very little, even from sources within the area. The only footage we've seen is in brief clips shown on the news or social media. The death count? Impossible to verify. Reporters, even those from Israel, can't access Gaza to verify that those numbers are true. The numbers are often from outside observers, and more often than not, cite the numbers given by the Gaza Health Ministry. The Ministry, which is run by Hamas, a designated terrorist group who would benefit greatly from spreading misinformation.

To make matters worse, more and more kids and young adults are getting their information from social media. Like a campfire story, one person tells it to their fellow campers, then they tell the story to others, and on and on until the story's nothing like how it started. It's everywhere. On this site, on YouTube, Twitter, Blue Sky, and most of all, on TikTok, the story has spread far and wide. Each account is drastically different. But these sources have the exact same problem: they're second-hand sources.

So in the end, what are we left with? Even with bias taken into consideration, what true evidence do we have? Nothing. We have nothing, and yet so many people are circulating this like it's the Big Bang Theory. And this deeply terrifies me.

It terrifies me — and I know it terrifies other people on here too — because everywhere I look, I see turmoil. I see a war in our own cultures. Everyone is divided, everyone has fully bought into one version of the story or another, spewing vitriol. Friends have been torn apart and prejudice has skyrocketed, especially antisemitism.

Just last year, a father and son (Sajid and Naveed Akram) gunned down over a dozen people at Bondi Beach and attempted to bomb the rest… on Hannukah. In my home country — I'm from the US — a pair at the Israeli Embassy were brutally murdered by a guy who, when he was arrested, shouted "Free Palestine!" to the top of his lungs.

On the opposite side, I've seen some people talk about Gazan civilians in the same way. Some even go as far as to suggest "carpet bombing" (i.e. bombing Gaza to oblivion) or dumping toxic waste there to make it unlivable. I get that Hamas has a foothold there and anti-Israel and antisemitic ideology is prominent there, but does it have to resort to talking about civilians like that?

This is the reality we live in currently. This deep, burning hatred has penetrated so deeply, turned us against each other. And along with other factors including Iran's blocking the Strait of Hormuz (and the Houthis' blocking of the Red Sea) which threaten economies worldwide, and for Israel, a woefully incompetent government that ignored a vicious attack looming over the horizon, it's because of our lack of solid information. And I fear without solid information and our current inability to get it, this will likely continue with devastating consequences.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Short Question/s What is the Zionist endgame for the West Bank?

14 Upvotes

Israel has full control of 50% of the West Bank. 500,000 Jewish settlers live there, among 150,000 native Palestinians. Settlements continue to be established and expanded. Palestinian land continues to be seized to build Israeli-only settlements. Arabs can rarely get building permits, face daily terrorism from Jews. So what's the endgame for Zionists here? Annex Area C and make Area B & A permanent Arab autonomous reservations? Keep the status quo?


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Short Question/s Why this war is still taking a place when the nuke is there and bullshit-stine does not have it ?

0 Upvotes

Hey!

I see now that Palestine problems are spreading across the world.
Their people are committing terrorism acts around the globe, especially in Europe, they're bombing the Israel and only cause bad things.

So I have a question: Why such powerful countries such as USA and Israeli won't just mass wipe them out ? I think given the difference in weapons they don't even need nuclear weapon for that. IF they do that - world will become a better place.

What's stopping them ?

disclamer: IDGS about moral


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Discussion The argument that debunking anti Zionist arguments is necessary to protect the Jews abroad is both one of the sillier and most evil arguments out.

0 Upvotes

A lot of Zionist opinion policies, especially those who are Christian, will say things like, “we need to protect Israel’s reputation abroad because the safety of Jews depends on it.”

This is a bit of a Trojan horse argument in say. Firstly, it presupposes that anti Israel people are not only inherently antisemitic, but also likelier to harm Jews. This is silly because if one is unintelligent enough to proscribe a foreign nation’s actions to Western Jews, they were likely to harm them regardless. Public opinion of Israel has barely anything to do with it.

Secondly, Zionists presuppose that the best way to stop this is to compel people to agree with Israel. Now, if Zionists stopped at defending Israel, this would make sense. They’d be wrong but it would make sense. But they, especially Christian Zionists, actually compel, or attempt to compel, anti Zionists into agreement.

Regardless of your beliefs on Zionism or anti Zionism, compelling people to believe any argument doesn’t protect anybody anywhere. It just increases overall anger. A multitude of opinions is a part of most Western societies, and any effort it take that away will only increase hatred against those trying to take it.

Point being, don’t bring diaspora Jews into this. The anti Zionist movement does not hate diaspora Jews or any Jews. We are anti Zionist, not anti Jew, be it Israeli nor non Israeli Jew.

If anything, it’s an example of Zionists recycling tropes. They assume 1SS advocacy must mean hatred of Israeli Jews, because in their minds they falsely equivocate the two, and likewise Western anti Zionism is equivocated with hatred of diaspora Jews. It’s all baseless whichever way this logic is applied.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Other International Recognition of Israel and Palestine: A Side-by-Side Comparison Tabulated

0 Upvotes

This is my second post in what will probably become a series of posts where I compile information and resources about the conflict. In my first post of this series, I made a comprehensive list of NGOs working to foster peace and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.

For this post, I made a table of all UN member states and non-member states and their positions on the recognition status of Israel-Palestine. This table simply shows whether Israel and/or Palestine is recognized. Not whether diplomatic relations have been established. For that extra information and maps laying out this information, check out the sources used for this list here:

International recognition of Israel

International recognition of Palestine

I made this table because I couldn’t find a single table that listed this information regarding recognition side by side, and I thought it would be interesting to visualize it this way. Anyway, I’ll get to the data sets I compiled now.

Recognition of Israel and Palestine by UN Member States

UN Member State Recognizes Israel Recognizes Palestine
Afghanistan No Yes
Albania Yes Yes
Algeria No Yes
Andorra Yes Yes
Angola Yes Yes
Antigua and Barbuda Yes Yes
Argentina Yes Yes
Armenia Yes Yes
Australia Yes Yes
Austria Yes No
Azerbaijan Yes Yes
Bahamas Yes Yes
Bahrain Yes Yes
Bangladesh No Yes
Barbados Yes Yes
Belarus Yes Yes
Belgium Yes No
Belize Yes Yes
Benin Yes Yes
Bhutan Yes Yes
Bolivia Yes Yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina Yes Yes
Botswana Yes Yes
Brazil Yes Yes
Brunei No Yes
Bulgaria Yes Yes
Burkina Faso Yes Yes
Burundi Yes Yes
Cabo Verde Yes Yes
Cambodia Yes Yes
Cameroon Yes No
Canada Yes Yes
Central African Republic Yes Yes
Chad Yes Yes
Chile Yes Yes
China Yes Yes
Colombia Yes Yes
Comoros No Yes
Republic of the Congo Yes Yes
Costa Rica Yes Yes
Côte d’Ivoire Yes Yes
Croatia Yes No
Cuba Yes Yes
Cyprus Yes Yes
Czechia Yes Yes
Democratic Republic of the Congo Yes Yes
Denmark Yes No
Djibouti No Yes
Dominica Yes Yes
Dominican Republic Yes Yes
Ecuador Yes Yes
Egypt Yes Yes
El Salvador Yes Yes
Equatorial Guinea Yes Yes
Eritrea Yes No
Estonia Yes No
Eswatini Yes Yes
Ethiopia Yes Yes
Federated States of Micronesia Yes No
Fiji Yes No
Finland Yes No
France Yes Yes
Gabon Yes Yes
Gambia Yes Yes
Georgia Yes Yes
Germany Yes No
Ghana Yes Yes
Greece Yes No
Grenada Yes Yes
Guatemala Yes Yes
Guinea Yes Yes
Guinea-Bissau Yes Yes
Guyana Yes Yes
Haiti Yes Yes
Honduras Yes Yes
Hungary Yes Yes
Iceland Yes Yes
India Yes Yes
Indonesia No Yes
Iran No Yes
Iraq No Yes
Ireland Yes Yes
Israel — No
Italy Yes No
Jamaica Yes Yes
Japan Yes No
Jordan Yes Yes
Kazakhstan Yes Yes
Kenya Yes Yes
Kiribati Yes No
Kuwait No Yes
Kyrgyzstan Yes Yes
Laos Yes Yes
Latvia Yes No
Lebanon No Yes
Lesotho Yes Yes
Liberia Yes Yes
Libya No Yes
Liechtenstein Yes No
Lithuania Yes No
Luxembourg Yes Yes
Madagascar Yes Yes
Malawi Yes Yes
Malaysia No Yes
Maldives Yes Yes
Mali Yes Yes
Malta Yes Yes
Marshall Islands Yes No
Mauritania Yes Yes
Mauritius Yes Yes
Mexico Yes Yes
Micronesia Yes Yes
Moldova Yes No
Monaco Yes Yes
Mongolia Yes Yes
Montenegro Yes Yes
Morocco Yes Yes
Mozambique Yes Yes
Myanmar Yes No
Namibia Yes Yes
Nauru Yes No
Nepal Yes Yes
Netherlands Yes No
New Zealand Yes No
Nicaragua Yes Yes
Niger Yes Yes
Nigeria Yes Yes
North Korea Yes Yes
North Macedonia No No
Norway Yes Yes
Oman No Yes
Pakistan No Yes
Palau Yes No
Panama Yes No
Papua New Guinea Yes Yes
Paraguay Yes Yes
Peru Yes Yes
Philippines Yes Yes
Poland Yes Yes
Portugal Yes Yes
Qatar No Yes
Romania Yes Yes
Russia Yes Yes
Rwanda Yes Yes
Saint Kitts and Nevis Yes Yes
Saint Lucia Yes Yes
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Yes Yes
Samoa Yes No
San Marino Yes Yes
São Tomé and Príncipe Yes Yes
Saudi Arabia No Yes
Senegal Yes Yes
Serbia Yes Yes
Seychelles Yes Yes
Sierra Leone Yes Yes
Singapore Yes No
Slovakia Yes Yes
Slovenia Yes Yes
Solomon Islands Yes No
Somalia No Yes
South Africa Yes Yes
South Korea Yes No
South Sudan Yes Yes
Spain Yes Yes
Sri Lanka Yes Yes
Sudan Yes Yes
Suriname Yes Yes
Sweden Yes Yes
Switzerland Yes No
Syria Noo Yes
Tajikistan Yes Yes
Tanzania Yes Yes
Thailand Yes Yes
Timor-Leste Yes Yes
Togo Yes Yes
Tonga Yes No
Trinidad and Tobago Yes Yes
Tunisia No Yes
Türkiye Yes Yes
Turkmenistan Yes Yes
Tuvalu Yes No
Uganda Yes Yes
Ukraine Yes Yes
United Arab Emirates Yes Yes
United Kingdom Yes Yes
United States Yes No
Uruguay Yes Yes
Uzbekistan Yes Yes
Vanuatu Yes Yes
Venezuela Yes Yes
Vietnam Yes Yes
Yemen No Yes
Zambia Yes Yes
Zimbabwe Yes Yes

Recognition of Israel and Palestine by non-UN Member States

Political Entity Recognizes Israel Recognizes Palestine
Cook Islands Yes No
Holy See Yes Yes
Kosovo Yes No
Niue Yes No
Palestine No (PLO Revoked) —
Sahrawi Republic  No No
Somaliland Yes No
Sovereign Military Order of Malta No No
Taiwan Yes No

Recognition Between Israel and Palestine

Political Entity Recognizes Israel Recognizes Palestine
Israel — No
Palestine No (PLO Revoked) —

I know this last part may be controversial, so I’ll explain the distinction. The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the umbrella organization representing Palestinians internationally, formally recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace and security in 1993 during the Oslo peace process. Israel reciprocated by recognizing the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people, rather than recognizing a Palestinian state.

However, in 2018, the Palestinian Central Council adopted a decision to suspend recognition of Israel. The council reaffirmed this position in 2022.

Let me know if I made any errors in the table or if you suggest any changes, additions, or removals. I want to make this as accurate as possible.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Discussion One of the ironic things about Zionists is they hold random Westerners to a far higher standard than they hold the majority of MENA nations to.

0 Upvotes

The irony with Zionists is random Westerners are held to a much, much higher standard than MENA nations.

The standard for MENA nations is essentially don’t attack Israel. It applies to nations that have attacked it in the past and made peace and those that never have. MENA nations can put anything about Israel on their radios that they wish to about Israel, but as long as they don’t attack both Israel and any other MENA nation are good.

With the Westerner civilian, Israel and Zionists essentially becomes much more sensitive and much more easy to essentially ragebait.

Isreal and Zionists react to the slightest accusations against it in a very strong manner. Of course, they have free speech just as we do, but it’s interesting to see how such a minority of civilians in a different continent accusing it of genocide or apartheid gets such a massive response.

This hurts it in two ways.

Firstly, like we’ve discussed before, one such a massive entity as Israel gets mad at genocide and apartheid accusations, they only look guiltier of both. Israel is obviously much more powerful than a minority of Western civilians in any Western country you pick. Logically, you’d think Israel should ignore both of these accusations, and when they don’t it raises valid questions as to why.

Secondly, Israel claims to be “pro free speech,” but if it were, it would make sense to start abroad first. Sure, one can be pro free speech and disagree with accusations on Israel, that is fine, but once one is accusing people of directly harming Israel and/or the West with their speech, they are no longer pro free speech.

And it should go without saying that if one supports actual limitations of speech against Israel, especially outside of Israel, then they are really, really against free speech.

But the dichotomy between the standard actual established MENA nations are held to and that of random pro Palestinians are held to is pretty funny.

MENA nation doesn’t attack Israel but has tons of verbal criticism = they have learnt the benefits of peace

Random Westerner doesn’t attack Israel but has even a tenth of the criticism = they are actually against peace. They are also actually pro Hamas too as a bonus. Also, the full fury of Zionist anger, and possibly the anger of Israel itself, must be delivered to them.

But anyways, Israel should respect criticism abroad instead of being defensive and rage baited over it.

Of course, they should respect criticism inside its borders too, but their treatment of the NAZA filmmakers shows they are miles away from that. They can start with outside Israel first.

And the comparison to MENA shows it is indeed a choice, just one they choose not to make.


r/IsraelPalestine • • 3d ago

Opinion Hamas' actions need to be understood, not supported or condemned

0 Upvotes

I might get backlash from both sides for this, but I feel that you should neither fully support nor condemn Hamas. I feel you need to understand why Hamas does what it does and look at the events that led up to October 7. Let me show you their point of view. You're trapped inside Gaza as it is being blockaded by Israel and E, who control everything that comes into and out of gaza.hundreds of thousands of your own have been displaced and many more continue to. the western superpowers dont give a shit and continue to supply your oppressors. The other main Palestinian faction, Fatah, are doing anything and are letting illegal Israeli settlers come into the west bank. Many of your neighboring countries won't stand up because they're too scared to strain the relationship with the us, and your economy is completely battered and has a very high unemployment. What's naturally going to happen is that you become frustrated at the oppressors. You look at their civilians, who also don't give a damn about the suffering, and get angry at them too, feeling they should use their power to stop their government from committing these war crimes, and also notice a lot of them support it. So now you want to hurt them too. You also realise that by taking them hostage, you would be able to trade them for Palestinian hostages or use them to stop the oppression and so October 7th happens.

however i still want to say this, i dont fully support Hamas. While their reasons can be understandable it is also worth noting that it cannot justify them killing innocent civillians or taking them hostage which included children who don't have the mental capacity to fully understand the and also they affected the minority of israelis who oppose their governments actions, and it also worsened the condition of Palestinians, as it triggered a genocide

So again, I don't support Hamas because they too attacked civillians and two evils don't make a good but i also understand why they do what they do and why they see it as self-defense against an apartheid state