Strawman much? Care to explain how you arrived at that accusation of dehumanization based on what was written about the technical details of missiles?

Nowhere did I say it was offensive. If you skipped the article and assumed, that’s on you. Yes you are being pedantic because you’re trying to discredit me on a technicality that does not have any merit to anyone who spends even 30 seconds reading the details I explicitly provide. By any reasonable definition it’s a multi-billion set of batteries that use missiles, and no one who reads the article thinks it’s being used for offense.

I’m not a weapons expert, the article I linked identifies what it’s meant for by the 2nd paragraph, and if you want to be pedantic THAADs exclusively fire missiles. Unit cost: $1.25 billion per battery $12.6 million per missile. Same page has diagrams detailing the “THAAD missiles”.

Also: “Although the actual figures are classified, THAAD missiles have an estimated range of 125 miles (200 km), and can reach an altitude of 93 miles (150 km). A THAAD battery consists of at least six launcher vehicles, each equipped with eight missiles…”

On the same week they moved a multi-billion dollar missile system into Israel along with deploying US troops to Israel for the first time. The Biden administration and Congress in general have been issuing warnings and “expressing concerns” for almost a year now. Stories about blocked aid and US demands to fix it go back for months. Actions speak louder than words, and by now all credibility has been squeezed out of responses like this.

Biden is a self-proclaimed unshakable Zionist, the politically potent arms manufacturers are having a field day, and the US has been ignoring both international law and their own laws like Leahy for a while now. I’ll believe this letter is more than just election season pageantry when the arms and money actually stops, not before (and I don’t think I’m alone in that regard).

P.S. Don’t let either party or relevant PACs off the hook, don’t stop pointing out this BS, but if you’re American still vote to keep Trump out of office for many obvious reasons.

I have zero proof of this so take it for the musing it is, but the Internet Archive/Wayback Machine can be used to view articles that have been taken offline (sometimes for political reasons). The IA is a very accessible way to prove that once something is on the Internet, it’s out there forever. I used it in a recent post to show an Israeli newspaper article that argued Israel had a right to not just Palestine, but Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and other territories. It was taken off the newspaper’s website a few days later, but IA had it.

This may explain why no one is taking credit, and there are no demands. Or it could very well be another reason, including people just being assholes.

Yeah, and what kind of psychos would want to restrict public access to books in libraries?!?! I’m not on the conspiracy train until there’s proof and I agree with your post. Just saw a bit of irony there since a lot of North Americans are currently in the process of dismantling libraries.

Just to get it out of the way at the start - Hamas is terrible. They are violent fundamentalists and do not deserve support. Neither Israel nor Hamas are “good” and the only side that deserves support and recognition are the civilians, Israeli or Palestinian, suffering because of/under their evil regimes. Now on to the rebuttal.

Israel needs no “baiting” to kill or otherwise abuse Palestinians - it’s their policy and has been for a long time. From the Nakba until today, the history of Israeli human rights violations, violence, lies, etc. is well-established. “Look at what you made me do” is such a typical excuse used by abusers that it’s almost a trope. Moreover, Netanyahu’s government deliberately kept Hamas in power as a useful bogeyman and an way to divide/foil Palestinian statehood. There is ample evidence that Israel has directly supported Hamas and other extremists for decades.

“Hamas, for its part, is alleged to have emerged out of the Israeli-financed Islamist movement in Gaza, Israel’s then-military governor in that territory, Brig. Gen. Yitzhak Segev, disclosing in 1981 that he had been given a budget for funding Palestinian Islamists to counter the rising power of Palestinian secularists.”

"In a 1994 book, “The Other Side of Deception,” Mossad whistleblower Victor Ostrovsky contended that aiding Hamas meshed with “Mossad’s general plan” for an Arab world “run by fundamentalists” that would reject “any negotiations with the West,” thereby leaving Israel as “the only democratic, rational country in the region.” Avner Cohen, a former Israeli religious affairs official involved in Gaza for over two decades, told a newspaper interviewer in 2009 that, “Hamas, to my great regret, is Israel’s creation.”

As far as the nature of the demands: “one-sided deals” is a matter of opinion, but “we need guarantees you’ll actually stop killing/injuring many tens of thousands of civilians, destroying hospitals/schools/aid, etc.” seems like a pretty standard request at peace negotiations.

If he can follow up on even a portion of what he promises, a 2nd Trump presidency will bring the USA to a halt at multiple levels like a car hitting a reinforced wall. The best version of a Trump presidency is him raging daily as he’s blocked constantly by legal challenges and bureaucratic measures thus getting nothing done. The worst version is that he succeeds in his goals, reforms the USA into a right-wing autocracy and destroys things like checks/balances and separation of church and state.

There’s nothing damning after the “but” though. What part specifically of “but unfortunately they are the folks bargaining for Gazans” do you take issue with? That’s the provable reality of the negotiations. I even call it unfortunate.

Israel has repeatedly stated their intent to continue the war in Gaza regardless of international approval. Netanyahu, among others, has stated intent to establish a long-term/permanent security presence in Gaza.

Since Oct. 7th the Israeli military has either directly killed or provided protection to lethal settler attacks in the West Bank, resulting in over 500 deaths in a section of Occupied Palestinian Territory that theoretically isn’t at war. So there’s Israeli military presence, violence, and oppression of Palestinians even where Hamas isn’t in control.

Hamas are not good guys by any stretch, but unfortunately they are the folks bargaining for Gazans. In the face of continued Israeli aggression, disregard for international approval/law, and stated plans it’s no wonder they’re demanding that any deals have rock-solid guarantees.

Got to respect the decision to just step away instead of settling for mediocrity.

Serious answer: I remind myself it’s normal to be shocked by some stuff people do/create. I check the content against my ethics, and try to decide if I’m being uptight or if it really is messed up. If it’s something that isn’t unethical/harmful but I just don’t like, then I remind myself that not everyone needs to share my tastes.

If it’s genuinely terrible I allow myself to feel the anger/sorrow for a bit, try not to let it become excessive, and congratulate myself on having limits that fit my ethics. I remind myself that good people exist and they are the ones I want to support, emulate, and engage with. As others have mentioned, distraction can also help. Video games, music, socializing - whatever will move your train of thought along.

Upvoted because it’s a story worth knowing, but as far as I can tell this is just further harassment/condemnation of anything pro-Palestinian. As of the end of April, independent review “finds no evidence for Israel’s claims about UNRWA and Hamas”.

Israel has declared organizations as terrorists on bad premises before. E.g. - in 2021 Defence for Children International was formally labelled a terrorist organization after they reported the rape of a 13-year-old Palestinian to the US State Department. Josh Paul, a State Dept. director involved with the investigation, gives details in an interview about why he resigned instead of being complicit with Israeli actions post-Oct. 7th. The short version is: the allegations of rape were credible, Israel was confronted, the next day Israeli forces seized all the local assets of Defence for Children International and declared them terrorists.

EU nations have formally rejected “terrorist organization” labels being applied to humanitarian/watchdog agencies in Israel/OPT before.

Fair point and you may be joking because it’s a good question for that. If serious, I honestly don’t know what the odds are in a gamble like that. Was he “lucky” or do most people the police abuse like this get big payouts? Is it worth forgoing legal counsel in the hopes that the police screw up in a manner that can be prosecuted into a payout?

If I knew I was going to get 900k I’d likely be willing to go through such a rough day, but those are quite the dice to roll in the moment methinks. If I ever end up in a police station my plan is to get counsel.

Remember in many countries you have the right to legal counsel and to have them present during any questioning. Getting said counsel should be a priority if you find yourself in a police station. Be respectful but clear from the start that you aren’t discussing your day until the lawyer/attorney is present.

This story is exactly why people need to be educated about their rights. If this poor guy had asked for an attorney the cops would have had to stop the interview immediately until one was present. I imagine once they resumed the question it would have gone differently with a legal professional in the room.

Agreed. This is more about the court saying, “You countries signed us into existence to monitor the most serious instances of international law and here’s our ruling as legal experts. Now it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.”

I still love seeing this because:

• It lends legitimacy to the accusations against Israel and provides a legal foundation upon which to start measures meant to bring Israel back into line with international law.
• In recent months my dreams have changed. If given the choice I’d give up personal wealth and fulfillment to see Netanyahu and his cabinet of thugs prosecuted in a modern Nuremberg Trial and end their lives in prison as befits the war criminals they are. Leaders should be held accountable for things like bombing hospitals and starving millions no matter which nation they represent.

Too much clean energy that is nearly free sounds like a much better type of problem to solve than most.

If the senior citizens near-ruling the USA from the SCOTUS find that making unpopular and legally questionable decisions is exhausting then they are free to retire. People will care a lot less about luxury RV’s, free vacations, flags, etc. when they’re no longer steering things like national reproductive rights and who actually has to obey the law.