this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2023
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday called out other countries for not demanding Hamas surrender.

“What is striking to me is that even as, again, we hear many countries urging the end to this conflict, which we would all like to see, I hear virtually no one saying – demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. This is over tomorrow if Hamas does that. This would have been over a month ago, six weeks ago, if Hamas had done that,” Blinken said during a press briefing at the State Department Wednesday.

“How can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor and only demands made of the victim,” Blinken went on to say.

The strong comments from Blinken come as the United Nations Security Council continues to negotiate a resolution calling for a suspension in fighting and encouraging more humanitarian aid into the beleaguered Gaza Strip, and as the United States’ support for the resolution remains unresolved.

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[–] [email protected] 83 points 2 years ago (5 children)

To analogize with another ongoing conflict: the Ukrainian war could be over tomorrow if Ukraine unconditionally surrendered to Russia, but they’re sure as fuck not going to do that, nor should they.

Also, to be clear: I am absolutely not saying that Hamas are the good guys here. They are definitely not the good guys. But addressing an incredibly complex and nuanced situation in such a reductive fashion (“Hamas should surrender unconditionally right now”) is deeply unhelpful, and ignores why Hamas came into being in the first place, and why they further developed into such a threatening force in the region.

[–] [email protected] 55 points 2 years ago (2 children)

"We wouldn't have to kill so many civilians if the criminals would stop committing crimes."

[–] [email protected] 29 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

The indiscriminate killings and beatings will continue until morale improves

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

There are interviews with Ukrainian soldiers who said they stay away from civilians so that when Russians bombard them the civilians will not be affected.

I think the combat style and priorities are a bit different so a comparision cannot be made in this case.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

They are definitely not the good guys.

They are considerably better than the Israeli government though.

[–] [email protected] -4 points 2 years ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Do you also think the Viet Cong was bad and a terrorist organization? They used similar guerilla tactics, and also attacked villages and took hostages. These are simply the most effective tactics for driving out an occupying force, and they wouldn't be necessary if the oppressors weren't there in the first place.

Hamas isn't great, but they sure as hell are better than Israel. Even their most damaging attack on October 7 doesn't compare to the shit Israel has been repeatedly doing for over half a century now. Nor does it compare to the current Palestinian genocide.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Yeah, sorry, I forgot that white people's lives count for hundreds of non-white lives.

[–] [email protected] -3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The fuck are you talking about?

Hamas is bad. The Israeli government is also bad. They are bad for different reasons. Neither of them have defensible or humane long-term strategies. Neither of them are better than the other. They are both bad.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Nah, the Israeli government is definitely worse. Fuck this both sides nonsense.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

No it’s not.

I’ll reiterate: Hamas is bad. The Israeli Government is bad. Both Palestinian and Israeli civilians (note: Israeli “settlers” should not be considered noncombatants) are innocent, and just trapped in the middle.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Hamas is morally gray. They did some bad stuff but they are fighting a genocidal occupier. Israel is basically Nazi Germany.

Hamas took good care to avoid killing children. Israel wants to kill all the children.

The Palestinians were trapped against a wall if Hamas didn't exist. Now they're in the middle.

Are you gonna call the Allies just as evil as the Nazis for bombing Dresden in WW2 and killing many German civilians?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (2 children)

The people committing a genocide are as bad as the resistance organisation fighting against their occupiers.

If you were alive at the time you would have said the ANC was as bad as the apartheid government.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Again, no. All you’re doing is revealing your ignorance of the nuance of the situation. Presenting reductive arguments isn’t going to solve any problems.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Funny how these condescending appeals to imaginary nuance only come out when it's Westerners doing the unspeakable evil. Somehow I'm guessing to don't feel the need to umm and ahh and make it very clear that both sides are bad and you can't say which is worse when it comes to Russia and Ukraine

[–] [email protected] -2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Hamas going bye bye! Sorry!

  • A. Westerner.
[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Least genocidal westerner.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

They are though. I get what you're saying, but Israel is modern Nazi Germany. There aren't many ways to be worse than Nazi Germany.