| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Please think of Gaza | |
| Posted by: | Robert Fish | |
| Date/Time: | 30/12/23 12:30:00 |
| Jeremy, you have misrepresented my position on Gaza in so many ways that I scarcely know where to start correcting you. I did not insist that "silence equals callousness and indifference". That is your wholly unjustified inference. My last question was merely intended to elicit a response, which seems to have been successful, but not quite as hoped. I didn't realise some people are quite so thin-skinned. When you "point out that this is a complex and tragic situation in which both sides have just cause for grievance and have carried out shameful actions" you are merely stating the obvious, and something with which I would agree. I have never sought to deny the enormity of what Hamas did on 7th October. Nor was it my intention to "pick a side in a war". You may ask therefore why I appear to be so exercised about the actions of the IDF rather than Hamas. The answer is because what Hamas did is already history (although I recognise that, if they aren't destroyed, it could happen again). We can't revisit the past, and revive the lives that were shattered in so many appalling ways on that day. But what the IDF is doing is happening now, and perhaps if our voices are loud enough we can persuade Western governments to do something to stop the massacre. Please indicate where I have expressed opinions as fact. Are you referring to my opinions about genocide? I have specifically said that we can't call the IDF's actions genocide, because we can't be sure about the intention. All I commented on was the practical effect. As to intention, I think you'll find that South Africa, in its submission to the International Court of Justice has indicated evidence of genocidal intent - President Herzog saying there are 'no innocents in Gaza', and the Defence Minister saying Israel will impose collective punishment on the people of Gaza because they are ‘human animals’. In answer to your point in a previous post about the inevitability of collateral damage, how do you justify the use of 2000lb dumb bombs in a tightly-packed urban environment? Are there no subtler and more humane ways of slaying the dragon? |