Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday gave one of his most direct condemnations of the civilian death toll in Gaza and said more needs to be done to “minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.”
Although Blinken commended Israel for its announcement of daily military pauses in areas of Northern Gaza and two evacuation corridors, he said that “there is more that can and should be done to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.”
The top US diplomat has subtly shifted his messaging in the days since he departed the Middle East earlier this week to more directly voice condemnation of the civilian toll in Gaza and the US’ expectations for the Israeli government. However, he still has not condemned the Israeli government offensive and has continually voiced support for its right to defend itself.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Although Blinken commended Israel for its announcement of daily military pauses in areas of Northern Gaza and two evacuation corridors, he said that “there is more that can and should be done to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.”
The top US diplomat has subtly shifted his messaging in the days since he departed the Middle East earlier this week to more directly voice condemnation of the civilian toll in Gaza and the US’ expectations for the Israeli government.
Far too many have suffered these past weeks,” Blinken said at a press availability in New Delhi at the end of a whirlwind trip that also included stops Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, Turkey, Iraq, Japan and South Korea.
In Tokyo on Wednesday, Blinken described the US’ terms for a “durable and sustainable peace” in Gaza after the war, and on Friday he reiterated that “some progress” had been made in setting those “basic principles.”
Speaking in India Friday, Blinken said “some progress has been made” in the week since he met in Tel Aviv with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, but “this is a process and it’s not always flipping the light switch.”
On Wednesday at a meeting of the G7 Foreign Ministers, however, there was joint supported for humanitarian pauses -– not a ceasefire -– in Gaza “to facilitate urgently needed assistance, civilian movement, and the release of hostages.”
The original article contains 638 words, the summary contains 232 words. Saved 64%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
Was there an acceptable number?
Was there an acceptable number?
0 is a number
“I’m sorry, retaliating against the slaughter of your people is unacceptable. Please patiently await the next nightmarish orgy of mass murder, kidnapping, violence, and rape that will be visited upon you.”
Seems to sum up Lemmy’s take on this conflict.
Retaliation à la “well do a nightmarish orgy of mass murder, kidnapping, violence, and rape to get back at the nightmarish orgy of mass murder, kidnapping, violence, and rape” is truly fucked up.
Seeking justice is one thing, but going to war doesn’t end wars and terror doesn’t end terror.
“now here’s more bomb money.”
Military Industrial Problem: These bombs are killing too many civilians, it’s bad for PR.
Military Industrial Solution: Here, let us sell you some GPS kits to make your bombs more accurate.
Which Israel uses to accurately kill civilians.
I mean not to sound pedantic, but it seems like such a waste even bothering with guided weapons with what they’re accomplishing. Bibi could literally save money and just uses regular old toss/dive bombing considering Gaza has zero air defense.
It’s like how they used an aim-9x for the Chinese balloon. its so overkill.
it seems like such a waste even bothering with guided weapons with what they’re accomplishing. Bibi could literally save money and just uses regular old toss/dive bombing considering Gaza has zero air defense.
The reason they aren’t doing that is to reduce civilian casualties despite Hamas using human shields. If genocide were Israel’s goal I suspect they would be using such tactics, that they aren’t, that they are instead spending lots of money to increase accuracy and reduce collateral damage, is telling.
The US administration, still providing diplomatic coverage to the Fascists that rule Israel, hence the mild “finger wagging only” criticism and even that immediatelly diluted by commending them for doing the element of their military plan they already wanted to do.
Those bloody hypocrites are trying to thread the needle between de facto “unwaivering support” of the Israeli Fascist regime even as they really go no-holes-barred in their inhuman treatment of those they see as subhuman, and not losing too many votes in America or too much support from allies around the World.
What’s needed is genuine Humanist and Democratic values, not Performative Politics that go nowhere because they were never meant to actually make any difference, only to use Divide et Impera to dissipate any real pressure for change.
What’s needed is genuine Humanist and Democratic values
Humanist Values
As in, abandoning theocracy and religion? I agree. I’ve often said that peace will be achieved there when both parties can sit down and share a ham sandwich, only half joking because doing so would mean they have both abandoned their religious dogma.
Regarding a secular government, neither party has one but Israel seems a hell of a lot more secular than Gaza, whose government appears to be enforcing something like Sharia Law on the people there:
Following Hamas’ victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections and a conflict with supporters of the rival Fatah party, Hamas took complete control of the Gaza Strip, and declared the “end of secularism and heresy in the Gaza Strip”
Ismael Haniyeh officially denied accusations that Hamas intended to establish an Islamic emirate. However, Jonathan Schanzer wrote that in two years following the 2007 coup, the Gaza Strip had exhibited the characteristics of Talibanization, a process whereby the Hamas government had imposed strict rules on women, discouraged activities commonly associated with Western culture, oppressed non-Muslim minorities, imposed sharia law, and deployed religious police to enforce these laws.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism_in_the_Gaza_Strip
And then there’s the religious oppression of secularity. Islam is very intolerant to those who wish to become secular/leave the religion, as per their rules regarding apostates:
classical Islamic jurisprudence calls for the death penalty of those who refuse to repent of apostasy from Islam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy_in_Islam
Both of these are major barriers to ending this conflict via shared humanist values.
Democratic values
They won’t help end this conflict unless popular opinion changes. At present it seems this war and belligerence is popular in both nations.
According to polling, the majority of Palestinians want to:
- Destroy Israel (70%)
- Deny Jews equal rights in their one-state solution (76%)
- Continue violent resistance, reject peaceful solutions (52%)
- Employ guerilla/terrorist strategies to do so (58%)
- Israeli Jews do not support peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (fell from 47.6% in favor in September to just 24.5% in favor in late Oct 2023.)
- Israeli Jews said that they believed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were using too little firepower in Gaza (57.5%)
- Israeli Jews do not support a two-state solution (dropping from 37.5% in favor of a two-state solution in September to 28.6% at time of poll)
The US isn’t going to interfere with Israel making itself safe and bind their hands until they ensure that such an attack cannot occur again. Said, “finger wagging,” is trying to minimize the political blowback from this. It’s evident that many people have sympathy for the underdog, even when said underdog is explicitly genocidal, violent, dangerous, provocative, and uncompromising.
Then don’t endorse and finance their genocide motherfucker!
Right? We strongly condem Israel for Palestinian lives.
Also, here’s billions more to keep it going.
Was listening to a Canadian retired politician earlier this week. The problem is that 50 billion a year in aide to Israel is a roundabout subsidization of the American military complex. The vast majority of that money is then used to buy American made weapons. It’s an elaborate system to steal money from American taxpayers and put it in the pocket of the elite few.
Good luck turning off that tap.
Either gotta sweep the elections completely, or just put a new system in place. Biggest obstacle is these dumbass Biden voters, collectively going “we can’t vote for another party because it might fracture the vote”.
