Do lots of people support Hamas?

This did not begin on October 7th

HUNDRED of Palestinian civilians have been killed in Israel in 2022 and 2023 alone.
HUNDREDS of people - elderly, women, children fasting and praying in Jerusalems Al Aqsa mosque are tear gassed tied up and beaten every Ramadan

This did not begin on October 7th
This did not begin on October 7th

That's clickbait headlines and shows a real lack of understanding of any of the geopolitics in the area.

Is shooting journalists in the head (like Shireen AA) defending itself
Or bulldozing Rachel Corrie
Or pulling children out of their beds in the middle of the night and imprisoning them
Or settlers attacking homes in WB
Or burning down hundreds and hundreds of olive trees?

How is Israel defending itself through those actions

How is burning down hundreds of trees that have grown and bloomed through the blessings of God showing your love and belonging to a land that you claim is yours given by God...

Hama initiated this - what would you have Israel do? Hamas is not "defending itself" against Israel, that's absurd. On Oct 7th they carried out the most gruesome terrorist attack in living memory, with the stated aim of eliminating Israel and killing the Jews. Israel is defending itself by seeking to eliminate those who want them dead. That's how war works.

Obviously civilians and children should be protected. It's bizarre that you made that leap between Israel having a right to defend itself, and children and civilians not having the right to protection.

If you believe that indiscriminate bombardments of civilians are "self-defense", if you believe that some ~20k dead (using Euromed Monitor estimates here rather than the lower "Hamas" figures) and ~1m homeless and displaced people are "self-defense" ... if you believe that carpet bombing people's homes on the off chance that there may or may not be one low-level Hamas operative might or might not be there is "self-defense", and if you genuinely believe that starving 2.3 million people in order to get at some estimated 30k Hamas operatives is "self-defense" ...

... then, sorry, not sorry: then you and your moral compass urgently need some attention!

The truth is: the Israeli response stinks of "revenge" at this point. And it is ugly to the core! This is not "self-defence", it is "vengeance - but we have nukes!".

It gets worse: the reports that a new AI is being used to identify targets at an unprecedented pace at present also stinks of "business opportunity" at this point! As a tech industry executive, I have come across the "tested on vulnerable populations - it works" pitch more times than I care to remember. It makes me feel physically sick! We have had it with "look how good our tech is at spying on dissidents" tech - and now we have "look at how good our tech is at taking out fucking 5-year-olds"! It makes me want to projectile vomit! It also makes me seriously consider whether or not I might have to resign from my cushy executive position in protest!

And, ... before anyone calls me a conspiracy theorist: this is the original reporting - various international media, including UK based ones, have since picked it up - but this is the OG report: https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/

If Israel is not allowed to defend itself, it will be wiped off the map by Hamas terrorists (this is not an exaggeration, it is their stated aim) and Israeli civilians too. Why is that so hard to understand?

Thank you @Chaitales .

What is wrong with you people ... Do you realise how weird you sound to the rest of the world? ...

That's a very far leap

Is there no grey area?
Palestinians have a right to exist in peace in their homeland
Jewish people have a right to their own state
Any terrorist organisation should be condemned and not supported
Any loss of life is a disgrace and a tragedy
Israel should defend itself
Palestine should defend itself
Civilian lives must be protected
Children should be protected

Literally nobody said that Jewish victims were asking for it.

My deleted post was asking how it would be taken if we replace the word "Palestine" with ANY other country in many of the posts here, given that posters are free to say Palestinians are terrorists/combatants/Gaza should be flushed away with water to get rid of Hamas.

Its smear tactics and putting words into our mouths.

If you believe that Israel should not be allowed to defend itself, you are supporting Hamas.

Beg pardon? I have no idea why you're trying to put this smear onto me. My post saying "this" I was simply agreeing with @Chaitales that IDF have done an abundance of terrible things as per her list posted earlier. As have Hamas. I didn't quote the post I was replying to though and I see an earlier one was deleted but I have no idea what that was. But I was replying to her list.

I have never said any person deserves anything horrible happening to them and never would. Nor would i ever even think such a thing. Stop smearing and putting words in my mouth falsely.

I condemn Hamas and their terrorist atrocities and I condemn how the IDF behave as chaitales listed in her post.

Enough with the bloody smearing. Thanks.

@Circularargument "There is also a not at all carefully constructed narrative that Israeli civilians are basically asking for it due to the actions if their government, but hey ho."

Could you show any MSM outlet, or responsible journalist or British politician who holds and expresses this view? For

Deleted - already done! If you replace "Palestine" with Israel - same sentence - its offensive.

Rachel Corrie was a brave and lovely person. May she rest in peace and may we continue to remember her.

There is also a not at all carefully constructed narrative that Israeli civilians are basically asking for it due to the actions if their government, but hey ho.

No, I know - but it's important for me to not misremember here too - if I'm spending valuable time amplifying the Palestinian perspective in the face of an intense media and ground war against them, I want to make sure I am not saying anything that's incorrect.

Also - I know what you mean re remembering Rachel. I hope her family and loved ones are okay. Every life lost is such a tragedy - as the Quran says,

"--- whoever takes a life—it will be as if they killed all of humanity; and whoever saves a life, it will be as if they saved all of humanity."

No need to apologise on your part - I misremember things all the time!

I did not mean to have a go at you! It is just that --- see above: I knew her! I feel hurt again every time her name is mentioned!

And, no, it is not because she was an American - it is more just that: nobody ever mentions any of the Palestinian names that would make me feel the same. They are forgotten!

Rachel, at the very least, is remembered! They broke her back! Her mum is called Cindy, her dad is Craig! She had a name, she has a family! As did all the others!

Again, I was not having a go at you!

I came across someone today who does (and who refused to accept that the 7th Oct attacks happened). But that's the first time I have knowingly met someone who believes that, though obviously I meet lots of people with whom I do not discuss the Middle East situation!

I stand corrected, apologies. Yes I remember the images of her standing in front of the bulldozer now.

Rachel Corrie was not shot! Rachel was brutally crushed to death when they drove over her with a bulldozer. Her last words were "my back is broken".

At the risk of totally outing myself: I knew Rachel, and I knew people who were there when she was killed. I have met her family!

Rachel did not get the mercy of a quick, painless shot to the head!

EDIT: sorry, not sorry! But this is fucking emotional even decades later! I knew her and she did not deserve to die crushed to nothing in a pile of rubble! I just still get angry!

Posters have made it clear that they think all of Gaza and West Bank are involved in Hamas and armed conflict and recruited from birth. So I don't think they think of them as "people", but just objects to be killed

I think it would cause a pile on, to be quite honest! I think a lot of people forget Gaza and the West Bank are also people's homes, and in (apparently) targeting Hamas, these are also destroyed.