When does terrorism become war?

[mids2019]

Looking at the news this morning I think the media are finding it difficult to register Palestinian attacks as a terrorism event or simply an attack of one state against another.

I suppose whether you view 5000 tickets as a terrorist atrocity or a declaration of war is dependent on your views on whether Palestine can ever be a functioning state. We plainly in Europe would describe such events as terrorism in that civilian populations have been targeted but in the eternally challenged middle East the use of such a word has political connurtations.

Is this a terrorist attack on Israel?

I can recommend this article, which explains Palestinian propaganda in a very clear, factual way:

Journalistic Duty in Israel Palestine News - Tablet Magazine

And also this one:

What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel - The Atlantic

Reading these articles about reporting on the 2014 war in Gaza forever changed my understanding of the situation. You don't realise how biased the media is against Israel until you see the stats. The extent of the bias is really quite breathtaking.

Did you feel the same way about the Taliban? ISIS? Do you have posters of bin Laden in your bedroom? Did you hate it when the Allies ground down Nazis in Europe because they were big mean nasty military powers?

Or is Israel a special issue for you? Either way, you don’t smell great.

Then why are you talking about Ukraine and Russia, then, "dearie"?

Have you ever been to Gaza? No. You have no idea the reality of this area, all you want to do is shoot shots at Israel, just like your terrorist friends. Extremism is extremism, and there are 0 degrees of separation between Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and anti-semitic terrorist worldwide.

I am all for exposing the suffering of Palestinians but you lost me when you started to spout Russia propaganda about Ukrainians nazis...

Also, Ukrainians are fighting their territories being taken, just like Palestinians but they did not launch an attack in russia, including on civilians...

So you think you deserve to die, or your family do, because of the actions of the British government, say in Iraq?

Or is it just other people who you think should somehow bring down their elected government or deserve to die??

I am perfectly aware of that. The leadership still don't give a shit about ordinary Palestinians.

And there's no need to be rude because you misunderstood my point.

I am on Russia's side? No very much not. I am on Ukraine's side.

I also don't support Hamas, I have no idea what you are talking about.

I also don't support Palestinians oppression...

What you do not know is that most news stories and pictures typically come from one or two sources and are shared or picked up by other independent press outlets.

This exactly

This is what your lovely Hamas are doing:

Ashlea Simon on X: "Palestinian terrorists kidnap women and children from Israel and take them to Gaza as hostages! I hope hellfire rains on these monsters 😡 #Israel #Hamas #Palestine #Palestinian #IronDome #Gaza #TelAviv t.co/dm0Rdcf2V9" / X (twitter.com)

Anyone who doesn't condemn this is sick in the head.

Under occupation? The unilateral disengagement happened in 2004. Don't be silly. Gaza has its own government, its own laws - the only people who shout occupation are people who've never actually been.

And this:

In a spirit of information that is sadly lacking in here, this seems to explain why hamas is taking prisoners - they’re looking to exchange. It doesn’t explain killings or anything else though. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/7/hamas-says-it-has-enough-israeli-captives-to-free-all-palestinian-prisoners

@RosaGallica I made this point some time ago, I believe this to be the whole point of the violence today.

Totally agree. This is sick and unforgiveable.

Just as sick and unacceptable as the children killed in the bombings of Gaza today, one 13 years old has already been confirmed.

Neither of those actions is justified.

I have never lived my life complicit in the suffering of Iraqi people. I have never supported the invasion, I actively opposed it. I have visited Iraq and never dreamed of demanding any land. I would never have served as a British soldier. I would never have lived there during the invasion even if I was granted great privilege as a British person whilst Iraqi people suffered and died. If there had been retaliation from Iraq in Britain and I got caught up in it then it would have been my time to go but there wasn’t - Britain invaded Iraq because they were much weaker. Israel is funded billions by the US. These aren’t equal sided wars - it’s occupation and people desperately trying to fight against it.

Damn right it’s war. My heart breaks for the Israelis right now. Some absolutely shocking reports coming out about the extreme brutality shown by Hamas in the last 24 hours.

And what do you think the average Israeli does? Only about 22% of the population voted for Netanyahu in the last election - the complicated system of horse-trading of smaller parties means it's much less clear than in the UK whether a vote for a smaller party will see it anywhere near government or not.

Do you expect the average Israeli to commit a coup against the government if they don't approve of its policies? And have you not seen the hundreds of thousands who have been in the streets protesting against the current government for most of the last year?

Your assumption that the average Israeli is 'complicit' is offensive - the average Israeli is just trying to live a peaceful life and not harm anyone, same as you are.

But you are fortunate not to live in a country where you are surrounded by enemies who quite literally want to kill you, and try to do so with boring regularity.

Maybe a little appreciation of your own privilege would help here. Particularly on a day when over 100 Israelis have been massacred and over 1000 are injured.