Why does Palestine bring out such strong feelings?

[Saveusename]

I really don’t want this to become about individuals’ feelings about the conflict. There are plenty of threads for that.

I am interested in why Palestine provokes such a strong feelings about civilian in Britain. We didn’t see weekly marches and such intense, passionate feelings regarding any other conflicts over in, say, the past ten years (Yemen, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Congo, Somalia, and, of course, Ukraine). These all involve thousands of civilian casualties caused by conflict.

What is it about Palestine in particular that causes British people to feel so passionately about it?

Someone said to me today that, for them, it was the most pressing political issue. They have never even mentioned any of the other conflicts above. It got me thinking about it. If you care greatly about what happens in Palestine, why Palestine and not the other conflicts?

Please don’t come on and say you care about them all. It might be true but there is no doubt that the reaction to what’s happening in Palestine in Britain is much greater than the rest, which barely cause a murmur.

Dunno, why did you post this thread in here instead of the board set up for it?

Both Palestinian and Jewish diaspora are worldwide, well known, educated and rightly, vocal @Saveusename.

The far right is using their current plight and their history to whip up fear, create division and feed Culture Wars designed to destabilise western, liberal democracies.

Really? You think the far right have been taking to the streets to shout against Israel?

That’s novel.

I dont think you've read my post properly @DenizenOfAisleOfShame.

@IMakeDealsWithTheDevil who do you see as David and who as Goliath?

If you even have to ask that you are part of the problem.
I bet you can't see the starvation or dead women and children too?

no, it’s quite the opposite, as we can see from Tommy Robinson being invited to hang out in Israel. The far right seems to have found some common ground with the current Israeli government

It's a good lesson in not declaring a war on a country that you have no chance of defending yourself against. Story as old as time. The ability to defend the civilians of its own country probably wasn't in the calculations of Hamas, unfortunately.

I did read what you actually wrote.
You fully and knowingly suggested that if people weren’t secret antisemites they would be looking at the list of 18,457 dead children and feeling pretty chill about it

Also a good lesson for Goliath eventually.
The world isn't as blind to the excessive cruelty on civilians.

Clearly they don’t actually live in the UK!

Did you just call the absolute massacre of the Palestinian people a good lesson?

Yep. People are really quite emboldened today.

Hamas started the war so they can't complain about how it's played out. The people of Gaza need to hold Hamas responsible for starting a war it can't win. It would be like us declaring war on China and then complaining that they were better at war and obliterating us. We just wouldn't be so stupid.

Not exactly. I'm saying if people didn't know that declaring war on a country that is far stronger than you is a bad idea, then they do now. But we always knew that. War has been happening since the dawn of time.

"Emboldened " 😂. You're on Mumsnet not the United Nations debating chamber!

If we take away the long debate about who threw the first stone, isn't there anything in any book Jewish people might read quite often that has a story about this?
No?
The world has watched, some Jews are horrified that this is being done in their name. If you are not one of them you might want to read the book again.

Unfortunately for Netanyahu and his ilk ‘but Hamas started it’ won’t stand up in International court!

So let me get this straight - because Hamas started a war, Israel is free to starve, bomb, and displace civilians? That’s not “winning a war,” it’s collective punishment, which is illegal under international law. Innocent people don’t forfeit their right to survive because of their government’s actions. Blaming Gaza’s population for the choices of their rulers is morally bankrupt.

No clue what you are talking about. I'm just discussing the basic facts of warfare that have applied since humans stood up.

Israel should do what they need to defend its territory, people and to win a war that was started by a deliberate attack. It's on Hamas. Hamas can't now say oh but Israel are better at fighting and have significantly.better technology so we are now losing. They knew that before they decided to attack.

That's not really the point though is it. War is war. Survival of the fittest.

Don't agree about the genocide point by the way. I don't think Netanyahu has said that.

This thread is about why people care more about what’s happening in Palestine than in other war zones.

I believe anti semitism is an explanation for that.

It's a good question. I suppose some of it is more awareness of the conflict compared to the others you mention. That is due to the media coverage of the and the many many years it has been a live issue. For some people it may be feelings of guilt or investment because the British Government essentially caused the current situation (although that is true of a few world issues!) I think it also feels to some people that it is an unequal fight- not two evenly matched countries at war but one wealthy country with an advanced military supported by the USA and other Western Nations (including Britain) attacking a strip of land mainly populated by children. I think lots of people in Britain also feel strongly about the need for a Jewish state because of our role in WW2 and the horrors that European Jews faced in the 1930s/ 40s. Lots of Muslims and Jews live in the UK and the fact many people see it (rightly or wrongly) as a religious conflict means that people feel connected to one of those groups over the other? Anti Semitism or Islamaphobia may play into it for some but i dont believe most. Maybe feel that the conflict is more relatable than other conflicts between ethnic groups or political factions in other places!

I agree @Rubes24 and I think a lot of the world has been shocked at the ruthlessness of Israel, particularly the open murders of women and children, in this conflict as we all thought lessons had been learned since WW2.