What did you do during the genocide in Gaza?

[ssd]

This is a brilliant article.

This will be taught in schools one day and our grandkids will ask us but what did you do when you knew this was happening?

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/may/22/israel-gaza-genocide

Shame on who?

Shame on all those who supported and are continuing to support the genocide of the Palestinians.

I really don't know either @SharonEllis

I am talking about my personal experience with pro Palestinians and Palestinians. No one talks about Jews as the enemy, they talk about the actions of Israel and its supporters - not because they are Jewish but because they support a genocide, and the genocidal intent shown by members of the knesset these past 2 years.

In fact I've seen many many Jews in pro Palestine protests right from the start - not just the ones who wear orthodox Jewish clothing. I met someone on the train the other day - held up a sign that said openly Jewish / supporting freedom for Palestinians, he was going to a protest and we immediately connected over shared humanity.

Yes I've seen the news about the two Israelis killed. Absolutely despicable. That was because they were Israelis - which does NOT justify it.

To be clear about that shooting - they were shot because they were Jewish. They were outside the Jewish Museum, they were not at the Israeli embassy and they were actually only employees of the embassy - only one was actually Israeli. So no, they were shot because they were Jewish.

What was anti semitic about @ssd 's post?

Just one example People talk about zionists in this context all the time. It is code for jews. You can't not understand this if you have spent 5 minutes on this subject. You really need to listen to the people who are telling you about antisemitism. Very few people are stupid or helpful enough to say 'I hate Jewish people' which means you have to make a little more effort to recognise it. Its so blatant it requires little effort. Not making that effort makes someone complicit. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Exactly.

I concluded that no-one in power wants peace, Israel want to obliterate Hamas and Hamas want to obliterate Israel. Innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the middle but I'd be amazed if any of them can still see Israel's side of the argument after this.

I rebuke your statement of shame on you all. That statement is so very wrong. Understandable, but wrong.

Since you mentioned the war, i will explain why i started this thread. My dad was in the war and my mum left school during the war. And I've always wanted to ask them, surely you knew about the holocaust, how could you not know, how did no one do anything???
But i lost my parents years ago and dad had bad ptsd in later life due to the war so i didn't ask him as he got panic attacks and flashbacks. Then i met dh and his dad was part of the first British soldiers to liberate Belsen. He too had ptsd but one day he told us what he had witnessed and I'll never forget it.
But up until this conflict I've never understood how the world stepped back and allowed it to happen. I surmised it was due to people didn't actually know. Which i could sort of accept. But we DO know what is happening in Gaza, and whilst its obviously not anywhere near the horrors and scale of the holocaust, it feels we are sitting back and letting it happen. And i feel helpless and guilty im doing nothing.

For gods sake. You really think that Jews support a genocide? Do you think we are subhuman narcissists with no ability for logical thought? Nobody supports a genocide!!!!!! Well, except people who celebrate deaths, tear down hostage posters and chant “from the river to the sea”. What is happening in Gaza is horrific and needs to stop. Netanyahu is a crazed, desperate narc who needs to be removed from the government along with his vile extremist mates. Most Jews and Israelis would agree.
The problem isn’t all that. The problem is the double standards, the use of inaccurate and inflammatory language, generations, dehumanising Israelis, being overtly antisemitic then claiming we are over sensitive.
And also, it’s very very tough to understand that, while what is happening in Gaza (and by the way to Israelis - try asking them how it feels to have to protect 2 children by lying on them in the street.. or are they not worth your empathy?) is terrible and needs to stop, why is there no empathy for the hostages? Why is nobody discussing Ukraine, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria? Why? What is the obsession?
And finally, you all seem to believe every single reel/film coming out of Gaza as absolute truth, yet deny everything Israel says.
Again.. shame on you.

Plenty of people knew exactly what was happening during the Holocaust. They also did nothing - for lots of reasons but not often because of total ignorance.

Excuse me?? Where did I say it was Jews who are supporting a genocide? Why the fuck are you putting words in my mouth that I did not say. I said all those people who support the genocide.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext

Lancet estimated much higher, last year

Exactly. Hundreds of refugees had been leaving germany since before the war - everybody knew. The depth of depravity and extent of the gas chambers was not quite, or widely, known till lberation, as I understand it, but the direction of travel had been clear for years.

Yes yes but WHO are they getting the numbers from? Hamas??? They are the official governing body of Gaza! They are terrorists!!!

But what exactly have I said that is antisemitism? I don’t assume that all pro Israeli supporters on this board are Jewish. They are clearly not. There are people here who are pro Israel because they have far right views, there are Ulster loyalists here. And we have also had Jewish posters who are against Israeli actions.

I don’t think that I can just accept I have been unintentionally antisemitic. I haven’t.

Who are all those people supporting genocide?

Yes i know people did know. I just dont know how many actually knew. I just could never understand how no one stopped it. I cant accept it was because it was mainly jews being murdered. That is just horrific. I genuinely dont think people hate jews as much as some posters here think, but as im not Jewish i know i could be completely nieve about this.
I did watch a series on PBS called The US and the Holocaust. Pretty grim viewing.

"Mans inhumanity to man makes countless mourn." Rabbie Burns. Never a truer word said.

Dh's dad said they could smell Belsen from 5 miles away. But no one had a clue what it was. What had actually happened. Until they got there.

This is the thing. Any kind of racism, islamaphobia, anti semetism is often subtle and often coded. Those with those thoughts know they can't actually get away with saying...you (insert vile word)...so they hint at it whilst attempting to give themselves deniability.

So hypothetically...let's say someone held up a sign saying "ceasefire now". I wouldn't consider that alone to be anti semetic. If I saw a sign saying "zionists off our streets" then that would be veering into anti semetism imo.

I can feel the very real emotion behind this post.

Can I ask please, why do you feel guilty? Why do you feel complicit ( if you do, I know you didn't use this specific word ).

If you say its because our government supports this, because our taxes are spent on this, I'd like to try to understand why you feel a personal guilt? You didn't decide any if these things and you frequently speak up about this not being done in your name?

Just trying to think of a similar situation, let's say what the British did when partitioning India. I dont feel guilt. It wasn't me. It was an awful, careless, probably racially motivated lack of concern for human life. I'm interested, I feel visceral horror when reading of it, but no personal guilt.

Can you explain?

Read the article

Who are you to judge levels of antisemitism compared to people who have lived it and studied it? How can you even pronounce o such a thing wben you know you are 'naive' about it. This is actually a really distasteful conversation.

The lancet used a few methods to calculate an estimate of deaths in Gaza. They used official figures including hospital records but also an online survey and social media obituaries.

As independent researchers or foreign journalists are not allowed into Gaza, we only have the Hamas figures to go on as well as additional pieces of the lancet research. However, the WHO, the UN and even the US consider, based on past conflicts, that these figures are credible.

What is not credible at all is to completely dismiss the figures at this point. Gaza has largely been destroyed and from the types of weapons that have been used it is obvious that widespread deaths of civilians is occurring.

I just feel guilty because i feel powerless and helpless. I feel im doing nothing. I dont feel complicit, not in any of it. But i feel guilty that im carrying on as usual in my life whilst people are suffering horrendously. Maybe im watching too much news but i feel i cant ignore this. Or Ukraine. The world has gone mad.
I feel at least my dad fought the nazis in the war. But I'm doing nothing while world leaders continue invading and murdering innocent people and im powerless to do a thing.