mass strike?

[wellwellwell39]

Why cant we all go on strike re israels genocode? Obviously we don't want NHS to collapse and certain infrastructure has to keep moving but how are we not all screaming from the top of our lungs about Palestinians being starved and slaughtered. Money/loss of is where it will hurt those in power, sadly so many people don't seem to care or think this has anything to do with them but I'd like to think that at least half the UK population is as utterly distraught as I am about this. If everyone chose not to go into work as a form of protest surely the government would stand up and listen. Peaceful protest doesn't seem to cut it 🙄 I know it's not as simple as this and would take a LOT of planning, and not everyone would be paid for going on strike which is a privilege to even do so but I'm in utter despair about how this will ever stop and radical action seems needed!

Also out of curiosity, are people boycotting the likes of coca cola/Starbucks etc and those linked with supporting this Genocide?

ok well as discussion is not allowed, I give up.

Hope the newspaper front pages are looking better tmro for everyone, night night.

If you are right that some who protest do so due to anti-Semitism then shame on them. I can't say that strongly enough.

However, to say that few get quite so indignant over other parts of the world is not true. During my lifetime millions of British people have protested in against war and oppression throughout the world - from Vietnam to Iraq to Afghanistan and more.

Hundreds of thousands of people across the country are trying to do their bit for the people suffering in Gaza, without political agenda and whilst utterly condemning the actions of Hamas.

People write to their MP, donate, write to the paper, join vigils talk to their town council, raise funds and do all they can as peaceful, law abiding citizens to make an impact. Perhaps the wider population will protest. I hope so. Peacefully.

Oh please, when did millions protest about Afghanistan?

Fair enough but I think we are at risk of conflating separate issues.

If I understand correctly, people are mainly concerned with the humanitarian suffering in Gaza. If so, I can understand a wish to ‘do something’, without adopting a necessarily anti-Israel stance. However, I agree with some other posters who posit this is more about that, than necessarily being pro-Hamas (which is indefensible, of course).

Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam, were less about this humanitarian angle, as opposed to geopolitical considerations i.e. ‘we’ dont belong in this conflict etc.
I don’t accept the parallels.

Hamas started this war, they have callously maximised civilian casualties on their side as well as slaughtering Israelis (and other nationals too) in Israel. They cannot win militarily, their leadership is decimated, the people of Gaza are reliant on aid and are being killed as Hamas continue to fight, among civilians, a war they have lost. They still hold hostages.

It is insanity. Who, which government, could possibly reason with these people.

@SharonEllis I'm afraid you've misread my post. I said that during my lifetime millions protested against war and oppression and then listed some examples, Afghanistan included. In 2001 100,000 people demonstrated in London against the war in Afghanistan.

Why did they protest? That’s the distinction I mentioned.

For not finishing Hamas off sooner?

They would, but you know, the IDF campaign has been cautious. Perhaps not consistently effective, but still characterised by extraordinary, sometimes counterproductive, attempts to minimise harm to civilians.

Legal advisors are embedded within Israeli combat units. No other army in the world does this on such a scale. IDF commanders have vetoed strikes where the risk to civilians was considered too high. They have employed roof-knocking munitions, mass text alerts, and leaflet drops to warn civilians of upcoming attacks. Entire operations have been abandoned when civilians entered designated target areas. Intelligence-gathering has been adjusted, sometimes imperfectly, to differentiate between combatants and civilians. Israel has paused offensives to allow humanitarian corridors, and although there have been failures in this system, the intention is clear and the effort considerable.

Most moral army in the world

And to be brutally frank, Israelis are simply better at killing Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists, than t’other way round.

And thank goodness for that.

https://actionforhumanity.org/blog/82-of-britons-oppose-israels-actions

Sample size, 2010 people…

Palestinian Action - your views, please.

It was 20, 000 actually. They werent protesting oppression, they were protesting against involvement in the war.
The Uk is not going to war in the Middle East so its a false comparison. If the people who believe in protest really cared about oppression they'd be on the streets protesting the horrific human rights situation in Afghanistan now where women and girls are barred from education and employment and barely allowed to speak in public.
Where last year nearly 24 million needed humanitarian assistance and over 2 million were at emergency levels of hunger.
Yet the UN agency supposed to help received only 31% of the funds they they needed and humanitarian funds closed due to lack of resources

@smallglassbottle Senior PLO leader Zuheir Mohsen, in 1977:

“The Palestinian people do not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity… Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct ‘Palestinian people’ to oppose Zionism. Yes, the existence of a separate Palestinian identity exists only for tactical reasons”.

Yasser Arafat was an Egyptian conman who clocked that he could make a lot of money out of the Cold War - which he did. How do you not know that?! Lol.

Historically, the Palestinian desire for “statehood” and “need for liberation” was invented in large part by the Soviet Union. It is no coincidence that the blueprint for the PLO Charter was drafted in Moscow in 1964 and was approved by 422 Palestinian representative hand selected by the KGB. At that time, the USSR was in the business of creating people’s liberation fronts. The KGB founded the PLO as well as the National Liberation Army of Bolivia (1964) with Ernesto “Che” Guevara at its head and the National Liberation Army of Colombia (1965).”

I’ve lived and studied in Russia. I speak Russian and as an international student I visited the state archives where many KGB meeting minutes are held. I’ve read them.

Regardless, I believe that the Palestinian people are entitled to self-determination, just like all other peoples.

At the same time, manipulating history and playing narrative games is a huge setback for Palestinians and a source of unnecessary conflict for the entire Middle East. The moment they abandon their futile and self-defeating goal of destroying Israel, they will have my support.

Isn't that what's chanted at poor buggers going about their daily business? What are you achieving by saying it? Do you think you're going to stop me making my own purchase choices?

I think those who try to shame us, need look at why their posts are deleted. I was about to report the latest disgusting one, to see somebody beat me to it.

@lonelycrab I'm sure you're going to hit the love reaction emoji to my last post, as well. It really does display a pattern, when posters do that.

This was in response to @Pubgarden

We could all do with a little more love in our lives @Dangermoo wouldn’t you say

I've got more than enough 👍

Unfortunately, self-determination is not within their power. The people are still subjugated by the remnants of Hamas, and whatever splinter groups might spin out of Hamas. Nature abhors a vacuum, as they say.

People forget the tribal nature of much of the region. I rather suspect that the ‘Palestinians’ are destined for a state of perpetual torment.

One poster said there was no tribal nature in the ME! - that's what you're dealing with - all emotion and no knowledge