Hamas strike on Israel - mod warning in OP updated 19/10/23

Israel is a sick and depraved society, it has very little to do with Hamas

You claim not to support murder yet you justify a war crime by suggesting a Russian would get a medal in the same circumstances?

Your posts have justified and defended murder since day one. You even admit that not all killings are "collateral damage". So they must be murder. And you defend, justify and support those killings.

Unfortunately the idf see themselves as an aggressive security force primarily. They don't do pr or care much if they are seen or perceived to be brutal, in fact they push to be seen as merciless to their enemies. Innocent or guilty doesn't come in to the equation in their book. If you're perceived as a threat you will be pounded, simple as that really. They leave the pr to politicians.

The IDF are a Genocidal machine. No different to Hamas. Murderers with the Government at their backs. Official murderers who have no consequences to fear.

My last line is conjecture eh? Smotrich just proved the point I made and many Israelis have rightly lambasted him:

• Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told the right-wing Galei Israel radio station that while returning the hostages is important, "it's not the most important goal…We need to eliminate the Gaza problem. We have a tremendous opportunity, and the excuses are gone: there's no Biden, no [Defense Minister] Gallant, and no former IDF chief of staff."
• In response, the Hostages and Missing said "the families have only one word this morning: shame. At least the minister is revealing the harsh truth to the public – this government has consciously decided to abandon the hostages." The Forum called on coalition members to clearly state that the war's primary aim is to return the hostages.
• Senior ultra-Orthodox MK Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism called Smotrich's words "sacrilegious" and reiterated support for the hostages' return.

Additional information and opinion regarding the execution of the 15 medics recently.

"Last month's killing of 15 rescue workers in Rafah was a window through the smoke. It revealed what the IDF has tried to hide – that its reports about 'terrorists,' 'terrorist infrastructure,' and 'fighting' are exaggerations in the best case and utter lies in the worst… One might accept the IDF's explanation that this happened because of a mistake in understanding the operational circumstances or because the force felt threatened. But a simpler explanation can be found in recorded remarks by the commander of the force operating in Tel al-Sultan that night: 

'Everyone you encounter is an enemy. If you see someone, you destroy him'"

Nir Hasson

Your endless efforts to conflate criticism of Israel with criticism of Jews (or in your childish terms, 'da Joos') are truly pathetic.

Of all the news that has come out on the conflict this week, this is what interests you?

I doubt you've heard it all. I'd say you have special blinkers and ear plugs too. Just a hunch 😉

That's the truth in a nutshell. They don't give a flying fcuk about the rhetoric of their detractors. The public banging on about their atrocities, the icj, the un, none of that matters to them. They obey only their political masters. Even the israeli public opinion doesn't matter. So as much as public international protest and opinion will rightly condemn them, unless there are consequences politically that might change the countries circumstances as regards sanctions and such, they will continue on from one atrocity to the next atrocity. While the govt have backing from The US and other Allies, including our nearest neighbour and many other European countries, the idf will continue on as they are and if that means genocide in our eyes, they don't care.

I'd imagine a few arrests and a trip to The Hague would calm their beans.

I know it's unlikely but I hope justice is seen to be done for murderers and War Criminals.

And not the internal IDF justice - slap on the wrist and "make sure next time to not get caught laddie"

I dont think RTE has been pro-Palestinian in so much as against the mass murder of Palestinian civilians. I dont think their coverage should be protested against.

I think the "disclaimer" section is to appease Israel.

Just after Oct 7th, the Israelis were throwing around antisemitism like confetti for anyone who didn't mention the abhorrent actions of Hamas.

They didn't mention the Hannibal Directive of course and we all recall the beheaded babies and those cooked in the microwave etc. the usual hasbara.

I think RTE's coverage has been good - fair and balanced. But in fairness, given that all the aggression is coming from Israel, it can only really be either about the plight of the Palestinians or the atrocities of the IDF. There simply is not a single positive news item for Israel - just murder, mayhem and a lying military.

Pariah State and deservedly so.

The latest proposal for a ceasefire.

Same as it was nearly a year ago. And Israel has either rejected it or reneged on it every single time.

Israel does not care about the hostages, wants to continue its genocide and simply obliterate Gaza. But I think pressure is mounting and they will be forced to accept.

A senior Palestinian official told the BBC that Qatari and Egyptian mediators submitted a new cease-fire proposal which would consist of a five-to-seven-year truce and would see the release of all of the Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza and an end to the fighting.

I watched the interview with Gary Linekar earlier, he is 100% correct and the stifling of factual discusson in the media about what Israel are doing is unreal