Israel/Palestine Thread

I noticed Simon Harris saying that the Irish were going to appeal the EU to come down on "the right side of history" in terms of Israeli sanctions.

As it happens, I agree with the Israeli sanctions. However this "right side of history" thing is something that's been brought up by the government before, to be honest I don't remember specifically the time it was used before, but what the hell is it supposed to mean?!

Nobody knows who is going to be "on the right side of history" until it's history, surely. Does he think people are going to be like: "ah well yes on the one hand I like Israel, on the other hand I'll be on the wrong side of history in the future as people look back and say what a mistake it was"… it's such a ridiculous "argument".

"the right side of history"… suggests to me to very, very stupid people who are putting this forward formally as some kind of point or argument. Like putting it to the EU officially, not some off the cuff sort of "I think we'll be on the right side of history on this one". Bizarre.

Tony is back - I am surprised Ivanna has not been nominated as President of Palestine!

The White House is backing a plan under which the former British prime minister Tony Blair would head a temporary administration of the Gaza Strip, initially without the direct involvement of the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to reports in the Israeli media.

Under the proposal, Blair would head a body called the Gaza International Transitional Authority (Gita) which would have a mandate to be Gaza’s “supreme political and legal authority” for as long as five years.

Do they watch South Park in Israel?

https://www.newarab.com/news/south-park-episode-attacks-netanyahu-over-gaza-war

US adult cartoon South Park took aim at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the deadly war in Gaza in an explicit reference to Israel’s brutal onslaught in the fifth episode of the show’s 27th season, aired on Wednesday.

The episode, titled 'Conflict of Interest', sees the show address Israel’s weaponisation of antisemitism to gain support for the war by way of prediction market apps. The show’s protagonists become enthralled with bets featured on the apps, which include: "Will Kyle’s mom strike Gaza and destroy a Palestinian hospital?"

Lets hope they vote to prevent them from being in the competition.

Reports the EBU is to hold a vote on whether Israel should be in the next Eurovision song contest.

Also while I sortof support the flotilla, I don't think it will change anything beyond raising the profile of the Gaza issue. However its already very high.

The Israeli De Klerk, to dismantle Apartheid, has not yet arrived. I thought in the 1990s it might be Rabin or Barak but politics has moved sharply to the Right since then. They have a growing settler vote, including people who have just walked into that region from the US, UK etc. and have no other personal experience of it. They don't care what happened to the people previously living there.

Olmert was an unlikely good guy too but just not politically strong enough. Neither side had a settled consensus in favour of making the necessary sacrifices for permanent peace. I try not to get drawn into this debate too much because it is so depressing.

Sure on another thread we had someone saying that the world might be a better place today if the nazis had won because all the jews would be wiped out and therefore no Israel. There's really no point reasoning with these insane people.

The context is a team with Irish links visiting Birmingham in January of this year , you can choose to believe that hard-core English football fans have a soft spot for Palestinians and Irish people , from experience I simply disagree.

Anyway I will stop derailing the thread and look forward to seeing Villa park covered in Palestinian flags.

I think it means, for example Germany, atoning for committing a genocide by supporting and arming another genocide. Clearly the wrong side of history.

Sorry G, going to have to respond to this. You'd pulled me up on comparisons between the Israelis and Nazis and Bibi and Hitler before but unfortunately I didn't get around to answering it.

How can you not compare the two? We've had 80 years of the US and Israel saying that X was the next Hitler; Saddam, Gaddafi, Putin, the lads in NK… yet when we actually get a valid comparison, we're supposed to say that's not? Their language is the same; concentration camps, ghettos, extermination, human animals, etc, etc etc…

My original post on it was claiming that while the Israelis aren't doing it on a scale that the Nazis did (which would be ludicrous), they are carrying it out with more brutality and this I stand by. Katie Halper does a good piece on this here.

Whilst the Nazis carried out their industrialized murder with a cold detachment and a ruthless efficiency (probably why they ratchetted up the numbers), the Israelis are doing theirs with glee. They document their war-crimes. There are IOF soldiers claiming they can't find any more kids to kill, others sayings its hard to hard to commit genocide on an empty stomach. Snipers shooting babies in the head (which they may have reason to according to Seanw), shooting kids in the testicles, stomach etc causing maximum suffering. Holding up the toys of kids they've most likely killed. More journalists have been killed in this genocide than in WW2, they've deliberately targeted schools and hospitals.

Granted we don't have pre-1945 tiktok, nor polls of the German public indicating that the 64% of them believe a civilian death toll of 15 out 16 is perfectly acceptable to them. But until we do, we're just going to have to go on what the Israelis themselves tell us they are. Perhaps a better comparison is to a more biblical reference:

"Meanwhile, 47 percent of Israeli Jews answered yes to the question: "Do you support the claim that the [Israeli army] in conquering an enemy city, should act in a manner similar to the way the Israelites did when they conquered Jericho under the leadership of Joshua, ie to kill all its inhabitants?" The reference is to the biblical account of the conquest of Jericho."

Anyway if they didn't want to be compared to Nazis, they probably shouldn't behave like them, nor invoke the memories of the Holocaust to perpetrate their own.

First up this afternoon at the UN is Netanyahu, should be an informative hour or so.

If Fifa haven't the balls to do anything, its time for FAs themselves to stand up and be counted, and simply refuse to fulfil the fixtures.

Nothing Fifa can do about that. If all nations stand together, Fifa aren't going to take action against them all. No point having a WC with all the top teams missing.

The ball isn't in Fifas court on this one.

It’s hard to fathom a nation committing genocide. Attacking multiple neighbours and occupying the territory of 3 different countries while continuing to participate in sport at international level and expecting to continue to compete in an international song contest.

The love-in between Trump and Infantino is irrelevant, if the participating countries refuse to play Israel.

As I said, the power isnt with the US or Israel on this one, it's with every other nation. You really think if Brazil, Argentina, England, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal etc all stood up and said, "we won't play any more games as long as Israel are involved", that Infantino has the power to throw them out? He won't, as the WC would get zero viewers if there is a boycott by all the top nations.