Not that you are guilty of it, but IMHO ‘both sides are bad’ argument has become a bad stance. While it is true for the most part, I feel like it’s become a stance to dismiss 1. What is happening in Palestine, 2. a hand wave to justify Israel. Only one side has the means to actualise their goals, backed by most of the west. It becomes a situation where the analysis becomes redundant if ‘both bad’. It’s also a safe statement and relatively non-offensive, especially in this near world wide spanning clash of culture and religion.
This is definitely a unique situation where the media establishment (pro-Israel) is completely at odds with the grassroots (pro-palestine), this is an unprecedented division, that I’ve honestly never experienced before. Something has to be said about the dissemination of information through atypical means (tik tok, snapchat, yourube), because twenty years ago surely this would mirror the support for the ‘War on Terror’. I wouldn’t necessarily call this alternative dissemination a weaponisation of information but it is definitely information without context that a lot of people struggle to process materially, culturally, emotionally, and with the nuance of all the factors considered, we see this juxtaposition of cultivated message media v alternative gonzo information daily in this thread, and what we experience is an inability to see the forest for the trees in any capacity and becomes ouroboros of black and white morality arguing. They can’t even conceptualise they are dehumanising the other, which is ironic seeing as this is a struggle that is constantly trying to justify itself in such a method.
There are so many issues that aren’t even addressed in this thread, what is even the point in addressing them? It’s such a tangled geopolitical thread of what-ifs, factions, end goals, the only thing I’m comfortable saying is that this is a conflict between a western-backed colonial state against an occupied land represented by a non-existent-state apparatus of teenaged Sunni nationalists; with the only resolution seemingly being the complete eradication of the Palestinian people, making any sort of thoughtful criticism and analysis of Hamas pointless in the long run. I truly believe the line in the sand has been fully crossed and their can be no resolution that isn’t a genocide, the intention is clear to me and Israel can’t continue exist without seeing this through. I don’t even bother to ask what Palestine will do if they have independence and sovereignty, because that ain’t happening even if Israel disappears. It’s a terrible thing to think but I think we are witnessing a truly horrific watershed moment of history that will have far reaching consequences beyond the immediate geographic area. This is the event that will actualise and normalise a the complete shift to right wing politics, this opens the door to things like project 2025 and the acceptance of these violent acts against people like immigrants, LGBTQ, religious minorities, and other at risk groups.