I genuinely do not know who the bad guys are. S lot of my leftist friends are against Israel, but from what I know Israel was attacked and is responding and trying to get their hostages back.

Enlighten me. Am I wrong? Why am I wrong?

And dumb it down for me, because apparently I’m an idiot.

  • BallsandBayonets@lemmings.world
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    9 hours ago

    Well obviously it’s the Western powers that gave a bunch of displaced Jews land after WWII, despite no legitimate claim to the area, and then proceeded to keep meddling in Middle Eastern affairs so they could get cheap oil. And the biggest of those Western powers directly gives taxpayer money to war profiteers so there’s a direct financial incentive to keep the genocide going.

    Those are the goodest guys.

    • TheOubliette@lemmy.ml
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      6 hours ago

      The Zionist project was going full steam ahead prior to WWII. Zionists collaborated with Nazis to get Jewish people to emigrate or get deported to Palestine. And Holocaust survivors were often looked down on there are Jews that had not done the “right” thing of abandoning their homes to steal someone else’s in Palestine. Zionists spread some of the most antisemitix things you have ever heard when it comes to this topic.

      The backer of Zionism simply switched hands after WWII. Before it was the British, then it was the US.

  • MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml
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    11 hours ago

    Israel are absolutely and undeniably the bad guys. To use an analogy, imagine a school bully who is stronger and gets the support of the teachers and principal of the school, and the bully beats up the smaller kid every day until they hit a breaking point and throws a punch back. A reasonable school would support the bullied kid, but in this case, the principal just gives the bully a gun and looks away.

    Israel has been dehumanizing and oppressing the Palestinian people since it’s inception and things have been getting worse. When October 7th happen, it was indeed horrible and many civilians got hurt, but Israel’s response was so completely disproportionately mad that they are actively committing genocide, treating the list of warcrimes like a to-do list.

  • Red Army Dog Cooper@lemmy.ml
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    13 hours ago

    on a scale from 1 to 10 how serious are you in asking this, I ask because I am genuinly unsure if you are confused and unaware of what is happening, or if you are trying to start some shit

      • Red Army Dog Cooper@lemmy.ml
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        12 hours ago

        Well for Decades the Irealies have both been genociding the Palistinians, and have been on a long push to try to conflait zionism, an origionaly anti-symetic idea in eurpope, that was even embraced by the Nazis, and quinticentialy jewish, so they could use anti-semitism to shield themselvs.

        The good guys are the palistinians who where there before anyone else got there, and have been being genocided agian for decades on end, and are being genocided now.

        • Pacattack57@lemmy.world
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          6 hours ago

          Arabs have been murdering Arabs for hundreds of years. To say Israel started it is not only wrong but spreading misinformation.

          Who started it is pointless at this point but this anti Palestine sentiment from Israelis has been brewing for decades. For some context look up Arab-Israeli war of 1948

          • TheOubliette@lemmy.ml
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            6 hours ago

            Arabs have been murdering Arabs for hundreds of years. To say Israel started it is not only wrong but spreading misinformation.

            “Israel” was internationally recognized as established in the 1940s based on a European movement from the 1800s to create a settler-colonial ethnostate. Israel did start it, it is an occupying force that displaced Palestinians from their lands in living memory, implemented violent apartheid conditions, and is currently doing a genocide.

            Your “Arabs just kill each other this isn’t different” is frankly just relying on racism to avoid actually addressing the real history.

            Who started it is pointless at this point

            No, it is very much an important point as it happened in recent history via occupation, terrorism, and forced immigration by European settlers backed by the British empire and then the US empire. You must ignore this in order to share the positions that you have.

            but this anti Palestine sentiment from Israelis has been brewing for decades. For some context look up Arab-Israeli war of 1948

            Anti-Palestinian sentiment has been a core part of the Zionist project since its inception. 1948 is when the largest expulsions happened, the war was a response to this occupation and aggression.

        • CoCo_Goldstein@lemmy.world
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          8 hours ago

          If the Israelis have been genociding the Palestinians for decades, how is it that the Palestinian population continues to grow?

          • red@lemmy.zip
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            8 hours ago

            10 kids born 2 killed guess what population still grew by 8

    • HiddenLayer555@lemmy.ml
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      11 hours ago

      Reminder that at the outbreak of WWII, TONS of people in the US supported the Nazi regime right up until they started invading Western Europe AKA “the countries that matter”

      • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
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        10 hours ago

        Also worth noting that the US continued to do business with the nazis well into the war, and IBM famously facilitated the holocaust.

  • LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world
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    16 hours ago

    Asking lemmy.ml if Israel is bad is not a great idea if you actually want a nuanced/balanced answer. Honestly, I’d recommend just taking your research elsewhere and steering clear of social media on this one.

  • 🔰Hurling⚜️Durling🔱@lemmy.world
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    17 hours ago

    The palestinian people. Sure, they have done some horrible things but it’s been mostly out of desperation for decades of abuse from Israel, who are actively invading their country.

    • Shampiss@sh.itjust.works
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      18 hours ago

      Yes, both sides are bad. And yes, one is vastly more powerful than the other.

      I absolutely agree that the more pressing matter is stopping the Israeli advance in Gaza. But I dislike this argument because it brushes off impact of the October 7th attacks by Hamas.

      It cannot be denied that Gaza is a terrible neighbor, same as Israel. No one is in the right here. Everyone is terrible. Yes, stopping the Israeli attack is the most important action now. But Gaza’s actions need to be recognized. Ignoring such things will only create more division and undermine a diplomatic solution.

      If you were born in Israel you would hate Gaza. If you were born in Gaza you would hate Israel. What is the solution? In the short term is stop the attacks. But in the long term the solution for both sides is empathy, compassion and diplomacy.

      • birdcat@lemmy.ml
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        18 hours ago

        oh right, totally forgot about those poor people who lived and partied next to the concentration camp and then got either kidnapped by people who wanted to break out of the concentration camp or were killed by the IDF. let’s all show a bit more empathy! 😥

        • Shampoo@sh.itjust.works
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          17 hours ago

          It’s clear Judaism / Muslim conflicts have caused a lot more suffering to Muslims in Palestine for the last 100+ years. But the solution to this conflict will never be violence. Only diplomacy.

          I’m arguing that such comments can generate hate and divide. You don’t have to agree with me on this, but I at least hope you agree that the solution is not hate, but diplomacy.

          When violence is acceptable the weak and marginalized are destroyed. I only wish the best for Gaza and Israel. And in my opinion the solution is empathy and diplomacy. It’s obviously terribly hard to negotiate and empathize with your abuser. But in my opinion, if this sentiment doesn’t start the conflict will only stop when the weaker side is destroyed. I hope we can respect each other. Bless you.

          • TheOubliette@lemmy.ml
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            6 hours ago

            It’s clear Judaism / Muslim conflicts have caused a lot more suffering to Muslims in Palestine for the last 100+ years.

            This is a Zionism / Palestinian (and any other independence groups, really) “conflict”, which is to say, occupation and rrsistance.

            But the solution to this conflict will never be violence. Only diplomacy.

            Diplomacy requires leverage and is not an inherent good on its own. Diplomacy can be a tool for delay, propaganda, and for achieving a lopsided deal with false representatives. All of these things have been done via US/Israeli “diplomacy” regarding Paleetine.

            You see a people forced into a ghetto fighting back and say, “no that’s not the way” as if you have any understanding and have earned an opinion. An important lesson to learn is when you should have no opinion until you become informed.

            I’m arguing that such comments can generate hate and divide. You don’t have to agree with me on this, but I at least hope you agree that the solution is not hate, but diplomacy.

            The divide is already there. It is genocidal settler-colonial apartheid vs. freedom fighters. And the camps throwing in for each side of this. Personally, I don’t find it difficult to place myself fully in the freedom fighter camp and against the genociders. Do you? And no, there is no third option because there is no third force with any leverage or will.

            When violence is acceptable the weak and marginalized are destroyed.

            The violence has already been here. What on earth are you talking about? What fantasy world do you live in where passive Palestinians are left alone? The Israeli project is premised on their oppression and expulsion.

            And you are simply wrong in your generalization. Violence has been essential for virtually every liberation fight. This is not because the marginalized love violence, it is because the oppressor leaves no other options.

            I only wish the best for Gaza and Israel.

            Israel is an apartheid ethnostate doing a genocide. It is racist and horrible to wish the best for it.

            And in my opinion the solution is empathy and diplomacy. It’s obviously terribly hard to negotiate and empathize with your abuser. But in my opinion, if this sentiment doesn’t start the conflict will only stop when the weaker side is destroyed. I hope we can respect each other. Bless you.

            You don’t deserve an opinion on this topic because you do not know anything about it. You do not get to set the terms of others’ freedom. You should spend your time helping the resistance, not rationalizing a fairy tale about how to oppose settler-colonial genocide with “diplomacy” and no militarized resistance.

          • lunar_solstice@lemmy.ml
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            9 hours ago

            It’s clear Judaism / Muslim conflicts have caused a lot more suffering to Muslims in Palestine for the last 100+ years. But the solution to this conflict will never be violence. Only diplomacy.

            The mental model here is “violence and diplomacy are mutually exclusive”. In fact, they’re very closely connected, almost synonymous.

            I’m arguing that such comments can generate hate and divide. You don’t have to agree with me on this, but I at least hope you agree that the solution is not hate, but diplomacy.

            Agree here. I grew up in violence and lived through the peace process. It starts out violent, and you win concessions by showing strength, and then negotiate peace. That worked in Ireland in 1998 and almost worked in Palestine in 2000. Violence is the first part of the diplomacy.

            When violence is acceptable the weak and marginalized are destroyed.

            You’re saying that the weak should go to the negotiating table empty-handed, but that won’t solve anything for them. They need to stop being weak and start being strong, then diplomacy can start to happen.

            The solution to weakness is strength. How can the weak become strong without the Armalite?

            The Catholics took up arms in 1968 and came to the negotiating table in 1998. We won some concessions because we showed strength for 31 years, not “empathy”. Yasser Arafat understood this: he knew when to use violence and when to negotiate. If you defang yourself as Step One, you make diplomacy impossible.

            I only wish the best for Gaza and Israel. And in my opinion the solution is empathy and diplomacy. It’s obviously terribly hard to negotiate and empathize with your abuser. But in my opinion, if this sentiment doesn’t start the conflict will only stop when the weaker side is destroyed. I hope we can respect each other. Bless you.

            I admire your values, but you’re incorrectly equating “empathy and diplomacy”. Diplomacy is more a military matter; empathy has no place in realpolitik.

          • Dessalines@lemmy.ml
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            14 hours ago

            Replace US with Israel in this Stokely Carmichael Quote:

            “Dr. King’s policy was that nonviolence would achieve the gains for black people in the United States. His major assumption was that if you are nonviolent, if you suffer, your opponent will see your suffering and will be moved to change his heart. That’s very good. He only made one fallacious assumption: In order for nonviolence to work, your opponent must have a conscience. The United States has none.”

            Israel, or any bully, will not be swayed by your appeals to their conscience, no matter how hard you try. Ruling classes intentionally spread pacifist propaganda becomes its completely unthreatening to them. Pacifism overall is a losing strategy with zero historical successes, as the article below gets into.

            Red Phoenix - Pacifism - How to do the enemy’s job for them. Youtube Audiobook

            • LowtierComputer@lemmy.world
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              10 hours ago

              Dr. King also changed his opinion later on. People act like he was some lifelong pacifist without knowing his full history and what changes were caused by his pacifist actions and by other’s more aggressive actions.

            • MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml
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              12 hours ago

              I think it’s important to differentiate pacifism as a strategy – the total renunciation of anything that could be considered violence, often including even mere property damage – with non-violence as one tactic among many.

              Many movements have had success using non-violence as a tactic in certain situations, so long as those movements don’t take the possibility of ever using violence completely off the table (pacifism).

          • Lennny@lemmy.world
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            15 hours ago

            Edgelord answer, just kill all religious people. Let their God sort them out. Fix quite a lot of the world’s problems if we ditch religion. that promise of a better “afterlife” sure seems to have made people stop trying to have a better…life.

          • birdcat@lemmy.ml
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            16 hours ago

            While you sound reasonable, your mistake seems to be to believie that Judaism is the same as Zionism. It is not. It is completely not. They are inherently incompatible. Learn about it or don’t. I’m not some kind of theological scholar or history professor. Maybe ask your local Rabbi about it.

            Anyway, sorry to sound like some kind of an extremist to you, but violence is (at the moment) 100% the only answer. Not against the Jewish people, but against the fascist, zionist apartheid regime, who is committing genocide, right now, right before your eyes. Every day, bless you too.

  • EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com
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    21 hours ago

    I don’t have any inherent support either side, and there’s too much history along with bias, propaganda, and outright misinformation to make a determination of who the “good guys” are, if anyone.

    However, in such cases I will support the underdog on the principle that you don’t really want one side to have too much power over the other. That’s how we end up with things like ethnic cleansing and genocide. If Palestine (and Lebanon) had powerful militaries, you wouldn’t be seeing the mass devastation and huge loss of civilian lives. I’d prefer to see the sides more balanced so that they can keep each other in check.

    Another angle to consider is that I consider the state of Israel to be actively harmful to Americans on the basis of:

    • using our tax dollars to commit mass murder against civilians, including a staggering death toll for children

    • infiltrating our government, interfering with our elections, and having an undue level of influence on American policy

    • corollary to the preceding point: they support getting Trump back into the White House

    • training American law enforcement, who then use their oppressive tactics on Americans

    • similarly, technology they develop for surveillance and other means of control being used on Americans

    • directly attacking our First Amendment rights

    Bottom line is I’d say everyone sucks, but in different ways. But I am anti-Israel on the basis of them being way out of control (and without anyone to keep them in check) and due to the threat they pose to the American public.

  • Etterra@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    It’s really easy. Everybody killing other people? Committing rape and violence? Those are the bad guys. Both sides. The good guys are the innocent victims, the women and children, the ordinary people who have nothing to do with it. Both militaries are equally at fault for being monsters.

    • Jack@slrpnk.net
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      21 hours ago

      You can’t argue that in good faith when one military has so much more resources than the other.

      It’s like if a child hits you, then you beat the shit out of him and use the “he started it” excuse.

  • bamfic@lemmy.world
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    22 hours ago

    Just like everywhere else, the bad guys are the leaders killing people and creating hate to keep themselves in power, and the good guys are the people who are just trying to live their lives in dignity anr freedom. Both sides have both. You could make an argument that the leaders on one side arr worse because they have more deadly firepower at their disposal, but that seems like a moot point to me. The hate is the problem and the people who need it to stay in power are the bad guys.