8 votes

Weekly Israel-Hamas war megathread - week of April 22

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Tags: israel, palestine, gaza strip, 2023 israel hamas war, recurring.weekly, war, megathread

This thread is posted weekly - please try to post all relevant Israel-Hamas war content in here, such as news, updates, opinion articles, etc. Extremely significant events may warrant a separate topic, but almost all should be posted in here.

Please try to avoid antagonistic arguments and bickering matches. Comment threads that devolve into unproductive arguments may be removed so that the overall topic is able to continue.

4 comments

  1. [2]
    Tuaam
    Link
    How do you guys cope with how the war is going? It feels hopeless sometimes, seeing people loose their homes, war crimes happening (with video evidence) and then seeing our own government flat out...

    How do you guys cope with how the war is going? It feels hopeless sometimes, seeing people loose their homes, war crimes happening (with video evidence) and then seeing our own government flat out deny them. I know alot of Palestinians and they're all sorta going through this horrible cycle of grief, and many can't speak out about it. My family is also Muslim so I end up feeling pretty bad when I see Israeli soldiers desecrating Islamic stuff, which I have seen numerous times.

    From what I gather now Israel seems to want to build settlements in Gaza and will probably do something in the West Bank, the question is at this point how long before someone breaks the cycle? I don't think they will succeed doing this no matter how hard our politicians support them. How do I cope with what's going on, genuinely?

    12 votes
    1. rosco
      Link Parent
      I feel you on so many of those fronts and it's really difficult. I have a number of Palestinian friends, some here, some living within Israel, and some who were in Gaza (a few of whom have...

      I feel you on so many of those fronts and it's really difficult.

      How do I cope with what's going on, genuinely?

      I have a number of Palestinian friends, some here, some living within Israel, and some who were in Gaza (a few of whom have passes.) It's a really sad situation. I think for me the hardest part has been seeing folks in my circles who have been so quick to post vitriol online. To blame Palestinians for their own "predicament", make extreme claims like "there are no innocents in Gaza", or just minimize the scale of violence. Particularly when it's people I know and like and work with regularly. It's been pretty astonishing how widespread and socially acceptable it's been.

      I've been trying, embarrassingly, to put into practice the Yvon Chouinard quote "the antidote to depression is action." I've been engaging in the collective action campaigns domestically (like the "undecided" ballot cast instead of Biden) or sending letters and calling my state representatives to encourage them to be more vocal for a ceasefire and ratification of Palestine within the UN. I've been reaching out more to Palestinian friends and in some cases helping to organize places for them to stay in the meantime. I've had 2 friends move the US, one to New York the other here in California, and another to Portugal. Otherwise we organized a movie night for Gaza Surf Club with friends/ the local surfer community to try to humanize the folks being murdered. Honestly, I don't think I'm moving the needle politically but hopefully making it a little better for a few folks in my network and trying the provide a more supportive community for our friends locally.

      Otherwise I'd say I go down one Gaza related spiral a week, sometimes posting here and later regretting it, and then taking a week long hiatus from web based news until some flippant headline snags my attention, rage ensues, and the cycle starts anew. The more time I take away from it the better I feel, but I feel pretty guilty about it. I'm trying to keep the mindset that I can't light myself on fire to keep others warm and so try to engage in the really distressing stuff in smaller chunks with longer intervals in between (so I can understand what is happening and how things are progressing without thinking about it all the time).

      Take everything from here with a grain of salt cause it's pretty much all projection from me at me from a few months ago. I think if you can take some time away from the really triggering things that would be best. At this point you know in your bones the horrible things that are happening (the war crimes, destruction, and murder) and seeing them validated again and again is only going to send you into a rage spiral. So if you can take the urgency of knowing these things are happening without having to experience them again and again by seeing them I think you can point your anger and frustration into positive action rather than a feeling of hopelessness. Or at worst you might not feel as horrible everyday.

      On an optimistic note, I think perception has really shifted. I think this is the first time that there is widespread support of Palestinians and the last 9 months has really taken the mask off of the IDF and their hyper-brutal war tactics. Younger generations have a completely different view of the conflict and I think that pressure will (fingers crossed) lead to political change domestically. That is the silver lining that I'm taking away from everything. It's been a "both sides are the problem" for such a long time. I think that argument is finally being questioned.

      12 votes
  2. skybrian
    Link
    Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics (Washington Post) …

    Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics (Washington Post)

    Google fired about 20 more workers it said participated in protests denouncing the company’s cloud computing deal with the Israeli government, bringing the total number of workers fired in the past week over the issue to more than 50, according to the activist group representing the workers.

    A spokesperson for Google confirmed it had fired more workers after continuing its investigation into the April 16 protests, which included sit-ins at Google’s offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, Calif.

    The firings come several days after chief executive Sundar Pichai told employees in a companywide memo that they should not use the company as a “personal platform” or “fight over disruptive issues or debate politics.”

    …

    The protests at Google are among a wave of opposition to the U.S. government and corporations working with the Israeli government and military. Pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested in recent days at Yale and Columbia universities, spurring accusations of heavy-handedness by university officials and inspiring another wave of demonstrations at other colleges around the country. The day before the Google sit-ins, activists blocked highways, bridges and airport entrances across the United States to protest the war in Gaza.

    At Google, the situation has become a public fight between Google managers and the fired employees. Google says that each worker it fired actively disrupted its offices, while the workers dispute the claims, saying some of those fired did not even enter the company’s office on the day of coordinated demonstrations against the company.

    9 votes
  3. skybrian
    (edited )
    Link
    In war-battered Gaza, residents grow angry with Hamas (Washington Post) ... ... ...

    In war-battered Gaza, residents grow angry with Hamas (Washington Post)

    [W]hile the majority of Palestinians in Gaza blame Israel for their suffering, according to polling conducted in March, they also appear to be turning their ire toward the militants. In interviews with more than a dozen residents of Gaza, people said they resent Hamas for the attacks in Israel and — war-weary and desperate to fulfill their basic needs — just want to see peace as soon as possible.

    ...

    The attack, a terrifying rampage through southern Israeli communities, initially boosted the group’s support in both Gaza and the West Bank, according the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, which carried out polling in late November and early December.

    Even recently, in a poll conducted over five days in March, a majority of respondents in both places say Hamas’s decision to carry out the attack was “correct.”

    But, the center’s researchers said, “it is clear from the findings … that support for the offensive does not mean support for Hamas.” Instead, the results show three-quarters of Palestinians believe the attack refocused global attention on the conflict “after years of neglect.”

    The anger mounting now in the enclave appears centered on stalled cease-fire talks, with Hamas insisting on a permanent truce and Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza before it hands over any hostages.

    ...

    Earlier this year, demonstrations calling for a cease-fire broke out in at least two cities in Gaza. In a video of a protest in January, a crowd of mostly men and boys marches down a street in the city of Khan Younis, holding antiwar signs and chanting: “The people want an end to the war!”

    Analysts say they have also seen an uptick in social media posts critical of Hamas.

    ...

    But while resentment is brewing, many Palestinians “feel it’s a shame to go after Hamas during this Israeli assault,” said Mkhaimar Abusada, associate professor of political science at al-Azhar University in Gaza, who is now based in Cairo. “They don’t want to be seen as collaborators with the occupation if they protest against Hamas now.”

    In the March poll from the policy center, a slim majority of respondents in Gaza said they would prefer Hamas — rather than the Palestinian Authority — to control the Strip after the war. The other options included the United Nations, the Israeli military, or one or more Arab countries.

    1 vote