Iraqi freedom was a response to a single terrorist attack. Israel’s response is to decades of continuous attacks. While October was particularly bad, Hamas has been firing rockets and missiles indiscriminately into Israel on like a weekly basis for many years now. Israel has been able to protect themselves from this thanks to their Iron Dome defense system, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are shooting down rockets launched with the intent to kill their civilians.
On the flip side, Israel has been treating the Palestinians particularly badly. They severely restrict trade into and out of the area, restrict the travel of Palestinian civilians, and have been slowly stealing more and more territory from them by literally driving people from their homes, sometimes just straight up killing them. While claims of an “open air prison” are a bit hyperbolic, it’s not off by much.
Add to that a healthy dose of racism on both sides against the other and you are left with a massive mess that few people understand. There is plenty to hate on both sides because both sides have done, and continue to do, incredibly shitty things to each other. Neither Israel nor Hamas is right, and neither of them give a shit about the Palestinian civilians. Another issue is that the average civilian on both sides isn’t exactly dreaming of peace. Due to how long this has been going on for, if you took a random Israeli and a random Palestinian, odds are they would want to kill each other.
If this all seems exhausting and complicated and you aren’t sure what side is ‘right’, know that’s ok. Our minds are not made to be so globally connected, and while this conflict may be getting a lot of media attention, it’s hardly the worst conflict that’s occurred in living memory, and arguably not even the worst currently going on. It’s also likely also far removed from you. If you’re from the States, it’s literally on the other side of the world. Just know, there’s a shit ton of propaganda that really, REALLY wants you to pick a side and will paint the other as demons, when in reality both sides are pretty shitty.
I know this is a week old, but I really appreciate this reply. This was eye opening on a few levels. You took a great deal of time to illustrate what’s going on. Thank you.
Iraqi freedom was a response to a single terrorist attack. Israel’s response is to decades of continuous attacks. While October was particularly bad, Hamas has been firing rockets and missiles indiscriminately into Israel on like a weekly basis for many years now. Israel has been able to protect themselves from this thanks to their Iron Dome defense system, but that doesn’t change the fact that they are shooting down rockets launched with the intent to kill their civilians.
On the flip side, Israel has been treating the Palestinians particularly badly. They severely restrict trade into and out of the area, restrict the travel of Palestinian civilians, and have been slowly stealing more and more territory from them by literally driving people from their homes, sometimes just straight up killing them. While claims of an “open air prison” are a bit hyperbolic, it’s not off by much.
Add to that a healthy dose of racism on both sides against the other and you are left with a massive mess that few people understand. There is plenty to hate on both sides because both sides have done, and continue to do, incredibly shitty things to each other. Neither Israel nor Hamas is right, and neither of them give a shit about the Palestinian civilians. Another issue is that the average civilian on both sides isn’t exactly dreaming of peace. Due to how long this has been going on for, if you took a random Israeli and a random Palestinian, odds are they would want to kill each other.
If this all seems exhausting and complicated and you aren’t sure what side is ‘right’, know that’s ok. Our minds are not made to be so globally connected, and while this conflict may be getting a lot of media attention, it’s hardly the worst conflict that’s occurred in living memory, and arguably not even the worst currently going on. It’s also likely also far removed from you. If you’re from the States, it’s literally on the other side of the world. Just know, there’s a shit ton of propaganda that really, REALLY wants you to pick a side and will paint the other as demons, when in reality both sides are pretty shitty.
I know this is a week old, but I really appreciate this reply. This was eye opening on a few levels. You took a great deal of time to illustrate what’s going on. Thank you.