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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   37513 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of July 22, 2024

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There was a Hezbollah rocket attack on the Golan heights about 45 minutes ago. I don’t think it was that large overall, but one of the rockets hit a school soccer practice. Mass casualties confirmed, including at least four dead children. Prime Minister Netanyahu has been pulled into an emergency security meeting due to the incident. My gut tells me the response will be severe and that this will trigger a war between Israel and Hezbollah, which has already been brewing for some time.

Edit (7:30 PM GMT) Israeli media is reporting that Prime Minister Netanyahu has received approval from the United States for a major operation against Hezbollah.

Edit 2 (8:00PM GMT) Israeli authorities are saying at least 10 dead.

Edit 3 (8:47PM GMT) Massive GPS jamming occurring throughout the Mediterranean

Edit 4: (10:23PM GMT) Prime Minister Netanyahu has expressed condolences to the Druze community, dates that the attack “will not pass on silence”

Edit 5 (4:43AM GMT) Unconfirmed reports in Lebanese media of Israeli air strikes in Lebanon.

Edit 6 (5:10 PM GMT) Confirmed IAF air strikes on Lebanon occurring now.

Edit 7 (7:32 PM GMT) Israeli drones are airborne over Beirut. Israel is calling up medical volunteers to surge staff to hospitals in northern Israel in anticipation of large volumes of casualties.

Edit 8 (8:02 PM GMT) Municipal officials in Western and Northern Galilee regions are ordering residents into shelters

Edit 9 (3:04PM GMT) The Israeli Cabinet has given Prime Minister Netanyahu authorization for a strike on Hezbollah forces in Lebanon.

The only thing that concerns me is that such a war is going to make elements of the left flip out at the Dems, most probably at the convention, and get Trump elected. Like, do they think that Trump, the guy who moved the US embassy to Jerusalem, would be better for the Palestinians than Harris?

Trump unironically probably would be better for everyone in the ME, including Palestinians (though not for the reasons that Democrats think). The worst outcome for Palestinians is that Hamas keeps using them as meat-shields in new conflicts they feel emboldened in starting because they're confident a Democrat administration will keep restraining Israel. That factor is lessened with Trump in power.

Of course, as I've said before, none of the people who claim to care about Palestinian lives really do. They're far more invested in killing Israelis.

This is an absurd assertion. There's a notice you're blocking me so I wont go on ad nauseum as you won't see it anyway but for my own sanity I'll say my piece that it's farcical to pretend to forget that the Palestinians living there TODAY are the descendants of people who were living there during the TIME OF CHRIST and that hundreds of thousands of Jews invaded their country AT GUNPOINT in the 1930's and 40's

How many Palestinians must die in hopes of restoring justice for the lands the Palestinians living now have never owned?

I'm not saying we should forget that Israel was established forcibly. I'm saying that it's unwise to refuse to take an L, and evil to throw your people in the grinder with promises of restoring what they never owned, while you chill in Qatar.

Sardonically, I think the Israeli government is answering that question for us right now

I think the Israeli government has answered with "as many as it takes for Hamas to stop poking Israel", and it is now up to Hamas to answer whether or not they'll stop poking.

Unfortunately, there is no incentive for Hamas to stop poking as long as their primary weapon against Israel, the eyes of Westerners on the pro-Palestinian media outlets, is working.

Does anyone really think the Israelis will just go 'yup everyone hates us lets just kill ourselves'? If the Arabs prove their eternal hatred of Israel and strike then Israel can accurately conclude they have no international support and will act decisively to protect themselves. Everyone wants to be safe, and if all my neighbours hate me entirely AND I have the capacity to annihilate them, then I will do so. Armenia definitely wishes they could burn Baku to the ground, and Afghanistan wishes to annihilate the cursed Tajiks and Persians and Urdus. Incapability is the restraining variable against decisive action (as seen by Russia), but the Israeli overmatch against everyone of its border neighbours is just hilarious. The Arabs have not stormed Tel Aviv because they cannot, the Israelis stopped outside Cairo in 1973 because they wanted to. A victory parade down Victory Square and putting a Kippah on the Mcdonalds facing the great pyramid will probably be the ultimate flex, and it is eminently more possible than a single Arab soldier holding territory in Israel for more than 24 hours (save for supreme success in Golan heights but that is pretty low probability too).

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