naraburns nihil supernum
6mo ago
(text post)
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Israel-Gaza Megathread #1
This is a megathread for any posts on the conflict between (so far, and so far as I know) Hamas and the Israeli government, as well as related geopolitics. Culture War thread rules apply.
All eyes are on Gaza but reports are also coming in that the Israeli military is putting the West Bank on full lockdown.
Part of this is to prevent wider contagion but it surely cannot be lost on various government ministers (some of whom belong to the utter fringes of the Israeli far-right) that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do things in the occupied territories that otherwise wouldn't fly. Israel has a narrow time window for any such actions, so while the world is glued to what happens in Gaza, I would also try to keep an eye on the West Bank.
I suspect the real prize for many members of this govt would be simultaneous ethnic cleansing of both Gaza and West Bank in a massive show of force. 300K reservists have been called up. I'm not predicting it will happen, just pointing out that if there was ever a time, then that time is now.
I wish them the best, you don't treat a tumor by cutting away just the bits that are causing symptoms (severe metastatic palliative cases aside), you chop off as much as you can find.
In both cases, I'm confident the loss in blood and lives will be significantly lower than drawing things out.
I do think ethnic cleansing is such a tiresome term, and so is a definition of genocide that includes cultural redoctrination. Buddy, I tell you, the hypothetical person who does this, it's far worse to murder an entire class of people instead of making them learn a new language and wear new clothes. You're sneaking in connotations, and I'll continue impotently pushing back where I can.
I'm massively in favor of restricting genocide to only include killing and mass prevention of reproduction, but do you have a suggestion for what to call the cultural equivalent?
If tomorrow the Taliban broke into my house, forced me to learn Arabic, stop eating pork or drinking alcohol, changed how my workday is structured, altered the system of government I live under, and prevented me from living with my girlfriend prior to marriage, none of that is genocide but is definitely A Big Deal and I would like a word for it being applied to my entire society collectively. Culturcide is decent but a bit ugly.
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Notes -
All eyes are on Gaza but reports are also coming in that the Israeli military is putting the West Bank on full lockdown.
Part of this is to prevent wider contagion but it surely cannot be lost on various government ministers (some of whom belong to the utter fringes of the Israeli far-right) that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do things in the occupied territories that otherwise wouldn't fly. Israel has a narrow time window for any such actions, so while the world is glued to what happens in Gaza, I would also try to keep an eye on the West Bank.
I suspect the real prize for many members of this govt would be simultaneous ethnic cleansing of both Gaza and West Bank in a massive show of force. 300K reservists have been called up. I'm not predicting it will happen, just pointing out that if there was ever a time, then that time is now.
I wish them the best, you don't treat a tumor by cutting away just the bits that are causing symptoms (severe metastatic palliative cases aside), you chop off as much as you can find.
In both cases, I'm confident the loss in blood and lives will be significantly lower than drawing things out.
I do think ethnic cleansing is such a tiresome term, and so is a definition of genocide that includes cultural redoctrination. Buddy, I tell you, the hypothetical person who does this, it's far worse to murder an entire class of people instead of making them learn a new language and wear new clothes. You're sneaking in connotations, and I'll continue impotently pushing back where I can.
I'm massively in favor of restricting genocide to only include killing and mass prevention of reproduction, but do you have a suggestion for what to call the cultural equivalent?
If tomorrow the Taliban broke into my house, forced me to learn Arabic, stop eating pork or drinking alcohol, changed how my workday is structured, altered the system of government I live under, and prevented me from living with my girlfriend prior to marriage, none of that is genocide but is definitely A Big Deal and I would like a word for it being applied to my entire society collectively. Culturcide is decent but a bit ugly.
"Memocide," I suppose (from "meme").
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"Forced assimilation" works for me.
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Memetic coercion?
It's also more deserving of "colonization" than the way that word is bandied about today, if barely.
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The West Bank has already been carved up into discontinuous enclaves.
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