naraburns nihil supernum
2yr ago
(text post)
33152 thread views
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.
The problem is that Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai didn't spend decades resisting foreign (to them) military occupation before lobbing missiles at their neighbors. They were never controlled politically be separatist terrorist groups. China didn't spend years blockading Hong Kong because the international community was in agreement that they were nothing but trouble. Until Hamas loses all power in Gaza, any economic development is going to be stymied by restrictions (by both Israel and Egypt) and reluctance of foreign investors to take risks there. Hamas is more interested in sticking it to Israel now than it is signing peace accords and trying to convince everyone that the situation is okay. Even if they did, there would be a new generation of Palestinian nationalists behind them to take up where they left off; after all, Hamas was formed as a response to the PLO becoming more of a political entity and less of an active force, though their exile in Tunis probably didn't help.
This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a
court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to
optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.
The weekly Culture War threads host the most
controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are
appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy;
if in doubt, post!
Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts.
You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.
Why are you called The Motte?
A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently,
it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey",
originally identified by
philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial
but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens
this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for
the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired
propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."
On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.
New post guidelines
If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it.
A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts
such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a
submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).
Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or
significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
The problem is that Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai didn't spend decades resisting foreign (to them) military occupation before lobbing missiles at their neighbors. They were never controlled politically be separatist terrorist groups. China didn't spend years blockading Hong Kong because the international community was in agreement that they were nothing but trouble. Until Hamas loses all power in Gaza, any economic development is going to be stymied by restrictions (by both Israel and Egypt) and reluctance of foreign investors to take risks there. Hamas is more interested in sticking it to Israel now than it is signing peace accords and trying to convince everyone that the situation is okay. Even if they did, there would be a new generation of Palestinian nationalists behind them to take up where they left off; after all, Hamas was formed as a response to the PLO becoming more of a political entity and less of an active force, though their exile in Tunis probably didn't help.
More options
Context Copy link