Five myths about Israel and Gaza -
Sam Harris begins by describing two important but easily forgotten things given the various pseudo-moral hallucinations being spread, especially by social media
- Jihadists (Islamic extremists) vs the rest of extremists - is that they will sacrifice their own lives and that of their children in the confident belief that such acts will take them directly to Paradise
- War is sometimes necessary: Jihadism is more dangerous than Nazism
[Elaine:] - I agree with the final statement in this section .. that "a disavowal of Jihadism needs to become the majority opinion among 2 billion Muslims world wide. Until this happens there will be no exit from these sorts of conflict.
[Elaine:] - And/but - Muslim extremists have been pushed into corners for a very long time by Western powers. Some could argue that this approach has fostered extremism.
Myth #1: Israel is guilty of “genocide” in Gaza
Basically this section argues the genocide is too strong a word. Hamas is the target and they are a political force - and they are using their own people as shields. As a side story, Harris reminds the reader that youth wired with explosives were also used in war between Iran and Iraq.
Myth #2: International Humanitarian Law Requires that Israel’s response to Palestinian aggression be “proportional.”
The myth is about the use of the word proportional.
" the concept of “proportionality” [in this context] doesn’t refer to the numbers of casualties on either side of a conflict, much less insist that they be equal. It simply asks that we weigh the military importance of an action against the resulting destruction of civilian life and property."
The final paragraph of this section makes a binary distinction:
"The crucial distinction, which almost no one can keep in view, is that there are now two types of people in this world: those who intentionally torture and kill children and other noncombatants, to maximize horror, and those who seek to avoid doing so, however imperfectly, while defending themselves against the first sort of people. The gulf between these two groups could not be wider, and everything we care about—literally everything—exists on one side of it."
My thoughts - cornered rats fight hard - the question is how to tame the rats.
Myth #3: The Jews Are Colonizers and the Palestinians are Indigenous People.
[Elaine:] Both are indigenous - and used to be able to live in some sort of harmony.
Myth #4: The atrocities committed by Hamas (and over one thousand Palestinian civilians) on October 7th were a legitimate response to oppression.
[Elaine:] No - it was not.
Myth #5: The two sides in this conflict are equally civilized, equally entitled to respect, and equally worth protecting.
[Elaine:] Clearly a myth!! - each side has its own spin on civilisation, its our understanding of respect - and both cultures are worth protecting. The expectation of equality is part of the problem.
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