https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/10/30/multimedia/30friedman-qtcp/30friedman-qtcp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp

On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 2:04:33 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
> https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/10/30/multimedia/30friedman-qtcp/30friedman-qtcp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp

Unfortunately, Israel has got lost in Hamas's Tunnels as soon as it started massive bombing. Past Lies certainly do not help.

"To make matters worse, the Israel government has a long history of making false claims and denying responsibility for atrocities
that later proved to be its doing.

In one example of many, in 2014, four boys younger than 13 were killed by Israeli airstrikes while playing by themselves at a beach
— three of them hit by a second blast while desperately fleeing the initial blast.

There was first a concerted effort among some pro-Israel social media activists to claim the explosions were due to a Hamas rocket
misfiring. The Israeli military initially claimed that “the target of this strike was Hamas terrorist operatives.” However, the beach was
near a hotel housing journalists for Western outlets, including at least one from The New York Times, who witnessed the killings. The
Guardian reported that journalists who visited the area in the aftermath saw no weapons or equipment and that kids regularly played
there.

Israel then investigated and exonerated itself. Peter Lerner, then a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces, said that it had targeted a
“compound belonging to Hamas’s Naval Police and Naval Force (including naval commandos), and which was utilized exclusively by
militants.”

But The Telegraph, whose correspondent also witnessed the incident, reported that some of the journalists who had seen the bombing
said there had been “no attempt to interview them.”

One can see how this history plays out in the global upheaval over the Hamas claim two weeks ago that an Israeli missile struck a hospital
courtyard in Gaza. Israeli and American officials denied this, and asserted that the missile came from within Gaza. There were also initial
claims that 500 people were killed in the hospital blast, leading to headlines and global condemnations. Then the number was challenged,
leading to another round of uproar and back-and-forth.

It is certainly possible that the hospital may have been accidentally hit by a missile fired in Gaza — such misfires have happened. But Israel
bombardment has also caused large civilian casualties. The evidence isn’t conclusive either way, and the truth remains unknown."

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 5:02:40 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
> On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 2:04:33 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
> > https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/10/30/multimedia/30friedman-qtcp/30friedman-qtcp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp
>
> Unfortunately, Israel has got lost in Hamas's Tunnels as soon as it started massive bombing. Past Lies certainly do not help.
>

"We are in completely uncharted territory.

Israel feels it has sufficient mandate from the West to slaughter Palestinian civilians by the thousands,
including 4,000 children. Immense 1,000kg bombs dropped on densely crowded refugee camps and
airstrikes on ambulances, schools and hospitals amply demonstrate utter disregard for civilian casualties
commensurate with that of Hamas.

Israel appears to be doing everything in its power to discredit itself in the eyes of the civilized world. The
Gaza massacre, preceded by the attempted sabotage of judicial institutions by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabal
of fascists and fundamentalists, makes a mockery of years of rhetoric by politicians on the AIPAC lobby
group’s payroll about Israel being a democratic, morally superior beacon of progress.

In past decades, the only international voice that mattered was Washington’s, with European allies in
lockstep. But in the multilateral 2020s, emerging powers throughout Asia, Latin America and Africa are
queuing up to denounce Israel and downgrade diplomatic ties.

Huge pro-justice constituencies erupted in anger, even in the Western world.. Along with electorally crucial
demographics of Muslims, Arabs and progressive Jews, universities have become major crucibles for pro-
Palestinian activism from newly politicized millennials. As millions pour on to the streets worldwide, right-
wingers such as Britain’s interior minister have been furiously cracking down on civil freedoms to criminalize
pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which she describes as “hate marches.”""

https://www.arabnews.com/node/2403966

The US dominated world is in completely uncharted territory. It is now a world in which
unrestricted slaughter of civilians is allowed to continue day after day in the name of anti-
terrorism.

On Monday, November 6, 2023 at 3:13:48 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
> On Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at 5:02:40 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
> > On Monday, October 30, 2023 at 2:04:33 PM UTC, ltlee1 wrote:
> > > https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/10/30/multimedia/30friedman-qtcp/30friedman-qtcp-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp
> >
> > Unfortunately, Israel has got lost in Hamas's Tunnels as soon as it started massive bombing. Past Lies certainly do not help.
> >
> "We are in completely uncharted territory.
>
> Israel feels it has sufficient mandate from the West to slaughter Palestinian civilians by the thousands,
> including 4,000 children. Immense 1,000kg bombs dropped on densely crowded refugee camps and
> airstrikes on ambulances, schools and hospitals amply demonstrate utter disregard for civilian casualties
> commensurate with that of Hamas.
>
> Israel appears to be doing everything in its power to discredit itself in the eyes of the civilized world. The
> Gaza massacre, preceded by the attempted sabotage of judicial institutions by Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabal
> of fascists and fundamentalists, makes a mockery of years of rhetoric by politicians on the AIPAC lobby
> group’s payroll about Israel being a democratic, morally superior beacon of progress.
>
> In past decades, the only international voice that mattered was Washington’s, with European allies in
> lockstep. But in the multilateral 2020s, emerging powers throughout Asia, Latin America and Africa are
> queuing up to denounce Israel and downgrade diplomatic ties.
>
> Huge pro-justice constituencies erupted in anger, even in the Western world. Along with electorally crucial
> demographics of Muslims, Arabs and progressive Jews, universities have become major crucibles for pro-
> Palestinian activism from newly politicized millennials. As millions pour on to the streets worldwide, right-
> wingers such as Britain’s interior minister have been furiously cracking down on civil freedoms to criminalize
> pro-Palestinian demonstrations, which she describes as “hate marches.”""
>
> https://www.arabnews.com/node/2403966
>
> The US dominated world is in completely uncharted territory. It is now a world in which
> unrestricted slaughter of civilians is allowed to continue day after day in the name of anti-
> terrorism.

Concerning Israel, the question is whether it has already suffered or would suffer strategic defeat in the sense
that its course of action is morally indefensible for its allies including the US point of view.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/pentagon-secretary-says-israel-risks-strategic-defeat-if-civilian-lives-not-protected/ar-AA1kX3pw

“In this kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population,” Austin said during the annual Reagan
National Defense Forum in California. “And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical
victory with a strategic defeat.”

“So I have repeatedly made clear to Israel’s leaders that protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral
responsibility and a strategic imperative.”