I’m just skeptical of using a single polling result as justification for genocide and ethnic cleansing:
The Israel Defense Forces released Hamas documents on Thursday that it said showed Hamas had secretly falsified its levels of public support in polls conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR).
The IDF said the documents do not prove that PCPSR was cooperating with Hamas, but rather that the terror group was conducting clandestine actions to fraudulently influence the results of the polls.
PCPSR, which is based in the West Bank city of Ramallah, is run by prominent Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki.
In the Gaza Strip, the firm uses Gazan data collectors to conduct surveys in residential areas and shelters for displaced Palestinians, and it is thought that Hamas was able to take advantage of this to manipulate the results later sent back to Shikaki. . . .
According to the IDF, the documents it recovered in Gaza “prove an extensive effort by the terror organization to falsify the results of [the PCPSR] polls, to create a false representation of the Gazan public’s support for the terror organization, especially after the massacre [in Israel] on October 7.
“These documents are part of a systematic process, the purpose of which is to disguise the collapse of the organization, and the collapse of public support for it,” the IDF claimed.
The military said the documents “emphasize the importance that the Hamas terror organization sees in the results of the polls, to falsify Palestinian support and to influence the Palestinian public and Arab and international public opinion.”
Great news for Israel if true. I’m not sure why the IDF is trusted only when doing so helps the Palestinian cause, but I hope they’re right about Hamas rigging the May poll.
BBC America’s news hour revolves around news from Gaza. Just today there was a break (to interview people who say Trump’s actions toward Russia are, at best, questionable and, at worst, mistakes).
If the BBC commentator interviews anybody from the IDF or the Israeli government, the questions are borderline-rude, rapid fire questions and the Israeli is often interrupted as the commentator works to reset the BBC narrative - and there is always a certain way BBC wants the story to go. If the interviewee is Palestinian, they are always sympathetic and pro-Palestine.
There are no positive stories about the IDF and very rarely about Israel’s government. If the story is about Palestinians it’s always a story that portrays them as victims. The tone is always anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian. I’d estimate the villain in these stories is about 90% Israel and 10% Hamas. Rarely is Hamas labeled as the villain in any event (tbh I think the BBC assumes the listener knows Hamas is a bad actor).
The overall gist of every BBC story is that only Israel and/or the IDF can effect change to improve the plight of Palestinians. I don’t think I’ve ever heard BBC America say plainly that it is Hamas’s domestic policy to sacrifice Palestinian civilians, of all ages, in order to empower Hamas. The only actor that can effect real change is the Israeli government and the IDF. BBC America hammers that point home in every story.
In a larger sense than shooting bad guys, I think the IDF are doing a pretty terrible job of defending Israel at the moment. The long-term consequences of the global reputational damage they’re doing could be catastrophic.
I think you’re confusing the effect of certain Western governments and media sources on the IDF’s global reputation with the IDF’s actions in a war zone specifically chosen by their enemy to be always among and directly upon civilians.
I reckon the IDF will be just fine in twenty years or so.
More governments and more media sources by the day. What’s the theory here, that basically the entire world is secretly antisemitic and choosing now to reveal it? That it has nothing to do with Israel’s actions?
Why are you boys insisting on simping so hard for the Zionists? Do they really need your pro bono defense?
Is it for religious reasons? You think supporting them - and at best turning a blind eye to their atrocities - is going to net you some bonus points from the big man in the sky?
They are acting like savages currently with how they are handling Gaza. When you play stupid games, expect to win stupid prizes.
Outside of the MAGA cult and some super (I would say compromised) Israel obsessed politicians on the left, basically everyone else is repulsed by our blind support and ridiculous funding of these major league assholes.
Fiscal responsibility is important to you guys supposedly, but spread your cheeks for Bibi and write big checks to him each year right? Creepy.
My growing sense is that it’s not specifically a MAGA thing, but a combination of two things. First, politicians across the spectrum who don’t want to lose that sweet AIPAC money. This one is eroding pretty fast in recent weeks as it becomes completely indefensible. Second, evangelicals.
