this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2024
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I genuinely do not know who the bad guys are. S lot of my leftist friends are against Israel, but from what I know Israel was attacked and is responding and trying to get their hostages back.

Enlighten me. Am I wrong? Why am I wrong?

And dumb it down for me, because apparently I'm an idiot.

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I don't have any inherent support either side, and there's too much history along with bias, propaganda, and outright misinformation to make a determination of who the "good guys" are, if anyone.

However, in such cases I will support the underdog on the principle that you don't really want one side to have too much power over the other. That's how we end up with things like ethnic cleansing and genocide. If Palestine (and Lebanon) had powerful militaries, you wouldn't be seeing the mass devastation and huge loss of civilian lives. I'd prefer to see the sides more balanced so that they can keep each other in check.

Another angle to consider is that I consider the state of Israel to be actively harmful to Americans on the basis of:

  • using our tax dollars to commit mass murder against civilians, including a staggering death toll for children

  • infiltrating our government, interfering with our elections, and having an undue level of influence on American policy

  • corollary to the preceding point: they support getting Trump back into the White House

  • training American law enforcement, who then use their oppressive tactics on Americans

  • similarly, technology they develop for surveillance and other means of control being used on Americans

  • directly attacking our First Amendment rights

Bottom line is I'd say everyone sucks, but in different ways. But I am anti-Israel on the basis of them being way out of control (and without anyone to keep them in check) and due to the threat they pose to the American public.