The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #172755 Message #4186078
Posted By: Steve Shaw
27-Oct-23 - 01:13 PM
Thread Name: BS: Hamas attacks Israel
Subject: RE: BS: Hamas attacks Israel
From your Time piece:
The Hamas massacre that took place over the weekend was not the result of decades of “occupation.” Israel left Gaza in 2005, uprooting families and wrenching the country into an impassioned debate along the way. Not a settler, nor single IDF soldier, nor any type of Israeli personnel has remained in the Gaza Strip.
What gobsmacking misrepresentation this is. Just because settlers, etc., left Gaza in 2005 (on the orders of their regime, by the way), it doesn't mean that Gaza has not, in effect, been "occupied." It has been blockaded ever since, it has been invaded at will by the IDF, its civilians have been slaughtered in their thousands and its economy has been trashed via Israeli-imposed sanctions. Not only that, its infrastructure has come under frequent military attack, hospitals, schools, power stations, water treatment plants, villages, the lot. There have been constant crises of water, power, medical and food supply, by no means not all of that caused by Hamas (before you say anything). In addition, when Israel "left" Gaza in 2005 they didn't do it out of the goodness of their hearts - as they left they trashed the place, bulldozing villages and infrastructure. Just a little reminder that the two million-plus citizens of Gaza, collectively punished for sixteen years, are NOT Hamas. Finally, the piece starts with a complete and dismal denial of the history of the region. That's what Israeli regimes and their supporters always do: whenever it's raised they shout it down as though we're all indulging in antisemitism and blood libel. Well, the history IS quite embarrassing, I suppose.
Further down the piece there's a healthy smattering of Islamophobia. I won't go on.