FouadThe new "Do you condemn Hamas?" is going to be " Do you agree that Oct 7th was uniquely evil?"
Watch for it.
SheebThats the bottom line. Unfortunately a more politically correct response needs to be developed that can shut it down quickly and safely. Otherwise 'ANTISEMITISM', and effectively shuts down the conversation, which is their objective.
@Fou_ad I think simply referring to Indigenous resistance in North America as a comparison does the trick. Bringing it back to Americans own history, pointing out that it was genocide (not a controversial take among historians) and ethnic cleansing more than defangs the lazy antisemitic retort.
I think that can be easily brushed off because its not Israel and its 'long' ago. Also the idea that it is a controversial take will mean we need to resolve that and divert the attention from the atrocities committed by Israel.
Perhaps acknowledging that there is no hierarchy to horrors is a start and then pounding the idea that October 7th wouldn't have happened without say 1948 or the decades surrounding it?
Not sure that'll work either.
@Fou_ad Well, what I will never do is declare "what will and won't work" before even having the argument. People moving somewhere, somewhere where they have never lived previously, irrespective of the rhetorical-historical heft, necessarily results in displacement and violence. Meaning, through Zionism (or colonialism) you are necessarily advocating on behalf of violence. So when violence occurs, you cannot object since that was part of the original mission. It's a logical noose.
@Fou_ad I also think it's more than silly to allow Zionists the opportunity to preemptively dictate the terms of the debate? They are losing the argument and I am not interested in debating holdouts trapped in some ideological bunker. It's my job to cleave off the non-true believers who need to have their flimsy, default beliefs deposed and replaced by legitimate history and comprehension.
I hope you are correct in saying they are holdouts as opposed to still quite the number.
But they are definitely losing the argument. Logic and truth will prevail.
About allow them to preemptively dictate the terms: they own the media, they do it as a matter of fact.
@Fou_ad I think Zionists do hold outsized sway in "the media" but that media apparatus is dying with every Boomer who passes away. The youth are not interested in nightly news and even more Liberal oldheads are no longer mesmerized by Zionist rhetoric. So, no, we don't need to worry about Jake Tapper or Rachel Maddow or whoever joining the resistance because their spell is waning