@johnffrenemy @AK_Organizer@Tyler_A_Harper Well maybe moreso coinciding anti-shah protests from the left and the right, the left being the ones on campuses, and then being coopted entirely by the well organized right. Something I feel like I see a lot in US far-left/right political interplay a lot these days.
@aziz0nomics Genuinely these people are so out of their depth and they have no idea wtf they're actually saying because they think no matter what it is it's on the "right side." It's disappointing and disgusting, honestly. It feels like an absolute failure of our critical thinking education.
@TaliaRinger Eventually the most radical actors take over and everyone gets exhausted of mediating them and it just falls apart. That's also why it ends up painting the entire project in such a bad light.
@TaliaRinger But that's why it turned into this big encampment. It just kind of happened, it wasn't intended to actually be that to start. Which is also why it failed horribly. But the beginning was very promising and positive and community oriented. It's impossible to sustain, though.
You've probably seen this video of a Jewish man and woman offering Muslim worshippers dates outside the Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for Ramadan. This beautiful gesture shows the possibility of coexistence between the two people at an individual level - I mean, it's incredibly heartwarming to see something like this amidst the never-ending avalanche of hatred, violence, incitement & vengeful attitudes.
But consider who isn't commenting or sharing this and doesn't want to acknowledge the powerful footage; think about who refuses to accept the inevitability of coexistence & peace between Israelis and Palestinians; imagine if more people put aside their differences for just this one individual video/post and said yes, Jewish Israelis & Palestinians are immensely capable of getting along; what if the algorithms promoted such positive occurrences instead of elevating violent content and incendiary speech; why aren't more people focusing on finding the slightest of common ground across our vast differences when we know that neither Palestinians nor Israelis are going anywhere.
There are people on both sides who refuse to amplify faint symbols and messages of tolerance, shared humanity, and acceptance because those values go against their entrenched narratives. Yes, political decisions from the top are needed to make agreements on many issues. However, true, lasting peace begins with each and every one of us and requires a bottom-up approach that will take time but ultimately yield the best possible outcome out of this bloody & protracted conflict. This takes small but meaningful steps, like in this video.
Blessed are the peacemakers ❤️✌️🙏
#TelAviv right now: Tens of thousands of Israelis are back on the streets tonight calling for the immediate ousting of #Netanyahu and his corrupt, inept, and extremist govt. 🇮🇱 #GazaWar
Families of hostages are now blocking Ayalon, the main Tel Aviv highway. “If the government that abandoned them their fate cannot promote an immediate deal, it should make way for a government that can.”
Thousands in a protest in Tel Aviv demanding release of the hostage now. All while Netanyahu is giving his weekly diatribe.
A total rebuke of the leadership.
People keep asking: what other options did Israel have after October 7th? There are many possible answers, which were clear from the beginning:
1. First, stop and think. Even for just a few days. Don't react *exactly* as always, and exactly as Hamas expected and wanted. Don't give them what they want. It's Gaza. Hamas is not leaving. A response can wait a few days.
2. Take a moment to mourn, grieve, sit shiva together (after securing the border, of course).
3. Make the hostages the #1 priority and get them back *whatever* it takes. A victory for Hamas? Of course. But life is more important.
4. Use that pause to focus the world's attention—for more than one day—on what Hamas did. Shame and isolate them the way ISIS was shamed and isolated.
5. Make it clear that in whatever war or campaign comes next, protecting civilians will be a priority, and *act* that way. (Don't block all aid, use only precision weapons, don't bomb civilian infrastructure, warn the soldiers that any shenanigans will be punished, etc.)
6. Separate the Palestinian people from Hamas's leadership by reiterating a commitment to a real two-state solution (yes, I know (!) that Netanyahu and this government would never do that. I am simply stating what would have been the right thing to do).
7. Go after Hamas methodically, surgically, financially, with much of the world behind us.
8. Clamp down on the Jewish goons in the West Bank. Make it clear that you will not allow them to open another front. Arrest as many as necessary.
9. Explain to the Israeli public, again and again, exactly why you are doing all this. Why there is great strength in restraint. That the goal is to prevent this from ever happening again. But that this will take heart and brains, and not just muscle.
10. Speak softly. No need to make big empty threats when you have so much power.
This would have been a start. One can wish.
And to all those, especially non-Israelis, who will call me "naive," are you happy so far with the results of your "only way?" Come on.