Was it evil also to bomb and flatten Berlin and the rest of Germany at the end of WW2?
If you are British or American, how do you feel about that?
Back then it wasn’t known that it’s not an effective strategy, Germany’s reaction to those bombings pretty much set the precedent for it becoming a war crime.
And from a German perspective: We started it. And did way worse, e.g. bombing Polish cities with the explicit goal to cause maximal casualties in predominantly Jewish quarters. The allies, meanwhile, did not try to maximise casualties or anything like that but tried to make as many people as possible homeless, in an attempt to lower economic output, gum up the system, etc. Generally speaking, it didn’t work. Have a Kraut video for a lot more context.
And no such thing could possibly be the goal in Gaza as Gaza already doesn’t have an economy. Other possible justifications, such as “have lower overall casualties” (see e.g. bombing Dresden vs. slogging through it like slogging through Budapest) don’t apply because Hamas is not going to surrender and are way more erm entunnelled. To get them out of there you have to get in there. Or maybe pour concrete in all exits you can find? That’d have my blessings.
Furthermore: As a German Zionist I’d rather Israel didn’t slide into complete inhumanity, and further into fascism, thank you. (Ben-Gvir is minister so they’re already half-way there, also, there doesn’t seem to be much opposition against collective punishment). It’s not exactly a thing you wish on a country: It’s pretty much the worst calamity that can befall a country.
What would be your preferred and effective strategy against someone who wants you dead and comes into your home and kills your children? Expect and accept apology?
Are you saying that all the Palestinians have to die to prevent a few Palestinians from committing crimes?
If the actions of a few can condemn an entire population… which seems to be the underlying argument here, then a few Israelis can commit crimes to condemn the entire country…
This is eye for an eye leaves the world blind territory. Collective punishments simply magnify overall violence, they don’t stop it.
comes into your home and kills your children
Are you talking about the Deir Yassin massacre?
Eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind, at some point people have to make up and let the past be the past. Currently Israel is going way beyond eye for an eye.
As to the current situation: How about at least having the fucking decency to build a couple of tent cities outside Gaza and let children, the elderly, and vetted people out of that killbox. If that’s too much, how about not bombing areas you previously told people to flee to. This is like the bare minimum to be able to claim you care a fucking iota about humanity.
