Fetterman denies Gaza genocide, claims it's a "just war"
electronicintifada.net
Democratic leaders in US House ignore constituents on Palestinian rights as Trump targets activists for those rights.

Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania continued the Democrats’ piling on against Palestinians this past Sunday.

Fetterman asserted to CNN’s Manu Raju: “There’s no ethnic cleansing. It’s not a genocide. This is a just war.”

Asked by Raju if Israel was using “starvation as a weapon,” he claimed: “No. Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Israel is not deliberately starving people, absolutely.”

He added: “Those conditions are miserable there. And it is hell on earth. Why? Some people blame Israel for that? I blame Hamas and Iran for that thing.”

This continues most Democrats’ failure to recognize the Gaza genocide, even walking back the genocide assertion in the recent case of Congresswoman Katherine Clark, a top leader in the House of Representatives.

    • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      17·
      6 days ago

      It’s all a matter of semantics

      No.

      Israel is killing civilians

      Yes.

      whether they are just not caring about civilians as they pursue Hamas, or if they are intentionally targeting civilians we may never truely know.

      Wrong again. You don’t routinely shoot children in the head or use the testicles of other children for target practice if you’re not intentionally targeting civilians.

      Is this ethnic cleansing

      Yes.

      that depends on how you define genocide

      There’s an actual official definition of Genocide:

      any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

        • (a) Killing members of the group;
        • (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
        • © Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
        • (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
        • (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

      — Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article 2[9]

      Israel being guilty of ONE of those things would be enough to make it a genocide and they’re guilty of ALL of them. There’s no room for good faith denial. None.

      Of course it is genocide, I must say, or I’ll get a ban

      Probably just going to get a lot of downvotes or at worst have your hasbara bullshit renoved. Unless you get personal with anyone in a nasty way, you’re unlikely to face bans outside of the tankie instances

      because of the wonderful free speech on this platform.

      Free speech doesn’t mean speech free from consequences. You’re free to fuck around and equally free to find out.

      • Cassanderer@thelemmy.club
        3·
        5 days ago

        The good guys in any conflicts do not normally go around shooting children in the dick. Knowing nothing else about the situation, if you knew that one side was going around shooting kids in the dick and the other side wasn’t, you would know who the bad guys are.

      • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
        26·
        5 days ago

        The Court did not find intent but recently the UN did, circumventing the court. Carnage either way.

        I notice that the surrender of Hamas (who still use human shields) is an option this community never calls for.

        • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
          51·
          5 days ago

          Hamas don’t have the power to stop the genocide, surrender or not.

          This isn’t a war between the IOF and Hamas. It’s a systematic campaign to demolish every building in Gaza and kill or drive away every Gazan.

          I don’t know if you’re ignorant and spreading misinformation or a zionist intentionally spreading disinformation talking points, but either way 'but Hamas!" is not a valid excuse for tolerating genocide.

          Btw, that whole Human Shields thing? Turns out that’s IOF projection. they’ve Been doing it for over half a century. It’s part of their standard procedure.

          • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
            24·
            5 days ago

            Hamas don’t have the power to stop the genocide, surrender or not.

            How so? There was no genocide between 2006 and the Oct 7 attack.

            I believe IDF has sent civilians into buildings ahead of raids as shields. Not officially sanctioned but haven’t heard of disciplinary measures against it either.

            Apparently in their own words, Hamas base themselves in Hospitals. I haven’t seen the evidence myself and can’t read Arabic anyway.

            • Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
              41·
              5 days ago

              There was no genocide between 2006 and the Oct 7 attack.

              There’s been an ongoing genocide since the Nakba of 1948 FFS! If you’re going to pretend to not be COMPLETELY ignorant, at least get the most basic facts in order.

              I believe IDF

              There’s your problem right there. They have two primary missions: to eradicate Palestinian people, culture, and territory; and to lie about doing so on purpose.

              IDF has sent civilians into buildings ahead of raids as shields

              Amongst many other uses, yes.

              Not officially sanctioned but haven’t heard of disciplinary measures against it

              That’s because it’s de facto sanctioned by the fascist apartheid regime.

              Apparently in their own words, Hamas base themselves in Hospitals.

              Your source of “their own words” being a deleted Reddit post from 10 days ago? Stellar work, Bob Woodward! 🙄

              And guess what? Even if the militant wing of Hamas (as opposed to the civil government of Gaza) DID put bases in or beneath hospitals, it would STILL be a war crime to bomb hospitals.

              Just like when they raided a hospital to murder injured (alleged) Hamas fighters.

              That was ALSO a war crime even if you’re gullible enough to believe the IOF account of what they were doing and why.

              • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
                12·
                5 days ago

                There was no genocide between 2006 and the Oct 7 attack.

                There’s been an ongoing genocide since the Nakba of 1948

                1948 is before 2006

                  • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
                    12·
                    4 days ago

                    There was no genocide between 2006 and the Oct 7 attack.

                    There was nothing approximating genocide in this period. Therefore not “ongoing”. I chose an uncontroversial time period of about 17 years before the October 7 attack. 2006 was when Israel removed their settlements from Gaza. I could go back earlier but it is unnecessary for the point I am making.

                    That period was “peaceful” (relative to now) although Hamas/Hezbolah couldn’t let it rest so they kept attacking Israel who retaliated each time and needed their border controls (hence the “open air prison”).

                    Therefore that period could be replicated but with 100% peace this time since Hamas and Hezbollah would be dismantled.

    • Derpenheim@lemmy.zip
      9·
      6 days ago

      Free speech means you can say it. My free speech says youre a fucking idiot at best, and at worst intentionally downplaying whats happening.

      • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
        23·
        5 days ago

        Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are considered monsters unanimously in r/worldnews (which normally has competing views on Gaza).

        • Cassanderer@thelemmy.club
          12·
          5 days ago

          World news is tremendously Zionist. They probably do not like those guys because they make the argument that Israel is the good guy and possible to win in any real sense. It will not stop them from trying though, they have the power of the state and government and businesses behind them to crush any dissent so they don’t need truthful arguments apparently. Still fuck those guys at World News

    • NABDad@lemmy.worldEnglish
      33·
      6 days ago

      It’s not difficult to find proof that Israel is engaging in genocide. Listen to this podcast if you’re not sure;

      https://www.thisamericanlife.org/859/chaos-graph?2024

      “Out of the 53 American medical workers surveyed who did emergency care for children in Gaza, 44 said they saw kids shot in the head or chest.”

      What they’re talking about is not kids who were hit by strays or shrapnel. They aren’t talking about teenagers old enough to wield weapons. They are taking about 1 - 2 year old BABIES being shot in the head, execution style.

      • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
        32·
        5 days ago

        Contrast that with an ex Green beret (ie UK commando) GHF contractor who lied about a Palestinian boy being killed by IDF.

        This guy went on a media tour to blast GHF, then text messages come out showing he was “let go” and then he asked again and again to come back. Now the kid he said he saw killed is actually alive.

        Al Jazeera haven’t corrected their story.

        • NABDad@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          5 days ago

          I’m not sure what you’re saying. Are you saying that because one mercenary lied it means we should disregard the reports from multiple doctors who treated the children?

          • sqgl@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            4 days ago

            I am saying that when a lie is exposed Al Jazeera do not issue a correction. That damages their integrity.

            Think about it: makes more sense for Hamas to shoot Palestinians because they are pissed off about looting made more difficult although they do still loot 87% (along with non-Hamas criminals) according to UN stats which are updated regularly.

            Here is a non-Gaza example of Al Jazeera lack of integrity:

            • NABDad@lemmy.worldEnglish
              1·
              4 days ago

              Ok, I still don’t know what that has to do with what I posted, but if you’re looking at integrity, it makes more sense to look at the response of Israel’s ally to the report. The U.S. hasn’t issued a correction in response to credible reports of Israel murdering children.

              From the transcript of the episode:

              I talked with three people who worked at the US State Department and reviewed allegations like this, including the person who, until recently, was the Ambassador at Large for Global Criminal Justice, a position that used to be called the War Crimes Ambassador. They all agreed the doctors’ report sounded credible and significant enough to investigate.

              Each of them said the next step should be asking Israel for answers. One, who is involved in vetting US weapons transfers, told me if this had been another country other than Israel, this is what would have happened.

              A few years ago, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee received reports that Mexican marine units were executing and disappearing people. The US stopped a shipment of machine guns for more than two years while they investigated the allegations. Eventually, Mexico agreed that American weapons wouldn’t go to those units.

              But that isn’t what happened here. The Biden administration never met with Feroze and Mark. They didn’t investigate these claims or make any public statements asking Israel to stop shooting kids in Gaza. They didn’t try to get to the bottom of these allegations.

              Of course it should come as no surprise that President Pedophile’s administration doesn’t care about murdered children either.