Israel-Gaza war

[CumbrianLefty]

Sorry, but I don't accept that at all.

There were by all accounts serious talks about getting them released just yesterday.

This looks very like a decision by Netanyahu, in an attempt to save his own skin.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Protestor wearing Nike shoes calls for a ban on the top shoe brand because Nike are sold in Israel.

Ban Nike

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cy4JoHjLim8/

Hamas Spokesman, Ghazi Ahmed, says that the Oct 7 had no intention to kill civilians. Then kills 1,400 civilians. Ghazi was not very keen to discuss the kidnapping and murder of innocent Israeli people.

Ghazi Hamad

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy6uOnPNbo9/

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

A Pope's speech that inspired a war against the "Moslems" of Palestine and Syria which was written 928 years ago.

"They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire. If you permit them to continue thus for awhile with impurity, the faithful of God will be much more widely attacked by them. On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it.

"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion! Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been wearing themselves out in both body and soul now work for a double honor. Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and poor, on that, the rich; on this side, the enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter is over and spring comes, let hem eagerly set out on the way with God as their guide."

November 27th 1095 CE,
Pope Urban II


Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099, Émile Signol, oil on canvas (1847)

Of course, the crusades were great for the Jewish people.

[Jingizu]

This thread has proven valuable in one way: I sent warnings last night to a couple of Gazans I follow on Twitter/X - they all feed and help stray cats, btw - to grab the cats, their families, and themselves and to take shelter - well one account is now run by the son of the original person because he died in an airstrike - because thanks to this thread I could tell the Israeli invasion was imminent. I despise Hamas and fully agree that Israel has the right and duty to go after them, but I am under no delusions about what a Bibi-led government is going to do, especially if Bibi thinks it will keep himself out of prison.

[Jingizu]

A Pope's speech that inspired a war against the "Moslems" of Palestine and Syria which was written 928 years ago.

"They have occupied more and more of the lands of those Christians, and have overcome them in seven battles. They have killed and captured many, and have destroyed the churches and devastated the empire. If you permit them to continue thus for awhile with impurity, the faithful of God will be much more widely attacked by them. On this account I, or rather the Lord, beseech you as Christ's heralds to publish this everywhere and to persuade all people of whatever rank, foot-soldiers and knights, poor and rich, to carry aid promptly to those Christians and to destroy that vile race from the lands of our friends. I say this to those who are present, it meant also for those who are absent. Moreover, Christ commands it.

"All who die by the way, whether by land or by sea, or in battle against the pagans, shall have immediate remission of sins. This I grant them through the power of God with which I am invested. O what a disgrace if such a despised and base race, which worships demons, should conquer a people which has the faith of omnipotent God and is made glorious with the name of Christ! With what reproaches will the Lord overwhelm us if you do not aid those who, with us, profess the Christian religion! Let those who have been accustomed unjustly to wage private warfare against the faithful now go against the infidels and end with victory this war which should have been begun long ago. Let those who for a long time, have been robbers, now become knights. Let those who have been fighting against their brothers and relatives now fight in a proper way against the barbarians. Let those who have been serving as mercenaries for small pay now obtain the eternal reward. Let those who have been wearing themselves out in both body and soul now work for a double honor. Behold! on this side will be the sorrowful and poor, on that, the rich; on this side, the enemies of the Lord, on that, his friends. Let those who go not put off the journey, but rent their lands and collect money for their expenses; and as soon as winter is over and spring comes, let hem eagerly set out on the way with God as their guide."

November 27th 1095 CE,
Pope Urban II


Taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders, 15th July 1099, Émile Signol, oil on canvas (1847)

Of course, the crusades were great for the Jewish people.

Now, now, many of them got Express Tickets to Heaven! How generous of the Crusaders!

[buritobr]

Honourable mention: Portugal, Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland, Norway, New Zealand were the western countries which had a decent vote at the UN

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

This thread has proven valuable in one way: I sent warnings last night to a couple of Gazans I follow on Twitter/X - they all feed and help stray cats, btw - to grab the cats, their families, and themselves and to take shelter - well one account is now run by the son of the original person because he died in an airstrike - because thanks to this thread I could tell the Israeli invasion was imminent. I despise Hamas and fully agree that Israel has the right and duty to go after them, but I am under no delusions about what a Bibi-led government is going to do, especially if Bibi thinks it will keep himself out of prison.

A common MENA practice and major W of Islamic culture.

[jaichind]

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-770606

"Turkey's Erdogan: Israel is an occupier, Hamas not a terrorist organization"

I am surprised that Erdogan is this open about his views.  I know this is how he feels but given his record of being a wheeler-dealer on the geopolitical stage, I am surprised he will paint himself into one camp like this.

[jaichind]

I do not think it is a good idea for the IDF to concentrate their armed vehicles so close to each other like this.  They assume the enemy has no air power which is true but why take the risk?

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1718273013504745720

[dead0man]

I do not think it is a good idea for the IDF to concentrate their armed vehicles so close to each other like this.  They assume the enemy has no air power which is true but why take the risk?

I had the same thought for a moment last night, but then I thought that they probably (certainly) have ALL the air defense systems in the area.  Anything larger than a falcon is going to need clearance from a combat air traffic controller to go anywhere near the area.  If Hamas can make large explosion happen to that column, the IDF is in a lot of trouble and it's best to know that sooner than later.

[Jingizu]

This thread has proven valuable in one way: I sent warnings last night to a couple of Gazans I follow on Twitter/X - they all feed and help stray cats, btw - to grab the cats, their families, and themselves and to take shelter - well one account is now run by the son of the original person because he died in an airstrike - because thanks to this thread I could tell the Israeli invasion was imminent. I despise Hamas and fully agree that Israel has the right and duty to go after them, but I am under no delusions about what a Bibi-led government is going to do, especially if Bibi thinks it will keep himself out of prison.

A common MENA practice and major W of Islamic culture.

Agreed. And a total contrast to the horrors emerging out of China. 

I wish the Islamic World would launch a jihad against China, but my hopes are extremely low for that…

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

This thread has proven valuable in one way: I sent warnings last night to a couple of Gazans I follow on Twitter/X - they all feed and help stray cats, btw - to grab the cats, their families, and themselves and to take shelter - well one account is now run by the son of the original person because he died in an airstrike - because thanks to this thread I could tell the Israeli invasion was imminent. I despise Hamas and fully agree that Israel has the right and duty to go after them, but I am under no delusions about what a Bibi-led government is going to do, especially if Bibi thinks it will keep himself out of prison.

A common MENA practice and major W of Islamic culture.

It seems to be true in Crete as well - maybe a Levantine thing? Every town was crawling with shockingly well-fed strays.

[Snowstalker Mk. II]

"A message for Gaza" except it's in English and ostensibly towards a population with no telecommunications access. Again, what do they take us for?
https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1718240244129059167?s=20

[Jingizu]

The USMC publicly distancing itself from this is an absolutely horrific omen. I would say that we're about to see very bad things here, but it looks like we won't be allowed to see them. Again--total blackout.
https://twitter.com/JM_Szuba/status/1718059754172330057?s=20

It appears Bibi has decided to save his political hide with rivers of blood. Y’know, as usual. Rejecting American attempts at restraint, common decency, and common sense. Maybe his good buddy Vlad will help-hahahahahaha, wait, nope not happening.

My stance is very different than Snowstalker’s, but loathing Bibi and his government (minus that Gantz guy) is something everyone can agree on, I think.

[Zinneke]

Sorry, but I don't accept that at all.

There were by all accounts serious talks about getting them released just yesterday.

This looks very like a decision by Netanyahu, in an attempt to save his own skin.

Yes sorry, what I meant was, given the actors here are the Netenyahu clique governing Israel and Hamas, I hope that somebody told them straight up they shouldn't expect their family members to return alive. And I also hope they direct their ire towards Bibi and the Israeli far right, after they have grieved their love ones and taken solace from what will happen to Hamas.

Israel's PR campaign is crass, but there's an element of truth to their "Hamas = ISIL" rhetoric : both actors have gone off the deep end, to the extent that even their sponsors are only tacitly concerned about their overall fate, so they essentially became a suicide cult the moment October 7 happened, and not the "semi-rational" Hamas that Bibi thought he could do deals with via the Qataris. At that point any hostage negotiations are pointless : it's a different Hamas to the Hamas pre-October 7, and the radical factions with it are surely in charge now.

[redjohn]

At this point, Biden needs to use any and all leverage the U.S. has to prevent Israel from this disastrous full-scale invasion, which will ensure many tens of thousands of civilian deaths and decades of guerrilla warfare. Netanyahu is clearly aiming to fully occupy Gaza and to completely destroy what infrastructure/society remains in Palestine. This is worth threatening to withhold U.S. militaristic support from Israel.

Mark my words, in ten years from now, the political consensus will be that the U.S. should have done absolutely everything within our power to prevent this massive mistake from taking place.

[Pick Up the Phone]

At this point, Biden needs to use any and all leverage the U.S. has to prevent Israel from this disastrous full-scale invasion…

I think you greatly overestimate America’s influence, because there is nothing that Biden can do. Nothing. After what happened on October 7, the ground invasion was always bound to happen. It is inevitable and any Israeli government that does not order it would be committing political suicide.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-770606

"Turkey's Erdogan: Israel is an occupier, Hamas not a terrorist organization"

I am surprised that Erdogan is this open about his views.  I know this is how he feels but given his record of being a wheeler-dealer on the geopolitical stage, I am surprised he will paint himself into one camp like this.

My guess is that he expects both the ground invasion to happen, and to be long and terrible. By coming out as solidly anti-Israel before it really kicks off, he can make sure he's on the "right side" of Arab/Muslim geopolitics, which is going to react to this much as the US reacted to 9/11. (To be clear, I'm not suggesting Netanyahu and the IDF's impending invasion - terrible though it will be - is equivalent to 9/11 in any objective sense, but that I expect many in the Islamic world will react to it in ways similar to our reaction to 9/11.)

[jaichind]

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-770606

"Turkey's Erdogan: Israel is an occupier, Hamas not a terrorist organization"

I am surprised that Erdogan is this open about his views.  I know this is how he feels but given his record of being a wheeler-dealer on the geopolitical stage, I am surprised he will paint himself into one camp like this.

My guess is that he expects both the ground invasion to happen, and to be long and terrible. By coming out as solidly anti-Israel before it really kicks off, he can make sure he's on the "right side" of Arab/Muslim geopolitics, which is going to react to this much as the US reacted to 9/11. (To be clear, I'm not suggesting Netanyahu and the IDF's impending invasion - terrible though it will be - is equivalent to 9/11 in any objective sense, but that I expect many in the Islamic world will react to it in ways similar to our reaction to 9/11.)

In the meantime this war seems to achieved Muslim consolidation of ancient rivals Arabs Turks and Persians.  Even the pro-USA Kurds are trying to say as little as possible as they are between a rock and a hard place on this issue. 

[jaichind]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/musk-says-starlink-provide-connectivity-gaza-through-aid-organizations-2023-10-28/

"Musk says Starlink to provide connectivity in Gaza through aid groups"

[🇺🇦 Purple 🦄 Unicorn 🇮🇱]

In Turkey (Istanbul), there are now shops with signs reading: "Jews not allowed in here."

[It’s so Joever]

This thread has proven valuable in one way: I sent warnings last night to a couple of Gazans I follow on Twitter/X - they all feed and help stray cats, btw - to grab the cats, their families, and themselves and to take shelter - well one account is now run by the son of the original person because he died in an airstrike - because thanks to this thread I could tell the Israeli invasion was imminent. I despise Hamas and fully agree that Israel has the right and duty to go after them, but I am under no delusions about what a Bibi-led government is going to do, especially if Bibi thinks it will keep himself out of prison.

A common MENA practice and major W of Islamic culture.

I saw some people doing it in Andalucía as well, likely a remnant from the Islamic era.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

This thread has proven valuable in one way: I sent warnings last night to a couple of Gazans I follow on Twitter/X - they all feed and help stray cats, btw - to grab the cats, their families, and themselves and to take shelter - well one account is now run by the son of the original person because he died in an airstrike - because thanks to this thread I could tell the Israeli invasion was imminent. I despise Hamas and fully agree that Israel has the right and duty to go after them, but I am under no delusions about what a Bibi-led government is going to do, especially if Bibi thinks it will keep himself out of prison.

A common MENA practice and major W of Islamic culture.

I saw some people doing it in Andalucía as well, likely a remnant from the Islamic era.

I've seen it personally in the Mezzogiorno and in Tunis and I've heard of it in Istanbul (famously; there is a very good documentary movie about this), Beirut, and now in this thread Andalusia, Gaza, and Crete. It seems to be pan-Mediterranean. My guess is it's a combination of sunnah (both as practiced in currently Muslim societies and, as you say, as a remnant in former ones) and the fact that cats are, quite simply, native to that part of the world; they're not a temperate-to-boreal forest species like dogs. They really live with humans in the Mediterranean, on a population level rather than an individual level, in a way that they don't elsewhere.

Anyway, speaking as someone who's currently working on gaining a stray cat's trust with a view towards rescue and potentially adoption, this conversation has been a welcome diversion for me given how ugly what's actually happening in Gaza appears to be getting.

[Hindsight was 2020]

Welp it’s started 😔

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Welp it’s started 😔

Did they announce a full-bore invasion (as opposed to the slow-rolling incursions of the past day or two) or did you just log on/check the news for the first time today? I'm at work and haven't checked any of the major news sites or liveblogs in a few hours.