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PaperclipPerfector  6mo ago (text post)   27724 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of May 13, 2024

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The "easing up" looked like thousands of Palestinians being killed in retaliation for a single-digit number of Israelis killed every few years. Going just by raw numbers, in the back-and-forth of action and reaction, it really looks a lot like the Israelis are constantly escalating and the Palestinians are constantly deescalating - there is not a single instance of Palestinians killing Israelis that was not followed by Israelis killing more Palestinians, and no single instance of Israelis killing Palestinians that was not followed by Palestinians killing fewer Israelis. Yet this is somehow being painted into an emotional picture of the Israelis trying to make peace, as the Palestinians escalate and push for war. It is very hard to avoid the temptation to interpret this reframing as stemming from an underlying feeling that in terms of weregeld an Israeli is worth about a thousand Palestinians.

Why would anyone consider "going by raw numbers" if they hadn't already made up their mind to be pro-Palestine? Its a silly measure when one side is incredibly cautious with the lives of its own citizens and the other side treats fatalities to its own citizens a win.

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