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There is an aspect to this genocidal war of Israel on Gaza that I think is often overlooked. All those atrocities we have seen, all the senseless slaughter, torture, dehumanizing killing is being done by actual human beings: Israeli men and women. The damage being done to them, the Israelis, (and by extension to Israel) is nothing short of catastrophic.

Can any human being be a willing, (or unwilling) participant in, or witness to, such evil and not suffer grievous moral injury? Maybe a small percentage of psychopaths?

And then imagine Israel "wins" its war on Gaza, exterminates or relocates the entire population, then what? Those psychopaths, those wounded souls of young Israeli men and women, they go back into Israeli society. And those wounds and that trauma wont be limited to the actual soldiers, but will inevitably seep into the lives and psyches of their loved ones, their wives and husbands and sons and daughters and parents.

Can you imagine your son or daughter coming back home after being part of this Israeli genocide? Can you imagine dealing with your husband or wife's nightmares and PTSD? How will an Israeli ex-soldier raise their children, what will they teach them about the world they have been born into?

Can you imagine what sort of society this Israel will have made of itself? I shudder to think.

Grieve for the wretched Palestinians, but ask not for whom the bell tolls: it tolls for all of us.

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Totally agree with you Caitlin. No other way to say it!

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Check out Canada's pathetic statement. They're calling Israel's genocide their right to exist and defend itself. https://www.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/news/2024/01/statement-by-minister-joly-on-the-international-court-of-justices-decision-on-south-africas-request-for-provisional-measures-in-its-case-against-is.html

I'm going to write a scathing letter back and copy it all over the place, including to Substack. But I had a late night, early morning, busy day and no nap, so I can't muster the energy to express my rage over this misrepresentation of all the Canadians who are boycotting, taking to the streets, writing letters, confronting politicians and anything else we can do to stop this horrible slaughter.

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They are completely morally bankrupt, and I think most of them know it. There are a lot who still do not know it though, and many of these aren't even Jewish. I struggle to understand their thinking.

Unrelated or related, I'm not sure: I also struggled to understand the thinking of the Covid vaccine zealots who wanted to lock up those who were against taking it, and who stopped and thought and read about it before they locked in their decision. Somewhere in there is the same type of faulty dug-in thinking.

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The Zionist entity needs to be Squished. Any other outcome, given the gravity, scale & scope of its crimes... just doesn't cut it for people of faith (or no faith) who are fair-minded, conscientious & have some semblance of know-how with regard to what Justice, Fairness, etc., happen to be.

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You have put words to my emotions and feelings on this horrific part of our nature. I am a man of action and really beside myself with anger at what we are participating in. The fall out and blow back is going to be with us for generations.

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We can talk about this until the cows come home - what we need to hear and discuss is how this will end and when. There are few things that leave me more distraught then reading this war will last for months or perhaps even years. Everyday I wake up hoping it's finally over but instead it appears Israel is becoming even barbaric.

So what are we supposed to do? Sit on the sidelines bitching and complaining? We all know this will have an enormous impact on the upcoming election IF they are even held. The irony being no candidate with the exception of Ron Paul, whose not running, will ever besmirch Israel. All politicians are whores and will do anything the Israel lobby says. All these world leaders calling for a cease fire are doing so strictly and solely for appeasement or else they would have done something (or anything) by now, solidifying it's all grandstanding.

I was really hoping by now Russia would intervene and put an end to it as I read an article a while back how it's the USA's greatest fear. I was hoping there would be a escalation in the region and someone would go after Israel - but it appears that will never come to fruition either.

I guess the only thing we can hope for is something so devastating and catastrophic here in the USA there won't be anything left to send to Israel. There's the Cascadia earthquake on the west coast that is way overdo and reported to wipe out the Pacific Northwest - taking decades to rebuild the area. I truly don't know what else to hope for anymore.

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"This genocide isn’t a freakish aberration in Israel’s way of being but the ultimate manifestation of it. "

You nailed it. Those who say and do evil things for decades are probably in the habit of thinking they'll continue getting away with them. That's why we can't let up with exposing their war crimes and bringing about an end to their sadistic madness.

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I'd like to see the displaced people of Gaza relocated to Tel Aviv and Haifa.

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Caitlin - based on some new commenters today, it looks like you are under attack by the Israeli propaganda machine! The trolls are seeding all kinds of ugly narratives, which they will use to try to discredit you and your site. It's so obvious, I urge folks not to take the bait!

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As a Jewish person I have always supported Israel - but never Israel right or WRONG. What Netanyahu, the IOF, and the USA is doing by proxy in Gaza/Rafah is depraved. Two wrongs do NOT make a RIGHT. You can't point a finger at the atrocities that occurred on Oct. 7 and then do the exact same thing and claim it is in the name of "defense" "and national security". We the People of planet earth have heard those lies over and over again to justify endless invasions, occupations, wars, regime changes, assasinations, etc and the result is always the same: thousands to millions of innocent people are the ones who end up paying the price.

I initially defended Israel after Oct 7. Now, I am beyond horrified at what the IOF is doing to the Palestinians. How can anyone with one ounce of decency defend the murder of innocent children and babies? I just watched a video earlier today of Warmonger Pompeo dancing and celebrating with IOF soldiers at the Gaza border. . Another video showed Israeli officials saying "let them all starve to death" while the people in the audience cheered. Hell is too nice a place for anyone who supports this madness.

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Zionists lack human souls.

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Or just completely brainwashed. It's no different from being a member in the Covidian cult.

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Supporting Genocide

slaughtering children

blowing up ambulances

they still defend it

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Smedley Butler and his book come to mind

...

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founding

Howdy Caitlin,

As I've said before, I was brainwashed.

I believed W, when he said there were WMD's. I traveled from the CO mountains to see Obama elected in Grant Park, in 2008. I believed the NYT and CNN.

Circa 013 I started paying more attention to Gaza. But again, I trusted the media to tell me it was over my head -- too complicated. Although I was pretty sure Israel was in the wrong, given who kept trying to tell me Israel wasn't in the wrong.

Then 10.7.23 happened. The next day I remember telling myself I was going to finally understand it all. It didn't take me long, thanks to folks like Norman Finkelstein, Mike Peled, and others. Then it hit me, how much I've been lied to - about so much.

I've traveled through various stages of grief in my mind since. I thought we were fucked. But now I have hope. And that's largely due to the younger people. I think in many ways, what's going on now is their Woodstock. Only instead of hitchhiking across the country to go, they're doing it online. Which is fine.

I don't believe the younger people are going to stand for what's happening. I believe they see how fucked up things are. I agree with you, it won't happen overnight. But I think the days of Biden, Pelosi, Trump, Bibi and their kind are numbered. Because the young people see through their bs.

I really do believe the young people are going to change the system. And I think we'll owe it to the Palestinians and Jews who died.

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