Oh dear. I've also been an acquaintance of Antony Loewenstein since his days as a Fairfax cadet and an admirer of both his and Jonathon Cook's journalism about Israel. Both are Jewish, so I guess that means they're potential war criminals, mass rapists and pedophiles and I'm one of their enablers.
Presumably my long term friendships with two Palestinian Australian activists also means I dehumanise Israelis and am an apologist for every abuse ever committed by any Palestinian anywhere at any time.
I guess treating people as human beings rather than instances of a type makes me a hater.
It's called 'conscription' and when I was a teenager it was a possibility all young Australian men faced due to our government's support of the US attack on Vietnam.
" Is being a beneficiary of an apartheid genocide state not a choice?"
Often not.
I'm an Australian Aborigine who gains benefits from the genocidal settler-colonial regime I was born under, even though I've also suffered under its racism.
I'm quite sure my Jewish friends aren't 'making a choice' to rape, torture, starve and murder and unless something has changed him a lot that includes my Israeli friend from decades ago.
You seem to think that in being just as bigoted and hateful towards all Jews you're somehow countering the similar attitudes some of them have towards Palestinians. I'm tempted to quote Nietzsche - "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster" - but I suspect you started out as a monster and are just using the abuses committed by Israel and a pretence of sympathy for Palestinians to try to ennoble your own bigotry.
I think the problem here is mistaking Israeli for Jews. From the many posts on several (many) substackers and others, I find a significant difference. I would generally agree with Occi if he used Israelis instead of Jews. Except.... His tone I interpret is he believes in free will -- I don't, and even judges (and juries) believe in limited free will. Otherwise there would be no mitigating circumstances. In the case of the IDF -- there's a culture of treating the Palestinians as vermin to justify their behaviour. This culture limits their so called free will. Doing so is likely common among colonists. Certainly in the case of "...the Merciless Indian Savages." (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript#:~:text=He%20has%20excited%20domestic%20insurrections,all%20ages%2C%20sexes%20and%20conditions. )
"For Native Americans, who the Declaration described as “merciless Indian Savages,” Americans declaring independence likely proved concerning.9 The Proclamation Line of 1763 and the British soldiers who enforced it deterred colonists from expanding further west into American Indian land.10 The Cherokee and the Shawnee, for example, believed that the Declaration of Independence would lead to the further loss of land and destruction of their communities and cultures.11 ..."
Oh dear. I've also been an acquaintance of Antony Loewenstein since his days as a Fairfax cadet and an admirer of both his and Jonathon Cook's journalism about Israel. Both are Jewish, so I guess that means they're potential war criminals, mass rapists and pedophiles and I'm one of their enablers.
Presumably my long term friendships with two Palestinian Australian activists also means I dehumanise Israelis and am an apologist for every abuse ever committed by any Palestinian anywhere at any time.
I guess treating people as human beings rather than instances of a type makes me a hater.
"Is being a merkava gunner not a choice?"
No it's not.
It's called 'conscription' and when I was a teenager it was a possibility all young Australian men faced due to our government's support of the US attack on Vietnam.
" Is being a beneficiary of an apartheid genocide state not a choice?"
Often not.
I'm an Australian Aborigine who gains benefits from the genocidal settler-colonial regime I was born under, even though I've also suffered under its racism.
Are you really that stupid Occi?
Or just utterly committed to your antisemitism?
I'm quite sure my Jewish friends aren't 'making a choice' to rape, torture, starve and murder and unless something has changed him a lot that includes my Israeli friend from decades ago.
You seem to think that in being just as bigoted and hateful towards all Jews you're somehow countering the similar attitudes some of them have towards Palestinians. I'm tempted to quote Nietzsche - "Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster" - but I suspect you started out as a monster and are just using the abuses committed by Israel and a pretence of sympathy for Palestinians to try to ennoble your own bigotry.
Well said A. Nonymous - exactly how I would describe Occi's behavior in this substack.
I think the problem here is mistaking Israeli for Jews. From the many posts on several (many) substackers and others, I find a significant difference. I would generally agree with Occi if he used Israelis instead of Jews. Except.... His tone I interpret is he believes in free will -- I don't, and even judges (and juries) believe in limited free will. Otherwise there would be no mitigating circumstances. In the case of the IDF -- there's a culture of treating the Palestinians as vermin to justify their behaviour. This culture limits their so called free will. Doing so is likely common among colonists. Certainly in the case of "...the Merciless Indian Savages." (https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript#:~:text=He%20has%20excited%20domestic%20insurrections,all%20ages%2C%20sexes%20and%20conditions. )
"For Native Americans, who the Declaration described as “merciless Indian Savages,” Americans declaring independence likely proved concerning.9 The Proclamation Line of 1763 and the British soldiers who enforced it deterred colonists from expanding further west into American Indian land.10 The Cherokee and the Shawnee, for example, believed that the Declaration of Independence would lead to the further loss of land and destruction of their communities and cultures.11 ..."
https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/deep-dives/expanding-our-perspective-of-the-declaration-of-independence/#:~:text=For%20Native%20Americans%2C%20who%20the,declaring%20independence%20likely%20proved%20concerning.&text=The%20Proclamation%20Line%20of%201763,west%20into%20American%20Indian%20land.
How many US citizens know this?