this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2025
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It does NOT have the right to defend itself. Please stop
https://truthout.org/articles/as-an-occupier-israel-isnt-entitled-to-self-defense-under-international-law/
They're saying that any claim to a right to self-defense doesn't apply here because Israel isn't defending itself. Precisely because it's the occupying force who's committing genocide.
If Israel WERE under attack, it would obviously have the right to defend itself. But that doesn't matter here.
Read the article. Even if it was truly under attack, it wouldn't have the right to engage in military action like, say, Ukraine is against Russia. It has the right to engage in counterinsurgency after guaranteeing the basic rights of the population of Gaza. Cutting off food, water or electricity is obviously a no-go, and generally they don't get to justify actions by "military advantages". The limits are a lot more stringent and they're not even pretending to meet them.
I have to admit, my mental capacity doesn't do long articles today. That's on me.
But yes, what they're doing is not defending themselves. Is what I said (I think). I feel like we're somehow talking past each other when we're saying the same thing.
"Russian troops on Occupied Crimea have the right to defend itself against Ukraine"
This is your argument.
It really, really isn't.
True the real comparison is "Nazi Germany has the right to defend itself against Poland".
Which is also not what I said. At all.
It can claim self defense against STATES. Bernie specifically calls Hamas a "terrorist organisation" which he says Israel has the right to defend itself against. This is a lie.
Francesca Albanese perfectly explains why Israel does not have the right to self defense in this video
Mate (genderneutral). We're saying the same thing. A right to self defence exists in principle but it does not apply in case of Israel's war on Palestine. The right to self defence is besides the point. We're in agreement.
Do you agree Bernie should stop saying it?
Not if in context it is obvious he's replying to the claim and saying how it doesn't apply. You cannot reply to a claim without repeating it in some form.
Good. This is about Bernie voluntarily saying it before he says Israel is not committing genocide.
Not directed at me but I'd like to add: Bernie is a politician trying to change minds. If he DIDN'T include that phrase or (worse) said they didn't have the right, so so so so so many Americans would completely dismiss anything he had to say. Granted, many still will because of the socialist and Democrat label. Politics are very divided here and he's trying to reach out to the other side.
He is on the side of the Palestinians. He has spoken out against this genocide many times. He wants to end the bloodshed.
Bernie is trying to change Liberals minds to support Israel and brainwash them into believe Israel has a right to self-defense. It appears to be working quite well.
Nobody wants to hear Hasbara disclaimers in front of speeches about Israel committing war crimes. Bernie needs to stop both-sidesing a genocide.
No you
A lot of borders were rewritten as a consequence of wars throughout history. The initial Israel land was given to them by the victors of WW2. It's legitimate. Get over it.
Their actions since to slowly and inhumanely drive out Palestinians in order to occupy more land for themselves are not.
Israel does have the right to defend itself, as any current country or region looking to protect itself. Their aggression beyond that self-defense is what should be stopped and punished.
"slowly" you do realize the first thing Israel did upon their founding was the Nakba right?
Had that worked for them them, we wouldn't be here today discussing current day genocides. So yes, "slowly".
"Why did the Nazis invade Russia when they already conquered Poland?"
Because (drum roll please)
They are Nazis.
Yeah, I don't get it. Nazis were set on European domination so of course they would have attacked Russia. Russia would have invaded them as well had the situation been reversed because they shared those ambitions, so I'm not seeing the point you're trying to make.
It is not like Israel is actively ethnically cleansing and expanding in the West Bank for decades already. No sir. I do not get it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEYEcAd-tzQ
I'm not seeing anything that changes my initial points.
Almost every country that has egomaniacs in power strives for conquest.
Awesome you did not watch the video nor read the comment.
I watched some of the video and am quite confused by your comments. It seems to me that it's you who didn't care to read mine.
Summed up, i said Israel has right to self-defense, but not aggression.
Then you went off-road with those comments i still don't get what they're supposed to mean.
Before Oct 7th 2023 was the deadliest year on record for Palestinians in the West Bank. What does that tell you?
Israel is the aggressor and it always has been.
It tells me that either they suck at it or they lacked support. Which means that either Israel was really bad at being the aggressor for all these years or that those people living there aren't an amalgamous Boogeyman hell-bent on destroying everything in their way.
They lacked support for the total ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, so they were trying to do it subtly and slowly to avoid the internal and international backlash. And it was working! People like you think that Israel isn't the aggressor because of that subtly. They successfully fooled people like you into thinking they weren't carrying out a genocide before Oct 7th.
The mask has been ripped away. Now we all see what Israel really is.
No we don't. It's just you having an "A-ha!" moment.
Regular people don't have time to worry about the grand scheme of things. What we all do though is look at things from afar and think we know everything about them.
Personally, I think that for better or worse, we're all people. And if you look beyond just Israel, you'll likely find that the similarities currently engulfing us at a global level is a problem all nations of every culture struggle with.
Some do it better, but none have yet gotten rid of the actual source of the problem.
The majority of USAmericans now oppose Israel's actions in Gaza. This is the first time in my life that it's normal to oppose Israel and it's only going to get worse from here on. The mask has been ripped away.
Something fundamental has changed, even if you and Sanders want to keep pretending.
Israel is agression.
Israel is a nation. In any nation there are many different people. If you ask why none of them do anything about their government, then you are working with a mistaken premise.
Look in the mirror. Your efforts are the same as theirs, Small, unseen and ignored. You can't ask more of them than you ask of yourself and if it doesn't seem enough, then that should be an answer in itself.
Israel is an extremist terrorist group.