Thomas L. Friedman: What protesters on both sides get wrong

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Readers have been asking me, and I have been asking myself of late, how I feel about the campus demonstrations to stop the war in the Gaza Strip.

-snip--

First, they are virtually all about stopping Israel’s shameful behavior in killing so many Palestinian civilians in its pursuit of Hamas fighters, while giving a free pass to Hamas’ shameful breaking of the cease-fire that existed on Oct. 7. On that morning, Hamas launched an invasion in which it murdered Israeli parents in front of their children, children in front of their parents — documenting it on GoPro cameras — raped Israeli women and kidnapped or killed everyone they could get their hands on, from little kids to sick grandparents.

Again, you can be — and should be — appalled at Israel’s response: bombing everything in its path in Gaza so disproportionately that thousands of children have been killed, maimed and orphaned. But if you refuse to acknowledge what Hamas did to trigger this — not to justify what Israel has done, but to explain how the Jewish state could inflict so much suffering on Palestinian men, women and children in reverse — you’re just another partisan throwing a log on the fire. By giving Hamas a pass, the protests have put the onus on Israel to such a degree that its very existence is a target for some students, while Hamas’ murderous behavior is passed off as a praiseworthy adventure in decolonization.

Second, when people chant slogans like “liberate Palestine” and “from the river to the sea,” they are essentially calling for the erasure of the state of Israel, not a two-state solution. They are arguing that the Jewish people have no right to self-determination or self-defense. I don’t believe that about Jews, and I don’t believe that about Palestinians. I believe in a two-state solution in which Israel, in return for security guarantees, withdraws from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Arab areas of east Jerusalem, and a demilitarized Palestinian state that accepts the principle of two states for two peoples is established in those territories occupied in 1967.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/thomas-l-friedman-what-protesters-on-both-sides-get-wrong/

I've had my disagreements with Friedman in the past, most notably his support of the Iraq invasion but I think he makes some good points.

Unfortunately, there's a paywall so I edited this down best I could. This was originally in the New York Times if one has access.

[ExciteBike66]

1. If one wants to protest israels actions now, they must also always mention hamas's actions...

And then of course, shouldn't one mention Israel's earlier actions against the Palestinians, like settlements. And then also mention even EARLIER actions by the Palestinians. And so on, and so on, until we get right back to the first bad act, so far back in the past that it is forgotten.

Anyway, hamas is a terrorist group. It makes no sense to protest against them. They would probably welcome our hatred of them.

[Orrex]

2. Some solid points indeed

For me, it seems a mistake to hold the two sides to the same standard. Israel is a Democracy and a strong ally to the US, and we've supported them hugely for decades. Hamas is a terrorist regime that should be destroyed down to its last member.

Literally nothing can excuse the mass murder that Hamas perpetrated on Oct 7, and any rationalizations offered to the contrary are complete bullshit.

I have no qualms about holding our well-funded Democratic ally to a higher standard in their response to an unjustified attack by a vile terrorist enemy.