I mean yes and no. Have you seen the protests in Israel? Yeah those aren’t because the Israeli public suddenly cares about human rights; they’re equal parts because Netanyahu wants to get rid of democracy in Israel and because of his disregard for the hostages’ lives in his assault on Gaza, so they are doing their job. And let’s remember that their real role hasn’t come yet; these hostages are there for after the “war” ends because without any hostages Israel will be turning Gaza into beachfront real estate.
And let’s remember that their real role hasn’t come yet; these hostages are there for after the “war” ends because without any hostages Israel will be turning Gaza into beachfront real estate.
How many hostages have the IDF killed already? Do you really think that if turning Gaza into beachfront real estate and the handful of hostages that are left will be enough to stay the Israeli far-right? Hamas already released 150 hostages once just to acquire a four-day ceasefire. You really think that the hostages are being held for when the “war” ends? Do you really think they’re that valuable? If you were in Israel’s position, with Israel’s goals and morality, would you stop for the hostages? When the “war” ends, the IDF will either have taken them or buried them under the rubble like every other civilian in the strip.
The hostages are not the trump card people here seem to think they are, and considering Hamas’s negotiating attitude towards them, they are far more aware of that than people here, who seem to want to think that the hostages are the major thing ‘keeping’ Israel from completing their genocide, when the fact is that they’re well on their way, as though the hostages were not an issue at all. The only concession that was realistic was the release of prisoners and a temporary ceasefire; the idea that Israel, which has yearned for this genocide for decades, will suddenly stop for hostages they’ve already shot and bombed to death, and an unknown amount of whom are already dead, is insane.
Hostages do not have the value people here are telling themselves they do. Certainly not less-than-half the hostages they had a few short months ago, God knows how many have died for lack of medical treatment or getting an Israeli bomb stoving their head in. These hundred-and-something (if that) hostages do not have that value in the context of a war that has already claimed thousands of Israeli lives and tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, in a conflict that has been at fever-pitch, at minimum, for 20 years, more realistically 30, and arguably the last 70 (though I would argue that the phases of the genocide are different enough to be counted as separate attempts at genocide over the full period of Israel’s existence).
I just don’t understand how people on here are coming to this conclusion. I can’t even say it’s wishful thinking, unless imaginations on here regarding what they wish for are severely limited. It reminds me of when my grandfather would read a news article, immediately come to an impulsive conclusion, and then refuse to change it for any reason. “Hostages are invaluable” is a gut reaction from people who live largely in the West, in lands at peace, by actors who make much more limited demands, and by governments which give more of a damn about PR than the fucking Israelis. And fuck, man, even then - after 9/11, how long did the US go with “No negotiations with terrorists”? Do you think Israeli resolve to finish up their genocide is less than the post-9/11 paranoia and rage in the US?
I really don’t know how the people on Lemmy are approaching this the way they are. It is utterly detached from reality. It’s like showing that you have two-of-a-kind and then going all-in. The hostages are a two-of-a-kind. If the hostages are the key point, Hamas is fucked; and, as much as I despise Hamas, at this moment in time that also means Palestine is fucked.
I mean yes and no. Have you seen the protests in Israel? Yeah those aren’t because the Israeli public suddenly cares about human rights; they’re equal parts because Netanyahu wants to get rid of democracy in Israel and because of his disregard for the hostages’ lives in his assault on Gaza, so they are doing their job. And let’s remember that their real role hasn’t come yet; these hostages are there for after the “war” ends because without any hostages Israel will be turning Gaza into beachfront real estate.
How many hostages have the IDF killed already? Do you really think that if turning Gaza into beachfront real estate and the handful of hostages that are left will be enough to stay the Israeli far-right? Hamas already released 150 hostages once just to acquire a four-day ceasefire. You really think that the hostages are being held for when the “war” ends? Do you really think they’re that valuable? If you were in Israel’s position, with Israel’s goals and morality, would you stop for the hostages? When the “war” ends, the IDF will either have taken them or buried them under the rubble like every other civilian in the strip.
The hostages are not the trump card people here seem to think they are, and considering Hamas’s negotiating attitude towards them, they are far more aware of that than people here, who seem to want to think that the hostages are the major thing ‘keeping’ Israel from completing their genocide, when the fact is that they’re well on their way, as though the hostages were not an issue at all. The only concession that was realistic was the release of prisoners and a temporary ceasefire; the idea that Israel, which has yearned for this genocide for decades, will suddenly stop for hostages they’ve already shot and bombed to death, and an unknown amount of whom are already dead, is insane.
Hostages do not have the value people here are telling themselves they do. Certainly not less-than-half the hostages they had a few short months ago, God knows how many have died for lack of medical treatment or getting an Israeli bomb stoving their head in. These hundred-and-something (if that) hostages do not have that value in the context of a war that has already claimed thousands of Israeli lives and tens of thousands of Palestinian lives, in a conflict that has been at fever-pitch, at minimum, for 20 years, more realistically 30, and arguably the last 70 (though I would argue that the phases of the genocide are different enough to be counted as separate attempts at genocide over the full period of Israel’s existence).
I just don’t understand how people on here are coming to this conclusion. I can’t even say it’s wishful thinking, unless imaginations on here regarding what they wish for are severely limited. It reminds me of when my grandfather would read a news article, immediately come to an impulsive conclusion, and then refuse to change it for any reason. “Hostages are invaluable” is a gut reaction from people who live largely in the West, in lands at peace, by actors who make much more limited demands, and by governments which give more of a damn about PR than the fucking Israelis. And fuck, man, even then - after 9/11, how long did the US go with “No negotiations with terrorists”? Do you think Israeli resolve to finish up their genocide is less than the post-9/11 paranoia and rage in the US?
I really don’t know how the people on Lemmy are approaching this the way they are. It is utterly detached from reality. It’s like showing that you have two-of-a-kind and then going all-in. The hostages are a two-of-a-kind. If the hostages are the key point, Hamas is fucked; and, as much as I despise Hamas, at this moment in time that also means Palestine is fucked.