Israel Day Parade to Return to New York Against a Changed Backdrop
By: Liam Stack, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, and Miles G. Cohen (The New York Times)
Israel has become a simmering contention Democrats must confront before it begins to boil over politically. Is opposition to the hardline government of Benjamin Netanyahu really anti-Semitic? Doubtless those who support Netanyahu will play the 'Jew card'. Is opposition to Netanyahu's hardline expansionist policies really anti-Semitic? Does the contrived moral immunity really allow Israel to do anything it wants? Does the Holocaust really justify turning Gaza into a death camp on the Mediterranean?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
May 31, 2026 -- Pro-Israel New Yorkers gathered on Sunday for the annual Israel Day Parade, a celebration of the Jewish state, but for the first time in recent memory the mayor of New York City did not join them.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani decided not to participate, citing his longtime opposition to the Israeli government. Parade organizers said they believed he was the first mayor to skip the parade since its start in 1964.
Many other elected officials marched in Manhattan on Sunday, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Jessica Tisch, the New York City police commissioner.
Ms. Hochul said at a news conference as the parade started that the group was marching "in defiance."
"When you go to worship with your families, you should not have to endure harassment, intimidation or hatred from anyone," she said. "We're going to stand up to make sure that you're protected."
The Israel Day Parade has been a staple of New York's political calendar for decades, and elected officials and political candidates have often viewed it as an important way to signal support for Israel and solidarity with Jewish New Yorkers.
Mr. Mamdani, the city’s first Muslim mayor, has long been a critic of Israel. He has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and threatened to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, if he visited New York City.
“I said on the campaign trail I would not be attending the parade, and I have made my views on the Israeli government abundantly clear,” Mr. Mamdani said at a news conference last week focused on security preparations for the parade.
Standing by his side, Ms. Tisch indicated that she would march as a representative of his administration. She and Mr. Mamdani said security for the annual event would be tighter than ever.
“As the mayor of our city, I take seriously my responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of every New Yorker and every event, regardless of my attendance,” the mayor said.
Ms. Tisch, who is Jewish and has been a longtime supporter of Israel, described the parade as “one of the most joyful days of the year.”
She added: “It is the mayor’s decision not to march, and it is my decision to march proudly.”
At least two former mayors attended the parade: Michael R. Bloomberg, who is Jewish and marched with Ms. Tisch, and Eric Adams, a supporter of Israel who appeared with Amir Ohana, the speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.
Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, also marched, according to a spokesman from his Religious Zionist Party. He was not on the official list of attendees that the Israeli consulate sent to The New York Times before the parade.
Thousands of people attended the parade. There was a heavy police presence, and attendees were screened for weapons to enter a secured area along the route.
“Since I crossed Fifth Avenue, I feel very safe,” said Cheryl Kempner, 61, who drove about an hour from New Jersey to attend her first Israel Day parade.
“But I’ve got to tell you: When I come here on a normal day I don’t feel safe,” said Ms. Kempner, who normally tucks her Star of David pendant under her collar whenever she’s in the city.
Ms. Kempner, who said she was the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, said she felt she had to come to the parade amid a rise in antisemitic attacks.
“We have to be here,” she said. “If we don’t speak up for ourselves, who’s going to speak up for us?”
Some other elected officials joined Mr. Mamdani in skipping the event. So did several progressive groups, including Jews for Racial and Economic Justice and Israelis For Peace.
Two Jewish candidates running for Congress in a closely watched Democratic primary for a Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn district each made different choices. Brad Lander, a critic of Israel and an ally of Mr. Mamdani’s, did not attend the parade and instead canvassed with a progressive Jewish group. Representative Dan Goldman, the incumbent, marched in the parade.
The atmosphere surrounding the parade has become more complicated in the years since the deadly Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which led to a yearslong series of wars across the Middle East, including in Gaza, where fighting has killed more than 70,000 people and destroyed the economy and civilian infrastructure. Israel has also launched offensives in Lebanon, Iran and elsewhere.
The civilian toll of those conflicts has led to a rapid deterioration of public support for Israel in the United States, with 60 percent of Americans and 80 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now expressing a negative view of the country, according to the Pew Research Center.
That deepening negativity has also been driven by the findings of a United Nations commission and Israeli and international human rights groups that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Israel has repeatedly rejected those claims, as have many of its supporters in the United States.
A small group of about a dozen demonstrators gathered quietly along the parade route near East 66th Street, some holding signs criticizing the Israeli government or advocating “a shared Israeli-Palestinian future.” But major pro-Palestinian groups that have organized previous antiwar protests were not present, and the parade went on without disruption.
The parade, which embraced the theme “Proud Americans, Proud Zionists,” took place this year against a nationwide backdrop of rising antisemitism, including a number of events in New York that have left the city’s Jewish community on edge. In response to those concerns, Ms. Tisch said the city had enacted its most comprehensive security plans ever for the event.
Rebeccah Rivera, 18, a recent graduate of a Bronx high school, said she experienced antisemitism after posting on social media about her Jewish heritage after the Oct. 7 attacks. She held a small Israeli flag at the parade.
“I just feel like there aren’t a lot of people that I can get along with, so being here, seeing everybody that is Jewish, it’s amazing,” she said.
Some Jewish leaders were disappointed by Mr. Mamdani’s absence. Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, which has been sharply critical of Mr. Mamdani since before he was elected, said the mayor had chosen to “turn his back on the world’s largest Jewish community outside of Israel.”
Mr. Greenblatt said the parade was “a celebration of Jewish identity, pride and community” and not the Israeli government.
Many elected officials attended the march, including Chuck Schumer, the U.S. senator; Letitia James, the state attorney general; and Julie Menin, the City Council speaker. Bruce Blakeman, the Republican candidate for governor, criticized Mr. Mamdani for not attending.
Ms. Menin, who is Jewish, said the march was not “in favor of the government — we’re marching in favor of Jewish pride and Jewish identity.”
“I just don’t think a parade should be synonymous with the Israeli government, because it’s not.”
Sally Goldenberg, Eryn Davis and Aaron Boxerman contributed reporting.
Liam Stack is a Times reporter who covers the culture and politics of the New York City region.
Emma G. Fitzsimmons is a public policy correspondent for The Times, covering New York City.
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The Holocaust was much larger than just Jews. Roughly half the people killed by NAZIs during the Holocaust were Jews. According to some estimates, the NAZIs killed more Soviet civilians during the Holocaust than Jews. And the NAZIs exterminated over 3 million Soviet prisoners of war. (That's why Russia hates the NAZIs.)
So, playing the 'Jew card' as a political expedient to dismiss outrage over the actions of the Netanyahu government won't quiet the opposition. If anything dismissing that outrage as anti-Semitic will only make the issue more contentious and more difficult to defend. Playing the 'Jew card' to excuse atrocities will ultimately legitimize anti-Semitism in political discourse.
Please tell me if this is "playing the Jew card"?
When have the Israelis started a war? They have been attacked by their neighbours many times since the State of Israel was declared forcing them to defend themselves, which they generally have done successfully. Nobody bothers to concern themselves that what Israel has been doing is retaliation in an attempt to stop the attacks against it. Hamas is a special case. Oct 7 was not only a major unwarrented provocation, it was really a continuation of the many missiles, kite bombs, balloon bombs fired into Isreal over the years, and the seriousness of Oct 7 NECESSITATED Israel's REQUIREMENT to rescue the hostages and end Hamas' ability to attack Israel forever NO MATTER WHAT IT TOOK, and DUE TO Hamas's WAR CRIMES of hiding its militants, weapons and control centres in and under hospitals, schools, mosques and refugee centres and using human shields, it FORCED Israel to attack them in such places, unfortunately causing civilian casualties, which Israel tried to not cause by doing something no other army had ever done before - send emails, make phone calls and drop pamphlets telling the civilians to abandon where Israel was going to attack.
Hamas is Iran's proxy, the nation that trained and armed Hamas, including the power of psychological warfare so successfully effective on the ignorant gullibility of the rest of the world. Iran's proxy Hezbollah was not attacked by Israel until Hezbollah joined Hamas in the war against Israel. The Iran proxie the Houthies were not attacked until they joined Hamas in the war against Israel. Not only did Iran attack Israel through its proxies, it entered the war by attacking Israel itself with missiles sent. THAT WAR IS STILL HAPPENING. It is being continued by Hezbollah and IMO it is the same war as the USA and Israel are carrying on against Iran today. Israel is doing whatever it can to stop Hezbollah from STILL sending missiles and explosive drones into Israel. I PERSONALLY KNOW the effect of what Hezbollah contines to do because I HAD TO RUN AND HIDE IN A SHELTER when during 2000 I visited a kibbutz in northern Israel in order to not be killed by Hezbollah's missiles.
But what the hell is the use of my attitude, my explanation, because the media doesn't give a shit about the truth. Its bias against Israel is so fucking obvious a little kid should see it. Allow me to repeat as well as I can something I posted on NT years ago. The media posted a headline like "Israel Kills Two Gazans At the Israel-Gaza Border". Israel's fault, right? So, as many don't bother reading past the headlines or the first paragraph of a story, they didn't get to see that the third paragraph explains:"Two Hamas militants broke through the border fence and started lobbing grenades at the IDF soldiers guaring the border, and were shot by the IDF." A nice trick to get people who don't read on to think "Those fucking Jews just can't stop killling people", right? I learned that antisemitic game the media is playing because I learned somthing about reporting when I was the editor of my universtiy student newspaper. And if you want to see the kind of anti-Israel bias that is building Jew hatred in the world, just watch the CGTN TV program "The Heat". It EXCELLS in antisemitic programming.
IMO it is the media's bias that is building world-wide antisemitism against the Jews by misleading the ignorant gullible public - ALWAYS starting its stories with Israel did this and Israel did that, but RARELY what provoked it, or what it had no choice to commit. Of course it doesn't matter, because even Jewish antisemites like Bernie Sanders are going to be victimized since nobody gives a shit it a Jew is for or against what Israel is doing, a Jew is a Jew and a person to hate.
That is the 'Jew card'. That excuse is supposed to give Israel the moral authority to engage in any atrocity.
The Jewish population in the United States is as large as the Jewish population in Israel. Are American Jews responsible for Gazafication? Are American Jews responsible for the atrocities in the West Bank? Why does Benjamin Netanyahu speak for all Jews around the world? Who made Netanyahu the ruler of all the Jews? Why isn't Netanyahu blamed for the rise in anti-Semitism? The Netanyahu government is given a pass because of the 'Jew card'.
I don't like Netanyahu for lots of reasons. I don't like the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel or anywhere else, even for PERSONAL reasons, and I don't support Israel's expansion into Judea and Sumaria - it should be a matter of negotiation. BUT I damn well believe in and stand for everything I wrote in my previous comment, "Jew card" or not.
While I think using the card phrase is a very sensitive subject, I agree that no amount of prior suffering gives anyone the right to meet out that suffering on other innocent people. I think instead of it giving Jewish people any 'moral authority to engage', it should give them 'moral insight' into such atrocities since their families lived it and should never want to see it happen to anyone else. They should be more against indiscriminate bombing of civilians than anyone. And frankly that's what we're seeing from many Jewish Americans.
It's the Israelis that are not allowed to live in peace, and IMO they have the right to do whatever is necessary to achieve that right. And I think I've pointed out that the Israelis are not the perpetrators of the necessity for the Israelis to do whatever they have to do in order to survive. I would be surprised if Americans did not do the same should they be put to the same test. It's easy to preach to others what they should do when the preachers don't experience what the Israels have to experience.
Netanyahu's affect on perception of Jews is no different than Trump's affect on perception of Americans. We share a similar problem.
Opposing the Netanyahu government policies is not anti-Semitic in the same way that opposing Trump's policies is not un-American.
Using the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism to conflate the uncivilized actions of the Israeli government with 'Jew-ness' is playing the 'Jew card'. The 'Jew card' is being used as political cover for a government rather than as a protection for Jews. The IHRA definition of anti-Semitism explicitly requires considering context. Opposing the actions of the Israeli government is not anti-Semitic in and of itself.
I intended it to be sensitive. I deliberately intended a comparison between the 'Jew card' and the 'race card'.
Israel has a right to exist as a nation. But Israel has no more right to expand its borders though military force than any other nation. If Russian annexation of Ukrainian territory violates international law then Israel's annexation of Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon also violates international law. If Israel is to exist as a state then Israel must conform to the same responsibilities and restrictions that apply to other nationa. The 'Jew card' does not provide immunity from international law.
A government should be required to do what is necessary to defend the lives of its citizens. If that is the reason for despising a government then ALL governments should be equally despised. Israelis don't necessarilly "turn the other cheek". I agree with the International Holocaust Remembrance definition of antisemitism when it comes to Israel, and am very much aware that Israel's present government is not perfect. The expression "nobody's perfect" isn't limited to characters in movies.
Defending the lives of Israeli citizens does not require starving children in Gaza. Standing on the graves of the Holocaust as a political stage does not excuse indiscriminate bombing and annexation of territory. And the 'Jew card" is no longer adequate justification for US support of the current Israeli government and its actions.
From this distance there's really no distinction between the Israeli government and Hamas or Hezbollah. Their objectives and priorities appear to be destruction, killing, and denying the existence of each other through violence.
Does Lebanon have a right to exist as a nation? Or does the 'Jew card' trump that right to exist as a nation?
Before Oct 7 was Israel lobbing missiles into Lebanon? Before Oct 7 was Israel lobbing missiles into Gaza? Before Oct 7 18000 Gazans had good paying jobs in Israel, and Israel hospitals were healing Gazans. Israel was not trying to colonize Gaza, and in fact all Jews left Gaza, some even had to be forcibly removed from Gaza by the IDF. You ignored my explanation above why Hamas forced Israel to use the tactics it did, and that Israel warned the civilians to leave where they were going to bomb. Besides maybe you do but I don't believe what Hamas tells the world, or did you miss that early on Hamas accused Israel of bombing the hospital in Gaza City causing 500 deaths in the parking lot, and THEN it was established that it was actually an errant missile launched by a different Gazan militant group, and even AFTER that the lie was still being told. If Gazan children were starving, you can be sure that Hamas was well fed.
And if I were an American, I would not hypocritically say Israel was starving the Gazans. Ever heard of Cuba?
So, does "whatever necessary" include torturing and raping those you've deemed "enemies"? Does it include cannibalism? Biological warfare? And along with those questions, how exactly is "peace" defined? If a single Israeli is attacked does that mean genocide is okay? Or is indiscriminate bombing of civilians only allowed if two Israelis are attacked?
Yes, they are. You can't claim that they're not responsible for bombing civilians simply because their civilians got attacked first. It's simply not logical Buzz, your comments defending Israel seem to run solely on emotion. I get that you saw atrocities, I get that Israel was attacked and they are the victims, but that still doesn't give them the right to use 'any means' to retaliate. While some might think it would be justice to have rounded up German civilians after WWII and marched them into the gas chambers in retaliation, is that really who Israel wants to become?
With this administration being run by reichwing religious bigots itching for a chance to murder anyone they've labeled an enemy, you have a point. But I do not think that is a feeling shared by most Americans.
What America has done to Cuban civilians over the years is shameful though it hasn't been the kind of starvation Gaza has experienced, at least not until now. I do not support Trump or his reckless war in Iran and stupid imperialist thirst for more territory. I am ashamed of this administration and the low IQ gullible idiots that put them in power just like I believe I would be ashamed of Bibi were I an Israeli watching the murder of innocent Palestinian civilians.
Iran's psychological warfare they trained Hamas to carry out and Hamas' tactics as I described above have been more successful than I thought.
So, I'm brainwashed to not support genocide? You do know I've never defended Hamas or any terrorist attacks on anyone let alone the attacks on Israel, right? Bibi's bombing of innocent civilians doesn't justify Palestinian suicide bombers or even the throwing of rocks at Israeli soldiers and the suicide bombers and rock throwers don't justify Israel's bombing of innocent civilians.
I think what it really comes down to is that progressives such as myself believe there are innocent civilians in Palestine, and others with clear emotional trauma refuse to accept that fact. They have convinced themselves that an entire people, women, children, babies, fetuses in the womb, if they're born Palestinian then that's their bad luck because they deserve to be exterminated because a group of their adults said, "Death to Israel!" and committed atrocities.
While I understand the desire for some fantasy future where those you consider ideological enemies don't exist, rationalizing genocide to bring about such a future is just as evil as any ideological enemy you might encounter.
some claim they have no hatred for the Palestinians but every comment they write belies that "truth"
Agreed.
I think this is oversimplistic. It is an ideal without regard for context. Israel was attacked by five Arab armies less than 24 hours after declaring independence. Since that time, there was never a moment where they actually had real peace. Only rearming intervals by those trying to destroy them. And, as far as I can tell, the UN backed much of it. At some point, "international law" begins to look like the stake the goat is tied to.
You will note that Nerm concocted that Israel wanted to annex Gaza and Lebanon - which is blatantly false. As for Judea and Sumaria, they were conquered by Israel in a defensive war so Israel believes it is justified in its settlements there.
I have an idea for those who are so anti-Israel because of its tactics in its war with Hamas, made necessary by Hamas' war crimes that I listed in an earlier comment. Why not submit a questionaire to each Gazan male over 12 years old, for them to check boxes as to whether or not they are Hamas militants, as to whether or not they took part in the Oct 7 massacre, as to whether or not they raped and murdered young Israeli girls there, as to whether or not they cooked Israeli infants in stoves in front of the parents, as to whether or not they took hostages, as to whether or not they know where the hostages are being held, and fill in the location if they do. THEN there would not have to be so many casualties of war because, of course, by complying, the Hamas MONSTERS would make the ignorant gullible people of the world happy because there would not have to be so many casualties of innocent people who danced in the streets and shared candies when Oct 7 happened as they did on 9/11.
I don't know about Lebanon, but I think Israel, or Netanyahu at least, would love to annex Gaza. I would, if I were in his place. It would simplify their security situation greatly, as I don't believe that Gaza will ever change. I'm not a fan of Netanyahu, but the Palestinians are every bit as responsible for him as he is himself. They (and others like Iran and Hezbollah) helped create the conditions that allowed him to come to power.
Although it was my opinion that Israel did not have intentions for Gaza because of the fact that all the Jewish settlers were pulled out of Gaza, I can't disagree with the possibillity of your opinon about it. Other than that I entirely agree with your comment..
Different administration. I think they were essentially hoping the Palestinians there would behave rationally and form something stable and not based on hatred of Israel. I think they were hoping that, had they done so, it would have encouraged the rest of the Palestinians in the other areas to just get on with life and stop trying to eliminate Israel. They might have gotten their state. Unfortunately, Palestinians in general do not seem to be rational concerning Israel.
Unfortunately, there is an infectious meme in the world today that reduces everything into an oppressor/suppressed mentality. They do not appear to be able to think in terms beyond that. Hence, you get things like charges of genocide. Apparently, although everyone knows that Hamas is a death cult terrorist organization and that they're bad, actually doing something about them can't be allowed because it would involve civilian casualties. It doesn't matter that Hamas is actually made up of Palestinians and has (or had) the support of the majority of Palestinians, we can't harm civilians, which ignores pretty much the entirety of warfare.
Personally, I find that ridiculous. Taking what I consider to be a similar situation here in the US, I think a substantial portion of our military should be lined up at the Mexican border, ready to invade. Then, I'd tell the Mexican government they'd better do something about their cartels or we will. I'm sorry that invading will be hard on their civilians, but if civilians are going to die, I'd prefer theirs to ours. And ours have been dying for decades due to the cartels. I really don't see the need to complicate it further. Especially after all the alternatives we've tried over the years.
So, yeah. I get what Israel is doing, or trying to do. I'd be invading Lebanon, too. Not to annex it, but to eliminate Hezbollah, or at least reducing it enough so that Lebanon could take their country back on their own.
Right on, Drakkonis! Your intelligent comment cuts through the noise around here.
That seems to be true of many groups but that doesn't justify indiscrminate bombing of civilians.
Oh, okay, I forgot. So, if we, without proof, assume the 'majority of civilians' support groups that have been terrorizing and murdering other civilians, then that justifies the murder and terrorizing of those civilians using any means necessary. Got it.
So, do you believe the deity you worship cares less for the life of a Mexican or Palestinian than it does of an American life? Because that's what it seems you're saying that dead innocent Mexicans and Palestinians are preferable to you than dead innocent Americans.
Should the US support Ukraine if they started sending in drone and missile attacks on known civilian targets and schools in Russia? Would we be cheering at the news of 70,000 Russian civilians targeted and killed in indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Russia? Would that be okay? I mean, if civilians are going to die, we'd prefer theirs to our allies, right? Or would seeing a bunch of white likely Christian women and children laying dead in the rubble hit too close to home?
Personally, I'd rather not have the blood of any innocent civilians on my hands and support doing everything we can to avoid those deaths. But I know that some bitter emotional partisans, smarmy dipshits and loser wannabe Rambo's think their assumptions about others guilt (especially those that don't look like them or speak the same language or worship a different God) should be enough to sentence them to death, or at least justify the murder of thousands of innocents while they desperately try to convince themselves they're the righteous ones. I truly feel sad for such worthless humans who could callously justify the indiscriminate bombing of any civilians anywhere.
Claiming the right to murder civilians is what weak worthless despots do, and I used to think it was something Americans would never condone. Cleary I was wrong.
Clearly...
I wonder how many civilians in Italy, Germany and Japan were killed by those despots Roosevelt and Truman.
So when the enemy, who are declared terrorists, hides itself, its weapons and control centres in and under hospitals, schools, moques and refugee camps and I damn well bet UNWRA facilities as well, and uses human shields, and dress like civilians, all of which are blatant war crimes, and so you make phone calls, send emails and drop leaflets telling the civilians to abandon where you will bomb, I suppose to achieve the need to free the hostages and end the ability of the enemy to attack you, you will just tolerate them and ask every male over 12 to voluntarily give up their arms and hand over the hostages to you? Is that what you think will work?
That's a different story - you weren't defending Israel.
If you wish to speak to me through methods other than silly projections, I'm your guy. Otherwise, not so much.
So, where are the invading Arab armies today? The only tanks on the move are Israeli. The only aircraft in the sky are Israeli. The only troops occupying territory are Israeli. What is happening today does not fit your context.
Following the Oct. 7 terror attack, Israel was justified in killing the leadership of Hamas. Destroying the tunnels in Gaza was strategically appropriate. But the goal of eradicating Hamas could only be achieved through genocide and that is unacceptable. Today the Netanyahu government is planning to annex (not occupy) 70% of Gaza. Israel is planning to occupy a third of Lebanon. Doesn't Lebanon have a right to exist as a nation? And the Netanyahu government is sending IDF troops into the the West Bank to defend Israeli terror and land grabs. How does that fit your context?
Israel under the current hardline government has become a rogue nation that threatens regional stability. Israel has adopted a 'maximum pressure' policy that chooses war over negotiation. Why? Because Israel expects the American people to defend any damned thing their government does. The US hates Muslims, after all. The US will fight Muslims on any pretext. The only thing Israel needs to do is throw red meat into the American political arena.
Most of what Israel has done is what it has been forced to do in order to protect itself because it has historically incessantly been attacked by its neighbours or individuals from them. What would life be like in the USA if it had to suffer a Pearl Harbor and a 9/11 originating from Canada and Mexico every few years? There is a line from a Bob Dylan song: "Don't criticize what you can't understand."
You and so many others love to use the word "genocide", but you REFUSE to comprehend that the great number of casualties was caused by the declared terrorists Hamas because of the war crimes THEY have commited, described by me 10 fucking times already. Israel had the RIGHT to defeat Hamas and rescue the hostages, and according to Col. Richard Kemp did more to prevent civilian casualties than any army in history.
THIS is why Israel had to keep fighting in order to completely eradicate Hamas:
We will repeat the October 7 attack time and again until Israel is annihilated, says Hamas official Ghazi Hamad
LINK - We will repeat the October 7 attack time and again until Israel is annihilated, says Hamas official Ghazi Hamad | LBC
.
Bottom line.
The USA has experienced roughly 400,000 fatalities over the last 30 years from the cartel drug trade crossing the Mexican border.
Definition of Genocide /ˈjenəˌsīd/ : Genocide is the deliberate, systematic destruction—in whole or in part—of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
Here is the UN definition of genocide:
International law does not recognize revenge or retribution as justification for genocide. Hamas was responsible for the Oct. 7 terror attacks, not the Palestinian people. Hezbollah has been responsible for missile attacks on Israel, not the Lebanese or Syrian people.
Riiiiight, because an underground terror group, as bad as they may be, should be considered the same as three countries that decaled war on their neighbors and invaded with hundreds of thousands of troops raping and murdering their way through other nations. And even back in 1932 the US signed and ratified the 1929 Geneva Convention relating to the treatment of prisoners of war and later ratified the four Geneva Conventions of August 12, 1949.
Now, did they end up bombing and killing innocent civilians? Yes. There is almost always collateral damage in such wars. And while I grew up believing the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a last resort and the only thing that would end the war and save American lives, I know now in context and hindsight that the truth is far more complex and not necessarily something we should be proud of. With that said, our brave men and women who have put their lives on the line to protect our nation have always expressed a desire to do everything they can to avoid the indiscriminate killing of civilians, even when their opponents refuse to.
In this case, Bibi and the current conservative regime in Israel are not even making a pretense of protecting civilians. That's all I'm wanting to see. They clearly have the right to defend themselves and use targeted lethal force against any aggressors. But I will not condone their actions when they fat finger the missile launchers and airstrikes to wipe out an entire district of civilians because some idiot somewhere within was taking pot shots or throwing rocks towards Israel.
Retired British Army Colonel Describes Gaza Conflict as Intensely Challenging for Israel
LINK - Retired British Army Colonel Describes Gaza Conflict as Intensely Challenging for Israel - Internewscast Journal
VERY different from a war invasion. The drug trade is a matter of supply and demand, and when it comes to drugs, it is the Americans themselves who are demanding the supply, and the cartels are merely succumbing to the demand by providing the supply. Why would they bother if there were no demand? You are suggesting that Israel was DEMANDING to be invaded.
As for "genocide", Israel had no choice but to rescue the hostages and terminate Hamas' ability to wage war, especially due to Hamas' threat that it will repeat Oct 7 over and over again, so no matter what definition you use for the word the war methods of Hamas are what governed the required response, as I have pointed out about 10 times already and I'm getting sick and tired of having to point it out over and over and over and over.......
Actually, it does. The point wasn't the armies in and of themselves. The point is that the moment Israel began to exist again as a sovereign nation, they have been fighting for survival to this day. It isn't the countless individual instances that prove this that is in view concerning my context. It is that it is unceasing.
I disagree. Unless one considers any form of warfare genocide, one cannot simply claim genocide is being committed. Not even if innocents die. That's just part of what makes war a terrible thing. It is not necessarily genocide because of that.
I get the impression that you are for the concept of proportionality. I'm not against the idea but there are limits to it, in my view. That limit was most definitely reached on October 7th, 2023. That was not a military operation. It was a despicable, unforgivable act by animals, intent on creating as much horror as they possibly could. Hamas gloried in the evil they committed that day. The only appropriate response by a country's leadership is to permanently eliminate that threat forever so that it will never happen again.
Israel is trying to do that because they have a responsibility to their people. Palestinians have a responsibility for theirs. They allowed Hamas to rule over them. Hamas is made up of Palestinians. Hamas uses their own population as shields. It is them, not Israel, that are responsible for most of those "innocent" deaths. Hamas, being the animals that they are, actively seek the deaths of their own people in their warped concept of martyrdom. If anyone is guilty of genocide, Hamas comes far, far closer to it than Israel ever has. Hamas wants to kill every single Jew and they do not care who they kill to achieve that, even if it means the deaths of their own people. In fact, they actively seek it for the propaganda value it has for them.
For the most part, I do not believe that Israel is trying to kill every Palestinian. I believe they do not want to kill non-combatants. If they were, most in Gaza would already be dead. They're not. My prayer is that the Gazans are finally going to be wearied nearly to death of living in hatred all the time. That they will want to just stop. Live life. But if not, I find it hard to have much pity for them.
That is not yet certain. That is, there's nothing officially stated by Israel about it. It is true that Netanyahu has ordered that the 60% of Gaza under military control be increased to 70%, which I assume will eventually be increased to 100%. Israel would be insane not to do so. I don't think they should leave until all of Hamas has been eradicated, either.
Doesn't Israel? What would you do as your country's leader if your neighbor was always shooting at you and you had the power to do something about it? Does not Lebanon have a responsibility to stop being the aggressor? Or do you think a nation has the right to host what amounts to a proxy army of Iran that has as its goal the extermination of Jews? And a third of Lebanon is already occupied without a single Israeli even being there, or do you not know that Hezbollah is not answerable to the Lebanese government? They are a government of their own that is in Lebanon. So, what difference would it really make anyway? If Lebanon doesn't want to be occupied by Israel, then they ought to do something about the thing that causes Israel to occupy their land in the first place.
Stability. Right. Do you recognize that either there never has been stability there or you consider stability to be Israel living under constant threat. That might be normal. I wouldn't call it stable. Can't really call a nation that has to keep bomb shelters up to date and functional at all times living in stability.
And honestly, I don't understand how you can call a nation that has lived so long under constant threat, underwent the horror of October 7th, 23 and said, "No more. This is the last straw. We're done with this" as the rogue nation here, rather than Gaza under Hamas, and Lebanon under Hezbollah, as if they're the aggrieved parties in all of this. It's hard to see your view as not "Israel should just go back to living under constant threat and wait for this to happen again so they don't seem like the bad guys in all of this."
Negotiation? How do you "negotiate" this? What will it take to prove to you that there is no negotiating with people whose sole reason for living is to kill you? Of course Hamas and Hezbollah want to "negotiate." They're getting the crap kicked out of them. They don't want peace. They want space to rebuild rearm and come up with a new plan. What is it going to take to prove this to you? I mean, honestly, what do you think there is to negotiate? How do you negotiate with Freddy Kruger?
More accurate to say rational Americans hate Islam and with good reason.
Words of Wisdom. Thank you Drakkonis.
I've said what I have to say about this and am not extending this dialogue any further.
I guess I spoke too soon, or else should have posted that as a reply. I guess I'm going to have to use an IMPASSE from now on, cause I guess I'm the only one around here who's willing to defend Israel, you know, that miserable nation that starves children, rapes and tortures - worse than the Japanese during WW2.