Sorry if it’s devolved to that! It’s not me downvoting your replies btw. As far as I’m concerned this is an interesting conversation not an argument, we both clearly feel strongly / passionately about our viewpoint and imo are being fairly cogent / non-combative with each other.
Re Al Jazeera, I’ve found their reporting difficult to trust for a while, and their current reporting imo is very strongly biased against Israel. EG the hospital blast, which many indie sources are now saying is almost certainly not due to an IDF strike (which they still haven’t retracted), or the ‘church destroyed’ which turned out to be a compound that Hamas had setup in next door, with one church wall being destroyed (and obv the compound next door). Though it begs the question, where can we turn right now for genuinely independant reporting on this? Israeli sources are going to slant heavily towards Israel / IDF, Palestinian sources are going to slant heavily towards Palestine / Hamas. Which goes back to my earlier point about taking a breath and trying, somehow, to remain objective in the face of rage-inducing content.
Not voting for either party is as powerful a message as a vote since each vote is counted and voter turnout is a very telling sign
Not sure exactly how it works in USA compared to UK, but I encourage everyone who genuinely doesn’t want to vote (I say genuinely because many simply can’t be bothered to engage, which I also understand when people are fatigued after a hard day’s work) to spoil their ballot rather than not voting. That way your non-engagement is directly observed and counted. Though ensure you do it properly, one guy here last election drew a dick on the ballot paper, but because the helmet strayed into a box, that was taken as his vote.
No apologies needed! :-) This has indeed been an interesting debate and really I commend you for trying to reason with me. Keep doing that!
Al Jazeera definitely has an Anti-Israel slant, but so far their reports have been corroborated by places such as the Intercept and Guardian (to an extent) and the BBC, again to an extent where the sites have bothered to cover the other side. I also keep checking these other sources just so I’m forming my own views instead of drinking from the firehose of a news outlet.
So far, anybody that’s investigated the hospital attack has been a party sanctioned by the Israeli Gov or the US. We’ve yet to see an independent UN backed source go in there and figure out what happened. Israel has also blocked off media and created a complete siege and are now banning Al Jazeera altogether after killing their reporter last year and another Reuters reporter this time. They are also the primary source of info unless a news agency sends their reporters in at peril to the region. They’ve taken more steps to hide things and have precedent in launching attacks such as these, not just in this conflict, which again have been back by first hand people from the region and then corroborated by various news agencies in the past.
Historically, they’ve got a lot more blood on their hands. I also hold them to a higher standard similar to the US and Europe, because they have the bigger stick and with power comes responsibility. This is why I might appear harsh, but I wish nothing but peace for the people of Israel and hope the people that have lost their loved ones find some solace.
Hamas is not the answer for Palestine and peace is the only way forward which begins with a cease fire in my view. It’s hard to criticize their choices in political leadership when they’ve been oppressed for the past 75yrs. That doesn’t mean complicit parties shouldn’t be held accountable and tried.
Anyway, point taken about sending in the ballot. I’m probably going to be writing to my state senator along with Biden’s office and doing my part that way, so my lack of engagement isn’t an actual lack of engagement but a protest. Best of luck to you and have a good one.
Sorry if it’s devolved to that! It’s not me downvoting your replies btw. As far as I’m concerned this is an interesting conversation not an argument, we both clearly feel strongly / passionately about our viewpoint and imo are being fairly cogent / non-combative with each other.
Re Al Jazeera, I’ve found their reporting difficult to trust for a while, and their current reporting imo is very strongly biased against Israel. EG the hospital blast, which many indie sources are now saying is almost certainly not due to an IDF strike (which they still haven’t retracted), or the ‘church destroyed’ which turned out to be a compound that Hamas had setup in next door, with one church wall being destroyed (and obv the compound next door). Though it begs the question, where can we turn right now for genuinely independant reporting on this? Israeli sources are going to slant heavily towards Israel / IDF, Palestinian sources are going to slant heavily towards Palestine / Hamas. Which goes back to my earlier point about taking a breath and trying, somehow, to remain objective in the face of rage-inducing content.
Not sure exactly how it works in USA compared to UK, but I encourage everyone who genuinely doesn’t want to vote (I say genuinely because many simply can’t be bothered to engage, which I also understand when people are fatigued after a hard day’s work) to spoil their ballot rather than not voting. That way your non-engagement is directly observed and counted. Though ensure you do it properly, one guy here last election drew a dick on the ballot paper, but because the helmet strayed into a box, that was taken as his vote.
No apologies needed! :-) This has indeed been an interesting debate and really I commend you for trying to reason with me. Keep doing that!
Al Jazeera definitely has an Anti-Israel slant, but so far their reports have been corroborated by places such as the Intercept and Guardian (to an extent) and the BBC, again to an extent where the sites have bothered to cover the other side. I also keep checking these other sources just so I’m forming my own views instead of drinking from the firehose of a news outlet.
So far, anybody that’s investigated the hospital attack has been a party sanctioned by the Israeli Gov or the US. We’ve yet to see an independent UN backed source go in there and figure out what happened. Israel has also blocked off media and created a complete siege and are now banning Al Jazeera altogether after killing their reporter last year and another Reuters reporter this time. They are also the primary source of info unless a news agency sends their reporters in at peril to the region. They’ve taken more steps to hide things and have precedent in launching attacks such as these, not just in this conflict, which again have been back by first hand people from the region and then corroborated by various news agencies in the past.
Historically, they’ve got a lot more blood on their hands. I also hold them to a higher standard similar to the US and Europe, because they have the bigger stick and with power comes responsibility. This is why I might appear harsh, but I wish nothing but peace for the people of Israel and hope the people that have lost their loved ones find some solace.
Hamas is not the answer for Palestine and peace is the only way forward which begins with a cease fire in my view. It’s hard to criticize their choices in political leadership when they’ve been oppressed for the past 75yrs. That doesn’t mean complicit parties shouldn’t be held accountable and tried.
Anyway, point taken about sending in the ballot. I’m probably going to be writing to my state senator along with Biden’s office and doing my part that way, so my lack of engagement isn’t an actual lack of engagement but a protest. Best of luck to you and have a good one.