I can't believe I have to protest against GENOCIDE.

[kpete]

?w=600&h=426

[RockRaven]

1. Watch your head everyone, paratroopers from the 47th Dictionary Brigade

are incoming to argue about the correct usage of the word genocide.

[AnrothElf]

10. What can I say? Words have meanings, and when the ignorant or willfully ignorant refuse to accept a common meaning...

Dialogue becomes impossible.

But then... that's the point, isn't it? To use "genocide" as a rhetorical bludgeon?

Not my fault it's a stupid move. As stupid as "Defund the Police" and not coincidentally it's the same ignorant bumper-sticker sloganeering very online fake "leftists" doing the same stupid thing, again.

[Jedi Guy]

41. Well said. +1

[msongs]

81. biased paid propagandists and official lobbyists do not get to tell the whole planet what a word means. nt

[AnrothElf]

82. I couldn't agree more! Russian and Iranian operatives must be working overtime...

Spreading pro-Hamas propaganda.

[betsuni]

86. Redefining words is a stubborn trend.

Took off in 2016 weaponizing words like "progressive" "establishment" "elite" "democratic socialism" "neoliberal" used against Democrats. Genocide is the latest. New meaning embraced on faith and nothing can change the minds of the faithful. Emotion over thinking.

[AnrothElf]

93. Yup. It creates an unbridgable chasm. It's a dogmatic lie. I won't have it.

[Redleg]

111. It is stupid and it gives opponents an easy way to ignore the larger point

that a lot of non-combatants have been killed, injuried, and deprived of some of the basic necessities of life.

[mopinko]

11. it's not about the dictionary, it's about the law.

[Beastly Boy]

22. Any objections to correct usage of the word genocide?

[Jedi Guy]

48. We were deployed to counter the 82nd Hyperbole Regiment.

Less flippantly... when someone uses incorrectly defined words to construct their argument, it tells me that they're either arguing in bad faith or ignorant of the words' correct meaning and unwilling to learn. Neither is a particularly great look.

[malaise]

83. Nailed it

Rec

[betsuni]

101. Correct usage of words is bad because ... why?

Like all the people who mindlessly repeated "lesser of two evils" to call Democrats evil because that's what the idiom means, two evils like Stalin and Hitler, who was the lesser of two evils, and said no no no I'm totally not calling Democrats evil. Yes yes yes they were because that's the meaning of the words.

[calguy]

2. I can't believe this person only protests against genocide

when it's perceived to be committed in Gaza after a horrific attack by Hamas on innocent Israeli citizens.
Where have these people been all their lives if they're suddenly so eager to protest against genocide?
Where was their outrage about Rwanda or Somalia and dozens of other places I could mention?

[Marcus IM]

4. All their lives? They're students. That means they're young.

[limbicnuminousity]

8. So?

A sincere zygote would have done something. Obviously.

[Beastly Boy]

24. Don't get me started on the differences between young and stupid!

[yagotme]

116. And how old was Greta Thunberg when she started protesting??? 21???

[markpkessinger]

117. Yes, but did anyone ever expect her to protest every injustice around the world? n/t

[yagotme]

119. She's young. She has energy.

The younger generation has the capability, energy wise, of protesting on a larger scale than us old farts. So, why not? Maybe not EVERY injustice, but mistreatment of humans can be distilled down into "catch-all" protests. Why pick only one injustice, when several similar ones can be listed???

[dchill]

6. Look over there!

Don't call my genocide genocide! Everybody does it!

[Beastly Boy]

33. Who gets to define genocide?

Is it International Criminal Court or a bunch of Tic Toc'ers with nothing better to do than dress up in their keffiyehs made in China?

[dchill]

54. I guess you do, for one.

[Beastly Boy]

59. Never had the urge or the need. I refer to International Court of Justice for that.

But you must know something about me that I don't.

[dchill]

62. Bullshit.

[Beastly Boy]

65. Now that's a winning argument!

Pointless, lacking any substance, not even a verb to go with the noun, so nothing to respond to.

Why have I never thought of using this approach?

[dchill]

70. Oh, no. YOU'RE the winner! Doing such constructive work...

...around here.

[Cha]

72. Actually he is very "Constructive"... TY

[Cha]

71. Wrong.. No.. it's Not "bullshit".

[Ponietz]

7. Weak sauce

[Nixie]

9. Exactly. And Hamas actually has the stated goal of killing

all Israelis which would be actual genocide. They were true to that goal when they violated a ceasefire and attacked Israel. But no protests against Hamas, either.

[wnylib]

47. Exactly. Hamas has declared their genicidal intention

to annihilate Israel. They use their own civilians as fodder to protect themselves.

Shouldn't protests be directed at them?

[betsuni]

88. Yes, Malcolm Nance called 10/7 genocide because everyone except the hostages were slaughtered.

It was a suicide mission because those Hamas soldiers used up all their ammunition killing everyone they saw and knew they wouldn't have any left by the time Israeli soldiers got to them.

[DaBronx]

14. And what about Ukraine?

Why are there no protests against Russia? They have camps, they have taken children for reprogramming, they have killed thousands of Innocent Ukrainian citizens. Where is the outrage?

[Voltaire2]

16. I assume you are posting from your Russia protest. Good for you. Russia is shit.

[ProfessorPlum]

114. we don't control Russia

[JohnSJ]

31. and the fact that Hamas explicitly calls for the death of ALL Jews, which

really is advocating genocide

[dembotoz]

56. hamas talks israel does

[JohnSJ]

69. October 7th which started this disaster where people were killed, woman's privates mutilated, raped and then killed.

That was when a ceasefire was in place which Hamas broke. Hamas did something there.

The documentary, available on YouTube chronicles this, “screams before the silence”, and the decades of constant attacks by Hamas and other terrorist attacks was more than just talk, which some prefer to conveniently ignore, or worse, justify.

and of course ignore the three major wars to eradicate Israel, and the Khartoum resolution which gave us the “3 Nos”

No peace with Israel, no negotiations with Israel, and no recognition of Israel.

I guess that slipped your mind.

[dembotoz]

87. over 30000 palistiinian dead what death total will appease you?

total extermination????

[JohnSJ]

90. Excuse me. I am not justifying the deaths of ANY innocent civilians, what I am doing is pointing out your

convenient rendition of history, where you said one was doing and the other just talking. Sorry, one has been doing a little more than talking throughout the last 50+ years.

I am also not justifying the Netanyahu government's actions and his extreme right wing coalition. He was on his way out when Hamas did October 7.

[calguy]

96. Hamas is responsible for keeping Bibi in power

They have only themselves to blame.

[JohnSJ]

98. Most likely. Unfortunately, whenever a positive event or a step toward peace appears on the horizon, there always seems

to be something that sabotages that effort.

The assassination of Sadat and Rabin are two examples

[dembotoz]

109. now thats funny

[Ponietz]

51. The U.S. didn't give $30 billion in weapons to the Hutus or Somali warlords.

[Xavier Breath]

60. Thanks for stating what should be very obvious but keeps getting swept under the rug. n/t

[Ponietz]

63. Yes, the only issue here is U.S. policy which translates to dollars now and lives later

[Iggo]

66. Not all genocides!

[gulliver]

3. The sign wielder is a lost (but proud) person and needs empathy.

If you're not blind, that's how you see it. If it triggers you some other way, you're missing the point entirely. The sign could say anything.

[Marcus IM]

5. The sign could say anything and you'd say the same thing?

[calguy]

12. Funny how I didn't see these same people protesting Hamas' brutal attack on Israeli citizens.

[Voltaire2]

18. The attack was over after one day. And there was just about universal outrage.

The IDF has been destroying Gaza for over six months. It is ongoing. Their intent is to clear out Rafah, which will result in thousands more civilian deaths and the displacement of about 150,000 people.

[calguy]

21. Israel is just supposed to look the other way?

[Voltaire2]

23. Uh nope. There are choices between 'look the other way' and 'genocide'. nt.

[Beastly Boy]

35. One of them being to not be so casual with throwing the word "genocide" around as if it has no

well defined meaning.

[Sky Jewels]

105. You are incredibly eager to dismiss

the slaughter of 35,000 people who were just as human as you or I or anyone in Israel.

[Beastly Boy]

112. On the contrary.

I am incredibly mindful of these deaths, whether there are 35000 of them or any other number. Those who are casually throwing words like "genocide" around in reference to Israel are either in denial of the causes of their deaths or are deliberately shielding their murderers.

Do I need to repeat for the bazillionth time that Hamas started this war, that Hamas can end it tomorrow, or that Hamas openly brags about intentionally using Gazan civilians as human shields? Do I need to remind you that deliberately exposing the civilians in their care has been a stated strategic objective of Hamas in the war that they started? Will it make any difference if I did?

Do I need to repeat that accusations of war crimes, genocide included, must show intent in order to claim any legitimacy? Hamas advertised their intent to use civilians as human shields for months. Israel advertised their intent to only hit legitimate military targets for months, repeatedly warning civilians to leave the locations of their targets. Will it do any good to refer you, for the bazilionth time, to the International Criminal Court's definition of genocide?

Every mention of the slaughter of 35,000 civilians is a de facto condemnation of Hamas. But all I hear, in total disregard of the facts, is the accusations being hurled at Israel and Israel alone, clearly intended to whitewash the guilty party.

My question is, why is there so much complacency and complicity with such persistent disregard for these well known facts? Why is the ridiculous association of Israel with genocide being insisted on by so many people despite these well known facts?

[Sky Jewels]

113. Israel's response to 10/7 had nothing to do with hostage recovery.

I liken it to Bush-Cheney using 9/11 as an excuse to invade Iraq. Netanyahu enabled Hamas for years because he saw them as useful to his goal of taking over Gaza. And now he is systematically destroying Gaza and Gazans. Yes, that is genocide. And you’re ignoring the horrible treatment of Palestinians and apartheid conditions that Israel has imposed on Palestinians for years. This “war” did not come out of thin air.

[yagotme]

118. "Nothing to do with hostage recovery"?

You have an insider deep in the top of Israeli government feeding you info? Seems to me that hostage recovery has been mentioned as a prerequisite for a ceasefire.

[Nixie]

28. Yes, when they don't factor in that Hamas still has hostages

then the message is that Israel should look the other way.

[AloeVera]

73. The hostages could have been returned a LONG time ago.

Choices were made and the hostages didn't come out on top. That's the sad reality. Even the Israeli public is catching on. See protests in Tel Aviv.

[Nixie]

104. Nothing you say changes my statement.

There are still hostages to return and the protests in Tel Aviv also acknowledge that. That is just one of the many sad realities.

[PatSeg]

25. Yes, everyone I know was outraged

over Hamas's attack on Israeli civilians. I don't understand why some people think this is an "either/or" situation. I can be outraged over the slaughter of innocent civilians in Israel AND Gaza.

Also, as you said, "The IDF has been destroying Gaza for over six months". That is why we're seeing protests now. Plus the fact that the U.S. has helped finance Israel's disproportionate war.

Opposing Netanyahu does not mean supporting and condoning Hamas.

[enid602]

76. Shipments

They just now announced on CNN that the US is withholding ammunition shipments to Israel. It’s a start.

[PatSeg]

97. I saw that

Yes, it is a start.

[Nixie]

27. "The attack was over after one day". Tell that to the hostages.

It doesn't look like Hamas cares what happens to the Palestinians or the Israeli hostages. That's the real story, but that is conveniently ignored n favor of the anti-Semitic, But Israel.

[Voltaire2]

30. Actually Hamas does care what happens to the hostages as they are useful to Hamas.

It would instead appear that the Israeli government hasn't prioritized rescuing or negotiating the release of the hostages.

[Beastly Boy]

38. What? That's a very peculiar use of "care".

It very nicely covers imprisonment, rapes, mutilations, deprivations, and holding them for ransom for six months.

[Nixie]

46. But Israel. Blaming the hostages captivity on Israel is also part of the misinformation campaign.

Just a quick Google check shows ongoing efforts to negotiate the release of hostages.

[Voltaire2]

68. I didn't blame Israel for the hostage captivity. I said Israel has not prioritized their rescue or release.

[Nixie]

100. That's the same thing. It is blaming Israel.

But your accusations aren't even true.

[Beastly Boy]

34. The "I hate Hamas but..." excuses started on October 8, if I recall...

On edit: so did Hamas terrorists hiding behind civilians. And they still hold hostages today, you may recall.

[RandomNumbers]

61. The attack is NOT over. Not for the (how many?) hostages

who are still being held, and their families.

Or I guess we should just write them off as dead and move on with our lives?

[flying_wahini]

32. Would it have mattered to you?

If you defend genocide there is nothing to argue about. No matter who it is dying.

[calguy]

36. I'm not defending genocide

So don't loosely imply that I do.
I'm simply asking why folks aren't protesting genocide everywhere?
Like maybe, Hamas's stated goals of killing every Israeli.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

50. "I'm simply asking why folks aren't protesting genocide everywhere?"

Indeed, South Sudan and Western China come immediately to mind. It forget their name but there is a Muslim minority in Burma facing similar.

[Beastly Boy]

39. If one can't define genocide, one has no standing to use it in a sentence.

[DaBronx]

92. Or at any protests in support of ukraine

Their focus is very specific shall we say

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. Israelis are protesting against Bibi and his policies

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[Voltaire2]

19. Obviously they are all antisemites and Hamas supporters. nt.

[Beastly Boy]

42. Not to mention zionist oppressors and colonialist practitioners of apartheid

[onecaliberal]

55. Clearly.

[PatSeg]

26. Thanks for posting that

[Nixie]

15. Sadly, they are showing their privilege again. Young Israeli's their age at a music festival on Oct 7 were fired

upon by Hamas rockets and chased down like animals and captured for raping and parading, all of which fits Hamas' stated goals of killing all Jews. Yet there they are -- on their cameras for their 15 minutes, protesting something denied hundreds of Israeli's their age. They are not slaughtered on our campuses. They were slaughtered in Israel.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/07/middleeast/israel-gaza-fighting-hamas-attack-music-festival-intl-hnk/index.html
CNN
—
The rockets began around 6:30 a.m., Tal Gibly told CNN. Thirty minutes later, she and hundreds of others attending an Israeli music festival were running as Gaza militants fired at them.

The Nova Festival in a rural farmland area near the Gaza-Israel border was just one of multiple locations hit on Saturday morning by the most sustained and coordinated assault inside Israel ever carried out by Hamas militants.

At least 260 bodies would later be found at the festival site, according to Israeli rescue service Zaka. Some attendees were taken hostage, seen in social media videos being seized by their armed captors.

[ColinC]

57. Young Israelis their age are also demanding the same thing

🤷

….protesting against Netanyahu in the thousands.

[Nixie]

103. I didn't bring up Netanyahu. I brought up the privilege of our college campuses and how they compare to

to the Hamas death fields of young Israeli's at a music festival.

[ColinC]

107. I must be dense, sorry. I fail to be able to find the connection between October 7 and protesting against war.

Because at the end of the day, the decision to murder civilians through indiscriminate bombing is a separate issue entirely. But that’s just me

[Nixie]

110. It makes sense that you would not acknowledge the genocide perpetrated against innocent young

Israelis on October 7. That seems to be the ticket.

[ColinC]

115. Not finding a reasonable connection between needlessly killing people and more needless killing

Is not the same as the inability to acknowledge needless killing. Is it?

[Nixie]

121. But some privileged folks care more about their own narrative

as we see by selectively "protesting" genocide. And some think they are morally superior when they self/define genocide.

[BannonsLiver]

17. *cosplay

[edisdead]

20. Which genocide are you protesting?

[lapucelle]

40. Hopefully the one that John Kirby calls out.

Link to tweet

[Cha]

77. MAHALO, Lapucelle!!💙

Link to tweet

[betsuni]

91. Exactly! Use the word appropriately. We're back to truthiness again.

[Oneironaut]

29. We're supposed to pretend Bibi / the IDF are "the good guys."

Can’t be that both sides are problematic. There has to be a “good side” and a “bad side!” /s

[Prairie Gates]

37. Nice nails

[TomDaisy]

43. and how much hate and violence is directed at those doing the right thing (the protesters)

[PeaceWave]

44. These students are all going to grow up to be NBA referees...

An elbow to the jaw will go uncalled. When the guy who got smacked retaliates, he'll get thrown out of the game.

[Jedi Guy]

45. Counterprotest sign:

I can't believe you're in university and can't correctly define "genocide".

[northern light]

49. Would it be better if

the poster had said"I protest the ethnic cleansing that the Israeli government has been doing to the Palestinian people for the last 60 years". Or I protest about Israeli settlers stealing Palestinian lands. As we discuss this remember, as we speak, the US government is still breaking agreements and treaties with the indigenous peoples of the Americas. Think about the Black Hills and the currant attempt to mine the Grand Canyon sacred lands for uranium. Baby boomers are dying off. The collective guilt felt by the Holocaust is lessening. The next generations only will be concerned by current events.

[Beastly Boy]

52. Probably worse.

Any accusation without supporting evidence to back it up would ring as empty.

Multiple accusations without supporting evidence to back them up would raise suspicions of defamation.

[CincyDem]

58. Yep...cuz that 20% of Israel's population that are Palestinians, they're really feeling the cleansing.

Excluding Gaza/WB, Israel is 18-20% palestinian. They work in all walks of life from Knesset members to judges to doctors to police to university deans and chancellors.

They’re descendents of Palestinians who rejected the Arab world’s invitation to focus on killing Jews. Instead they said…let’s see how this works out.

Started as 500k 60 years ago and now number 2million…doesn’t sound love very effective cleansing.

[Duncan Grant]

84. Israeli Cabinet Members Join Settler Event of Thousands Calling for Ethnic Cleansing of Gaza

Refseek search engine: ethnic cleansing Gaza

The truth is out there.

[Duncan Grant]

85. Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront

Jewish settlers set their sights on Gaza beachfront

[CincyDem]

94. Interesting posts but completely unrelated to the supposed 60 years of ethnic cleansing.

I’m pretty sure that if Israel really wanted Gaza for the past 60 years, they’d have had it 55 years ago.

[Duncan Grant]

99. It's compelling though, isn't it? It's just a surface scratch.

The real wounds - decades worth - can be researched.

[LiberaBlueDem]

53. IKR?

In this day in age genocide is denied?

[Iggo]

64. Exactly.

I know it’s more than that.

But it’s also that.

[sanatanadharma]

67. "I can't believe I have to protest crimes against Humanity"

There!!!!!!!
Now is everybody happy or are we going to defend crimes against humanity?

It's not a crime, it's a misunderstanding.
OK, it's a crime, but no humanity was harmed in this crime,
OK, humanity was harmed and it is a crime, but no enforcement authority.

Let the gods sort them out.

[Beastly Boy]

79. "I can't believe I never protested crimes against humanity beore kefiyyehs became all the rage!"

There.

Kind of long for a sign, but catchy. The little Palestinian flags will probably have to go to make room for the text.

[sanatanadharma]

95. Yes, the flags come and go but sadly the human crimes remain

Yes, the flags come and go but sadly the human crimes remain because nearly everyone says, "You are not me."
They do not see.
Too little attention and understanding are paid to the "I" from whence all inhumanity manifests.

We wrap our self-made "I"dentities in flags and rags and tattered cloaks of many colors.

[Beastly Boy]

120. Hiding behind a flag or replacing one condemnation with another will not even get anyone to "you are not me".

Paradoxically, "You are not me" is a uniter, not a divider. Separately, "you" and "me" are each indistinguishable from and interchangeable with the "I" in your post that you attribute all inhumanity to. No matter what flags "you" or "me" wrap themselves in, no matter how each condemns the inhumanity of the other, excusing one at the expense of the other is the outward manifestation of hypocrisy which anchors us firmly to the aforementioned "I".

The acknowledgement that "you are not me" implies common grounds between the two that makes this statement possible. And the common grounds implied in it is their humanity.

"You are not me" is what opens people's eyes to the "I" that is the source of all inhumanity, and robs it of its power.

[Deep State Witch]

74. Go Protest About Sudan.

Or Congo. Or the Uighurs.

[PeaceWave]

75. I can't believe I'm not being paid to protest - Winning student loan forgiveness argument

[enid602]

78. Denial

Genocide denial is not much different from Holocaust denial. Both are obscene. We cheapen our humanity when we partake in either.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

80. Israelis are protesting for Ceasefire, the return of their loved ones and for Netanyahu to step down.

Link to tweet

[marble falls]

102. If that spelling is the most negative aspect one could find with his sign, I'd say I agree with his ...

... sentiment. I'd grade it a B+.

[betsuni]

106. What spelling?

[betsuni]

108. What does GENOCIDE mean?