Keeponstalin
@Keeponstalin@lemmy.world
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 2 weeks ago:
I know. It isn’t about existence. It’s about doing things through the appropriate legal channels. The entire world isn’t entitled to live in the US, just like the entire population isn’t entitled to drive on public roads or practice medicine.
Illegal immigration is a symptom of a broken legal immigration system. This is by design by both Republican and Democratic Administrations for decades for the benefit of corporations. Illegal immigrants do not desire to be here illegally. If they were able to come through legal channels, they would, but that’s not possible with our current legal channels.
Not only that, but there was a skyrocket of asylum seekers during this administration. They’ve combined to create a system in which people are used as balls in a shell game while their asylum cases are pending. This never should have happened in the first place.
It shouldn’t, but it’s intentional to perpetuate the two-tier immigration system for cheap labor. We need an expedient system to process everyone properly without denying them entry.
The solution to millions of people breaking the law is not to get rid of the law. Reform the process? Absolutely. But the government saying “We don’t care that you broke the law” for years got us to where we are now. Once our systems aren’t under such severe strain any longer, then we can make clearer decisions about who to let in.
You’re acting as if these people are breaking the law intentionally, instead of the law being unjust and used to exploit these people because of their desperate circumstances. Reforming the response from deportation to processing is entirely my point. And the process for legal processing needs reform too, as I mentioned before. The strain it’s under is deliberate and by design, it’s not an accident.
We certainly should make the facilities humane, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t exist. People aren’t being put there to be worked to death or exterminated. It isn’t fascist any more than normal prisons are.
There is no ethical way to have concentration camps. Nor is there any legitimate reason to have them. US prisons literally use slave labor, so that’s not really helping your point.
Legalization wouldn’t necessarily end their systematic abuse. It would, however, encourage illicit employers to continue seeking new immigrant employees and disregard citizens in the process. That’s not good for anyone other than the people running these businesses.
Legalization would give them the same worker rights that regular Citizens have. Not to say US citizens aren’t systematically abused by corporations either, but that illegal immigrants are abused even more.
Why is one city spending more on a problem that Biden created than Biden is on a problem that’s existed for decades? It’s likely that the impact of immigration and asylum seeking falls somewhere between the Cato Institute’s numbers and FAIR’s.
Because neither the Democratic Party nor the Republican Party care about people anymore than they can be used for exploitation by corporations to increase profits. Homelessness is a systemic issues that’s due to the privatization of housing, pricing millions of people out of affording the basic necessity that is shelter. Instead of helping them with Housing First, the US criminalizes homeless and exploits them through the prison system.
The two-tier immigration system is far more profitable, by magnitudes more than the costs to accommodate them.
It doesn’t help that the Biden admin is unpopular in general, as is the media that’s been running its cover for the last four years. Even if the admin had a response, barely anyone would have listened. As far as I’m concerned, they deserved to lose that trust
Definitely. Both parties work at the behest of the donor class, of capitalist owners who’s only interest is accumulating more capital by any means. Leeja Miller has a good video on why right-wing populism scapegoats immigrants.
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
Illegal immigrants are not illegal because they want to be. The issue is with the legalization process, which being artificially long to the point of years and the circumstances of seeking asylum attribute to illegal immigration. Deportation does not solve anything, legalization does.
Neither is crime inherent to any ‘race’ or ‘culture’ that is a completely racist idea that has no bases in reality. Crimes comes from poverty and is dramatically reduced when uplifting the material conditions, such as access to basic necessities and education. Deportations are not any solution.
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
Regardless of how long they’ve been there, it’s still uprooting millions of people. It’s by definition ethnic cleansing. Uprooting the hundreds of thousands of Israeli settlers in the West Bank would also be ethnic cleansing and unacceptable. That’s not a good solution in any respect other than cruelty
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
Would you say the same thing about people who drive with or without driver’s licenses? Or practice medicine with or without board certification?
A person’s legal existence is not the same as someone practicing without a license. You know that.
The Biden Administration invited people to flood to the country under a revised asylum system that’s created a six year long backlog of asylum cases. There is no reason that refugees from every other nation on earth should go to the US specifically or during this time period other than the President throwing open the doors to them.
We are in agreement that the way Immigration has been handled under Biden has been absolutely terrible. The process to legalization is unnecessarily long and results in this backlog, which only contributes to illegal immigration and increasing costs to process
That starts by enforcing the law and treating people who employ illegal immigrants as criminals themselves. But giving amnesty to everyone who breaks the law only incentivizes people to continue breaking the law. Thus, their illicit employees need to be removed, at least for the time being.
Totally agree that companies that exploit illegal immigrants should be prosecuted.
Illegal immigrants are not illegal because they want to be. The issue is with the legalization process, which we’ve touched on already. Deportation does not solve anything, legalization does. For anyone who does crimes, it’s still more affordable to incarcerate than deport but that’s a very small fraction of immigrants that we’re talking about here.
Define “concentration camp.” They aren’t being rounded up to do forced labor and be executed like in Nazi Germany. Also, is Obama a fascist?
The links I provided have more information. We’re talking about millions of people. I’m certainly against Obama’s cages, it’s completely draconic at the very least if not fascist in some respect.
An economy that would be crippled if slavery was abolished deserves to be crippled. These jobs should go to legal immigrants and citizens
Yes, and the way to do that is through legalization, not deportation.
Are legal immigrants making these contributions, or are illegal immigrants doing so? And if asylum seekers are contributing so much to local economies, then why is NYC sounding the alarm on how costly the current system is to the city? They’re slated to spend $12 billion on the problem over the next three years. Furthermore, Congress has found the current policies have cost over $150 billion, with some estimates going as high as $400 billion. We can’t sustain that kind of spending.
Both, and the sources I provided go into it for both legal and illegal immigrants. That wasn’t congress, that was The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) which is an anti-immigration nonprofit with many ties to white Supremacists and it’s findings are completely flawed the tax burden is closer to $3.3 to 15.6 billion, over a magnitude less than the revenue they help provide. The sources I provided previously go into that.
Also, illegal immigrants categorically do bring in crime, by immigrating illegally
It’s categorically a crime because that’s the entire point of having a two-tier immigration system which I know you don’t agree with. It’s as much as a crime as jaywalking is. It’s an unjust law that only perpetuates the two-tier immigration system. Again, legalization is the way to solve that, not deportation. Legalization would also increase the amount of taxes they would have to pay, like regular citizens.
I don’t care about “white nativism.” I care about the law, our ability to sustain ourselves as a nation, and with limiting security concerns related to bringing in millions of people whose identities can barely be verified at all. None of this has to do with the color of anyone’s skin.
Then I think you’d genuinely find those sources I linked interesting. I’m not attributing the racism to you, but mass deportations are rooted in racism and white nativism and why that connection exists is important to recognize.
The issue isn’t completely cut and dry. Even among people do support legalizing illegal immigrants, almost everyone insists on a background check and over half would require them to have a job
Even within the polls where deportations have majority support, in the same poll, there is much more support for legalization. That contradiction is due to the Biden admin having no counter message against the right-wing framing of the issue since the Dreamers under the Obama campaign
kff.org/…/political-preferences-and-views-on-us-i…
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
The only difference between legal and illegal immigrants are paperwork. There is nothing wrong with people seeking asylum. That is not ‘abusing the system’. There is nothing wrong with immigrants. They are not ‘bringing in crime’ or ‘abusing social services’. They are responsible for less crime per capita than US citizens and contribute far more to social programs than they take out. Not that either of those would justify their forced removal.
The only problem with immigration is that illegal immigrants are exploited with a two-tier immigration system. Where companies, mainly agriculture and construction, exploit them with incredibly low wages and zero worker protections because they know illegal immigrants have no recourse.
Not only would mass deportations result in concentration camps, which is overtly fascist, they would also cripple the US economy by removing that pool of over-exploited labor from US businesses.
Denying asylum and mass deportations come from a white nativist sentiment. There is plenty of evidence that disprove each of those sentiments. The insanity of mass deportations are matched only to the rampant racism used to justify them.
Economic Impact
Myth : Immigrants are a drain on the U.S. Economy and Reducing Immigration would make our economy stronger. Fact : The United States needs immigrants to stay competitive and drive economic growth, Particularly as our economy starts to reopen, individuals who create jobs are absolutely critical to our recovery. Immigrants are innovators, job creators, and consumers with an enormous spending power that drives our economy, and creates employment opportunities for all Americans. Immigrants added $2 trillion to the U.S. GDP in 2016 and $458.7 billion to state, local, and federal taxes in 2018. In 2018, after immigrants spent billions of dollars on state and local, and federal taxes, they were left with $1.2 trillion in spending power, which they used to purchase goods and services, stimulating local business activity. Proposed cuts to our legal immigration system would have devastating effects on our economy, decreasing GDP by 2% over twenty years, shrinking growth by 12.5%, and cutting 4.6 million jobs. Rust Belt states would be hit particularly hard, as they rely on immigration to stabilize their populations and revive their economies.
Taxes and Essential Services
Myth : Immigrants are a burden to essential services like schools, hospitals, and highways. Fact: Immigrants make significant contributions to our economy on virtually every front - including on tax revenue, where they contribute $458.7 billion to state, local, and federal taxes in 2018. This includes undocumented immigrants, who contribute roughly $11.74 billion a year in state and local taxes, including more than $7 billion in sales and excise taxes, $3.6 billion in property taxes, and $1.1 billion in personal income taxes. These billions of tax dollars fund our schools, hospitals, emergency response services, highways, and other essential services. These revenues would increase by $2.18 billion annually if undocumented immigrants were given legal status as part of an immigration reform package. Additionally, immigrants make enormous contributions to Social Security. If current legal immigration levels were cut by 50%, the Social Security fund would lose $1.5 trillion in revenue over the next 75 years.
IRI
> There are 45 million immigrants living in the United States. Making up 14 percent of the national population, immigrants are a vital part of the social, economic, and cultural life of all American communities. > The economic role of immigrants has frequently been misunderstood. On the one hand, immigrants are a big and important part of the economy. And, on the other hand, immigrants are disproportionately concentrated in low-wage jobs. Both things are true at the same time.
Other sources:
They didn’t do this due to public opinion, legalizing illegal immigrants is far more popular than deportation, despite the Democratic Party not doing any counter messaging against the right-wing narrative. They moved to the right at the expense of voters, it gained them zero voters.
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
We’re talking about mass deportations, genius
Ethnic cleansing is the systematic forced removal of ethnic, racial, or religious groups from a given area, with the intent of making the society ethnically homogeneous.
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
Yes, it is.
Donald Trump campaigned on the promise of mass deportations, and on Monday, he said that his administration would use the U.S. military to carry out this expulsion of millions of people, many of whom have lived in America for years or even decades.
theintercept.com/…/trump-deportation-plan-militar…
The Republican National Convention hit rock bottom on its third day in Milwaukee, Wis., on July 17, with a sea of signs calling for “Mass Deportation Now.” If former president Donald Trump is elected for a second term, he and his advisers promise to remove from the U.S., via forced expulsions and deportation camps, as many as 20 million people—a number larger than the country’s current estimated population of undocumented residents. Put into effect, this scheme would devolve quickly into a vast 21st-century version of concentration camps, with predictably brutal results.
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
Explain how are mass deportations are reasonable
- Comment on "Border Czar" Tom Homan unveils new deportation plan 3 weeks ago:
Ass deportations are fascist. Like, wtf. You’re here defending the deportation of entire families with that bullshit. News flash, it’s still ETHNIC CLEANSING
- Comment on Am I the only one who feels uncomfortable about people making such big deal out of whether they're "black" or "white"? 1 month ago:
Whiteness is an exclusionary concept used to create an ‘ingroup’ and ‘outgroup’. Hasan Piker gives a great breakdown of it here.
Historically, it comes from a justification of chattel slavery. Painting ‘whiteness’ as purity and superior and ‘blackness’ as inferior and subservient. Leeja Miller gives a great analysis about how this has influenced Eugenics in American history (which inspired the ideology of the Nazis) which is still practiced to this day in certain circumstances.
It’s long, but Knowing Better gives an extremely detailed history of neoslavery in American history. To understand why ‘whiteness’ is still so prevalent in America in modern day, it’s important to understand the history of systemic racism and how it persists to this day.
- Comment on Sydney University academics pursued for speaking out against Gaza atrocities 1 month ago:
Urban warfare is central to anti-Colonialist resistance, just look at the Vietcong. You’re just justifying genocide.
Hamas proposed a full prisoner swap as early as Oct 8th, and agreed to the US proposed UN Permanent Ceasefire Resolution. Additionally, Hamas has already agreed to no longer govern the Gaza Strip, as long as Palestinians receive liberation and a unified government can take place.
This isnt about the hostages, this is Israel engaging in Genocide to eradicate and forcibly displace the Palestinian people. Gaza has never stopped being under Israeli occupation since 1967. Hamas only exists because of the Apartheid Occupation of Israel and the daily violence that has subjected Palestinians to for generations. Israel has always been the obstacle for peace, and has been the one preventing a ceasefire.
De-development via the Gaza Occupation
> Between July 1971 and February 1972, Sharon enjoyed considerable success. During this time, the entire Strip (apart from the Rafah area) was sealed off by a ring of security fences 53 miles in length, with few entrypoints. Today, their effects live on: there are only three points of entry to Gaza—Erez, Nahal Oz, and Rafah. > Perhaps the most dramatic and painful aspect of Sharon’s campaign was the widening of roads in the refugee camps to facilitate military access. Israel built nearly 200 miles of security roads and destroyed thousands of refugee dwellings as part of the widening process.’ In August 1971, for example, the Israeli army destroyed 7,729 rooms (approximately 2,000 houses) in three vola- tile camps, displacing 15,855 refugees: 7,217 from Jabalya, 4,836 from Shati, and 3,802 from Rafah. - Page 105 > Through 1993 Israel imposed a one-way system of tariffs and duties on the importation of goods through its borders; leaving Israel for Gaza, however, no tariffs or other regulations applied. Thus, for Israeli exports to Gaza, the Strip was treated as part of Israel; but for Gazan exports to Israel, the Strip was treated as a foreign entity subject to various “non-tariff barriers.” This placed Israel at a distinct advantage for trading and limited Gaza’s access to Israeli and foreign markets. Gazans had no recourse against such policies, being totally unable to protect themselves with tariffs or exchange rate controls. Thus, they had to pay more for highly protected Israeli products than they would if they had some control over their own economy. Such policies deprived the occupied territories of significant customs revenue, estimated at $118-$176 million in 1986. - page 240 >In a report released in May 2015, the World Bank revealed that as a result of Israel’s blockade and OPE, Gaza’s manufacturing sector shrank by as much as 60% over eight years while real per capita income is 31 percent lower than it was 20 years ago. The report also stated that the blockade alone is responsible for a 50% decrease in Gaza’s GDP since 2007. Furthermore, OPE (combined with the tunnel closure) exacerbated an already grave situation by reducing Gaza’s economy by an additional $460 million. - Page 402 - The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-Development - Third Edition by Sara M. Roy
Blockade, including Aid
Hamas began twenty years into the occupation during the first Intifada, with the goal of ending the occupation. Collective punishment has been a deliberate Israeli tactic for decades with the Dahiya doctrine. Violence such as suicide bombings and rockets escalated in response to Israeli enforcement of the occupation and apartheid. After the ‘disengagement’ in 2007, this turned into a full blockade; where Israel has had control over the airspace, borders, and sea. Under the guise of ‘dual-use’ Israel has restricted food, allocating a minimum supply leading to over half of Gaza being food insecure; construction materials, medical supplies, and other basic necessities have also been restricted. - Gaza Policy Forum summary: Experts agree that Israel’s dual-use policy causes acute distress >The blockade and Israel’s repeated military offensives have had a heavy toll on Gaza’s essential infrastructure and further debilitated its health system and economy, leaving the area in a state of perpetual humanitarian crisis. Indeed, Israel’s collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population, the majority of whom are children, has created conditions inimical to human life due to shortages of housing, potable water and electricity, and lack of access to essential medicines and medical care, food, educational equipment and building materials. - Amnesty International Report pg 26-27
Peace Process and Solution
Both Hamas and Fatah have agreed to a Two-State solution based on the 1967 borders for decades. Oslo and Camp David were used by Israel to continue settlements in the West Bank and maintain an Apartheid, while preventing any actual Two-State solution - (Oslo Accord Sources: MEE, NYT, Haaretz, AJ). How Avi Shlaim moved from two-state solution to one-state solution ‘One state is a game changer’: A conversation with Ilan Pappe One State Solution, Foreign Affairs
Human Shields
Hamas: - HRW on Laws-of-War Violations 2009 - Agency Demands Full Respect for the Sanctity of Its Premises in Gaza - July 2014 - HRW - Palestinian Armed Groups’ October 7 Assault on Israel > Intentionally utilizing the presence of civilians or other protected persons to render certain areas immune from military attack is prohibited under international law. Amnesty International was not able to establish whether or not the fighters’ presence in the camps was intended to shield themselves from military attacks. However, under international humanitarian law, even if one party uses “human shields”, or is otherwise unlawfully endangering civilians, this does not absolve the opposing party from complying with its obligations to distinguish between military objectives and civilians or civilian objects, to refrain from carrying out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks, and to take all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects. Israel: - Israel/OPT: Israeli attacks targeting Hamas and other armed group fighters that killed scores of displaced civilians in Rafah should be investigated as war crimes - HRW - Gaza: Unlawful Israeli Hospital Strikes Worsen Health Crisis Additionally, there is extensive independent verification of Israel using Palestinians as Human Shields: - IDF uses Human Shields, - Including Children (2013 Report) - Israel “Systematically” Uses Gaza Children as Human Shields, Rights Group Finds 2024 - Breaking The Silence - Testimonies from IDF Veterans
Deliberate Attacks on Civilians
Israel deliberately targets civilian areas. From in general with the Dahiya Doctrine to multiple systems deployed in Gaza to do so: - The Dahiya Doctrine & Israel’s Use of Disproportionate Force - ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza - Lavender - Where’s Daddy Israel also targets Israeli Soldiers and Civilians to prevent them being leveraged as hostages, known as the Hannibal Directive. Which was also used on Oct 7th.
- Comment on Has anyone ever come up with what a Palestinian State would look like without wiping Israel of the map? If so have both sides ever been presented the offer? If not why? 1 month ago:
Zionism is antithetical to peace. Palestinians have been advocating for peace for generations. Whatever you think doesn’t change that reality.
The settlements represent land-grabbing, and land-grabbing and peace-making don’t go together, it is one or the other. By its actions, if not always in its rhetoric, Israel has opted for land-grabbing and as we speak Israel is expanding settlements. So, Israel has been systematically destroying the basis for a viable Palestinian state and this is the declared objective of the Likud and Netanyahu who used to pretend to accept a two-state solution. In the lead up to the last election, he said there will be no Palestinian state on his watch. The expansion of settlements and the wall mean that there cannot be a viable Palestinian state with territorial contiguity. The most that the Palestinians can hope for is Bantustans, a series of enclaves surrounded by Israeli settlements and Israeli military bases.
- Avi Shlaim
How Avi Shlaim moved from two-state solution to one-state solution
‘One state is a game changer’: A conversation with Ilan Pappe
One State Solution, Foreign Affairs
Peace Process and Solution
Both Hamas and Fatah have agreed to a Two-State solution based on the 1967 borders for decades. Oslo and Camp David were used by Israel to continue settlements in the West Bank and maintain an Apartheid, while preventing any actual Two-State solution How Avi Shlaim moved from two-state solution to one-state solution ‘One state is a game changer’: A conversation with Ilan Pappe One State Solution, Foreign Affairs Hamas proposed a full prisoner swap as early as Oct 8th, and agreed to the US proposed UN Permanent Ceasefire Resolution. Additionally, Hamas has already agreed to no longer govern the Gaza Strip, as long as Palestinians receive liberation and a unified government can take place. - latimes.com/…/rivals-hamas-and-fatah-sign-a-decla…
Historian Works on the History
- Palestine: A Four Thousand Year History - Nur Masalha - The Concept of Transfer 1882-1948 - Nur Masalha - A History of Modern Palestine - Ilan Pappe - The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine - Rashid Khalidi - The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine - Ilan Pappe - The 1967 Arab-Israeli War: Origins and Consequences - Avi Shlaim - The Biggest Prison on Earth: A History of the Occupied Territories - Ilan Pappe - The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-development - Sara Roy - 10 Myths About Israel - Ilan Pappe (summery)
- Comment on Has anyone ever come up with what a Palestinian State would look like without wiping Israel of the map? If so have both sides ever been presented the offer? If not why? 1 month ago:
You’re the one justifying the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, I’m the one advocating for equal rights. I don’t care about whatever mental gymnastics you use to justify it, ethnic cleansing is never acceptable nor justifiable. I’m interested and an advocate for actual solutions to the present day situation, you clearly aren’t.
- Comment on Has anyone ever come up with what a Palestinian State would look like without wiping Israel of the map? If so have both sides ever been presented the offer? If not why? 1 month ago:
Equal rights and reparations for native Americans? Give me a break, how is that in any way acceptable after slaughtering them to take an entire continent?
It’s not. It’s the bare minimum
If that’s all that’s needed, then maybe Israel should just eject all Palestinians entirely into Egypt, Jordan, etc, then send them a gift basket for a housewarming in their new location
No, they could just have a One-State Solution with equal rights. Nothing justifies ethnic cleansing.
- Comment on Has anyone ever come up with what a Palestinian State would look like without wiping Israel of the map? If so have both sides ever been presented the offer? If not why? 1 month ago:
Zionism is a settler colonialism project that was able to really start with the support of British Imperialism. Zionism as a political movement started with Theodore Herzl in the 1880s as a ‘modern’ way to ‘solve’ the ‘Jewish Question’ of Europe. Western Nations supported this instead of instituting legal protections and refuge for Jewish people fleeing persecution.
Adi Callai, an Israeli, does a great analysis of how Antisemitism has been weaponized by Zionism during its history.
Since at least the 1860’s, Europe was increasingly antisemitic and hostile to Jewish people. Zionism was explicitly a Setter Colonialist movement and the native Palestinians were not considered People but Savages by the Europeans. While Zionist Colonization began before it, the Balfor Declaration is when Britain gave it’s backing of the movement in order to ‘solve’ the ‘Jewish Question’ while also creating a Colony in the newly conquered Middle East after WWI in order to exhibit military force in the region and extract natural resources.
That’s when Zionist immigration started to pick up, out of necessity for most as Europe became more hostile and antisemitic. That continued into and during WWII, European countries and even the US refused to expand immigration quotas for Jewish people seeking asylum. The idea that the creation of Israel is a reparation for Jewish people is an after-the-fact justification. While most Jewish immigrants had no choice and just wanted a place to live in peace, it was the Zionist Leadership that developed and implemented the forced transfer, ethnic cleansing, of the native population, Palestinians. Without any Occupation, Apartheid, and ethnic cleansing, there would not be any Palestinian resistance to it.
Herzl himself explicitly considered Zionism a Settler Colonialist project, Setter Colonialism is always violent. The difficulty in creating a democratic Jewish state in an area inhabited by people who are not Jewish, is that enough Palestinian people need to be ‘Transferred’ to have a demographic majority that is Jewish. Ben-Gurion explicitly rejected Secular Bi-national state solutions in favor of partition.
Over 12000 Palestinians fought alongside Jewish forces against Nazi Germany. Nor would ethnic cleansing be justified if that wasn’t the case.
I support equal rights and reparations for Native Americans in America, which they still don’t currently have. So what’s your point. I’m advocating for equal rights for Israelis and Palestinians too.
- Comment on Has anyone ever come up with what a Palestinian State would look like without wiping Israel of the map? If so have both sides ever been presented the offer? If not why? 1 month ago:
After the ethnic cleansing of hundreds of Palestinian cities
Ethnic Cleansing is fundamental to Zionism
>Zionism’s aims in Palestine, its deeply-held conviction that the Land of Israel belonged exclusively to the Jewish people as a whole, and the idea of Palestine’s “civilizational barrenness" or “emptiness” against the background of European imperialist ideologies all converged in the logical conclusion that the native population should make way for thenewcomers. > The idea that the Palestinian Arabs must find a place for themselves elsewhere was articulated early on. Indeed, the founder of the movement, Theodor Herzl, provided an early reference to transfer even before he formally outlined his theory of Zionist rebirth in his Judenstat. > An 1895 entry in his diary provides in embryonic form many of the elements that were to be demonstrated repeatedly in the Zionist quest for solutions to the “Arab problem ”-the idea of dealing with state governments over the heads of the indigenous population, Jewish acquisition of property that would be inalienable, “Hebrew Land" and “Hebrew Labor,” and the removal of the native population.
Settlements and Occupation
Israel justifies the settlements and military bases in the West Bank in the name of Security. However, the reality of the settlements on-the-ground has been the cause of violent resistance and a significant obstacle to peace, as it has been for decades. This type of settlement, where the native population gets ‘Transferred’ to make room for the settlers, is a long standing practice. - The Transfer Committee, and the JNF Ethnic Cleansing, which led to Forced Displacement of 100,000 Palestinians throughout the mandate before the Nakba The mass ethnic cleansing campaign of 1948: - Plan Dalet - Declassified Massacres of 1948 - Details of Plan C (May 1946) and Plan D (March 1948) . Further, declassified Israeli documents show that the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip were deliberately planned before being executed in 1967: - Haaretz, Forward While the peace process was exploited to continue de-facto annexation of the West Bank via Settlements - (Oslo Accord Sources: MEE, NYT, Haaretz, AJ). The settlements are maintained through a violent apartheid that routinely employs violence towards Palestinians and denies human rights like water access, civil rights, etc. This kind of control gives rise to violent resistance to the Apartheid occupation, jeopardizing the safety of Israeli civilians. > The apartheid regime is based on organized, systemic violence against Palestinians, which is carried out by numerous agents: the government, the military, the Civil Administration, the Supreme Court, the Israel Police, the Israel Security Agency, the Israel Prison Service, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and others. Settlers are another item on this list, and the state incorporates their violence into its own official acts of violence. Settler violence sometimes precedes instances of official violence by Israeli authorities, and at other times is incorporated into them. Like state violence, settler violence is organized, institutionalized, well-equipped and implemented in order to achieve a defined strategic goal. - m.btselem.org/settler_violence
- Comment on Has anyone ever come up with what a Palestinian State would look like without wiping Israel of the map? If so have both sides ever been presented the offer? If not why? 1 month ago:
There is the Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Isratin proposal:
The Gaddafi Isratin proposal intended to permanently resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a secular, federalist, republican one-state solution, which was first articulated by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, at the Chatham House in London and later adopted by Muammar Gaddafi himself.
Its main points are:
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Creation of a binational Jewish-Palestinian state called the “Federal Republic of the Holy Land”;
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Partition of the state into five administrative regions, with Jerusalem as a city-state;
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Return of all Palestinian refugees;
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Supervision by the United Nations of free and fair elections on the first and second occasions;
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Removal of weapons of mass destruction from the state;
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Recognition of the state by the Arab League.
Similar to the Binational State Solution advocated by the Palestinian leadership and some others prior to the Nakba.
This ongoing Settler Colonialism annexing the West Bank continues to make a Two State Solution less possible, it has already divided the West Bank into hundreds of isolated enclaves. This Apartheid State needs to end as a binational state for all Palestinians and Israelis.
Here are resources by Historians about a One-State Solution. In many ways, it’s already a One-State, an Apartheid State, this change would be the emancipation of Palestinians to bring forth a One-State with equal rights.
The settlements represent land-grabbing, and land-grabbing and peace-making don’t go together, it is one or the other. By its actions, if not always in its rhetoric, Israel has opted for land-grabbing and as we speak Israel is expanding settlements. So, Israel has been systematically destroying the basis for a viable Palestinian state and this is the declared objective of the Likud and Netanyahu who used to pretend to accept a two-state solution. In the lead up to the last election, he said there will be no Palestinian state on his watch. The expansion of settlements and the wall mean that there cannot be a viable Palestinian state with territorial contiguity. The most that the Palestinians can hope for is Bantustans, a series of enclaves surrounded by Israeli settlements and Israeli military bases.
- Avi Shlaim
How Avi Shlaim moved from two-state solution to one-state solution
‘One state is a game changer’: A conversation with Ilan Pappe
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- Comment on Sydney University academics pursued for speaking out against Gaza atrocities 1 month ago:
It’s a genocide
Genocide
Image - De-Gaza: A Year of Israel’s Genocide and the Collapse of World Order - Euro-Med Monitor Report see Chapter 2 and 3 > On 26 January 2024, the ICJ said that it was plausible that Israel had breached the Genocide Convention. As an emergency measure, it ordered Israel ensure that its army refrained from genocidal acts against Palestinians. > The ICJ reported, as part of its decisions in March and May, that the situation in Gaza had deteriorated and that Israel had failed to abide by its order in January. - Israel’s war on Gaza: What the international courts have said > So, when we look at the actions taken, the dropping of thousands and thousands of bombs in a couple of days, including phosphorus bombs, as we heard, on one of the most densely populated areas around the world, together with these proclamations of intent, this indeed constitutes genocidal killing, which is the first act, according to the convention, of genocide. And Israel, I must say, is also perpetrating act number two and three — that is, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and creating condition designed to bring about the destruction of the group by cutting off water, food, supply of energy, bombing hospitals, ordering the fast evictions of hospitals, which the World Health Organization has declared to be, quote, “a death sentence.” So, we’re seeing the combination of genocidal acts with special intent. This is indeed a textbook case of genocide. - “A Textbook Case of Genocide”: Israeli Holocaust Scholar Raz Segal Decries Israel’s Assault on Gaza > More than 800 scholars of international law and genocide have signed a public statement arguing that the Israeli military may be committing genocidal acts against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as the total siege and relentless airstrikes continue to inflict devastation on the occupied territory. - 800+ Legal Scholars Say Israel May Be Perpetrating ‘Crime of Genocide’ in Gaza > An independent United Nations expert warned Monday that “Israel’s genocidal violence risks leaking out of Gaza and into the occupied Palestinian territory as a whole” as Western governments, corporations, and other institutions keep up their support for the Israeli military, which stands accused of grave war crimes in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. - UN Expert Says Impunity for Israel Must End as ‘Genocidal Violence’ Spreads to West Bank > Our documentation encompasses over 500 incitements of violence and genocidal incitement, appearing in the forms of social media posts, television interviews, and official statements from Israeli politicians, army personnel, journalists, and other influential personalities. - Law for Palestine Releases Database with 500+ Instances of Israeli Incitement to Genocide – Continuously Updated Others: AP News, Time, Reuters, Vox, CBC
Deliberate Attacks on Civilians
Israel deliberately targets civilian areas. From in general with the Dahiya Doctrine to multiple systems deployed in Gaza to do so: - The Dahiya Doctrine & Israel’s Use of Disproportionate Force - ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza - Lavender - Where’s Daddy Israel also targets Israeli Soldiers and Civilians to prevent them being leveraged as hostages, known as the Hannibal Directive. Which was also used on Oct 7th.
- Comment on Why does it seem most people, mainly conservatives, against Trans people? Unless I am wrong I never heard of one shooting up a school church or whatever. The ones I have met have been pretty cool. 1 month ago:
- Comment on US finds that Israel is not impeding assistance to Gaza; aid groups disagree 2 months ago:
No, it’s not. Anti-zionism is not Antisemitism. Zionism is not Judaism.
- Comment on US finds that Israel is not impeding assistance to Gaza; aid groups disagree 2 months ago:
On Tuesday, a group of eight humanitarian aid organizations jointly said the Israeli government “not only failed to meet the U.S. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in northern Gaza.”
Israel’s actions failed to meet any of the specific criteria set out in the U.S. letter. Israel not only failed to meet the U.S. criteria that would indicate support to the humanitarian response, but concurrently took actions that dramatically worsened the situation on the ground, particularly in Northern Gaza. That situation is in an even more dire state today than a month ago. The principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee now assess that “the entire Palestinian population in North Gaza is at imminent risk of dying from disease, famine and violence.” The findings of this scorecard underscore Israel’s failure to comply with U.S. demands and international obligations. Israel should be held accountable for the end result of failing to ensure the adequate provision of food, medical, and other supplies to reach people in need.
- Comment on The Environmental Disaster In Ecuador No One Knows About 3 months ago:
The campaign
- Comment on The Real Reason Housing Is So Expensive by Second Thought 3 months ago:
All the sources I provided are data driven with empirical evidence
- Comment on The Real Reason Housing Is So Expensive by Second Thought 3 months ago:
I implore you to read more from the sources than just what I quoted. You’re right that it’s not all about money, Pro-immigration should come from a morality standpoint, not just economic. People are people, everyone deserves asylum. There is no reason to curb immigration from anywhere.
Why are you trying so hard to single certain people out as ‘unworthy’ of being allowed in as immigrants? You’ve provided no evidence that justifies it even from an economic standpoint. I’m sure you’re not talking about any European or First World country, but instead some Third World Country. Of which those people aren’t deserving of immigration to the US for some arbitrary reason. It’s white nativism, which is a form of racism, whether you are aware or not. I’m going to assume you’re not aware, which is why I linked the wiki about nativsm so you can see the history of this kind of sentiment and where it comes from.
- Comment on As a Palestinian living in the US, I have lost friends, job opportunities – and my faith in humanity | Arwa Mahdawi 3 months ago:
I gave you multiple resources for different sources that show how holocaust and genocide scholars consider this a genocide. You chose to not read them. I quoted relevant paragraphs that showed the analysis of one of those scholars and the much higher death toll. You chose to not read them. I gave an extremely detailed report by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor and even gave the exact page that describes, in detail, exactly how this genocide fits the definition given in international law. You also chose to not read that.
Then you say that I’m a liar? I’m done talking with you
- Comment on As a Palestinian living in the US, I have lost friends, job opportunities – and my faith in humanity | Arwa Mahdawi 3 months ago:
What are you talking about, the definition is clearly listed on page 17 of the linked report. Nothing has been changed, the point of recognizing a genocide is to stop it.
- Comment on As a Palestinian living in the US, I have lost friends, job opportunities – and my faith in humanity | Arwa Mahdawi 3 months ago:
If you looked at the report, you would see exactly how it fits the international definition of genocide. The point of these definitions is to prevent genocide before it gets to the kind of scale we have seen in the past.
- Comment on As a Palestinian living in the US, I have lost friends, job opportunities – and my faith in humanity | Arwa Mahdawi 3 months ago:
You are ignoring a significant amount to rationalize this as not an act of genocide
It’s well-known what the Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on 9th of October declaring a complete siege on Gaza, cutting off water, food, fuel, stating that “We’re fighting human animals,” and we will react “accordingly.” He also said that “We will eliminate everything.” We know that Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari, for example, acknowledged wanton destruction and said explicitly, “The emphasis on damage and not on accuracy.” So we’re seeing the special intent on full display. And really, I have to say, if this is not special intent to commit genocide, I really don’t know what is.
So, when we look at the actions taken, the dropping of thousands and thousands of bombs in a couple of days, including phosphorus bombs, as we heard, on one of the most densely populated areas around the world, together with these proclamations of intent, this indeed constitutes genocidal killing, which is the first act, according to the convention, of genocide. And Israel, I must say, is also perpetrating act number two and three — that is, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and creating condition designed to bring about the destruction of the group by cutting off water, food, supply of energy, bombing hospitals, ordering the fast evictions of hospitals, which the World Health Organization has declared to be, quote, “a death sentence.” So, we’re seeing the combination of genocidal acts with special intent. This is indeed a textbook case of genocide.
- third source under Genocide
Euro-Med Monitor’s death count differs from that reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health — which currently stands at roughly 42,000 — as it accounts for reports by the human rights groups’ field team. But the true death toll is likely to be far, far higher; estimates from health experts have ranged from 100,000 to over 330,000, or about 15 percent of Gaza’s population.
In its over 100-page report, Euro-Med Monitor lays out some of the worst atrocities carried out by Israeli forces over the past year. It details the “systematic acts of genocide committed in Gaza, such as the targeted killing of civilians in homes, shelters, displacement camps, and humanitarian-declared zones,” and too many other examples to list.
- Comment on As a Palestinian living in the US, I have lost friends, job opportunities – and my faith in humanity | Arwa Mahdawi 3 months ago:
- Comment on As a Palestinian living in the US, I have lost friends, job opportunities – and my faith in humanity | Arwa Mahdawi 3 months ago:
Apartheid
Amnesty Report Human Rights Watch Report B’TSelem Report with quick Explainer
Genocide
Holocaust scholar to discuss his conclusion that Gaza campaign constitutes genocide UN Expert Says Impunity for Israel Must End as ‘Genocidal Violence’ Spreads to West Bank “A Textbook Case of Genocide”: Israeli Holocaust Scholar Raz Segal Decries Israel’s Assault on Gaza 800+ Legal Scholars Say Israel May Be Perpetrating ‘Crime of Genocide’ in Gaza Law for Palestine Releases Database with 500+ Instances of Israeli Incitement to Genocide – Continuously Updated AP News, Time, Reuters, Vox, CBC
