I co-sign most of this; a few points though, IIRC I saw that quietly before they started attacking ships the Houthis declared war on Israel, and by some artifact of the laws of war they were entitled to keep the cargo for every ship they take. Also, their popularity with the average world Muslim citizen is sky high now. As far as 'celebrating Hamas." I don't think I ever went that far but, I file 10/7 right up there with the Warsaw ghetto uprisings,: one last mostly futile shot in the dark to try and change the facts on the ground. Undoubtable crimes were committed by Hamas, but while I don't have any direct evidence of it, I strongly suspect that Hamas largely did try to stick to military targets and abducting civilian. A handful of Israeli civilians were killed by just average Palestinians shocked to find the border open, and a much bigger percentage were obviously killed by the IDF with weapons Hamas simply didn't have access to in significant numbers. I have a hard time condemning people for taking their one last shot in the dark.
Also, Happy B-day, congratulations on having a worse date than me (mine was the 19thy) gotta love those combo presents that are exactly what a single present would have been. I had a handful of other pints that I wanted to clarify/explain for you while listing to your last podcast. Mostly from my better understanding of leftists interseason debates, but also a few other things like the Houthi's mentioned above. I'll re-listen and make another comment.
Regarding Hamas, there is the video of them shooting drivers on the highway, who they very clearly knew were not military targets, but alternately it is more or less definitively proven they didn't know the music festival was going on that day, being as it was extended at the last minute and apparently even the people who own the campsite [which is a sort of public trust organization] were not properly informed, so if the campsite owners didn't know Hamas definitely didn't, and they were probably unwilling to increase surveillance drone activity in advance for fear of alerting Israel. You're also not supposed to take civilian hostages though, that is a crime. But I do also see your point about them breaking out of their prison. I don't want to get into percentages of who was killed by what, but it is clear there was a large amount of friendly fire deaths. Further, not from any sort of moral perspective or who would be willing to do what perspective, but if people were discovered tied up and burned in houses at the Kibbutz, it stands to reason that those people were taken captive by Hamas and then the houses were shelled by Israel, that is and away the most likely sequence of events to finding bodies in that state [as ever, assuming Israel is not just making shit up.]
Regarding the Houthis, is they consider themselves at war with Israel, then supplies going to Israel would generally be considered a valid target, but of course it also opens up their entire territory to legitimate attack by Israel and its allies, and my bigger issue is firstly that they shouldn't have gone out of their way to do that, but secondly just that it makes me look stupid for claiming they weren't a threat to the outside world including Israel for so many years, and in that regard I have been proven incorrect.
I co-sign most of this; a few points though, IIRC I saw that quietly before they started attacking ships the Houthis declared war on Israel, and by some artifact of the laws of war they were entitled to keep the cargo for every ship they take. Also, their popularity with the average world Muslim citizen is sky high now. As far as 'celebrating Hamas." I don't think I ever went that far but, I file 10/7 right up there with the Warsaw ghetto uprisings,: one last mostly futile shot in the dark to try and change the facts on the ground. Undoubtable crimes were committed by Hamas, but while I don't have any direct evidence of it, I strongly suspect that Hamas largely did try to stick to military targets and abducting civilian. A handful of Israeli civilians were killed by just average Palestinians shocked to find the border open, and a much bigger percentage were obviously killed by the IDF with weapons Hamas simply didn't have access to in significant numbers. I have a hard time condemning people for taking their one last shot in the dark.
Also, Happy B-day, congratulations on having a worse date than me (mine was the 19thy) gotta love those combo presents that are exactly what a single present would have been. I had a handful of other pints that I wanted to clarify/explain for you while listing to your last podcast. Mostly from my better understanding of leftists interseason debates, but also a few other things like the Houthi's mentioned above. I'll re-listen and make another comment.
Regarding Hamas, there is the video of them shooting drivers on the highway, who they very clearly knew were not military targets, but alternately it is more or less definitively proven they didn't know the music festival was going on that day, being as it was extended at the last minute and apparently even the people who own the campsite [which is a sort of public trust organization] were not properly informed, so if the campsite owners didn't know Hamas definitely didn't, and they were probably unwilling to increase surveillance drone activity in advance for fear of alerting Israel. You're also not supposed to take civilian hostages though, that is a crime. But I do also see your point about them breaking out of their prison. I don't want to get into percentages of who was killed by what, but it is clear there was a large amount of friendly fire deaths. Further, not from any sort of moral perspective or who would be willing to do what perspective, but if people were discovered tied up and burned in houses at the Kibbutz, it stands to reason that those people were taken captive by Hamas and then the houses were shelled by Israel, that is and away the most likely sequence of events to finding bodies in that state [as ever, assuming Israel is not just making shit up.]
Regarding the Houthis, is they consider themselves at war with Israel, then supplies going to Israel would generally be considered a valid target, but of course it also opens up their entire territory to legitimate attack by Israel and its allies, and my bigger issue is firstly that they shouldn't have gone out of their way to do that, but secondly just that it makes me look stupid for claiming they weren't a threat to the outside world including Israel for so many years, and in that regard I have been proven incorrect.
also happy birthday to you as well.
Happy birthday, good Sir!
Thanks, 36 lol, the years keep moving, but I have kid #2 coming to focus on