This post is no less informative and no more political than, for example, this post on ACTA: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620579 http://news.ycombinator

This post is no less informative and no more political than, for example, this post on ACTA: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620579 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620579 In my understanding it is in fact both acceptable under the guidelines and especially relevant to hackers and I will explain my reasoning on each point in order. The post is acceptable under the guidelines because it is factual reporting about Palestine and Israel, which is important information that I do not believe would normally get reported in the US media. I have seen airplay of criticism (demonization even), mostly of the Palestinians but occasionally of the Israeli settlers, but not the facts. I believe that the reason the facts about Palestine are suppressed is because of organized "Hasbara" (public relations) efforts by Israel's supporters in the USA. (Example link: http://www.hasbara.com/ http://www.hasbara.com/) (I believe the factual record is one sidedly unflattering to Israel, so I believe that to be the Israeli motive.) Otherwise I can't explain why there hasn't been more uproar about Israel's killing of US servicemen (Link http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/eedition/chi-liberty_tuesoct02,0,43090.story http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/eedition/ch...) Israel's attempted sale of US military secrets to China (Links: http://www.bigeye.com/041600.htm http://www.bigeye.com/041600.htm http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/motherofallscandals.php http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/motherofallscandal...) or use of Israeli counterterrorism units against the "Occupy" movement (Link: http://www.alternet.org/story/153307/from_occupation_to_%E2%80%9Coccupy%E2%80%9D%3A_the_israelification_of_american_domestic_security/ http://www.alternet.org/story/153307/from_occupation_to_%E2%...) This is important information because people who knew the facts might choose to act differently, for example in terms of career choice or investment choice. For example, given the facts that I know about how Israel treats innocent Palestinian civilians, I have an ethical problem with Israel and do not intend to work for Israel, to buy Israeli products, to do business with Israel, to buy stock in companies that make investments in Israel, or otherwise enrich Israel in any way that I can avoid, directly or indirectly. I am not a customer of Starbucks or of Marks and Spencer for this reason. This issue is particularly pertinent to hackers because startup funding, research and development and technology transfer depend greatly on the military industrial complex - which is particularly developed in Israel and very strongly connected to the US military industrial complex. For example, if one does graduate research in networking or communications systems at Cornell, one's algorithms and work just might end up being used inside Israeli weapons used against civilians. Links: http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/israeli-university-bids-w-cornell-and-350-million-to-set-up-on-roosevelt-island-in-ny.html http://mondoweiss.net/2011/12/israeli-university-bids-w-corn... http://www.redress.cc/americas/ldavidson20120102 http://www.redress.cc/americas/ldavidson20120102 It would be a shame if Hacker News guidelines become warped and misapplied as censorship tools for Hasbara and I am alarmed to see standard Hasbara talking points - such as 'The territories are "Disputed" not "Occupied"' - used to justify such censorship even on this page.