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> knee jerk reacting Knee-jerk means behaving in a predictable manner, following the easiest path. A knee-jerk response would be condemnation of Hamas and sup

• jfengel 3y ago
  In general, that's true. But there are environments where the default position is to see the Palestinians as the victims of an oppressive Israeli government. Not entirely without reason -- Israel has been building settlements in the West Bank, on land that would reasonably form part of a Palestinian state under any two-state solution. In those environments, it's common to use the term "apartheid" to refer to Israel's treatment of Palestinians. And it can look that way, if you haven't looked at the history. Israel segregates Gaza, allowing people into Israel only to work, and carefully scrutinized. They provide much of Gaza's water and energy, and been able to cut it off (which they now have). That's a superficial view, failing to take into account the history of the conflict, but it's definitely the case that it's common in certain left-leaning circles like college campuses. In a lot of those places, the recent atrocity by Hamas is making them question that view. But it really does sound as if these students were living in an environment where they had been reinforcing Palestinian victimhood, and supporting Palestine is exactly what I'd call a knee-jerk reaction.