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I’ve mostly been getting my news about these protests from English language news (particularly Democracy Now!) so I may be wrong about this, but I don’t recall

I’ve mostly been getting my news about these protests from English language news (particularly Democracy Now!) so I may be wrong about this, but I don’t recall at any point they even mention Palestinians in these protests. They seem to be against the war, and against the current government, solely because they want the hostages home. Now, I want to be clear, I’m not blaming the protestors (I know many here on HN are going to these protests, and all the power to you for that). And I’m certainly not going to accuse any individual protestor of not caring about Palestinians. But from my eyes, through the English language news, it certainly does not seem to be a priority, nor even a consideration, for the public at large in Israel, that Palestinians get justice and liberation from these years and years of political neglect and human rights violations. If you compare this to the Iraq war protests in the USA, which I will not deny were more about bringing the troops home then about the lives of Iraqis, but the lives and conditions of Iraqis was always at least a part of the conversations. I’m not seeing this int the “Bring Them Home Now” protests in Israel. The hostages are not the main focus, but the only focus. Consideration for Palestinian lives is completely absent. When I see protests which actually consider Palestinian lives, it is not these mass demonstrations like we see with the “Bring Them Home Now” protests, but rather, very few individual anti-Zionist activists, who seem to get pretty disproportionate treatment from the Israeli police. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war_protests_in_Israel#Anti-war_protests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war_prote... https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/14/israels-war-on-gaza-live-afraid-to-leave-as-israel-fires-on-hospital?update=2706304 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/14/israels-wa...

YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago
I also get my news from Democracy Now :) There was an interview with Omer Bartov last week, where I think he broached the subject of the Israeli public's concern about the lives of the Palestinians and it wasn't good. I think this was the video: https://youtu.be/Ie3InYIVXF8?si=E0bdNNTQ2vr3Ysfs https://youtu.be/Ie3InYIVXF8?si=E0bdNNTQ2vr3Ysfs Apologies but I don't have time now to search it to find the place where he talks about Israelis' opinions, or to check that's the right one. I'll try to do it later today, if you're interested. Bartov is one of the calmest and most sensible voices around these days. He seems completely incapable of accepting that his country is committing a genocide and has argued eruditely and logically against it, but I guess that's understandable. I listen to that guy every chance I get.
- runarberg 2y ago
  For what its worth, I was watching Al Jazeera live last night, and they did cover last nights protests in Israel (I don’t know where they got their footage though). There were three protestors interviewed and all of them mentioned Palestinians lives[1]. So I was wrong about it being completely absent. There are at least some protestors which do use these protests to advocate for justice for Palestinians. Daniel Levy’s interview at Democracy Now! this morning was also insightful[2]. Particularly the answer to Juan González’ question: > JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you also about the protests, the continuing massive protests within Israel, even while the war continues. Your sense of the impact of these protests on the Israeli government? > DANIEL LEVY: It’s a very important point, Juan. What I think we have seen is the intensity of those protests — and those protests tend to center around the prioritizing of getting the hostages out, saying, “Do the deal. Get the hostages out.” The intensity, especially those led by members of family of those being held, by family, friends, those have increased. The volume, the extent to which this is disruptive and is impossible for Netanyahu to stare down, I do not think we are anywhere near that moment. > The internal pressure is such that the soft opposition, who will run against Netanyahu in the next election, led by this guy Gantz, former chief of staff, former defense minister, and Eisenkot, they are still in the government. They have still not unequivocally said that if Netanyahu turns down the deal, they will quit. Even if they quit, Netanyahu has a majority. > But the pressure does not feel sufficient that Netanyahu’s politics needs him to accept a ceasefire. He still thinks he can wiggle out of this, which is where the question of the external pressure becomes a key factor, because it’s going to be that combination of internal and external. So I think the next question one would have to address is: Where does the external pressure stand? So, in short, Daniel Levy does not believe these protests will do anything to change Israel’s policy, nor will any pressure from within Israel. He believes the only thing which will change this policy is external pressure, especially from the US. Meaning the student protests in the US are more relevant to the future of Palestine. The ball is not in Hamas’ courtyard, nor in Israel’s, it is—and has been this whole time—in the US’. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-NKhRVV2gU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-NKhRVV2gU 2: https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/7/daniel_levy_israel_rafah_ceasefire_hamas https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/7/daniel_levy_israel_raf...
  - 2y ago

YeGoblynQueenne 2y ago

I also get my news from Democracy Now :) There was an interview with Omer Bartov last week, where I think he broached the subject of the Israeli public's concern about the lives of the Palestinians and it wasn't good. I think this was the video: https://youtu.be/Ie3InYIVXF8?si=E0bdNNTQ2vr3Ysfs https://youtu.be/Ie3InYIVXF8?si=E0bdNNTQ2vr3Ysfs Apologies but I don't have time now to search it to find the place where he talks about Israelis' opinions, or to check that's the right one. I'll try to do it later today, if you're interested. Bartov is one of the calmest and most sensible voices around these days. He seems completely incapable of accepting that his country is committing a genocide and has argued eruditely and logically against it, but I guess that's understandable. I listen to that guy every chance I get.

runarberg 2y ago
For what its worth, I was watching Al Jazeera live last night, and they did cover last nights protests in Israel (I don’t know where they got their footage though). There were three protestors interviewed and all of them mentioned Palestinians lives[1]. So I was wrong about it being completely absent. There are at least some protestors which do use these protests to advocate for justice for Palestinians. Daniel Levy’s interview at Democracy Now! this morning was also insightful[2]. Particularly the answer to Juan González’ question: > JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And I wanted to ask you also about the protests, the continuing massive protests within Israel, even while the war continues. Your sense of the impact of these protests on the Israeli government? > DANIEL LEVY: It’s a very important point, Juan. What I think we have seen is the intensity of those protests — and those protests tend to center around the prioritizing of getting the hostages out, saying, “Do the deal. Get the hostages out.” The intensity, especially those led by members of family of those being held, by family, friends, those have increased. The volume, the extent to which this is disruptive and is impossible for Netanyahu to stare down, I do not think we are anywhere near that moment. > The internal pressure is such that the soft opposition, who will run against Netanyahu in the next election, led by this guy Gantz, former chief of staff, former defense minister, and Eisenkot, they are still in the government. They have still not unequivocally said that if Netanyahu turns down the deal, they will quit. Even if they quit, Netanyahu has a majority. > But the pressure does not feel sufficient that Netanyahu’s politics needs him to accept a ceasefire. He still thinks he can wiggle out of this, which is where the question of the external pressure becomes a key factor, because it’s going to be that combination of internal and external. So I think the next question one would have to address is: Where does the external pressure stand? So, in short, Daniel Levy does not believe these protests will do anything to change Israel’s policy, nor will any pressure from within Israel. He believes the only thing which will change this policy is external pressure, especially from the US. Meaning the student protests in the US are more relevant to the future of Palestine. The ball is not in Hamas’ courtyard, nor in Israel’s, it is—and has been this whole time—in the US’. 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-NKhRVV2gU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-NKhRVV2gU 2: https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/7/daniel_levy_israel_rafah_ceasefire_hamas https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/7/daniel_levy_israel_raf...
- 2y ago