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Keeping with the theme as outlined in the " Terror Tunnels ? " thread we perhaps need to go a little deeper to see how perceptions are shaped by the use of the terminology
With regards to the " terror tunnels " into Israeli from Gaza it came about that a poster made the point that , even if they had not been used for ant terror attacks , their existence and the effect it had on Israeli civilians living near the border was enough to justify the term. I think that's what they meant to infer anyhow. No matter let's take it as a reasonable point
The tunnels engender fear in the Israeli border communities and as such the term " terror tunnel " is valid. Okay so let's leave that as the statement to work from
Moving on let's have the same thing applied to the Palestinian people , in an attempt at objective analysis. Wishing to apply the same standards to both parties
So what acts and/or actions do the Israeli side carry out that will engender fear in the Palestinian population under siege and/or occupation ? And if we identify them properly should we label the in the same way ? To me , if you seek to be objective there can only be one answer to that question ,
I would say the reality of the military occupation and/or siege the Palestinians live under would be sure to engender understandable fears amongst the Palestinians. So that should be included
The targeted assassination programme is sure to be included too. Living with drones buzzing overhead , not knowing if the car that passing you in the street is the intended target for a missile strike that may well kill you in the process
The frequent wide scale military attacks in which , every time , masses of innocents people are always killed would also make that list without any issue or controversy
The Gazan buffer zone too would see Palestinians justifiably scared of being shot for entering it to farm it or scavenge from it
The policy of administrative detention which sees people arrested , often at night , and taken away without charge or trial is sure to make it too
What about the presence of illegal Israeli settlers and the violence they engage in ?
If the list above is capable of engendering fears into Palestinian people , which is surely the case , then why aren't we wondering why they are not given the same treatment when it comes the terminology being used ?
Are Palestinian fears less important than Israeli fears ? They shouldn't be
At this point , or earlier , you might be wondering why is this a big deal ?
Well, to me if you class all actions by the Palestinians as terrorism and or seek to tack it on to this type of subject then the demonization taking place of the Palestinians is highly dangerous as we have seen before when a people are being dehumanized . It can see people grant themselves and get support for things , crimes and atrocities , that would never be allowed without it
In a recent thread a poster here circumvented their own definition of terrorism so as to label the children throwing stones as "terrorists" engaged in terrorism. You won't need me to tell you how chilling a precedent that sets
To conclude , should we be demanding that parity be the way to view the conflict and if we are okay with the tunnels being " terror tunnels " we should also be okay with the same labels being applied to Israeli actions that engender fear into Palestinians ?
A list for this purpose might look like the following
The Israeli terror administrative detention programme
The terror wars against Gaza
The Israeli terror siege of Gaza
The Israeli terror occupation of the Palestinians
The Israeli terror targeted assassination programme
The terror Israeli buffer zone
The terror illegal settlers in the West Bank
If you find the above ridiculous then you should maybe recall the context of the tag being used to describe something that instils fears in the people on the other side. If you still think it ridiculous then maybe you should ask yourself why you so readily accept it when it is applied only to Palestinian activities and/or your own claim to " objectivity "
With regards to the " terror tunnels " into Israeli from Gaza it came about that a poster made the point that , even if they had not been used for ant terror attacks , their existence and the effect it had on Israeli civilians living near the border was enough to justify the term. I think that's what they meant to infer anyhow. No matter let's take it as a reasonable point
The tunnels engender fear in the Israeli border communities and as such the term " terror tunnel " is valid. Okay so let's leave that as the statement to work from
Moving on let's have the same thing applied to the Palestinian people , in an attempt at objective analysis. Wishing to apply the same standards to both parties
So what acts and/or actions do the Israeli side carry out that will engender fear in the Palestinian population under siege and/or occupation ? And if we identify them properly should we label the in the same way ? To me , if you seek to be objective there can only be one answer to that question ,
I would say the reality of the military occupation and/or siege the Palestinians live under would be sure to engender understandable fears amongst the Palestinians. So that should be included
The targeted assassination programme is sure to be included too. Living with drones buzzing overhead , not knowing if the car that passing you in the street is the intended target for a missile strike that may well kill you in the process
The frequent wide scale military attacks in which , every time , masses of innocents people are always killed would also make that list without any issue or controversy
The Gazan buffer zone too would see Palestinians justifiably scared of being shot for entering it to farm it or scavenge from it
The policy of administrative detention which sees people arrested , often at night , and taken away without charge or trial is sure to make it too
What about the presence of illegal Israeli settlers and the violence they engage in ?
If the list above is capable of engendering fears into Palestinian people , which is surely the case , then why aren't we wondering why they are not given the same treatment when it comes the terminology being used ?
Are Palestinian fears less important than Israeli fears ? They shouldn't be
At this point , or earlier , you might be wondering why is this a big deal ?
Well, to me if you class all actions by the Palestinians as terrorism and or seek to tack it on to this type of subject then the demonization taking place of the Palestinians is highly dangerous as we have seen before when a people are being dehumanized . It can see people grant themselves and get support for things , crimes and atrocities , that would never be allowed without it
In a recent thread a poster here circumvented their own definition of terrorism so as to label the children throwing stones as "terrorists" engaged in terrorism. You won't need me to tell you how chilling a precedent that sets
To conclude , should we be demanding that parity be the way to view the conflict and if we are okay with the tunnels being " terror tunnels " we should also be okay with the same labels being applied to Israeli actions that engender fear into Palestinians ?
A list for this purpose might look like the following
The Israeli terror administrative detention programme
The terror wars against Gaza
The Israeli terror siege of Gaza
The Israeli terror occupation of the Palestinians
The Israeli terror targeted assassination programme
The terror Israeli buffer zone
The terror illegal settlers in the West Bank
If you find the above ridiculous then you should maybe recall the context of the tag being used to describe something that instils fears in the people on the other side. If you still think it ridiculous then maybe you should ask yourself why you so readily accept it when it is applied only to Palestinian activities and/or your own claim to " objectivity "
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