Hamas attacks southern Israel

[Coughdrop addict]

A nice mystification...so, "being called palestinian is an hostile insult". Really. They are afraid to say what they are: Palestinians.

It is ironic how some westerners on this board are certain that all Arabs in Israel are Palestinians and those who say they are not are poor, deluded victims of the Jewish oppressors who need a white westerner to tell them who they really are.

The condescending racism of the white savior complex is rarely so blatant.

[mishkin]

It is ironic how some westerners on this board are certain that all Arabs in Israel are Palestinians and those who say they are not are poor, deluded victims of the Jewish oppressors who need a white westerner to tell them who they really are.

The condescending racism of the white savior complex is rarely so blatant.

How is what you have quoted racism or white saviour behaviour?

[Muizer]

A genocide doesn't have to be getting rid of the entire population.

That is true. It does however require that members of a group are being 'destroyed' because they are members of that group. That requires some sort of planned action on an ideological basis.

I don't think that definition should be watered down. Especially not in order just to have heavier ammo in a war of words (which in the process loses some of its power).

I'd say war crimes look very likely because it is apparent the Israeli's simply don't care about Palestinian lives (just like Hamas).

Ethnic cleansing is something to be wary of. The rhetoric of politicians who are in government but not directly in charge of the war and a track record of enabling of settler violence on the West Bank are reasons enough to be suspicious. But killing a percentage of people spread out all over the region would not be the way to do it, even as a start.

how you can think the official line by Israel, that this butchery is happening to prevent in the long run more deaths, stands to logic.

That is indeed a mystery. The supposed plan of returning self-rule to Gaza under supervision of the IDF is never going to work as long as there's outside forces helping dissenters destabilize the situation. Neither will returning control of Gaza back to Hamas resolve anything. I don't see any way out tbh. Not as long as it's between Hamas and Netanyahu's Israel.

[nhytgbvfeco2]

massive whataboutism



or maybe the Israeli government could let them return home? Has that occurred to you? and the number obviously not only grows because of the descendants of the 1948 expulsions, you know this very well. In this last adventure you have created a new million displaced people/refugees. Have Israel already decided what they are going to do with them? Is the idea of asking foreign countries to accept them as refugees still maintained? tents?

Even those living within Gaza are considered refugees, as you yourself may have noticed when you pointed out that Jabaliya is a refugee camp. Jabaliya is far from the only one. If palestinians living in palestinian territory under a palestinian government are refugees, aren't 100% of Israeli Jews also refugees? Are Germans expelled from Prussia and all their descendants refugees to this day? Because for palestinians, that's exactly how it works.

They'll be allowed to return home once the war ends. In many places, they're already able to return home. The Israeli army, as you may or may not know, is currently only present within a narrow strip of land inside Gaza.

It's part of the problematic position you hold, that you think the operative in a claim is what the person presenting it thinks, and not the claim. You can follow its symmetry to why you yourself have to support Israel's position, because it is, exactly, a position by Israel.

As for why I'd be supporting Israel, you don't need to go that far. It is an obvious potential ally for my own country. It's just that this doesn't mean it can be a potential ally even if it turns nazi.

Nice job addressing none of what I said.

How is what you have quoted racism or white saviour behaviour?

Because you're attributing to them something they don't identify with. You wouldn't want someone else to decide your identity for you.

I don't see any way out tbh. Not as long as it's between Hamas and Netanyahu's Israel.

Don't worry, Netanyahu isn't staying in power.

[sumskilz]

massive whataboutism

To be clear, my main point isn't that two wrongs make a right, but rather that the Israeli Jews of 1948 chose the lesser of two evils. They chose the Nakba over a second holocaust. I believe this was the lesser of two evils, but of course, that's not the reason they chose it. They chose their own survival and the survival of their families over annihilation. This is the choice most anyone would have made in their situation, even with the moral norms of today rather the the 1940s. The Nakba wouldn't have happened if Arabs hadn't started a war that at least plausibly appeared to be a war of extermination. I'm also quite consistent in that I don't hold any other modern people responsible for what their nations did in the 1940s, especially in cases when the behavior was the norm at the time. The youngest people who are still alive who were adults in 1948, are 94 years old today, and none of them would have been in leadership positions at the time.

The related secondary point is calling out the obscene hypocrisy so often applied to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

[nhytgbvfeco2]

Fighting has died down in preparation for the Rafah operation, and to give negotiations for a temporary ceasefire a final chance. If Hamas refuses the current offer the operation likely starts within 24 to 48 hours.

[mishkin]

Israel decided weeks ago to attack Rafah

Why Israel is so determined to launch an offensive in Rafah
(AP, March 21, 2024)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel is determined to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, a plan that has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to the hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering there.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel can’t achieve its goal of “total victory” against Hamas without going into Rafah.

Israel has approved military plans for its offensive. But with 1.4 million Palestinians jammed into the city, Israel’s allies, including the U.S., have demanded greater care for civilians in its anticipated incursion.

Most of those Palestinians have been displaced by fighting in other parts of Gaza and are living in densely packed tent camps, overflowing U.N.-run shelters or packed apartments.

Netanyahu is sending a delegation to Washington to present the administration with its plans.

Please don't start with the that all the suffering this invasion causes will be Hamas' fault.

[PointOfViewGun]

And none of those individuals are in a position to make decisions on the matter. There are 4 individuals in the Israeli government's war cabinet, and they're the only ones with a say.

Not really. Ignoring their effect is not an argument. The war cabinet, specifically, is responsible much of the civilian destruction in Gaza anyways.

Let me ask you a followup question: When the Jews were genocided, did the future generations become terrorists and kill every German they saw?

Not to Germans perhaps but to the British and the Palestinians. Israel's inception was carried out by a coalition Jewish organizations of some not unlike Hamas.

Are Armenians running around killing Turks? Do they elect terrorist organisations to govern them?

There was ASALA, most notably known for bombing the Turkish Airlines plane in Paris Orly airport. One of the perpetrators received a hero's welcome in Armenia after its early release.

[nhytgbvfeco2]

Israel decided weeks ago to attack Rafah

Why Israel is so determined to launch an offensive in Rafah
(AP, March 21, 2024)


Please don't start with the that all the suffering this invasion causes will be Hamas' fault.

A Rafah operation will indeed happen, it's only a question of whether it'll be now or after a temporary ceasefire. Without it this would all have been pointless.

Not really. Ignoring their effect is not an argument. The war cabinet, specifically, is responsible much of the civilian destruction in Gaza anyways.

Not making any argument is also not an argument.

Not to Germans perhaps but to the British and the Palestinians. Israel's inception was carried out by a coalition Jewish organizations of some not unlike Hamas.

Irgun and Lehi had a combined total of some 4,300 members. Their actions are frankly incomparable to what we've seen from Hamas. Neither of those organisations governed Israel.

There was ASALA, most notably known for bombing the Turkish Airlines plane in Paris Orly airport. One of the perpetrators received a hero's welcome in Armenia after its early release.

Was ASALA made the government of Armenia? How many members did it have?

[Ludicus]

It is ironic how some westerners on this board are certain that all Arabs in Israel are Palestinians

It's factual: All Arabs in Israel are Palestinian Arabs: they are the Arabs that found themselves inside Israel’s boundaries after the war of Independence. Four-fifths of the region’s Arab inhabitants left their homes during the fighting. Between 1947 and 1949, at least 750,000 Palestinians from a 1.9 million population were made refugees beyond the borders of the state. More than 78% of historic Palestine was taken by Israel. The Israeli forces ethnically cleansed and destroyed about 530 Palestinian villages and cities.
Read also, Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917-1947(Part I)
Part II (1947-1977)
----

I posted several polls indicating that a relatively small minority of Israeli Arabs identify as Palestinian.

It never was a "small minority". According to Israel Democracy Institute (last poll), I quote,

Perhaps surprisingly, 70 percent of Arab Israelis now say they feel part of the state of Israel, according to a November poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group. That is 22 points higher than in June and the highest proportion since the group began polling on the question two decades ago."

So, 70% of the Palestinian Arabs polled say “yes”, up from 48 % in June. 48% saying “yes” in June is a minority, not a majority. It was also said that "surprisingly" it is the highest find for the sector since it began such surveys 20% years ago.

Well, it’s not surprising- it’s fear: they fear the present- they fear the Jews (to the point that the Palestinian citizens of Israel released in deals with Hamas fear a backlash- see previous link, NYTimes), and they fear the future.
According to the same poll, I quote,

just 27 % of the Arabs respondents said they felt optimistic about the future, compared to 72% Jews

Obviouly.

----

A Rafah operation will indeed happen, it's only a question of whether it'll be now or after a temporary ceasefire.

These statements were made- according to Haaretz- at a meeting with representatives of the hostages' families, at a time when negotiations for a ceasefire seemed to be moving in a positive direction. This is what the hostages' families feared. This is what the negotiators feared. There was cautious optimism until yesterday and then Netanyahu announced that he would order an invasion of Rafah.

----
----

Israel, the sacred cow of the west: Norway foreign minister accuses west of double standards on Gaza, He says,

Many western countries ... hesitated to use the same type of language against violations of international humanitarian law, for instance, that we easily apply when they are violated by Russia in Ukraine.

ICC…war crimes charges against Israel

(…) Asked about the prospect of ICC warrants, the White House spokesperson, Karine Jeanne-Pierre, said: “We’ve been really clear about the ICC investigation.We don’t support it.
US politicians spoke out, with the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, saying: “Such a lawless action by the ICC would directly undermine US national security interests.
Democratic senator John Fetterman warned: “It would be a fatal blow to the judicial and moral standing of ICC to pursue this path against Israel.”

Can UN ask for a war crime trial against Netanyahu at ICC?
“

In its history, ICC has never convicted a Western country or a country with “power,” Demirel says. “This is precisely why the African Union withdrew from the Rome Statute.

The ICC Prosecutor's Double Standards in the Time of an Unfolding Genocide- Opinion Juris.

(…) A further signal of the Court’s paralysis in the Palestine situation is the allocation of resources (contra, see here): the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) assigned no funds to the Palestine situation in 2022 (the budget was finalised on 16 August 2021). In 2023, Khan allocated the lowest budget (944.1 thousands of euros) among all active investigations to the Palestine investigation (one fifth of the budget of 4,499.8 thousands of euros to Ukraine for which the Prosecutor had called upon states to provide voluntary contributions; (almost) one fourth of the budget of 3.506,3 thousands of euros to Sudan; and half of the budget of 1,917.8 thousands of euros to the Philippines ). The way in which the Prosecutor had approached the Palestine investigation appears to be in sharp contrast to the Ukraine situation. After the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, Khan undertook several visits to Ukraine, attended press conferences, opened the Court’s biggest field office, deployed 42 investigators, opened an online portal to collect evidence, and raised unprecedented amounts of funding from various states. These were the same measures Palestinian human rights groups have been requesting for a while, yet to little or no avail. According to civil society organizations in Palestine, despite repeated requests for a similar commitment to accountability, the Prosecutor ‘never sought outside money for the ICC’s Palestine investigation, never spoke about a “crime scene…, never sought to visit Palestine’. Since June 2021, the Prosecutor had not provided any updates on the Palestine investigation.
(…) the form of surrender to political pressure, the second scenario would constitute a betrayal of the Court’s raison d’etre. Favouring the ICC’s ‘cordial relationship’ with the United States over the fulfilment of its mandate would further tarnish the Court’s image as an independent and impartial institution. Yielding to pressure from powerful states would result in further legitimacy costs for an institution that, so far, has failed to hold anyone to account in some of the most widely-documented situations of alleged international crimes, such as Iraq, Afghanistan, and Palestine. Carrying on with such double standards when faced with an unfolding genocide would mean failing the final test bench for the credibility of the Court (…)

Brown University and student protesters reach an agreement

Brown University student protesters have reached an agreement to disband their encampment after the university agreed to hold a vote on divestment from companies that support Israel.
“This is an unprecedented win,” a release from the student group said. "This vote is a major concession that affirms the power of our encampment and the national movement of student encampments for Palestine."

[PointOfViewGun]

Irgun and Lehi had a combined total of some 4,300 members. Their actions are frankly incomparable to what we've seen from Hamas. Neither of those organisations governed Israel.

And back then the Israeli population was less than a million as well. They are quite comparable to Hamas.

Was ASALA made the government of Armenia? How many members did it have?

Hamas is not the government of Palestinians either. Not sure about any connections to Armenian government but Dashnak and Hunchak parties of whose fighters participated in extensive killings did become the creators of Armenia. Not sure what the number of members have to do with it.

[Ludicus]

Now, let's analyze the fable of the Palestinian-Israeli citizens' self-identification with Israel at a high political level. There are ten Israeli-Palestinian MPs in the Knesset. Six of them are worth mentioning. Let's see who they are and what they think. (The remaining four have no relevant curriculum)

1- Aida Touma-Suleiman:
- she was critical of Arab countries normalizing diplomatic ties with Israel
- In November 2023 she was suspended from the Knesset for two months after accusing the Israel Defense Forces of war crimes.

2- Ahmad Tibi
-political adviser to Arafat (93/99)
- supports an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 green lines and a two-state solution.
-opposes Israel's character as a Jewish state, claiming that its self-definition as Jewish is racist.
- supports the Palestinian right of return.
- In 2002, MK Michael Kleiner initiated actions in the Knesset to restrict movements by Tibi inside the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Kleiner claimed that Tibi was assisting the Palestinians in their war against Israel.
- During an event honoring Palestinian martyrs in January 2012, Tibi described martyrs as "symbols of the homeland", while congratulating Palestinian martyrs in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel, as well as overseas, asserting that for Palestinians "there is nothing more praiseworthy than those who die for the homeland."

3-Ayman Odeh
- Odeh's campaign for the March 2015 elections had a "breakthrough moment" when, in a televised debate of candidates, Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's foreign minister, called Odeh a "Palestinian citizen" and said Odeh was not welcome in Israel.

-In October 2015, Odeh gave support to the "unarmed Palestinian struggle…regarding throwing rocks”. He supported the First Intifada.
(There is nothing like the charm of a good, old-fashioned, traditional way of making intifadas. Sorry, Odeh, what about a martini on the rocks?)

-Israel's internal intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, has interrogated Odeh many times in the past. On 18 January 2017, Odeh was allegedly shot by a sponge-tipped bullet in the forehead by Israel Police as he protested against the demolition of homes in the Bedouin village of Umm al-Hiran.

4- Iman Khatib-Yassin
- On 5 November 2023, Khatib-Yassin said that the attackers of the 7 October Hamas-led attack "didn’t slaughter babies and they didn’t rape women, at least not in the footage" of a 43-minute video made by the Israeli Defense Forces. The Ethics Committee of the Knesset then suspended Khatib-Yassin for a month for having "denied atrocities".


5- Mansour Abbas, the leader of the United Arab List, is a peculiar figure.
-On 21 April 2020, Abbas clearly stated what he was: “As a religious Palestinian Muslim Arab, who was raised on the legacy of Sheikh Abdullah Nimr Darwish who founded the Islamic Movement…”
- Abbas drew criticism from some Palestinians for publicly accepting Israel as a de facto Jewish state and stating that it does not practice apartheid. But that wasn’t enough to “fool” Ben-Gvir and Smotrich:

- Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called him a "terrorist supporter", Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich accused him of supporting Israel's enemies, and Legislative Committee Chairman Simcha Rothman accused Abbas and the United Arab List of being "supporters of terrorism".

-5- Hamad Amar is a Palestinian druze. In 2018, Amar opposed the Citizenship Law. As we know, Israel has always utilized divide-and-rule strategies to govern its non-Jewish citizens- the Palestinians who remained inside the 1948 borders.
Druze in Israel: Questions of identity, rights, and loyalty

(…) For 75 years, 'loyalty' to the state and the disproportionate enlistment in the army has not earned the Druze equal rights to Jewish-Israelis…Druze rights in Israel are, at best, partly fulfilled and, at worst, mere aesthetics serving Israel’s divide-and-conquer strategies. Only time will tell - given increased Druze disillusionment - if meaningful revisions of identity and loyalty will take place among the community.

[sumskilz]

It never was a "small minority". According to Israel Democracy Institute (last poll), I quote,

Perhaps surprisingly, 70 percent of Arab Israelis now say they feel part of the state of Israel, according to a November poll by the Israel Democracy Institute, a Jerusalem-based research group. That is 22 points higher than in June and the highest proportion since the group began polling on the question two decades ago."

So, 70% of the Palestinian Arabs polled say “yes”, up from 48 % in June. 48% saying “yes” in June is a minority, not a majority. It was also said that "surprisingly" it is the highest find for the sector since it began such surveys 20% years ago.

It's amusing that you think a poll indicating that 70% of Arab Israelis now say they feel part of the state of Israel somehow negates the three polls I posted that indicate that relatively few Arab Israelis identify as Palestinian. The rise from 48% to 70% of Arab Israelis saying they feel part of the state of Israel after October 7th parallels the rise from 21% to 33.2% of Arab Israelis saying that being Israeli is the most important part of their identity in the polls I cited. It's also worth noting in the poll you cited, that when asked "If you could receive American citizenship or citizenship of another Western country, would you prefer to move there to live or would you prefer to remain in Israel?" a majority of Arab Israelis (59%) responded that they'd prefer to stay in Israel, while only about quarter (26.1%) said they would prefer to move.

Also, don't pretend to be quoting a poll when you aren't. The factually meaningless "perhaps surprisingly" is from the New York Times coverage of the poll, not the poll itself, while the other question you mentioned was actually about the future of the State of Israel, not the respondent's personal future.

Now, let's analyze the fable of the Palestinian-Israeli citizens' self-identification with Israel at a high political level. There are ten Israeli-Palestinian MPs in the Knesset. Six of them are worth mentioning.

All that you're continuing to demonstrate is that you have a propensity for non-sequiturs and don't understand how to make a credible empirical argument about the frequency of beliefs at a population level.

[nhytgbvfeco2]

And back then the Israeli population was less than a million as well. They are quite comparable to Hamas.

If you want to bring up per capita, do compare 4300/805900 to 40000/2375259. Nearly 10x the members, less than 3x the population.
They really aren't comparable.

Hamas is not the government of Palestinians either. Not sure about any connections to Armenian government but Dashnak and Hunchak parties of whose fighters participated in extensive killings did become the creators of Armenia. Not sure what the number of members have to do with it.

Hamas won the 2006 legislative election in all of palestine, and continue to hold a supermajority in the largely defunct 'Palestinian Legislative Council'. The reason that it isn't the government is that Fatah decided that this whole democracy thing isn't so great after all. They do however govern the area in question, Gaza. What territory does ASALA govern?

[PointOfViewGun]

If you want to bring up per capita, do compare 4300/805900 to 40000/2375259. Nearly 10x the members, less than 3x the population.
They really aren't comparable.

Even if we take these numbers at face value we're merely talking about 3 times more in capita terms. That boils down to you hiding behind a criteria you made up on the fly.

Hamas won the 2006 legislative election in all of palestine, and continue to hold a supermajority in the largely defunct 'Palestinian Legislative Council'. The reason that it isn't the government is that Fatah decided that this whole democracy thing isn't so great after all. They do however govern the area in question, Gaza. What territory does ASALA govern?

There haven't been an election since 2006. It's been 18 years. People that were not born back then could vote now. If there was one before October 7, 2023 and Israel didn't interfere, Hamas would likely lose. The greatest source of support for Hamas is Israeli brutality. Before October 7 support for Hamas was dwindling and much of the Gaza preferred Palestinian Authority taking over administration. Since October 7, however, Israeli forces demolished the parliament building in Gaza unrelated to any fighting. Right now, Hamas governs jack in Gaza. ASALA not governing any territory has no relevance. You seemingly ignoring Dashnak and Hunchak does though.

[Jozam]

According to polls conducted in the last few years, 85% of Arab citizens of Israel support a Palestinian right of return, which would significantly diminish or even eliminate the country's Jewish demographic majority. Additionally, 75% of Arabs believe Jews have no right to national sovereignty in Israel, and 64% of Arabs (including 72% of Christians) believe a Jewish state is incompatible with democracy. Finally, asked which side they'd take in the event of a defensive war between Israel and Arab countries, only 26% of Arabs picked Israel.

On the Jewish side, 58% of Israeli Jews believe Arabs who reject Israel as a Jewish state should be stripped of their citizenship — that's 58% of Israeli Jews who support denaturalizing 75% of the Arab population. Two-thirds of Jews believe Arab citizens should not be permitted to buy land either outside of Arab areas (41%) or anywhere in Israel (~25%), while 66% oppose the appointment of Arab ministers and only a quarter are willing to include Arabs in decision-making relating to governance or the economy. These numbers drop further when relating to matters of peace and security, with just 16% of Jews in favor of letting Arab citizens have a say.

Sources:
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion...d-public-life/
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-706596
https://jcpa.org/an-in-depth-analysi...s-of-may-2021/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/poll-6...-nation-state/

It doesn't look like there's any real Arab support for Zionism, they're just trying to survive and make the best out of a bad situation.

Ultimately, it's not for nothing that most Israeli Jews are fearful and distrustful of Arab citizens considering if they had their way Israel would cease to be a Jewish state and start to look a lot more like an Arab/Palestinian country.

[Coughdrop addict]

It's factual: All Arabs in Israel are Palestinian Arabs: they are the Arabs that found themselves inside Israel’s boundaries after the war of Independence.

How noble of you to take up the white man's burden and tell these poor ignorant savages who they really are.

The facts are that the whole area has had lots of different ethnic and religious groups moving in and out, absorbing others and being absorbed in turn, sometimes peacefully but more often not, for thousands of years, as is to be expected of a place where three continents meet. This diversity didn't just vanish when the evil Jews forced the innocent peaceful people who totally weren't trying to murder them all to leave by somehow convincing them that permanent refugee status was better then having a Jew as a neighbor (presumably by using some Jew magic involving the blood of children).

[mishkin]

You are skipping the emergence of the Zionist movement and the creation of the state of Israel. I would say that important factors when talking about the conflict from a historical point of view.

Regarding identities, and going a little to the extreme

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Am I demonstrating some kind of paternalistic racism if I call them stupid?

[sumskilz]

It doesn't look like there's any real Arab support for Zionism

There are some regional and ethnoreligious pockets of support for Jewish political parties which are all Zionist.

These are Arab votes from the March 2021 election for example:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

For contrast, this is the Arab vote in the area that is particularly pro-Palestinian:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Source

Voting for Jewish parties doesn't necessarily mean they would consider themselves to be Zionists, but it arguably reflects a degree of comfort with it.

In any case, people outside of Israel tend to significantly overestimate the degree to which the conflict plays a role in internal politics. In November of 2023, 54.4% percent of Arabs considered crime and violence to be the most important issue, which is presumably about the rise of gang violence in Arab communities, whereas only 14.7% considered solving the Palestinian problem to be the most important issue (source).

they're just trying to survive and make the best out of a bad situation

Less than ideal, sure, but since 59% of them say they would rather stay in Israel than be granted citizenship in the US or a similar country, it can't be that bad. I occasionally hear some complaining, and polls certainly indicate that to varying degrees they have concerns and/or grievances, but I doubt many of them would want to trade their standard of living for what is common in any of the neighboring Arab countries.

[Ludicus]

It's amusing that you think...

You said, "I posted several polls indicating that a relatively small minority of Israeli Arabs identify as Palestinian", and I replied it was never a small minority.
How could you be right, if a few months ago, only 48% "felt" part of the State of Israel? And if that number has increased more recently, it's because of the fear of (ongoing) reprisals/repression by the state /Jews of Israel. (1)
As Jozam rightly wrote, "they're just trying to survive and make the best out of a bad situation". And, by the way, talking about the "frequency of beliefs at a population level" ( they are wary, weary and afraid, says the NYTimes) and look at the curriculum, as I've shown, of the Israeli-Palestinian MPs in the Knesset. What a “coincidence”, isn’t it?

(1) Palestinian Citizens of Israel Are Wary, Weary and Afraid-New York Times
Excerpts,

And Ms. Shehada, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, is afraid, to put it mildly, of what may come now… In Lod, which lies just south of Tel Aviv, Jews and Arabs often live in the same building, she said, but now Arabs are reluctant to go into the air-raid shelters. “They say they see hate in the eyes of the Jews,” Ms. Shehada said.

Arab citizens of Israel,many of whom want to be identified as Palestinians, make up some 18 percent of the population. They have been caught for years between their loyalty to the state and their desire for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, the creation of an independent Palestine and a better life for themselves.

…The police presence has been increased in and around East Jerusalem, and Mr. Muna himself has been stopped twice for checks in the past five days, always moments that can produce friction. “Being past 40 helps you keep your cool,” he said.
Are Palestinians in Israel in a bind? He paused, then said, “We are always in between.”

In May 2021, during another Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Lod was wracked by riots and mutual hatred between Jewish and Muslim communities. Ms. Shehada, 40, says she was attacked in her own home by Jews throwing rocks.

How noble of you to take up the white man's burden and tell these poor ignorant savages who they really are.

Read above- and read below.
They know what they are: second-class Palestinian citizens living in a racist state. By the way, even during Portuguese colonialism, Indian doctors and teachers working in Portugal and the other colonies had perhaps even more rights than Israeli Palestinian citizens. What I doubt is that they felt truly Portuguese.

facts are that the whole area has had lots of different ethnic and religious groups moving in and out

…The Zionist argument!
Palestinians constitute a national group with political and national rights that must not be ignored.The two national movements, Zionist/Jewish and the Palestinian emerged in the 19^th century and early 20^th century, respectively. Both were inspired by the European nationalism, particularly the Zionism, and by their religious traditions. Both movements have claimed right over the entire land. But there is a difference: The Zionists recounting doubtful historical rights and promises from the Bible. I quote, from Mission of Israel to the UN in Geneve,

With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Jewish independence, l​ost 2,000 years earlier, was renewed.

And the Palestinians citing historical continuity and religious bonds-as well as their demographic majority, cum the right of self-determination.
---

More on the subject,
Reflections on Writing the History of Palestinian Identity By ...

(…) during the British Mandate period, this peasant feeling of distinctness found political expression not in rural areas but in the city, through articles in local newspapers, political discourse, and emerging parties. The different Palestinian newspapers, Al Karmel, Filasteen, and Al Munadi, all without exception, conducted one campaign after another against the Zionist movement and its project in Palestine, demanding that Palestine be maintained for its people as a politically independent entity. Najeeb Nassar, a prominent Palestinian journalist and owner of the Haifa-based Al-Karmel newspaper asked the Arabs of Bilad al Sham (Greater Syria) to support the people of Palestine, whom he called "the Palestinians." Nassar wrote this in his newspaper in 1914: "We, your Palestinian brothers, share with you all your difficulties. So why don't you, at least, feel with us a little the disasters raining on us [. . .] and on our country" (quoted in Muhaftha 1989: 23-24).

Nassar's text reveals early awareness of Palestinian borders and difference from neighboring people in Greater Syria. This awareness becomes deeper after the Balfour Declaration in 1917 and during the British Mandate period, when it starts to take a political bent. In 1923, for instance, the National Arab party announced in its founding statement that its goal is "preserving Palestine for its people […] and establishing a constitutional government in it" (Muhaftha 1989: 225)… This collective imagining becomes widespread during the Mandate period until 1948… The development of a Palestinian national consciousness, however, did not produce its own nation state, as was the case with Arab neighbors of Palestine. Rather, it went through disruption and discontinuity as a result of the events of 1948, which Palestinians call the Nakba, i.e., the catastrophe. A tragic event on different levels (familial, personal, and national), the Nakba resulted, first, in dismantling the social structure of the larger part of the Palestinian population, who became refugees. Second, it caused the disappearance of urban centers from the lives of most Palestinians remaining in Palestine, who were transformed from city dwellers into groups living on the margins of cities. (...)

---
EDIT-We all know that the Palestinian citizens of Israel have been tolerated for two reasons:
1- Because it is good propaganda to say that Israel is a multicultural and multiethnic society. (I'm not saying that it doesn't have the potential to be a true multicultural society)
2- Above all, because they represent only 18% of the population of the Jewish state of Israel, which would no longer be viable if those numbers were to grow substantially. Because - I quote, "the right to exercise national self-determination" in Israel is "unique to the Jewish people."
For the Israeli Palestinian citizens, the apartheid law was a slap in the face. In doubt, ask the Palestinian members of the Knesset. Ayman Odeh (see a previous post) said that Israel had “passed a law of Jewish supremacy and told us that we will always be second-class citizens.”
But how come they didn't know that? some people like to be fooled and then pretend to be surprised.

---
Meanwhile in the USA,
Student Journalists Are Covering Their Own Campuses in in Convulsion. Here's What They Have to Say...

Ordered by police to leave the scene of a UCLA campus protest after violence broke out, Catherine Hamilton and three colleagues from the Daily Bruin suddenly found themselves surrounded by demonstrators who beat, kicked and sprayed them with a noxious chemical… Hamilton’s attackers wore masks. But she recognized the voice of one as a counter-demonstrator sympathetic to Israel’s cause because of prior reporting when some of them filmed her working and harassed her by name. She checked out of a hospital Wednesday after learning that injuries to her arms and chest were bruises.
The Columbia-based Pulitzer Prize Board, meeting this weekend to decide on its annual prizes, issued a statement on Thursday recognizing “the tireless efforts of student journalists across our nation’s college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest in the face of great personal and academic risk.”
At Columbia, whose journalism school is considered one of the country’s finest, Dean Jelani Cobb wrote a memo Wednesday to the population of budding journalists who are his students: “You are a part of history now. Your perseverance during a confusing and challenging moment cannot be understated. You told the stories the global public deserved to hear. You helped the school to meet its mission.”

Here is the board’s full statement:
“As we gather to consider the nation’s finest and most courageous journalism, the Pulitzer Prize Board would like to recognize the tireless efforts of student journalists across our nation’s college campuses, who are covering protests and unrest in the face of great personal and academic risk. We would also like to acknowledge the extraordinary real-time reporting of student journalists at Columbia University, where the Pulitzer Prizes are housed, as the New York Police Department was called onto campus on Tuesday night. In the spirit of press freedom, these students worked to document a major national news event under difficult and dangerous circumstances and at risk of arrest”.

-----

I think many of us had the opportunity to watch it live.
UCLA chancellor condemns 'instigators' who attacked pro-Palestinian camp on campus

Los Angeles mayor calls late-night attack by counter-demonstrators ‘abhorrent’ as footage shows people wielding sticks
Some of the students who were injured at the encampment on Tuesday night described their attackers as pro-Israel or Zionist counter-protesters. Video footage of the violence included some counter-protesters yelling pro-Israel comments as pro-Palestinian protesters tried to fight them off.
David N Myers, a UCLA professor of Jewish history who watched footage of the late-night violence, said some of the attackers appeared to be carrying Israeli flags and other pro-Israel symbols.
Footage showed mostly male counter-demonstrators, many of them masked and some apparently older than the students. “I saw women as young as 18 and 19 punched in the face by 25- or 30-year-old men,”…´
Students described being attacked for hours with projectiles, fireworks and chemical agents.
A student said he felt comparatively lucky: “I had the ability to go to a hospital last night. Currently in Gaza, there are zero fully functioning hospitals.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that a group of security guards could be seen observing the clashes, but that they did not intervene.
while Los Angeles police arrived at the scene at about 1.40am, officers did not immediately break up the two sets of protesters, and the clashes continued for at least an hour,
“Counter protestors continue fighting in front of police line about 100ft away,” a CalMatters reporter tweeted shortly before 2am.
“Law enforcement simply stood at the edge of the lawn and refused to budge as we screamed for their help,” students with the UC Divest at UCLA group said in a statement early on Wednesday morning
Pro-Israel counterprotestors started tearing down @UCLA encampment barriers and screamed "Second nakba!"
Not until nearly 3am did police take action: “Exactly 1 hour after arriving at UCLA, police move in closer and counter-protesters move away, leaving the encampment alone.” There were “no visible arrests”, CalMatters reported, noting “counter-protesters have left”.

Watch,
https://twitter.com/i/status/1785580909795942766
--

Columbia's association of university professors call for no-confidence vote against Columbia president Minouche Shafik

A vote of no confidence is the only way to begin rebuilding our shattered community and re-establishing the University’s core values of free speech, the right to peaceful assembly, and shared governance.”

---
Students at Brown Just Secured a Vote on Divestment. ...

On April 30, protesters disbanded their encampment when the university pledged to vote on divestment from companies affiliated with Israel. This shows a different way of doing things.

Barnard College Passes Student Referendum for or Divestment in Vote of 90.99%