Comments by "jeppen" (@jesan733) on "Bassem Youssef: Israel-Palestine, Gaza, Hamas, Middle East, Satire u0026 Fame | Lex Fridman Podcast #424" video.

This is the common argument, Israel is so powerful and palestinians have no power. "The Frankenstein you created." I don't buy it. I think neither side really has free will, but let's ignore that. More importantly, perhaps, is that Gaza would be intact if Hamas hadn't launched the terrorist attack. They launched it fully knowing what Israel would do. And Israel is constrained by internal politics to act like this. It's actually true that Gaza could've been a Singapore on the Mediterranean. But Gazans chose something else. And sure there are sparks of propaganda in the west, but they're usually extinguished pretty well, like the beheaded babies thing. But similar nonsense in the press of the Arab world isn't corrected ever, like the idea that Swedish social services steal Muslim kids. What's happening is a disaster, obviously. There are many ways to solve it, but why is the only solution that Israel should turn the other cheek? Why do we hold Israel to a higher standard and in fact the only side with agency, while even Youssef sees his own as automatons.
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I'm moved by what you wrote. I really am. And I would like to cling to the positives. If the guard was ashamed for split second, that's good. That was a spark of universalism, empathy for the others. Too short, but its something. (But as for your reaction, really, if the man is one of your own, it's a given.) Another positive is that we're horrified by far smaller atrocities than was the rule in ancient times. But this also is rarely universalist. I have asked many muslims what they think of the fate of Banu Qurayza. Can you guess the replies I get? I can't remember a single one who expressed anything resembling empathy.
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@nmyers8771 Hamas chose to do October 7, did they not? They planned it for probably a few years, and they expected a certain result. They understood the constraints of Israeli politics, and must have planned for an invasion with heavy bombing campaigns and lots of casualties. So what should we free palestine from?
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@residentgrey so you nurture a conspiracy theory about a false flag attack? Or what do you mean?
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@ahmedzaki9434 that is great. What do you think about the fate of Banu Qurayza?
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@hee345 could it be that sometimes, when the conflict is this infected, a divorce (forced displacement of people from their homes) is preferable to the status quo? Perhaps we've tied our hands a little bit too strongly behind our backs.
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@isaacAdam Scott Ritter is staff of Russia Today. How would Russian propaganda help here?
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@KrochmalResnikoff-ou5qs they've been here for 1400 years now, haven't they? Muhammad said the end of time was very near.
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@sikajaperkele but why are they under military siege? Because they invest into terror and rockets to send into Israel. What if Gazans said: "Hey, let's make peace. Please support us with some additional infrastructure and let's make a plan to reduce and lift the siege and sanctions. In return, we'll stop all hostilities and demilitarize, invite you as observers, we'll aim for high transparency, we'll curb the internal anti-israel propaganda. If it works out, we decide on a timetable to renounce all claims beyond Gaza and stop claiming refugee status. We'll go separate from the West Bank, forming our own city state here."
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@sikajaperkele yes, because the military siege would be lifted if Gazans behaved well, aimed for peace and invested into their population and infrastructure instead of into terror.
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@sikajaperkele Hamas gets what they want.
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@Rain-xe5vr strangely enough, I like both your statements, for different reasons. There are reasons to focus on strengths and goodness, and there are reasons to keep it real.
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@residentgrey I'm sorry, none of that is true, not does it make sense.
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@residentgrey I don't find conspiracy theories interesting.
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@residentgrey I think we both say what we perceive as truth and reality. But ok, I'll engage a bit. You say "If anyone, Qassam could be, not Hamas." But Qassam is the armed wing of Hamas. So Qassam is Hamas. And Hamas took responsibility and later explained themselves in a 16-page report titled “Our Narrative”. Also they used tons of fighters known to be Hamas/Qassam. That means that the false flag idea simply cannot be correct. Conspiracy theories like this always fail on the fact that too many people would have to be involved and it would be impossible to keep it together and secret.
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@residentgrey lols and all caps are neither proofs nor arguments. Explain how you think it transpired. Hamas has taken responsibility, they clearly did this terror excursion, and they do have hostages some of which have been publicly released after negotiations with Hamas. So how was it a false flag? Until you produce some rational narrative that is possible to follow and understand, this discussion is as meaningless as I thought it would be.
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@residentgrey the reason I was dismissive to begin with was that I knew you would be empty-handed. Congrats, you baited me to waste some time, but now I'm cutting my losses and declare the discussion over.
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@quickclipsgaming1888 they reacted far sooner. I agree I'm based.
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