When the conflict started in October there were a lot of critics of Israel saying that attacks against the people of Gaza were unethical because Hamas does not represent them, and they were not responsible for Hamas’ actions.
Attacks against civilians are unethical in any case, but my point here is that the claim that Hamas does not represent Gaza is spurious.
I think there’s a difference between ruling and representing. I would argue that a government is not representative if there is no free speech and no democracy even if that government has widespread popular support. However, I’m not sure why this question is relevant in the context of the ongoing conflict. There’s no principle dictating that a war may only be fought against a representative government.
The majority of Palestinians weren’t even born when that last vote occurred.
There is no intellectual integrity in this question.
I honestly can’t think of a non-bad faith reading of this comment.
Sorry, I should have said the majority of Palestinian’s before the war weren’t even born.
Given that starvation kills children first and the lancet medical journal estimated the dead at around 200,000 (or 10%) of the population, that may no longer be true.
EDIT: Does the CCP represent the will of the Chinese people? They have more of a say in their leaders than Gazans did. Or is this just a double standard that only applies to the enemies of the state of Israel?
When the conflict started in October there were a lot of critics of Israel saying that attacks against the people of Gaza were unethical because Hamas does not represent them, and they were not responsible for Hamas’ actions.
Attacks against civilians are unethical in any case, but my point here is that the claim that Hamas does not represent Gaza is spurious.
“Does not represent” as in “My government does not represent me when they abolish the right to abortion and ban library books”.
They’re in charge but not actually acting with the will of the people they’re in charge of in mind.
I think there’s a difference between ruling and representing. I would argue that a government is not representative if there is no free speech and no democracy even if that government has widespread popular support. However, I’m not sure why this question is relevant in the context of the ongoing conflict. There’s no principle dictating that a war may only be fought against a representative government.
The vast majority of Palestinians were too young to vote for Hamas the last time there was an election, if they were even born yet.
And yes, killing children to get to your enemy is unethical. I’m not sure why you would think otherwise.
The majority of Palestinians weren’t even born when that last vote occurred.
There is no intellectual integrity in this question.
I honestly can’t think of a non-bad faith reading of this comment.
Sorry, I should have said the majority of Palestinian’s before the war weren’t even born.
Given that starvation kills children first and the lancet medical journal estimated the dead at around 200,000 (or 10%) of the population, that may no longer be true.
EDIT: Does the CCP represent the will of the Chinese people? They have more of a say in their leaders than Gazans did. Or is this just a double standard that only applies to the enemies of the state of Israel?
I don’t understand why you’re getting down voted because I remember seeing that too.
Some people seem to have built their identity around the “Israel bad” opinion, and otherwise struggle with nuance.