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   Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 05-Feb-2024 23:24:05 JST Evan Prodromou

   So, the International Court of Justice ruled last week that there is a plausible case that Israel is committing acts of genocide. I have blogged and posted about it several times here and elsewhere.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 05-Feb-2024 23:28:30 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     I have had several acquaintances and strangers reply to my posts with various arguments as to why it's not a genocide, actually. They argue that the genocidal language from cabinet ministers and the high civilian casualty rate, infrastructure destruction, and denial of the necessities of life are a coincidence. They say, what about. They say, both sides.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 05-Feb-2024 23:30:32 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     How do I tell these acquaintances and strangers what a high risk they are taking? That yes, there is a chance, however small, that the world decides that what's happening in Gaza is not genocide. But if it does not, you have become an apologist for genocide. You actively worked against stopping a genocide, when lives could have been saved. That doesn't make you the worst person in the world, but it definitely puts you in the bottom 5%.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 05-Feb-2024 23:32:43 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     I haven't had the emotional capacity to engage and reply; I've just been blocking. I don't know how to tell someone they are in danger of becoming a monster.

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Monday, 05-Feb-2024 23:41:57 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     I'm aware of the risk to my own reputation and my soul from talking so much about this. Maybe history decides that the obliteration of Gaza was a sad necessity, a series of unfortunate events that no one could have predicted, and those of us who questioned it were dupes for Hamas, impeding a legitimate military campaign with unavoidable astronomically high collateral damage. I'm willing to risk that; I can't live with the idea of witnessing a genocide and saying nothing.

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     rndeon (rndeon@cosocial.ca)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Feb-2024 00:25:15 JST rndeon

     in reply to

     @evan it's so disheartening, and hard to engage with. I'm glad you're speaking up as you can.
     I don't get how the needed actions change if it doesn't meet the threshold of "Genocide". Are we at "mass death is fine now because we've got an even worse category"?

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     Evan Prodromou (evan@cosocial.ca)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Feb-2024 22:02:32 JST Evan Prodromou

     in reply to

     • Archnemysis

     @Archnemysis no, I really don't know how to engage with people on this topic.

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     Archnemysis (archnemysis@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 06-Feb-2024 22:02:33 JST Archnemysis

     in reply to

     @evan I suspect the question may be rhetorical and you are not really looking for an answer on how to tell someone they are supporting genocide. For what it is worth, my answer is: I will start by simply linking to this thread.