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   Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 22-May-2024 12:02:24 JST Paul Cantrell

   Robin Givhan hits an important nail on the head:

   “The horror [in the minds of Hamas and Israel] is that they have been compared to each other.”

   Gift link: https://wapo.st/3QVOFBc

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   • Embed this notice
     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 22-May-2024 12:06:44 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Not that they’ve murdered innocent people. Not that they’ve committed crimes against humanity. Not that they are unanimously viewed by a panel of human rights experts now — and will likely be viewed by future historians for generations to come — as having done something utterly monstrous.

     Oh no. “The true indignity is the merely implication that WE are anything like THEM!” cry Likud and Hamas, practically in unison. “How dare the ICC!”

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 22-May-2024 12:08:29 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     Givhan sees a sharp lesson in this:

     “The comparison is stunning: a democracy compared to a terrorist group. [ICC actions] have made it plain that the ways in which countries define themselves are not immutable. The tenets that democracies hold dear are only as sturdy and moral as their leaders and its people.”

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 22-May-2024 12:09:45 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     “Democracies can lose their way in the pursuit of vengeance. They can become what they have long despised. Without careful consideration, each of us can suddenly find that we are no longer who we’ve always been.”

     “The notion of a humane war is a lie combatants tell themselves.”

     /end

   • Embed this notice
     Yeshaya Lazarevich (alter_kaker@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 22-May-2024 12:10:52 JST Yeshaya Lazarevich

     in reply to

     @inthehands I didn't like the article but the nail has definitely been squarely smacked

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     Paul Cantrell (inthehands@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 22-May-2024 12:17:21 JST Paul Cantrell

     in reply to

     • Yeshaya Lazarevich

     @alter_kaker I guess I could quibble with some details, but I’m very much on board with its central point. Its sort of existentialist view of national identity — existence precedes essence, our choices define us — hits home for me.

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     Yeshaya Lazarevich (alter_kaker@hachyderm.io)'s status on Wednesday, 22-May-2024 12:23:30 JST Yeshaya Lazarevich

     in reply to

     @inthehands I don't have any specific issues I need to raise, I just don't like how it was written.