Like at this point it's like pointing at a car and insisting it's just a carriage; you have literal members of the Israeli government at all levels going "we'll kill them all and drive out whatever remains", you have their news in Hebrew going "yes, we're killing them all and we'll burn them alive too", you have that SVist becoming an actual folk hero and being told on a talk show by the host that he admires him; all this and I haven't even mentioned the never ending testimonies from doctors who served there and the people who think ISIS have better morals than the IOF. There are literally no Palestinians there who are like 'nah bro, the IOF have been pretty chill actually'; oh wait no, that's not STRICTLY true, there was that guy the IOF filmed themselves giving water to, who after they were done having this human to human moment caught on camera shot him in the back and left him for his granddaughter to find.
I'm watching a Zeteo segment where Mehdi is arguing with someone about what's happening in Gaza being a genocide and like.....it is almost October 2025, enough already! I feel like I'm in the damn twilight zone! The Israeli population THEMSELVES will explain to you why they'll shoot kids too!
How are we still on this?!
Back when the oil for food program was instated against Iraq during the sanctions, the human rights coordinator to Baghdad quit his job so he could criticize it as a genocide; his replacement ALSO quit saying this was genocide; what was the UN's utterly worthless response? To quibble on the term 'genocide'!
I genuinely wish people like Mehdi and others would just make it a point on their shows that they're no longer humoring this 'it's not genocide' nonsense; enough already!
Many people have made this argument before, so I'm not going to shittily try to re-articulate it. But basically the entire concept of what legally constitutes a genocide is one of those "good ideas" that was immediately co-opted by western powers to weaponize forever. I guess the most boiled down conclusion is "The problem isn't that they won't say a specific word. The problem is they deny everything which makes that word apply in the first place."
I guess that's where I fall on it and have for probably over a year. I don't really care if Bernie Sanders says "it's a genocide." What I care about much more is Sanders saying "Israel has a right to defend itself" and then never expanding on wtf that means. Israel has zero right morally or legally to do anything to Gaza or even be inside Gaza. The same applies to the West Bank. So what exactly does he mean with that phrase? Clearly he means it's "ok" to bomb children and civilians in Gaza as long as Israel says it's meant to kill Hamas militants. Well, not even militants. They just say "Hamas" broadly which includes medical professionals and everyone else. He will say that's them defending themselves. He just thinks they defended themselves... too much? There's no real logic there. Just a phrase that requires repeating even though it's for no one at this point. Zionists are done with your ass for even lightly criticizing their campaign of death. It doesn't matter if you offer them conditional cover for the atrocities. They require full acceptance or you're their enemy.
Although I hate making these statements, I will say quickly this is obviously not some sort of argument for genocide as a legal concept being thrown away. I'm just gesturing at part of the problem without offering much of a solution beyond I suppose "they should stop the political bullshit spin-jobs and just say the truth." I think it might be beneficial for Medhi, etc. to ask "is it a genocide?" one time. Then whether they say yes or no, keep probing. "At what point was it a genocide?" "Did Israel have any legal or moral right to do a single attack in Gaza?" "Is starving an entire population ever acceptable?" "Was the siege on Gaza for decades not an act of aggression on the entire population living there?"
I don't think someone calling it a genocide is enough I guess. I've seen many liberals cave and start calling it that. Yet they still remain very clear apologists for Israel and Zionism. They still hand wring and condemn Hamas. It's victim blaming to a crazy-ass magnitude that I've never really seen before.
I think they're really struggling to find that magical "out" for western imperialism broadly. Some way to condemn the evil Muslims but also say "well, this went too far." The more honest ones know there is no way to condemn Israel but also uphold US/western imperialism. They don't even attempt it. The others are stuck defending a genocide. They "condemn" it and then immediately explain why it has to happen. Which wraps back around into the obvious fact that if they're defending a genocide even a little bit then that indicates they don't believe one is happening or they think don't actually think genocide is unacceptable across the board. This is the contradiction liberals have had ripping their brains apart for years now. There's only two logical conclusions when they finally settle and I don't place much faith in them landing on condemning Israel without reservation and advocating for the dissolution of Israel.