Not that I am condoning vandalism, but it sounds like OIP was targeted because they are a subsidiary of Israeli company Elbit Systems. So profits from this production for Ukraine would go partially to Israel.
That said company ownership is a complex matter (Canadians are grappling with a similar issue whether to boycot Canadian subsidiaries owned by American companies). This action does not do much to harm Israel, it does a lot to harm Ukraine, and to harm the Palestinian cause.
Yeah, I'm all for pro-Palestine activism; fully support this cause, and I have no moral objections to destroying some property to do it. Human lives are more important than inanimate objects. But I really wish they could have come up with a version of this plan that didn't involve fucking over Ukraine.
Unfortunately I suspect a lot of these people may be of the stripe of Leftist that treats anything relating to war - including arming the victims of unprovoked territorial aggression - as morally wrong, meaning they likely saw this as killing two birds with one stone.
I saw this item pass by on the local news the other day, including an interview with Versluys, and I don't recall any of them mentioning the exports bound for Ukraine. Looking at the article from a few days back, that doesn't mention it either. Just saying, there's a good chance the protesters did not intend to impact Ukraine.
Seems like that isn’t going to be particularly productive for anybody but russia?
I think most are proper activists, not russian saboteurs, but all it takes is one or two compromised people to misdirect their rage. Moral of the story, confirm what you are doing before you go on something like this, before looking like total idiots.
misleading headline. They sabotaged goods from Israel, which is their right. Anything which hurts elbit sales is a legit target.
I support Ukraine, but Ukraine shouldn't be buying Elbit stuff.
So Ukraine should send those weapons back to Israel then? I thought sending weapons to Israel was bad?
Also what do you think Ukraine should fight the Russians with... activist slogans?
Their right? Lmao
Country under literally biggest invasion of this century should do ethical shopping? Fuck me this is hilarious 😂
Fuck me this is hilarious 😂
I know, hahah!
I see your racist and zionist viewpoint from your other comments, that wouldnt have anything to do with your response would it?
hahah!
... according to Israeli genocide-supporting arms manufacturer.
OIP’s operations in Belgium have been focused primarily on Ukraine. The company specializes in maintenance, repair, and upgrades of military equipment. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, OIP has supplied the Ukrainian army with about 260 armored vehicles.
Versluys emphasized that his company has not produced defense systems for Israel in over 20 years. He added that OIP does not even hold an export license to supply equipment to that country.
These facts can be easily verified and the very least you can do if you decide to go destroy stuff. This is not just an innocent protest anymore.
OIP is just a branch of Elbit, so yes 100% of profits go to a company fueling genocide. I don't see you dispute that.
OIP doesn't even claim that these protestors destroyed equipment destined for Ukraine (nor is there any corroborating evidence), only that it was delayed.
I think if we shut off anything that sends any profits to israel tomorrow, you'd probably go back to the 18th century. Meanwhile, russia continues its own genocide...
This sounds a lot less incriminating if you replace OIP with Eblit.
Am I crazy for wanting to live in a society that condemns vandalism, full stop?
Am I crazy for wanting to live in a society that condemns vandalism, full stop?
Where it intersects with the invasion of ukraine or genocide in Palestine you are not crazy exactly more like unempathetic, missing the point, having no sense of perspective, petty, myopic, tactless, Full stop.
Yes. People are more important than property. If your reaction to vandalism in service of protesting a genocide is to be upset about the vandalism, you need to sit back and really think about whether your moral compass needs some recalibration.
Genuinely curious what the logic is here. So vandalism is ok as long as the person doing it is doing it in-service of a cause they believe to be on the correct side of? January 6 was objectively bad, but it's ok because they thought they were patriots "saving" the country?
I'm genuinely struggling to believe that you're being anything other than intentionally disingenuous here, because it's hard to imagine how anyone operating in good faith could manage to miss a point so completely and utterly.
But on the off chance that you're serious; the logic is that purpose has far more moral weight to it than means. Punching out a Nazi to save the black man he was trying to beat to death in the gutter is a morally good thing to do. Punching out a trans person because you're a hateful bigot is a morally bad thing to do. Do I need to elaborate on that? I feel like I shouldn't have to, but then it feels like I shouldn't have to be explaining any of this.
If you were in a sealed room with a thousand starving children, a padlocked shipping container full of food labelled "Property of Jeff Bezos", and a set of bolt-cutters, what would you do? Because if the answer is anything other than "Break the lock open", your entire moral system is completely and utterly fucked, and I do not know how to explain it to you any more plainly than that. If you actually believe that property rights are more important than human lives, then I honestly think you might need serious and extensive therapy to undo whatever damage has been done to you.
Zionist terrorists must not be supported.
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