ANKARA, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, in his strongest comments yet on the Gaza conflict, said on Wednesday the Palestinian militant group Hamas was not a terrorist organisation but a liberation group fighting to protect Palestinian lands and people.
The IDF does not routinely storm Palestinian villages and shoot every man, woman, and child they see, and you know that.
Could they do a lot more to protect civilians during military operations, and should the be criticized for that? Absolutely. But if Hamas had the capabilities that the IDF has, Tel Aviv would be crater. There is a very meaningful difference between the groups and equating them is sheer intellectual laziness.
“Precision JDAM strike on apartment complex housing Hamas militants” and “Israelis massacred in their homes in brutal reign of terror” has the exact same result though: Dead innocent civilians. Women, children, babies, pensioners (although granted most people don’t live that long in Gaza).
Genocide might not be the aim of Israel (I’m sure they’d settle for “everyone in Gaza and the West Bank moving far away”), but when you’re pulling the lifeless body of your 6 year old niece from the ruins of their home, it’s sure going to feel that way.
The only hope I have that there can be peace was yesterday, when an elderly woman was released by Hamas, and as she was lead away, she turned and took the hand of her captor. Just for a second, there was genuine kindness and humanity. That’s the level of nuance needed for cooler voices to prevail over guns and bombs. I’m not sure many have it. I suspect this will cool down to the normal background level of death, and we’ll be here again in 5-10 years when it spikes again.
If Hamas had the same capabilities, there would likely be less violence because Israel would not be able to oppress, occupy, or encroach on Palestinian life. The one with more power doesn’t need to use all of their strength, whereas the one struggling under the boot of the other will fight with all of their strength and use whatever is available to them
Once the Nazi like mass killings stopped, the violence would end.
With all respect, this take is so detached from reality that I am literally incapable of responding to it.