I keep seeing this online and in person. I don’t know how to respond

  • dead [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    52
    ·
    6 months ago

    “If Hamas used you as a shield, would you be okay with Israel shooting you?”

    “If a bank robber uses hostages as a shield, would you be okay with police shooting the hostages?”

    The other thing that Zionists pair with the human shields argument is saying that Hamas embeds itself into schools and hospitals so that Israel must attack schools and hospitals. Hamas is the governing military of Gaza, of course Hamas is going to be in schools and in hospitals. In the US, the US military is in US schools and US hospitals. In Israel, the IOF military is in Israel schools and Israel hospitals. Israel is not permitted to attack schools and hospitals even if Hamas is present.

    • very_poggers_gay [they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      ·
      6 months ago

      Agreed, but “shooting” implies they do most of their killing with bullets - single shots with limited collateral / a weapon designed to kill only what you point it at. but really they’re dropping hundreds of pounds of bombs on people and buildings, opting for means of destruction that annihilate everyone and everything closeby.

      And that’s why we only ever see IOF militants fighting in the rubble of Gaza. They’re only brave enough to use bullets after they’ve killed as many people as possible with their bombs

  • Tachanka [comrade/them]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    35
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    online

    pig poop balls

    in person

    keep a stack of business cards with pig poop balls printed on them and hand them out to people with bad takes bateman-business-card

  • GarbageShoot [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    28
    ·
    6 months ago

    Using human shields implies that you don’t have many years of evidence that said shields won’t be shot straight through. The IDF doesn’t even let Israeli hostages slow their butchering, much less any Palestinian. Anyone still saying the “human shields” bullshit to defend carpet bombing is deranged and probably not worth your time.

  • very_poggers_gay [they/them]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    edit-2
    6 months ago

    What evidence is there that Hamas is really using people as human shields?

    … And weigh that against the mountains of evidence of israel’s disregard for Palestinian life and wellbeing:

    • Can they really claim “human shields” when israel is dropping bombs on densely populated areas? What about when they bomb refugee camps, clinics, hospitals, evacuation routes, or designated safe zones? Or when they drop bombs on members of Hamas in their family homes?

    • What about the infants israel left dead and rotting in al-Shifa Hospital? And how israel couldn’t produce any evidence that Hamas was actually using that hospital as a base?

    • What about the israeli hostages crying for help and waving white flags that the IOF murdered?

    • What about the mass starvation? The restriction of food, water, electricity, medicine, and other humanitarian aid? The repeated targetting of aid workers? Or the aid trucks blocked at the border, or worse, picked apart by israeli settlers? Does that not contradict the narrative that israel is only after Hamas?

    • Oh, but the warning pamphlets! Like when israel tells the sick, starved, and traumatized Palestinians that they have 24 hours to walk 20km from one (former) safe zone to the next one, and then they start bombing them in 12 hours?

    Any moral and honest person can see that israel has gone above and beyond to hurt as many Palestinians as possible - so why the fuck are these vague claims about “human shields” even taken seriously?

    But what they’re right? Maybe Hamas has taken (tens of) thousands of fellow Palestinians as human shields, so why can’t israel produce any evidence of that? Why is israel restricting journalists or investigators from entering Gaza or the West Bank? Why are they repeatedly killing journalists? Surely, if what they say is true, it would benefit them to show what is happening, but instead they take every step to hide what is happening from everyone.

    • NewLeaf@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      6 months ago

      We all know how much libs like copy/pasted lists of evidence. I’m sure when that tactic is used against them, they will admit defeat anakin-padme-2

      Great list though

  • Sidereal223 [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    23
    ·
    6 months ago

    In Finkelstein’s “Gaza: An Inquest Into Its Martyrdom”, he notes that have been investigations into the use of human shields by Hamas by orgs such as Amnesty. They found no evidence that Hamas used human shields. However, they did find evidence that the IDF used human shields.

    Also, why would Hamas possibly use human “shields” when Israel have absolutely no qualms with killing civilians?

    • very_poggers_gay [they/them]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      edit-2
      6 months ago

      Yup. Before October 2023, the “human shields” in Palestine/israel discourse was mostly included coverage and outrage at the IOF for using Palestinians as human shields, for example, when raiding homes in the West Bank - outrage fueled by mountains of direct evidence that the IOF were in fact routinely using Palestinians as human shields.

      edit: I was wrong about “mostly”, whoops, still death to israel. they still slaughter civilians and use “human shields” as one of many tools in their “genocidal cry-bullying” toolbox.

      • Elon_Musk [none/use name]@hexbear.net
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        edit-2
        6 months ago

        The definitely not true. You can search back and find claims of palestine using human sheilds way back in 2002, but it really picked up in 2008ish. Amnesty International had to put out a statement in 2009 saying there was no evidence for the claim.

        It just likely never came up in your personal news sources. And yes of course Israel has used Palestinians & children as human sheilds.

        • very_poggers_gay [they/them]@hexbear.net
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          5
          ·
          6 months ago

          oh word, thanks for clarifying. i just remember when i was debating some redditor and restricted a google search to pre-2023, and there was a few reports from HRW or the UN that stuck out

      • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        6 months ago

        I definitely remember the “human shields” discourse back in 2012 and 2014 being used to excuse Israel killing Palestinian civilians.