See? Same problem as Hamas itself. When people don’t actually want to resolve the conflict, they make demands that can never be met. And that is precisely why so many Israeli hardliners feel justified in doing whatever it takes to destroy Hamas. Even if the death toll sickens some of them. They see it as their only option with an enemy that lets uncomprising terrorists lead them to only more death and destruction.
@lakelady There are plenty of explanations around. It has never worked. It will never work. It’s a fake issue, meant to give protestors something to demand that plays well to the cheap seats, but which they know will never be conceded, and wouldn’t matter much if it were.
@shoq@lakelady They’d be better off pressuring the Biden administration to sanction IDF units under the Leahy Law. It’s already on the books and it’s something Biden is mulling over anyway. Then again, many of these protesters don’t actually want to affect real change.
@lakelady@shoq Divestment is possible. It’s not effective. Decades of trickle down economics have given rise to an investor class desperate for productive investments where they can stanch their mountains of cash. Large institutions selling their investments is a boon to ravenous capitalist raiders without making a dent in the corporation divested from.
Furthermore, for a lot of Israelis, and some American Jews as well, divestment sounds like “don’t do business with Jews”. When you add to that the push to exclude Israeli academics from American campuses it looks like you’re targeting people with little power to change anything. It plays into the Israeli founding mythology, serving as a reminder that Israel was carved out of a hostile region by refugees. It creates a defensive mentality that encourages Israeli militarism.
@lakelady@shoq to be clear, I don’t support what Israel is doing to Gaza and I don’t support using police to break up student protests. I’m just saying that the protests are not going to be effective against Netanyahu’s desperate attempt to stay out of prison.
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