I blame it all, Ben — all — on Netanyahu and the Likud fascists. They have betrayed the promise Israel represented to me and my family and my community, and have, over the last 40 years, turned Israel into an international pariah. Israel does not enjoy peace and security solely because if they do, Likud has no excuse for existing. So they incite endless wars of ethnic cleansing while Jews - Jews!! — engage in pogroms against Arabs in the West Bank. 🤔😉😊
Two things can be true at the same time, Jeff. Hamas and the PA have sold the Palestinians down the river. They have contributed equally to the disaster unfolding in the Middle East, and to deny their culpability is to deny reality. This does not excuse what Netanyahu/Likud has done. I'm not sure why this is so hard to grasp?
And I’ll happily personalize it. Netanyahu is a racist and a liar. He’s worse than Trump, because he’s not demented, he’s a fascist nationalist. People are saying that Iran would use a nuclear weapon if they have the chance. I think Netanyahu would be way more likely, particularly if he felt he could sell it as a response to a “threat”. And most importantly, he is not a friend of the United States.🤔😉😊
Hi Ben, you’ve touched on specifics about the absurdly complex history of the last several decades (one, arguably, more complex than Ireland), in a way that’s not possible for me to address here. To be fair, my own comment was on the “meta“ side. I have been increasingly angry towards Israel ever since Likud took over. I meant what I said about betraying the promise.
The Times story is behind a paywall, so I don’t know when the incidents that Kristof is reporting actually occurred, or if the women victims were captured Hamas members or not.
But I can’t help thinking about the near year-and-a-half between these two sets of reports of the abuse of Israeli women by Hamas, and the abuse of Palestinian women by Israeli military (which, by the way, has been reported regularly in Ha’aretz for years). One might attribute it to some kind of conspiracy; I do not. I attribute it to pro-Israel reporting bias.
And not incidentally, who’s supposed to be the “civilized” people here, the democratic Israelis or the barbaric religious-fanatic Arabs? With behavior like this, how can you tell? (We’ll see if there’s any accountability on the Israeli side.)🤔😉😊
It's absolutely brutal. One of the most upsetting stories I've read during the entire war to date. And some good journalism by Kristof, who is mostly a columnist.
(Gift link will also work for anybody else who comes across this comment.)
Let's be clear: Hamas and any affiliated terrorists are absolutely culpable for the brutalization of Israeli citizens on and after Oct 7. There is no excuse for it. Same for their acts of terrorism prior to Oct 7.
Let's also be clear: The response by Israel and IDF in Gaza, under Netanyahu, has been and continues to be excessive and constitutes ethnic cleansing. Further, this brutality is a continuation of Israeli policy (including current settler attacks upon Palestinians in the West Bank) going back decades, to at least 1948.
How anyone can refer to this sliver of the Middle East as the "Holy Land" will mystify me forever. There is nothing holy about any of this.
Ben, keep talking about dog rape and other antisemitic conspiracy theories. But it’s cool, progressives have turned the Democrats into the Antizionist Socialist Party, and hey, they now have Nick Fuentes and MTG as Democrats, so the Nazi and Anzi alliance is complete and delivering.
Like with the UK Labour assuming Jews will remain loyal voters while they appeal to Anzis, same outcome will happen to the Anzi Socialist Party. Jews will increasingly peel off to independent or GOP voters, and you will corner the Piker and Fuentes market. Good luck with that turn to Corbynism for the Democrats and Guardian style Hamas propaganda for NYT.
The England Ireland thing has always been something I think about because my mum’s side of my family is English as far back as we can see but my dads granddad was Irish (which led to a painful year in 1990 when my dad discovered Irish folk music) so I often wonder if my ancestors on my mum’s side once oppressed my ancestors on my dads side
I blame it all, Ben — all — on Netanyahu and the Likud fascists. They have betrayed the promise Israel represented to me and my family and my community, and have, over the last 40 years, turned Israel into an international pariah. Israel does not enjoy peace and security solely because if they do, Likud has no excuse for existing. So they incite endless wars of ethnic cleansing while Jews - Jews!! — engage in pogroms against Arabs in the West Bank. 🤔😉😊
Two things can be true at the same time, Jeff. Hamas and the PA have sold the Palestinians down the river. They have contributed equally to the disaster unfolding in the Middle East, and to deny their culpability is to deny reality. This does not excuse what Netanyahu/Likud has done. I'm not sure why this is so hard to grasp?
And I’ll happily personalize it. Netanyahu is a racist and a liar. He’s worse than Trump, because he’s not demented, he’s a fascist nationalist. People are saying that Iran would use a nuclear weapon if they have the chance. I think Netanyahu would be way more likely, particularly if he felt he could sell it as a response to a “threat”. And most importantly, he is not a friend of the United States.🤔😉😊
Hi Ben, you’ve touched on specifics about the absurdly complex history of the last several decades (one, arguably, more complex than Ireland), in a way that’s not possible for me to address here. To be fair, my own comment was on the “meta“ side. I have been increasingly angry towards Israel ever since Likud took over. I meant what I said about betraying the promise.
The Times story is behind a paywall, so I don’t know when the incidents that Kristof is reporting actually occurred, or if the women victims were captured Hamas members or not.
But I can’t help thinking about the near year-and-a-half between these two sets of reports of the abuse of Israeli women by Hamas, and the abuse of Palestinian women by Israeli military (which, by the way, has been reported regularly in Ha’aretz for years). One might attribute it to some kind of conspiracy; I do not. I attribute it to pro-Israel reporting bias.
And not incidentally, who’s supposed to be the “civilized” people here, the democratic Israelis or the barbaric religious-fanatic Arabs? With behavior like this, how can you tell? (We’ll see if there’s any accountability on the Israeli side.)🤔😉😊
Hi Jeff - here is a gift link for Kristof's piece in the NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/opinion/israel-palestinians-sexual-violence.html?unlocked_article_code=1.h1A.aFnv.7kcN4xGcC6aU&smid=url-share
It's absolutely brutal. One of the most upsetting stories I've read during the entire war to date. And some good journalism by Kristof, who is mostly a columnist.
(Gift link will also work for anybody else who comes across this comment.)
You're right.
Let's be clear: Hamas and any affiliated terrorists are absolutely culpable for the brutalization of Israeli citizens on and after Oct 7. There is no excuse for it. Same for their acts of terrorism prior to Oct 7.
Let's also be clear: The response by Israel and IDF in Gaza, under Netanyahu, has been and continues to be excessive and constitutes ethnic cleansing. Further, this brutality is a continuation of Israeli policy (including current settler attacks upon Palestinians in the West Bank) going back decades, to at least 1948.
How anyone can refer to this sliver of the Middle East as the "Holy Land" will mystify me forever. There is nothing holy about any of this.
You may want to check out Haviv Rettig Gur's take on this, which in no way absolves or denies the possibility of abuses.
Ben, keep talking about dog rape and other antisemitic conspiracy theories. But it’s cool, progressives have turned the Democrats into the Antizionist Socialist Party, and hey, they now have Nick Fuentes and MTG as Democrats, so the Nazi and Anzi alliance is complete and delivering.
Like with the UK Labour assuming Jews will remain loyal voters while they appeal to Anzis, same outcome will happen to the Anzi Socialist Party. Jews will increasingly peel off to independent or GOP voters, and you will corner the Piker and Fuentes market. Good luck with that turn to Corbynism for the Democrats and Guardian style Hamas propaganda for NYT.
https://substack.com/@havivgur/note/p-197336864
The England Ireland thing has always been something I think about because my mum’s side of my family is English as far back as we can see but my dads granddad was Irish (which led to a painful year in 1990 when my dad discovered Irish folk music) so I often wonder if my ancestors on my mum’s side once oppressed my ancestors on my dads side