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beardedwizard | 8 months ago

What are you actually expecting an average Israeli who does not agree with this to do? This comment strikes me as wild considering the exact same thing is playing out in America right now, and a bunch of people are making up their minds about "Americans" and what they stand for.

The same has been true for Iran, only up until now (and probably still) we have always had a more nuanced discussion - its the Iranian government, not the people of Iran.

Come on, the government of many countries does not necessarily represent the people.

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keutoi|8 months ago

Israel is supposed to be a democratic state. If the average Israeli disagrees with this they can speak up. The only voices we are hearing now are those who support it's current activities. Those who oppose are fewer and quieter.

beardedwizard|8 months ago

what evidence do you have to support that claim?

I'm also baffled by the suggestion that democracy truly represents a majority and the apparent belief that dissent is quickly processed and rectified by democracy. Which country do you think shows this is working well?

int_19h|8 months ago

The problem with this take is that the polls show a strong support for all those things that the Israeli government doing in Gaza among its citizens. That is, the average Israeli does agree. I don't think that the minority that disagrees is to blame, but they also clearly cannot meaningfully speak for the nation anymore.

In a similar vein, I'm ethnically Russian and a Russian citizen. I don't support the Russian invasion of Ukraine in any way, shape, or form, and I don't think that I am responsible for it as a Russian. However, it is also clear to me that the majority of Russians do support it (or at least think that it's fine), and on that basis I don't consider myself to be a part of that nation anymore, regardless of ethnicity.

FireBeyond|8 months ago

> What are you actually expecting an average Israeli who does not agree with this to do?

Funny you say this because you don’t have to look far for people saying that “Gazans deserve what’s happening” because the average Gazan should fight back against Hamas.

atmavatar|8 months ago

Some things to consider:

* The majority of the Palestinian population are minors (< 18)

* The last nationwide election in Palestine was 2006

In other words, the last time an election was held, the majority of Palestinians weren't yet born, let alone old enough to vote in it. So, it's difficult to hold the Palestinian people en masse responsible for Hamas in the same way we'd hold Israelis responsible for their current government, who held their last election in 2022.

beardedwizard|8 months ago

The same thing has been said generally about Muslims and Islamic terror organizations.

Well anyway, it is still crazy to me that somebody is making a decision about the entire population of a country based on the governments actions in 2025.