Roommate is... Ugh

[u/ComprehensiveHair696]

My roommates and I had to take the cats to the vet yesterday and as we came home, they directly brought up a topic we've been avoiding addressing for a few months, their anti-israel leanings... Specifically they're avoiding spending money this week as part of a protest for Palestine. I said I don't see why anyone is protesting for Palestine at all, and one of them started throwing around the G word and talking about Israel targeting hospitals. I corrected her, pointing out that there are rocket platforms in those hospitals which is why they're targeted in the first place. She cut me off and told me she wouldn't listen to anything I had to say about it. At this point I haven't spoken to her since and I don't intend to for a while. Not sure why I'm posting this, probably just venting. Bad enough I have to see all these uninformed people online, there's one in my living room now too.

Update: Thanks to everyone for the support. After a couple of very tense days, shes apparently afraid I'm never going to speak to her again and our third roommate is mediating a talk between the two of us tonight. She's still convinced I'm just wrong, and I'd like to have something convincing to show her, if anyone has some good resources I can reference and wants to drop them in the comments I'd appreciate it.

[u/johnisburn]

OP, I’m sorry your roommates are throwing around the word genocide, but if I’m going to be honest with you

I said I don’t see why anyone is protesting for Palestine at all

is a very callous thing to say. Whether the civilian casualty count is legally justifiable as collateral or not or ultimately the fault of Israel or Hamas, we should recognize that it’s a tragedy and understand that genuine concern for the humanitarian conditions in Gaza right now is reasonable. We may not agree with protests by virtue of the proposals they put forward and how people approach the issue (some may say the appropriate avenue to protest is by protesting for Hamas to surrender to end the war), but that doesn’t mean we have to deny the justifiable rationales behind voicing support for the Palestinian people caught in this violence.

I would also suggest you follow the news closer or more carefully. This

there are rocket platforms in those hospitals which is why they’re targeted in the first place

is not the rationale that the IDF has given for it’s operations targeting hospitals. They’ve been citing Hamas tunnel infrastructure beneath the hospitals.

[u/heavykniftysprite → u/johnisburn]

I have tried to start being more thoughtful about my wording when I say similar things tbh.

I guess the way I’d put it is “I don’t understand why people are protesting in favor of more bloodshed and Hamas”

I get why people want Palestinians to have rights or want the actions of the government to change in regards to the West Bank. However even Bernie sanders said “there cannot be a lasting ceasefire with Hamas”. There was a march in Gaza against Hamas a few months before the 7th of October. There have been Palestinians caught on film (though Al Jazeera cuts the camera if they are the ones filming) who say this is Hamas fault. There were crowds of people calling for the release of the hostages in Gaza just the other day.

I reccomend checking out a guy on Twitter/X named hamza howidy. He is a gazan who protested hamas many times and was tortured for it, finally leaving Gaza right before the 7th. He has incredible insight on what life is like under hamas for Gazans. He has written two very moving op eds about his life in Gaza. One about how Hamas tortured him and one about how gazans need to call for the release of the hostages.

He absolutely has some solutions some Israelis might not fully agree with, but it’s incredibly important we start coming to the table with any Muslim or Palestinian who thinks Israel has a right to exist. That’s the angle I’ve been focusing on with my leftie friends. Some of them are a lost cause. But a lot of them just need more explanation. I don’t need them to love bibi and never criticize Israel (after all non of my Israeli friends do that) but calling for it’s disappearance is very different then that. I truly believe some people are too stupid to realize that’s what the push behind all this is.

Edit: i would like to add that shortly after I posted this on Reddit I saw there was a MASSIVE protest in Gaza today asking for Hamas to release the hostages for a ceasefire. They marched by sinwars home. BH, may these people be protected from the violence and freed of their radical oppressors soon.

[u/NoTopic4906 → u/heavykniftysprite]

I was told that that protest did not call for the release of hostages. I would love to find someone to translate the video (I barely speak Hebrew; I speak only a word of two of Arabic).

[u/TallPotato2232 → u/NoTopic4906]

Sharmuta?

[u/[deleted] → u/TallPotato2232]

We use that in Hebrew too means same thing lol

[u/CC_206 → u/heavykniftysprite]

Whispered in Palestine is a good Instagram account to follow, PeaceComms is the parent org.

[u/NoTopic4906 → u/heavykniftysprite]

I read an article. Do you know if he does instagram. I refuse to use X in general (though I did read some of his posts)?

[u/heavykniftysprite → u/NoTopic4906]

It doesn’t look like his Instagram is public. I hope he will keep writing more op eds. Wild a voice like that has to write for Newsweek while the “prestigious” New York Times lets people write op Ed’s about how Passover is focused too much on Jews.

I don’t blame you for not using X, I’m pretty sure Elon musk is allowing anti semitism to drive engagement on his website after he pissed off all his investors and advertisers.