I guess it was justified because the IDF was using civilians as human shields.

Israel knows that the US will back it up no matter what, so it doesn’t have to listen.

Blinken also knows that Israel knows. The US calls for humanitarian aid, etc, are public theatre designed to be rebuffed by Israel without consequences. So Biden gets to show the world that he is very concerned over human rights, even as Israel flattens Gaza.

deleted by creator

There’s a famous historical precedent in the Tiananmen Incident. Not the famous one, this was in 1976. Zhou Enlai, Mao’s second in command, who was widely perceived as more moderate and competent, died. As a passive-aggressive way of protesting Mao and the chaos of his cultural revolution, the citizens of Beijing spontaneously put up over-the-top acts of mourning for Zhou. It evolved into a demonstration against the government; one that was quickly dispersed, yet such a protest was something nearly unthinkable during the Mao era. That was one of the events that led to the end of Mao’s cultural revolution.

Israel doesn’t “want” Gaza, but it wants to keep Gaza as a subjugated territory under their control. Having a cake and eating it too.

If Israel is gonna take over Gaza, give Gazans the vote.

Bad luck for China. It should have been the other guy to drop dead.

“I’m sure innocents have been killed and that’s the price of waging a war.”

– Joe Biden

deleted by creator

It’s two-sided. Israel also does not want a functioning Palestinian state that isn’t under Israeli domination. Just look at how they treat the West Bank.

Looks like tax cuts do work! /s

Not in Argentina’s case. There, the problem is decades of mismanagement by leftist governments that have, quite understandably, led to disillusionment among voters.

The Palestinians are paranoid about such Israeli efforts for good reasons. In the past, after civilians are “evacuated”, they’re not allowed to return and the land is taken by Israel.

To raise the risk level for conducting military operations next to their airspace.

He’s not wrong. But it’s worth remembering that when China faced a far smaller provocation from their own restive Muslims, in Xinjiang, they responded by locking up a large fraction of the population in vast reeducation camps…

Most of those Middle Eastern partners don’t really care about Palestine either, but you make a good point.

It’s pretty much a no-brainer and an easy way to score some brownie points. China has pretty good relations with Israel, and the Palestinians offer nothing. The CCP doesn’t give a shit about human rights, so the occupation means nothing to them, so why even try to be even-handed in this matter?

The only surprising thing to me is that Xi didn’t come out earlier with a much stronger show of support for Israel. A lost opportunity, and another example of their foreign policy ineptitude.

The two state solution isn’t workable, because Israel will never allow a viable Palestinian state. The only three options are

• genocide
• a permanent state of apartheid
• giving the Palestinians the vote and letting the political chips fall however they may

All three options have downsides, but in my view the third choice is the only one that’s sustainable in the long run and not morally monstrous. But I have no confidence at all that that’s the pathway that will be chosen.

deleted by creator

There are by now about a dozen stories, from assorted high profile press outlets, all stemming from the same incident involving Fillipino coastguard vessels on which international reporters had been invited. The Philippines have played the PR game exceptionally and uncharacteristically well. Maybe the US has helped by providing advice (just speculating).

It’s hard to predict whether this will have a deterrent effect on Chinese actions, though.