Another perspective...Why In The World Does The American Left Give Hamas A Free Pass?

[TubbersUK]

47. No free pass from me but:

The crimes of Hamas do not absolve the Israelis of their moral and legal obligations toward Palestinian civilians. As someone said elsewhere, the Palestinians may have elected bad leaders but that doesn't (morally or legally) make them cannon fodder or justify their hospitals and other essentials being reduced to dust.

As I understand it, Hamas received only around 44% of electoral votes in the Palestinian elections. Given that children don't vote, that not all adult Palestinians would have voted and that 56% of voting Palestinians actually opposed Hamas, it seems particularly cruel to use Hamas to justify recent Israeli attacks on essentially civilian targets.

It strikes me that to foist responsibility for Hamas on the Palestinian children killed, maimed and orphaned in recent days and to use Hamas as an excuse to inflict misery on future generations by depriving them of hospitals and other essential infrastructure is utterly immoral.


The above is essentially why collective punishment and failure to protect civilian populations are enshrined in international law as war crimes. It's also what I joined DU this evening to say and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be able to do so.