Chad Hominem

Nothing happened to me, Dave, we just disagree about the conduct of a foreign government in a conflict 10,000 miles away. Normally that would be no big deal. I understand you take criticism of this foreign government personally, but it’s not personal. With all due respect, your point is disingenuous. Ariel Sharon pulled out the illegal settlers and IDF troops, true. The settlers were not repatriated to Israel, though, but transferred to equally-illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the West Bank. Most of the infrastructure you mentioned was destroyed during Cast Lead (2009) and Protective Edge (2014). In fact, one of the first things the Israelis did during the 2014 conflict was strike the main water treatment and sewage facilities, spilling tens of thousands of gallons of raw sewage into Gaza, because… reasons. Gaza is still surrounded on all sides, the border is patrolled by remote-controlled robot machine guns, armed Israeli aircraft patrol the skies, the Israeli navy restricts Gazan fishing boats from venturing more than a few miles from shore, Gazans require Israeli permission slips to visit relatives in the West Bank (more than half of Gazans have never been allowed to leave). They’re not citizens of any state, they have no legally protected civil, political, or property rights, and every few years they’re subjected to full-scale military assault affectionately known in Israel as “mowing the lawn.” The Israeli attacks on Gaza in 2009, 2014, and 2023 all resulted in a higher civilian death ratio than any comparable conflict in many decades. Now you can argue that the Palestinians deserve it, or that Israel has no choice, but arguing that the conditions I just described represent an end to Israel’s military domination of Gaza is not serious.