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People keep defriending me for supporting Israel

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My friends (many of which are obviously brainwashed by leftist media in Europe) keep defriending me on Facebook because of my pro-Israel status updates and shared content. Today, someone even shared this post on my wall (see attached thumbnail). Any suggestions how to to respond, if at all?

 

Here is the content that I've shared over the past two weeks:

 

 1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KakxXN5Z-XI#t=90

 

2. Why you and I and everyone should support Israel against the barbarians: http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/2014/07/everyone-support-israel-barbarians/

 

3. Pat Condell nails it on Israel vs Hamas: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QuVx_7ER09Y

post-11477-0-83924300-1406925940_thumb.j

Edited by Chain
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Thoughts:

1 Let 'em go. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

2 Other than that one you put a picture for, have all the others you mention given you clear indication that that is why they defriended you?

3 Politics in general is just not something most people find enjoyable and they may just not like having a lot of it on something they use for pleasure. That said, three things over two weeks doesn't sound like a lot, unless you've been posting other political stuff on different topics too.

4 Why the hell is it that everywhere I turn I see *only* coverage of injuries to people in/from Gaza, not a word about anybody injured in/from Israel? Surely there have been damages on both sides, not just one. Reporting THIS badly lopsided I would say would naturally lead to extremely predictable, ill-informed sympathies with one particular party BUT how the hell does anybody with a couple brain cells to rub together not see such a glaring cherry-picking of reporting?

5 If you post anything else on the topic, just to avoid obnoxious, face-palm worthy messages like the one in the picture, I'd include a disclaimer first that you are entirely well aware of injuries to people in/from Gaza and that you hold no particular ill will toward any and all people in Gaza who do not support Hamas.

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1. Other than that one you put a picture for, have all the others you mention given you clear indication that that is why they defriended you?

2. That said, three things over two weeks doesn't sound like a lot, unless you've been posting other political stuff on different topics too.

 

1. Just one guy except this one. He said that he will not be friend with anyone who supports occupation and genocide.

 

2. Some of the discussions in the commentary fields are rather lengthy, and I have also "liked" the Facebook pages of IDF, "I stand with Israel" and a few others.

 

If he has read what I've written, he knows that I'm not hostile to all people in Gaza, only those who supports the terrorists. I'm considering responding with somehting like this: I'm not moved by disparaging remarks like this. If anything, I'll take your defriending as a compliment. 

Edited by Chain
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"If he has read what I've written . . ."

That's the thing, I don't think he has. I don't think the people you are having this issue with have looked much, if at all, beyond whatever post just popped up by you that they saw on the topic. That's why I think including something like that disclaimer information in the post itself might be of some use.

 

Eh, personally, I wouldn't make that kind of reply (although, I just wouldn't even be using facebook to begin with anyway). It just strikes me as kind of petty and useless. If I was in your shoes, I'd only consider replying to briefly correct some mistaken ideas the person seems to have about your position on this matter.

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As a neophite objectivist if such a label even exists...Should we not consider all life and every individuals rights as top priority, terrorist, isreali, american etc etc? Personally I think its hypocrital to wax philosophy for idividual rights and then defend the death of thousands of children in support of an Altruist state. Again, correct me if I'm wrong and I'l check my premises. I don't support Hamas or the Isrealis... I think they are fighting a relgious war that has gone on for centuries and I don't profess to understand completely. Killing another for turf is not selfish it nasty. Just my 2 cents worth.

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Eh, personally, I wouldn't make that kind of reply (although, I just wouldn't even be using facebook to begin with anyway). It just strikes me as kind of petty and useless. If I was in your shoes, I'd only consider replying to briefly correct some mistaken ideas the person seems to have about your position on this matter.

I found that the people who are failing to understand the difference between Palestinians and Israelis invariably vilify Israel. And, by extension, invariably vilify everyone who supports it. If they didn't, their justification for hatred would crumble. If Israelis are just like any other western nation (good and bad, but mostly good), put in a difficult position none of us would handle with any more grace, and in fact many western nations would handle with a lot less of it, it would be pretty hard to hate them or anyone who stands up in solidarity with them.

 

Vilifying a country like Israel is no small task. You have to ignore the horrors that drove Jews back to Israel, the many decades of very well known horrors the Palestinian factions have committed against Israelis afterwards, you have to ignore the state of laws (and not just any kind of laws, but laws that closely mirror the freest European countries) in Israel, you have to ignore the values they've created in the barren piece of desert they started out with, etc.

 

Calling that "a mistake" is naive. It's not a mistake, it's willful evasion.

 

 

 

 

As a neophite objectivist if such a label even exists...Should we not consider all life and every individuals rights as top priority, terrorist, isreali, american etc etc? Personally I think its hypocrital to wax philosophy for idividual rights and then defend the death of thousands of children in support of an Altruist state.

Case and point. I guess the worst thing Israel can be, for the purposes of vilifying it on an Oist forum, is an altruist state. So that it is. 

 

Not a modern state just like any European one, with the same rule of laws that allow for peaceful dissent and ethnic and religious differences, and encourage innovation in a  relatively free economic setting. And altruist state. Never mind that by far the most altruistic thing Israel has been doing is supplying electricity to Gaza's residents because its elected leaders are too busy desperately trying to murder Jews to do it themselves.

 

And the number of children who died is not in the dozens at most (as it is in our reality), it's thousands. And they died in support of an altruist state, rather than as human shields for an organization lobbing rockets into Israeli cities from school yards and hospitals.

Edited by Nicky
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As a neophite objectivist if such a label even exists...Should we not consider all life and every individuals rights as top priority, terrorist, isreali, american etc etc?

not terrorist, surely!

War is a dirty, despicable business, but you cannot point to the shooter and accuse him of evil. You have to step back and understand the root of the conflict. then, one has to ask how rational people would try to solve the issue [not some super rational folk, just ordinary folk on both sides who want to get on with enjoying their few decades of life]. Some people think the U.S. Should not have used nuclear bombs on Japan, but what was the alternative? Let Japan be, let their militaristic leaders rebuild?

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Any suggestions how to to respond, if at all?

Don't. 

As you can probably attest to firsthand, it isn't difficult to figure out what's going on in Israel; the only requirement is that you're honest with yourself about it.  So when someone calls you a confused and hateful bigot for arriving at that conclusion, it doesn't stem from an innocent misunderstanding.

 

When someone suffers from self-inflicted blindness, nothing you could ever say or do will help them to see anything.  Conversely, however, you can drive yourself absolutely berserk attempting to force them to learn (which I can attest to, firsthand). 

 

So just don't respond to stuff like that. 

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Don't. 

As you can probably attest to firsthand, it isn't difficult to figure out what's going on in Israel; the only requirement is that you're honest with yourself about it.  So when someone calls you a confused and hateful bigot for arriving at that conclusion, it doesn't stem from an innocent misunderstanding.

 

When someone suffers from self-inflicted blindness, nothing you could ever say or do will help them to see anything.  Conversely, however, you can drive yourself absolutely berserk attempting to force them to learn (which I can attest to, firsthand). 

 

So just don't respond to stuff like that. 

 

I just made å short reply, with a link to a Youtube video that demonstrates how biased the mainstream media is:

 

 

 

"you cannot let biased sources define your perception of history."

You should remind yourself of this the next time you watch or read the news produced by leftist "journalists" in the media. 

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I would point out to people that Hamas is not interested in protecting the rights of its subjects. Even if we accept the premise that the palestinians are being subjected to racist oppression, their response is insane. Armed conflict against Israel could never  be effective in securing the rights of Palestininans. Israel is too heavily armed and because of the actions of Hamas the war effor against Hamas has about 95% of the Israeli Jews supporting the conflict. Jews make up about 75% of Israel's population. Hamas could never in their wildest dream secure the rights of their people through armed force.

 

http://www.vox.com/2014/7/31/5955077/israeli-support-for-the-gaza-war-is-basically-unanimous

http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/israel-population/

 

 

A quote from the Hamas Charter shows exactly how they feel about other means of dealing with Israel.

 

"Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion; the nationalism of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part of its faith, the movement educates its members to adhere to its principles and to raise the banner of Allah over their homeland as they fight their Jihad: “Allah is the all-powerful, but most people are not aware.” From time to time a clamoring is voiced, to hold an International Conference in search for a solution to the problem. Some accept the idea, others reject it, for one reason or another, demanding the implementation of this or that condition, as a prerequisite for agreeing to convene the Conference or for participating in it. But the Islamic Resistance Movement, which is aware of the [prospective] parties to this conference, and of their past and present positions towards the problems of the Muslims, does not believe that those conferences are capable of responding to demands, or of restoring rights or doing justice to the oppressed. "

 

http://www.thejerusalemfund.org/www.thejerusalemfund.org/carryover/documents/charter.html?chocaid=397

 

It is clear that Hamas was not an organization formed to effectively deal with the problem of Jewish oppression of Arabs, but an organization founded to pursue the fantasy of forming a racist theocracy out of thin air. Even if this were a desirable outcome no reasonable person would assume that this was even remotely possible.  They spend what little resources the Palestinian people have on weaponry rather than attempting to diplomatically and econmically grow their influence.

 

I know if I sat one of their leaders down and told them that what they need to do is increase ecnomic oppuruniy. He may tell me that this is impossible because Israel prevents them from doing so. However military conflict with Israel will never be an effective policy, where as commercial integration with Israel can only be made possible by disarming. This either means they are deluded, incompetent, or just want the small ammount of power that comes from running failed state.

 

Israel is not the greatest country in the world.. In terms of economic freedom they are considered to be in the "modertaley free" tier (Spain is in the same tier) and are rated at a 68.4. This is by the very generous standards of the Heritage Foundation. They have a draft. Also, they appear to struggle with institutional prejudice against Arabs.  However the sad fact remains is that Israel while not being Switzerland is stil a government which basically attempts to respect the rights of all its citizens, Arab, Jew, or whoever. The fact is whatever evil things Israel may have done to the palestinians it is still Israel's responsibility to dismantel Hamas while protecting the rights of its citizens.

 

http://www.heritage.org/index/country/israel

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_Israel#Racism_against_Arabs ( I haven't looked into this particular issue too deeply, so I suggest if you are interested to read the studdies cited to make sure the claims were produced under sound methodology).

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