I didn't realize the West Bank was this bad; I also genuinely thought 'illegal settler' meant some weirdo who went and built a house in the West Bank, but then Hasan mentioning multiple times there's hundreds of thousands of people there and this video showing how big and developed these settlements are, like clearly the Israeli government is making all this a reality and not subtly so.
Genuinely I think for all the supporters of Israel, these people need to make a friend in the West Bank or in Gaza and go give them a visit. I say friend as well, because if they just go over there and talk to Israelis, they'll be told to be scared of the Palestinian residents and they'll be fine watching them be treated brutally. At least if they have a friend there, maybe they'll see the Palestinians as fellow human beings and have some concern for them.
I'm sure many pro-zionist Jewish people who've never visited there are the same; I refuse to believe every pro-zionist Jewish person is an ethnic supremacist. I recall there being some group called breaking the silence or something that was made up of former IDF who realized Israel was engaging in horrific atrocities.
Thanks, Elizabeth May, you could have learned all of this years ago when you nearly resigned over your own party members voting in favor of the Green Party supporting BDS, but better late than never, I guess.
For those unaware, May is the leader of the Green Party of Canada, which had an incredibly contentious leadership convention a couple of years ago (intended to replace May) that was mired by the issue of Israel-Palestine. The party membership has been consistently pro-Palestine, but because it was a political hot potato the party leadership has been unsurprisingly cowardly about it. There was some incredibly shady shit that happened in the background of the leadership race intended to make sure that the new leader would be a milquetoast lib with the correct opinion about the issue.
“But Ensign,” you ask “if there was a leadership convention to replace Elizabeth May, then why is she still the leader?” Good question, reader! The new leader, Annamie Paul, a charicature of the ideal milquetoast lib candidate (black, female, Jewish, human rights lawyer, centrist) didn’t last a year. She made a statement on the Israel-Palestine issue, but instead of reflecting the will of the party membership on the issue, the statement equivocated. The membership got mad, and called her statement insufficient (because it was). Her policy advisor responded, as you do, by calling everyone an antisemite. This went over about as well as you’d expect, and Paul resigned not long after, with May returning as leader.
Nice to see that the political winds have shifted enough that May can afford to have correct opinions out in public, but this is naked politicking if I’ve ever seen it.
Finally learning basic facts once all alternatives are exhausted. Opportunists hopping on board is just a sign of the progress we're making on this. Still, like you said, better late than never.
