Telling on myself here, but Israel, it current conflict and it's history is a major weak spot for me. I assume whatever America is doing over there is bad, but otherwise don't bother to keep up on the details.
No worries! It's a complex topic and Americans are fed smokescreens and misinformation about it that makes it harder to learn about. Suffice it to say that you're probably not failing in your duty as an anti-imperialist just by enjoying a movie starring a zionist.
The short short version is that the creation of a Jewish ethnostate in 1948 was achieved by the forced expulsion of the Arab peoples of what was then the British territorial holding of Mandatory Palestine and their confinement to progressively smaller and more scattered areas. Today Palestinians live under a military occupation, subject to checkpoints, surveillance, blockades, attacks from Israeli settlers, and occasionally indiscriminate aerial bombing. The US' role is that it provides more aid to Israel than to any other country and uses its veto power in the UN to defend Israel's violations of international law. In return, Israel is a valuable asset to helping the US empire maintain power in the middle east.
I'm not completely sure what the best all-around primer is, but I recall Citations Needed's two-part episode on the "two state solution" (1, 2) being pretty accessible. Also check out The Electronic Intifada for news on the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
Thanks for the write up! I love that people go so far out of their way here. I have an idea amd want to normalize people reposting really good responses to main, as a c/bestochapo type thing. Mind if I start with yours?
Telling on myself here, but Israel, it current conflict and it's history is a major weak spot for me. I assume whatever America is doing over there is bad, but otherwise don't bother to keep up on the details.
No worries! It's a complex topic and Americans are fed smokescreens and misinformation about it that makes it harder to learn about. Suffice it to say that you're probably not failing in your duty as an anti-imperialist just by enjoying a movie starring a zionist.
The short short version is that the creation of a Jewish ethnostate in 1948 was achieved by the forced expulsion of the Arab peoples of what was then the British territorial holding of Mandatory Palestine and their confinement to progressively smaller and more scattered areas. Today Palestinians live under a military occupation, subject to checkpoints, surveillance, blockades, attacks from Israeli settlers, and occasionally indiscriminate aerial bombing. The US' role is that it provides more aid to Israel than to any other country and uses its veto power in the UN to defend Israel's violations of international law. In return, Israel is a valuable asset to helping the US empire maintain power in the middle east.
I'm not completely sure what the best all-around primer is, but I recall Citations Needed's two-part episode on the "two state solution" (1, 2) being pretty accessible. Also check out The Electronic Intifada for news on the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
Thanks for the write up! I love that people go so far out of their way here. I have an idea amd want to normalize people reposting really good responses to main, as a c/bestochapo type thing. Mind if I start with yours?