It's dogshit
Hamas and Israeli hardliners are two sides of the same coin. The choice is not one hardline faction or the other; it is between fundamentalists and all those who still believe in the possibility of peaceful co-existence. There can be no compromise between Palestinian and Israeli extremists, who must be combatted with a full-throated defense of Palestinian rights that goes hand-in-hand with an unwavering commitment to the fight against anti-Semitism.
Utopian as this may sound, the two struggles are of a piece. We can and should unconditionally support Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. But we also must unconditionally sympathize with the truly desperate and hopeless conditions faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied territories. Those who think there is a “contradiction” in this position are the ones who are effectively blocking a solution.
We can and should unconditionally defend US slave owners' property rights. But we also must unconditionally sympathize with the truly desperate and hopeless conditions faced by enslaved people.
We can and should unconditionally support Nazi Germany's right to rid itself of undesirables. But we also must unconditionally sympathize with the truly desperate and hopeless conditions faced by those placed in concentration camps.
Feel free to add your own
So we should defend Israel's "right" here but "sympatheize" with the desperate and hopeless?
Isn't the former more tangible than the latter?
I know I'd much rather someone defend my rights then sympathize with me.
zizek is a dumbass. hate how he constantly makes metaphors to SV. honestly anyone that does that needs to be thrown in a pit
With how much it's on his mind it really makes me question what he's been up to
Anyone who touts an "extreme" ideology but gets really picky on the practical side of it cuz they're scared of "extremists" deserves to be aggressed by extremists
Palestine has tried being peaceful, and was given sniper fire for the trouble.
Utopian as this may sound
yeah zizek, you're right, that is insanely utopian. nonsensical and completely detached from physical reality, if you would
The point of bothsidesing is always that the already dominant side wins by default.
So he basically has the same nuanced understanding of the situation as my dad. Cool
Mine thinks Isreal is doing the right thing and should "annihilate" the Gaza strip. So that's bleak.
It really does. He's a good guy, until some topic that fox news has covered comes up. Then he turns into a ranting lunatic. It's just sad.
Fox news is stochastic terrorism. When someone writes the Black Book of Capitalism they'll be a chapter dedicated to the blood on their hands
Always a good sign when self-declared Hegelians/dialectical materialists start denying that something is a contradiction
We can and should unconditionally support Israel’s right to defend itself
Fucking why must we do this, Zizek?
For one, I reject any definition of "defense" that includes bombing territory you do not control. Attacking in retribution is what it is. Second, accepting Israel's right to "defend" itself can only occur if you accept the right of "Israel" (meaning a Jewish ethnostate at the eastern end of the Mediterranean) to be something that ought to exist in the first place. To do this is to accept Zionism on its face as some sort of axiom. Why should any self-proclaimed socialist accept any ethnostate? A society that does not accept all cultures as equal is not one that should be propped up or supported.
He also accepts the framing of "anyone opposed to Israel is an anti-semite", but takes the slightly more nuanced view that "anyone who supports Palestinian statehood is not necessarily an anti-Semite". How brave.
Anyway this is trash. Almost everyone now recognizes that letting white people draw lines on a map is a recipe for disaster except in the case of Israel for some reason.
For one, I reject any definition of "defense" that includes bombing territory you do not control. Attacking in retribution is what it is.
There are situations where a counter offensive is the only way to defend oneself, though that is definitely not the case for Israel
Everyone is always discussing Israel's rights, since when do states even have rights? Such deceptive framing. It's like saying a corporation has rights. Israelis have rights, Palestinians have rights, people individually or in groups have rights, but Israel the state is no more entitled to "rights" than McDonalds is. They just made that shit up, and now demand we respect it as if it's a natural law, fuck off with that.
For one, I reject any definition of “defense” that includes bombing territory you do not control.
This is problematic when NATO is marching across Europe to establish nuclear capabilities on your border that 2 other European armies have invaded you through before. I do actually think Russia's invasion was a project of national self-defense.
I mean yeah that could be a compelling argument, but there are other justifications that also make sense for that. Crimea wanted to join Russia. They supported joining Russia before Euromaidan and that only made the support go up. Liberals like to ignore that Crimea wanted to secede from Ukraine way before the Russians entered, it was not a vote held at gunpoint.
Almost everyone now recognizes that letting white people draw lines on a map is a recipe for disaster except in the case of Israel for some reason.
Those lines are mostly curvy so it's okay.
Those who think there is a “contradiction” in this position are the ones who are effectively blocking a solution.
Oh, so ideas are the things blocking things from change. Here, I thought it was the people with guns upholding an imperial project. If we just change people's minds, the conflict will be resolved. What a relief, that sounds way easier.
Did this guy ever even pretend to be a materialist or did lacan fry his brain from the outset?
Reverse Tinker Bell magic where pointing out that these positions are irreconciliable is what makes them irreconciliable
