Words rarely if ever matter; it’s actions that matter
I disagree, words do matter, words incite action.
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We can each have our own opinion. I have listened to so much talk from so many people, but when it’s time to actually follow through they don’t.
They are loath to lose their human shields… and Palestinian civilian casualties gain sympathy among much of the MSM.
Hamas propaganda: We fight for the rights of displaced Palestinians.
Truth: They have squandered billions in foreign aid on tunnel infrastructure and weapons, and done nothing (or virtually nothing) to actually help the Palestinians they govern.
They seem to not care much, if at all, about the Palestinian people. Their sole focus is on eradicating Israel. Crazytown.
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My heart is breaking thinking of the further loss of innocent life we are about to witness. Hamas is absolutely terrible and I hate that innocent Israelis were murdered and now innocent Palestinians will be murdered as well.
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During this terrible time of mourning a community of support, kindness and solidarity….
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-767729
10,000 attend funeral of Brazilian olah after online call to action
The funeral of Bruna Valeanu, a 24-year-old Brazilian-Israeli who was murdered by Hamas terrorists, was held on Tuesday at the Yarkon Cemetery in Petah Tikvah with 10,000 people in attendance.
Only Bruna’s mother and sister live in Israel and apart from them, there was no one to attend the funeral or complete a minyan (prayer quorum). Volunteers posted online, asking people to come to the funeral if they could.
“Unfortunately, Bruna Valeanu was murdered at a party in Re’im. She is an immigrant from Brazil, only her mother and sister live in Israel and needs help completing the minyan for the funeral that will take place tonight. Please, those who can - let them come,” the post stated.
The volunteers hoped to gather at least enough people for a minyan, which requires 10 Jewish adults. Instead of 10, 10,000 people showed up.
I suspect they already have been. An enormous explosion of a large flatbed truck carrying civilians in the convoy headed south occurred today, but there were no Israeli strikes in the area. That would indicate that it was either a “work accident” of explosives being smuggled south, or worse yet, a deliberate explosion perpetrated by hamas in order to terrify hamas’ civilian shields from fleeing south. So it appears that an equivalency CAN be made. It appears they all died at the hands of Hamas.
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CNN is reporting that although Egypt has agreed to let US citizens cross into Egypt via the Rafah crossing, Hamas is barring them from exiting, effectively holding US citizens hostage (in addition to the ones that they abducted from Israel to use as human shields).
Egypt willing to accept Americans from Gaza but Hamas stopping crossing, White House says
From CNN’s Nikki Carvajal and Jasmine Wright
Hamas has been stopping Americans from leaving Gaza through the Rafah crossing to Egypt, even though Cairo has agreed to let US citizens cross into the country, the White House said Sunday.
“We have told President Sisi to open the border to let Americans out,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “The situation there at the crossing is actually more complicated.”
Sullivan said while the Egyptians have agreed to allow Americans to depart to get safe passage through the Rafah crossing and the Israelis agreed, “to ensure that the area around there would be safe, at least as far as they were able to do so,” when a group tried to cross yesterday, it “was actually Hamas taking steps to try to stop that from happening.”
“But we are continuing to work this around the clock, and we are doing all that we can to make sure that American citizens who are in Gaza can get through that border crossing,” Sullivan said. He added US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in Egypt Sunday to meet with the country’s president, and it was “at the top of his list to help get those American citizens out of Gaza.”
“Anyone who is a US citizen should have the right to free passage through there, and then have the US government facilitate their travel home,” he said.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan reports that Israel has resumed water supply to Gaza, and will allow food, water, and medicine in.
A reminder that there is a thread in the politics forum to discuss political ramifications, but such posts are prohibited here. Posts not in compliance are deleted.
I’m watching 60 Minutes. I don’t know what to say, and I wouldn’t be able to speak if I did.
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Perhaps just prewritten speeches which he can record in the future to lay out US policy clearly would be best. Nothing wrong with clear written documents on a sensitive subject for all policymakers.
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There’s also a thread devoted to Penn/Huntsman.
Yep. found it, Thanks
Another Harvard donor pulls funding.
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Many of us have personal ties to people involved in this conflict, but even those with no personal ties can find it traumatic to consume media about such distressing events. This short article from YLE has some information on the effect of vicarious trauma, with suggestions at the end on how to reduce this trauma while remaining informed. Take care of yourselves, everyone. 
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I think I wrote somewhere upthread that I got home from Israel hours, just hours before this war broke out. I am not exaggerating, or looking for attention when I say that I have spent most of this past week in shock, unable to do much of anything. Today is really the first day since I retuned home, that I feel myself somewhat ‘normal’ - less paralysed and a bit more motivated. Having experienced it myself, I now think vicarious trauma is a real phenomena.
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That must be really hard. I have no personal ties or travels to the area, but still I felt a bit ill when hearing news on car radio about hospital bombing.
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It was a Palestinian Islamic Jihad missile, launched from a civilian area of Gaza, in a huge barrage aimed at Israeli towns and cities. A rocket fell short, and struck the hospital. There was a secondary explosion, too, which implies that weapons were being stored there. All this can be seen on video shown by Al-Jazeera, a pro-Palestinian news site. It’s horrible, those poor innocents in the hospital.
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