the front page is now like half articles on this currently, so it’s probably time for a megathread because none of us want to keep track of 12 threads on this subject and all the resulting comments. only major subsequent developments (for example, boots on the ground; pronunciations by governments; that sort of stuff) will get their own thread. otherwise please post stuff in here for the time being. any threads not meeting this criteria will be locked and removed. thank you in advance for your cooperation.

  • Five@slrpnk.net
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    1 year ago

    Journalist Rips Palestinian ‘Terrorism’ Narrative to Shreds

    Israel has been calling Palestinian fighters “terrorists” to justify its slaughter of Gaza.

    Breakthrough News journalist, Eugene Puryear, rips this narrative apart, explaining the long history of oppressed and colonized people being demonized and called terrorists and savage to justify the continued occupation of those people. No different than the Native resistance to American colonization, slave rebellions in the Americas, the Haitian Revolution, Palestinians are resisting Israeli colonialism, not out of bloodlust as the media has portrayed it, but because of decades of land thefts, massacres, second-class citizenship and the denial of the right to return that has persisted for decades.

    • jarfil@beehaw.org
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      1 year ago

      This seems to be missing the meaning of the word “terrorist”, as in anyone espousing the ideology of instilling fear as a weapon.

      • Five@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        as in anyone espousing the ideology of instilling fear as a weapon.

        I wish that was what the word “terrorist” means.

        It has always meant anyone using asymmetric tactics to oppose states or capitalism, both violent and non-violent. If it simply meant using fear as a weapon, then every state that has prisons and police would be terrorist.

        The standard usage of the word is so hypocritical that it has become an authoritarian allegiance-signifying pejorative without any deeper meaning.

        • jarfil@beehaw.org
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          1 year ago

          If it simply meant using fear as a weapon, then every state that has prisons and police would be terrorist.

          Well… you said it 🙈

          The Oxford definition adds “unlawful” as an extra requirement, but I’d readily call Iran’s morality police “terrorist”, despite being lawful and state sponsored.

            • jarfil@beehaw.org
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              1 year ago

              Russia and Belarus also use fear to control their citizens. Setting a place on fire to make the state fear you, definitely can be called terrorism. Asking for sanctions against a state… hm, kind of? Technically, many of the sanctions against Russia are also intended to instill fear, including amongst civilians so they stop supporting their state. Making the EU fear whether it will have enough fuel for the winter, is another case.

              There’s a lot of terrorising going around these days.

              • Five@slrpnk.net
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                1 year ago

                The word is useless for describing violent acts in a meaningful way. It can mean making children traumatized with bombs, or making HOA members afraid their property value will decrease with graffiti, vastly different actions and outcomes.

                Tellingly, none of the people who tried to overthrow the government and caused hundreds of senators and congresspeople to retreat in fear have been charged with terrorism.

                Meanwhile, people who take videos of animal abuse on farms are terrorists. Eric King is housed at the infamous prison for terrorists ADX Florence, and is referred to the counterterrorism unit for passing out Union cards.

                No one who wants to be taken seriously should use the word “terrorist” in a descriptive context. It is not a meaningful word, it’s a noise people make when the word they actually mean is socially inappropriate or politically inopportune.

                • jarfil@beehaw.org
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                  1 year ago

                  The word is useless for describing violent acts in a meaningful way

                  Agree.

                  It is not a meaningful word

                  Disagree.

                  “Terrorism” has a clear meaning, and observing when people use it, or avoid using it, is even more meaningful, as proven by those examples.

                  PS: I’ve been called a “no freeloading terrorist”, a “TV remote terrorist”, and a “cleaning terrorist”. It may not tell you much about what I did, but it should convey enough meaning about what they were thinking.

                  • Five@slrpnk.net
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                    1 year ago

                    It seems the person who called you a terrorist did not want to be taken seriously :)