Arab Countries Now Cracking Down on Pro Palestinian Demonstrations

[SGOS]

I've been trying to understand the Pro  Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses. I can understand their point of view, and I'm fine with demonstrations, but bringing in the cops to break them up is mostly what is reported. It's so bad, the cops have to break them up, but why is it so bad? Is the media afraid to say why they are bad for fear of Palestinian reprisal?

But now Arab countries are breaking Pro Palestinian demonstrations up with force too.
NYT

As Anger Grows Over Gaza, Arab Leaders Crack Down on Protests

Grief and rage over the war and Israel have led to demonstrations across the Arab world. Arrests suggest governments fear the outrage could boomerang.

I can't understand. I have felt social pressures to take a side, Palestine or Israel? But I won't take a side. What's the point when that part of the world is in an unsolvable mess and will remain that way until one side wipes out the other?

Should we supply Israel with weapons? Probably not. Should we encourage Hamas to commit more terrorist acts? Probably not. Smarter guys than me have been working on the problem for the last 50 years, and it only gets worse.

[Dark Lightning]

All these countries should squelch groups like Hamas. If Hamas hadn't attacked Israel, none of the protests would be happening.

[SGOS]

All these countries should squelch groups like Hamas. If Hamas hadn't attacked Israel, none of the protests would be happening.

It's almost like they anticipated Israel's response and got what they hoped for. It may further their cause, but I don't think their cause has anything to do with peace. Israel, did respond decisively and with fury, and that didn't surprise me. Did it really surprise that many others? Hamas is/was the governing agency of Palestine. I don't know if the majority of Palestinians support Hamas or not. I assume they do, but I have no idea of Hamas was elected, or if the elections were rigged. I feel sorry for the civilian deaths, but I think poking the bear was a mistake. Although, I don't don't think anyone in the war is giving much thought to mistakes. Of course I don't know what anyone there is thinking at this time.

[Cassia]

Clowns to the left, jokers to the right. Or is it the jokers to the left of us and clowns on the right?

In this particular case, If I had to choose, I'd take even a very conservative secular democracy over a Jihadist/Iranian-proxy funded theocracy that uses human shields, oppresses women, gays and atheists and whose leaders are billionaires who live in Qatar. Israel is the incarnation of European guilt at the Arab's expense. Not that Arabs were guiltless for the Jewish Diaspora. No wonder Israel is not so popular.

I guess Netanyahu thought if he propped-up Hamas, they would play nicer...yet keep the fear on-going to secure his party. Conservatives like fear. Very stupid idea. So, plenty of blame all around. Expecting Israel to inflect only an equal measure of pain is also stupid. War is war. There are political objectives beyond equal killing.

Of course, the Ivy league professors and their students know better than me, so there ya go. I can take a wild guess at which of the two cultures they would prefer to live amongst, all other things being equal.

[SGOS]

Clowns to the left, jokers to the right. Or is it the jokers to the left of us and clowns on the right?

In this particular case, If I had to choose, I'd take even a very conservative secular democracy over a Jihadist/Iranian-proxy funded theocracy...

This brings it home. It's hard to look at both sides with an attitude of "all things being equal" because they are not equal. Brutality is as you say, "War." Both sides are brutal. Israel is an expansionist country that wants to expand it's borders. Islam wants to drive Israel into the sea, but all of that being "equal", I cannot accept any Islamic Jihadist movement that wants to crush the rest of the world under it's thumb.

[Hydra009]

I obviously have a different focus when it comes to international politics and can only stomach so much carnage per day, so I apologize for being largely ignorant about the specifics of this conflict.

Hamas was/is a terrorist organization that carried out a barbaric mass attack on civilians resulting in a large loss of life.  There are certainly parallels between that and my main focus.  No country on Earth would just accept that lying down.  Israel has attempted to root out and destroy the terrorist organization that attacked them, as just about any country would.

Where things go off the rails is the disturbing pattern of civilian deaths among the Palestinians.  Journalists, doctors, aid workers, etc.  I can't say that Israeli civilian deaths are bad and Palestinian civilian deaths are good, obviously.  What sort of morality would that be?  Add to that the thorny problem of Israel seizing land indefinitely.  This is obviously not okay and follows a abused-to-abuser psychological dynamic that is extremely disturbing and doesn't bode well for the region.

As for the protests, I wouldn't say that I hold water for either side, but I think that American citizens should be allowed to protest.  We do have a right to assemble, to peacefully protest.  Or did, it's hard to tell sometimes.  It certainly appears that police are being extra physical in these protests, as they normally are to protests against the status quo.  Purely coincidental, I'm sure.  Yet another thing that doesn't bode well for the future, I suppose.

[SGOS]

Killing Hamas presents unique public relations problems. They represent Palestine. How many Palestinians what that representation I can't say, but the invasion of any country results in collateral deaths of people who don't even support their leaders. Perfect surgical warfare is not possible. Add that Hamas hides in and under the most vulnerable civilian facilities, and the collateral damage goes up dramatically.

There's plenty of blame to go around on both sides, and that goes back years. There isn't a lot of what I consider "fairness" in this situation, and I don't think that fairness realistically is a part of any serious war, especially when the goal of both sides is to wipe each other out. It's genocide, and both sides support it. Maybe not the rank and file or the little people, but for those in charge of making war, that's what is going on.

I don't think sending in hoards of peace keepers from superpowers would do anything but escalate things even more. It's a thought, but I don't know if it's worth it.

As for the protests, I wouldn't say that I hold water for either side, but I think that American citizens should be allowed to protest.  We do have a right to assemble, to peacefully protest.

It does seem that these protests are escalating in violence and property damage. I don't know when a protest crosses the line to become a riot, and I don't know how much of this is being fomented by agitators. I don't know if students fully understand the boundaries of protest. I'm not even sure how many of them are offering a workable solution to what they want to stop. But things seem to be escalating toward criminal behavior.

[Hydra009]

I do agree that there is violence at some of these protests.  And like you, I am not exactly sure who is instigating or unleashing said violence.  All I can say is that there is definitely extra-physical treatment reminiscent of the BLM protests, which was extra unfortunate because those were protests against police brutality.

[Cassia]

Yeah. So many ideologs, so few pragmatists involved in this conflict.

-Israel is not going to just pack up and move out. Their return to Judea is entangled with the zeitgeists of their Diaspora and Holocaust.

-Palestinians would get so much support from the entire world (sans Iran and Russia) if they simply opted for a "coexist" solution. I doubt the protesters understand how heavily indoctrinated and radicalized Palestinians are. This conflict is all they know.

If these people were all atheists, this shit would not be happening.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

-Palestinians would get so much support from the entire world (sans Iran and Russia) if they simply opted for a "coexist" solution.

Palestinians are only half of the problem in that area, unfortunately. Netanyahu's government has made it abundantly clear that they are not and were never interested in a two state solution. And don't forget about the Israeli settlers in West Bank.

It is unfortunately very much a "both sides bad" situation, and I fear it will only end when one side genocides the other. It is looking increasingly likely that Israel will be the one doing said genociding.

[SGOS]

Yeah. So many ideologs, so few pragmatists involved in this conflict.

-Israel is not going to just pack up and move out. Their return to Judea is entangled with the zeitgeists of their Diaspora and Holocaust.

-Palestinians would get so much support from the entire world (sans Iran and Russia) if they simply opted for a "coexist" solution.

I don't think either side wants a two state solution. That would require compromise, and compromise would not serve the interests of the combatants. Also, coexistence is not the objective of either party.

[Cassia]

Palestinians are only half of the problem in that area, unfortunately. Netanyahu's government has made it abundantly clear that they are not and were never interested in a two state solution. And don't forget about the Israeli settlers in West Bank.

It is unfortunately very much a "both sides bad" situation, and I fear it will only end when one side genocides the other. It is looking increasingly likely that Israel will be the one doing said genociding.

Netanyahu has to go. Fortunately, polls show many Israelis want him out as well. Reasonable people on both sides must be very sick and tired of all this. How to keep the radicals on either side from destroying a peace solution has always been the problem. The moderates have to root them out and crack down on them hard. That is the only way. It especially helps if the other side's moderates see you really trying to control your holy warriors.

On a global scale, it is the same thing. Moderates have to sit around and wait for radicals to start fires. It is a very tough problem for free societies with human rights and just laws. However, dictators have it easy. They just kill anyone that opposes them. That power attracts morons. Especially those who crave a celestial dictator.
 

[Mr.Obvious]

I hesitate to speak out on the matter, because i sense i am gravely undereducated on the subject.
I have enough for a basic grasp and the history in the most broadest of terms, but lack the 'details'. And here, obviously, those are paramount.