[The Slim Reaper]

Originally Posted by Soldier Boy

I'm saying that the death of innocent civilians when the bombs start dropping is what opens people up to radicalisation in general; when you create a situation where people have nothing to lose, you all but guarantee it. Trying to frame (at least semi) organised elements like Hamas and Hezbollah as anything other than extremist is disingenuous - they clearly do utilise weaponised extremism - but the pictures above paint a stark picture of why people can be taken down that path.

As for whether it's a war or occupation, I'd actually go as far as to say it's basically historically unique (not this conflict; the entire history of modern Israel). It was a terrible idea at the time, it was carried out as a kneejerk solution after WW2, and it remains a terrible idea to this day. I can't think of any example of anything even vaguely similar politically, currently or throughout history.

This is exactly what they've been living through already though. What is about to happen to them is a more concentrated version of their daily lives.

Here's the issue; elements of Hamas are undoubtedly motivated by extremism, and yet they're the only people providing charity and welfare to these people. painting them completely as a bunch of terrorists makes things neat and tidy to ignore the absolute and real terrorist actors, which is the Israeli government. Ukraine are freedom fighters, yet Palestinians are terrorist is pure western make believe.

A powerless people only has "terror" available as a come back. They have nothing else. The withdrawal of the basic things needed to sustain life by an occupier, is pure terrorism.

The fact it's an occupation is not really up for debate. I agree with some of what you say regarding the drawing of maps by Western powers ultimately coming back to haunt us, but we do have parallels from fairly recent history, such as the intentional starving of the Irish by the British government during the famine, and more specifically to scale, with the apartheid regime of south Africa.