I didn't comment specifically about GPs intent. I am referring to the use of the word by a larger group. I have no idea what GPs intent is but I have a pretty clear idea why the word was adopted by the anti-Israeli antisemitic propaganda machine.
- Are Jewish people judged to a different standard than others?
- Is the pattern similar to historical persecution of the Jewish people, specifically in this case we're talking about blood libels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel
- Follow the money or literally find the source of the accusation. Is the source clearly antisemitic? Then the accusation is likely antisemitic.
Let's say you are or might be a serial killer. How should I talk about it without offending you? Just asking.
If for example Israel was setting up gas chambers and systemically killing all the Palestinians in the middle east that would be pretty hard to hide. If you have no evidence you're going to go down the road of interpreting the genocide convention to fit your agenda, misrepresenting the ICC ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq9MB9t7WlI ), making up things, cherry-picking statements by Israeli officials and ignoring ones that don't suit your agenda. etc. The simplest explanation here that holds water is that we have a war during which we have civilians casualties.
> Let's say you are or might be a serial killer. How should I talk about it without offending you? Just asking.
If that is an issue, it absolutely should be addressed; personal offense doesn't outweigh the deaths of others. Imagine if an alleged serial killer said, 'nobody can talk about that because it offends me.'
It's also a well-worn tactic to change the subject from one's own behavior to attacking people who raise the issue - the right-wing has been using it for years, now on behalf of Israel.
I'm not changing the subject: The issue is that Israel has killed ~50,000 people, injured many more, and destroyed most of their resources including things like healthcare, infrastructure, just buildings. It is blocking access to food and essential supplies. Palestinians in the West Bank are subject to have their property stolen, physical violence, lack of the rule of law, and being terrorized. Israeli leaders openly talk about seizing Palestinian territory, harming Palestinians, and contempt for harming them.
Whatever you call it, those are the issues. Whether it meets a legal standard of genocide is something a court can figure out, but there are warrants from a widely-recognized court.
You say you're not changing the subject and then you go ahead and change the subject.
The number of casualties is consistent with the kind of war that's being waged. If Hamas hadn't used healthcare and educational facilities then those wouldn't be targeted.
The warrants are not related to genocide. They're about war crimes. They're also political and illegal (Israel isn't a member of the ICC and Palestine is not a country) but there you went and changed the subject again.
Israel can kill as many people it takes to secure its citizens. As long as it is targeting Hamas, which it is, there is no upper bound. It can legally target hospitals and schools that are used by Hamas. That is all legal and moral. The rest is up to the Palestinians and Hamas. If Hamas removes the need for Israel to keep fighting it by surrendering then this war will be over. If Hamas keeps threatening to kill Israelis then Israel will eliminate this threat just like any other country would.
You'll see Hezbollah has also set up headquarters in schools in Syria.
Another subject again- Palestinians in/from the west bank are killing civilians and attacking Israelis. That is the root cause for what's going on there. Once they stop doing that we can make progress. The Israeli right is in power because Palestinian violence has convinced Israelis the only way that they can live in peace is to put a right wing government who will be extremely harsh with the Palestinians in power. This is the Palestinians own doing as a group. Sure, I sympathize at the individual level but as a group they decide to take a path of violence against a much stronger group and do their best to create a situation in which they are going to lose a lot.
Palestinians need to drop their violent struggle and the gullible people of the west need to stop supporting that. That is the only way they will get anything. We were on that path to some extent during the Oslo accords and the Palestinians literally blew this up, along with hundres of Israelis in busses and malls and restaurants.
Your question is answered here in fair depth: https://www.ajc.org/sites/default/files/pdf/2021-10/A%20Guid...
On top of that a few tests we can apply:
- Are Jewish people judged to a different standard than others?
- Is the pattern similar to historical persecution of the Jewish people, specifically in this case we're talking about blood libels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_libel
- Follow the money or literally find the source of the accusation. Is the source clearly antisemitic? Then the accusation is likely antisemitic.
Let's say you are or might be a serial killer. How should I talk about it without offending you? Just asking.
If for example Israel was setting up gas chambers and systemically killing all the Palestinians in the middle east that would be pretty hard to hide. If you have no evidence you're going to go down the road of interpreting the genocide convention to fit your agenda, misrepresenting the ICC ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq9MB9t7WlI ), making up things, cherry-picking statements by Israeli officials and ignoring ones that don't suit your agenda. etc. The simplest explanation here that holds water is that we have a war during which we have civilians casualties.