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The IDF's position on civilian casualties in Gaza



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kjb




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 18 2014, 1:56 pm
However one may feel about carpet-bombing Gaza - and I think we all recognise that Israeli Imamothers may not have the luxury of thinking about this in the same purist way one might if one is sitting comfortably in the US or some other Western country - Marina is factually right about one thing: The IDF does NOT think it is a good idea.

I quote from a press statement issued yesterday by the IDF as troops embarked on the current ground operation: “In the face of Hamas' tactics to leverage civilian casualties in pursuit of its terrorist goals, the IDF will continue in its unprecedented efforts to limit civilian harm." NBC News

What they mean is that every civilian casualty in Gaza is another piece of powerful ammunition in Hamas's own domestic and international 'hasbara' campaign. That is why putting civilians on the roofs of strategic targets is win/win for them: either Israeli forces refrain from attacking the target so as not to kill civilians (win), or Hamas gets another blood soaked statistic or image with which to whip up anti Israel/pro Hamas feeling in the Arab and the Western worlds (win).
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monseychick




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 18 2014, 2:49 pm
I think the Malaysian plane is mida cneged mida...

Obama is telling Israel to show restraint

Now lets see the US and all countries with citizens aboard that plane show restraint
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Barbara




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 18 2014, 2:56 pm
monseychick wrote:
I think the Malaysian plane is mida cneged mida...

Obama is telling Israel to show restraint

Now lets see the US and all countries with citizens aboard that plane show restraint


Let me know when the Netherlands engages in carpet bombing of Russia or the Ukraine, okay?

Nb -- indeed, Israel hasn't done that either. It has shown restraint.
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sequoia




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 18 2014, 2:58 pm
Barbara wrote:
Let me know when the Netherlands engages in carpet bombing of Russia or the Ukraine, okay?

Nb -- indeed, Israel hasn't done that either. It has shown restraint.


To be honest... You understand...
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Barbara




 
 
    
 

Post Fri, Jul 18 2014, 3:05 pm
sequoia wrote:
To be honest... You understand...


Not really, but that's okay.

Every US president urges Israel to exercise restraint. And Israel always exercises the restraint that it deems to be in its best interest. I'm not sure what's interesting or novel about any of that.
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ora_43




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Jul 19 2014, 3:44 pm
kjb wrote:
However one may feel about carpet-bombing Gaza - and I think we all recognise that Israeli Imamothers may not have the luxury of thinking about this in the same purist way one might if one is sitting comfortably in the US or some other Western country - Marina is factually right about one thing: The IDF does NOT think it is a good idea.

This is a little condescending, no?

It's not a "purist" perspective, it's a perspective that's never been tested by reality. I'm not saying it's necessarily inaccurate, but the lack of personal involvement sure doesn't make it any more accurate, any more than a person's opinions on parenting are helped by the fact that they've never attempted to raise a child.

I'm not sure what your point is with this thread (or what marina's was, when she kept trying to cite the IDF position as support for her views). Nobody here ever claimed that the IDF does support carpet bombing. The IDF is going to allow its own soldiers to die in the hopes of saving Gaza civilians - we all know that, and always have.

There was a theoretical question of whether that was moral, that's all.

Since this thread is mentioning that other, locked thread, I'm going to take the opportunity to mention something that I found annoying there: the inaccurate use of "carpet bombing" to mean "total destruction of Gaza and death of all its residents." Carpet bombing is a tactic that causes a lot more damage and death than targeted strikes, but it does not mean complete obliteration. A city can be "carpet bombed" in a way that kills, say, 200 people out of 500,000.

It's not a euphemism for genocide.
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chaiz




 
 
    
 

Post Sat, Jul 19 2014, 4:05 pm
ora_43 wrote:
The IDF is going to allow its own soldiers to die in the hopes of saving Gaza civilians - we all know that, and always have.



And I want to know why that is considered the ultimate in morality.
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PinkFridge




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Jul 20 2014, 9:23 am
chaiz wrote:
And I want to know why that is considered the ultimate in morality.


And if it's the ultimate morality, why it's expected/demanded of Israel and not universally.
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