Comment by mandmandam
6 months ago
This isn't the first of these takes regarding Israel by that poster, where they present themselves as 'not supportive of Israel, just presenting a balanced perspective' (while wildly distorting reality).
Since tptacek likes to present themselves as an authority on this kind of stuff, and does indeed have a reputation here, I feel it's important to point out that this isn't the first time they've carried water for Israel like this.
Examples: Calling Israel's exploding pagers war crime "surgical" [0] - which it absolutely was not, or, saying that Hamas should've taken the ceasefire deal they were offered [1] (rightly called out in the replies).
It's absurd to try and claim that Israel is 'no better or worse' than other nations in the 'spying on journalists phones' department. Especially when you look at why.
This is one of the many pitfalls of sharing a collective identity, whether in politics, technology, or even outright jingoist nationalism. You see it on HN all the time; people respond to the tone of a piece rather than what the actual contents are. It's pretty obvious when someone posts a message imbued with that insecurity; it's always about "the other side" and trying to create relative morality. Hasbara, in the Hebrew vernacular. Or "mansplaining" if you're a jaded progressive.
American surveillance is a pretty good example. "Lawful" intercept, geofence tracking, dragnet collection, commercial de-anonymization, America leads the way in a deeply unethical field. Yet, criticize Palantir et. al and people will find ways to argue it's necessary. Usually they create a boogeyman; "we're the good guys because we fight human traffickers and thieves" type of stuff. You don't have to look very closely at the marketing materials for these companies, they're very clear about using it on the "bad guys" to assuage the average insecurity. It's like the dog-and-pony we always see when iOS vs Android security is brought up; "it's not about my phone, it's the relative security of theirs!" When in reality, neither company is ethical or sells a secure product. They're excuses not to think, instead of logical arguments against the claim.
This isn't even a politics issue, either. These comments are a mirror reflection of one's character and their internal (often irrational) justification for an illogical stance. Often these comments aren't even rooted in a form of rhetoric, they just want to deflect the blow a little bit to cover their own ass emotionally. In the tech industry, I've noticed this happen a lot when people are embarrassed by their own work being discovered "in the wild" by peers.