← Back to context

Comment by Cyph0n

1 day ago

[flagged]

> so-called “Israel”

What’s with the ‘so-called’? That’s what the country is called. Israel. But I’m not sure that you’re aware but there was a really big one 25 years ago this coming September. Maybe you heard of it?

  • u/fortran77 used the phrase so-called “Palestinian” movement (slightly edited since), so I simply responded with the same rhetoric :)

    Of course, I somehow doubt that you would have a similarly strong reaction when Palestine is erased.

  • No that was because they hate our freedom, not because of decades of occupation and war all over the middle east funded by US taxpayer dollars.

    • The stated reasoning by Osama bin Laden in a letter published in 2002 [1] was primarily a response to grievances over the US support of Israel's occupation of Palestine, as well as a number of unrelated grievances mostly due to the choices of the various monarchies in the Gulf Arab states. For example, retaining a presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia at the request of King Abdullah.

      It may be satisfying to affirm a world view in either direction in the topic, but an understanding of 20th century history suggests that Al Qaeda noted some legitimate grievances while others were not factual or misrepresented. For example, the United States did not support Russia's campaign in Chechnya. Additionally, American military campaigns in Afghanistan were in direct response to Al Qaeda's mass killings of noncombatants and Taliban refusal to stop Al Qaeda military activity based in Afghanistan.

      1. https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/server/api/core/bi...

      Note: this hyperlink may die. The original copy published in The Observer has tragically suffered from link rot.

    • I’d like to see a rebuttal to this comment.

      Is the US now safer after the Iran attacks?