The unfortunate fact is that Hamas’s brutality is rightly put on the back burner until Israel’s current level of genocide is no longer killing hundreds of people per day.

If Russians did the same to Americans, you’d be all “fair play, mate”?

At wartime, sure. Using explosives on enemy combatants outside of military-exclusive areas is not inherently a war crime.

Israel is in the wrong here because it’s part and parcel of their continuing strategy of escalation in service to Netanyahu’s forever war so he can stay in power, and the collateral damage is thus pointless from any perspective except that of keeping an authoritarian in power.

They’re not in the wrong because they chose explosives as their choice of attack against Hezbollah. Unless it comes out that their distribution of rigged pagers was utterly untargeted or something of the sort. Which I would not discount the possibility of, considering Israel’s history, but doesn’t seem to be the case according to what’s come out so far.

First of all, there was no way for Israel to know whether the people they claim to be targeting were combatants when the attack occurred since Israel had no information about the status of these bombs when they chose to detonate them.

So it’s your view that any explosive that isn’t tracked at all times with 100% accuracy is a war crime.

Uh. ‘Interesting’.

Secondly, placing a bomb in a common device that you have every reason to believe will spend much of its time in the proximity of civilians, in homes, markets and other public spaces, and choosing to detonate it without knowledge of the location of the bomb, or it’s proximity to your supposed target, is actively avoiding distinguishing between ‘combatants’ and civilians. I can’t believe that western brain rot requires this to be spelled out for it.

‘Western brain rot’, apparently, is when someone else disproves your utterly and blatantly incorrect about the definition of a war crime and then you flail around desperately seeking another justification for your claim once disproven. Okay.

Considering Israel’s history, I don’t know how much agreement there would be between my estimation of military value and the current administration’s.

“© those which employ a method or means of combat the effects of which cannot be limited as required by this Protocol; and consequently, in each such case, are of a nature to strike military objectives and civilians or civilian objects without distinction.”

Would you like to explain how setting up bombs within the personal devices of enemy combatants is striking civilians or civilian objects without distinction? Or do you think all collateral damage is a war crime?

Like, fuck’s sake, not every dogshit act by a criminal state like Israel is a war crime. Jesus H. Christ.

It’s important to note that this is the consensus of much of the international community and the US (and I presume its surrogate Israel) have not signed on to the above provision despite speaking to support it. The weasely approach we (the US) have taken to these standards really demonstrates how hollow our sentiments are when we feign moral authority in international affairs.

Was this really all just to say “US BAD” and “US PUPPET ISRAEL”? Holy shit.

-According to Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, combatants are:

the armed forces of a party to a conflict, and also groups and units that are under a command responsible to that party for the conduct of its subordinates, even if that party is answerable to a government or an authority not recognized by an adverse party. Such armed forces shall be subject to an internal disciplinary system, which, inter alia, shall enforce compliance with the rules of international law applicable in armed conflict

I dunno man. I just feel like if you’re at the point where you can clandestinely intercept huge amounts of your enemy’s personal communication devices, ‘turn them into bombs’ feels like a bit of a low-yield outcome.

Fried chicken is as American as apple pie, for Christ’s sake! “African-Americans like an American staple!”, uh, yes?? How is that supposed to be a distinguishing mark amongst Americans, much less a bad one??

Racists are not just ignorant and malicious bastards. They’re also deeply weird.

I really don’t get it. Other than the “WAOW” factor, this certainly can’t have been a good use of resources for Israel.

That includes people who are members of your enemy’s military.

No, members of an enemy’s military are combatants regardless of whether they’re holding a gun or in a firefight at the time. The only exception is personnel such as chaplains and medics.

Macron et co hate the far-right more than the left, but only barely. Once the far-right was no longer in danger of being in control, Macron felt safe to fuck over the left by going with a fellow neoliberal shill.

Fuck Macron. It’s a shame this won’t remove him.

“I didn’t say anything of the sort (unless the audience liked it)”

Good riddance.

Nah, they don’t give a fuck about small businesses.

Even if it was… Give me your tired, your poor…

Isn’t this a Brazilian thing?

Everything is American once we get our grubby little hands on it.

Sanders on the right side of history, as usual.

The only slight hope that has been raised is that for the first time in my fucking lifetime, the US electorate isn’t lockstep behind Israel’s latest genocidal phase.

Also, beans on toast is fine.

Passing on an opportunity to dab on the Brits? Sir, I’m going to need to revoke your American card.

Chocolate pizza is definitely something I’ve seen around, and had, as someone who’s never been outside of the US.