Retired Major John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, has studied this matter in detail. He knows that the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths this is no more than 1.5 to 1 and, given the propensity for Hamas to exaggerate civilian deaths, probably closer to 1 to 1. For the American forces attacking ISIS in Mosul in 2016-17, the ratio was more than two to one. According to the United Nations, the historical ratio in urban warfare is nine to one.
So one side of the coin is the lies about Israel being indiscriminate in its attacks. Even Joe Biden propagated this mistruth in comments he has made. In fact, every Israeli attack by air or drone has to be signed off on by an independent legal expert. And, unlike any other armed force in the world, Israel gives warnings by phone, by leaflets, by email to civilians telling them to get out of the combat zone. The liberal press characterizes this as “forced resettlement.” They try to make saving lives look like a war crime.
None of the above facts will interfere with the “truth” espoused by the anti-Zionists. However, it is sometimes important to remind the sane people of the truth that they are supporting, and give them the emotional strength to a withstand the political and social gaslighting.
The other side of the coin and the greatest irony is that Hamas has zero concern for their population. They have openly call victims of their war “necessary sacrifices.“ They do not let any of their civilians take shelter in the miles of tunnels that they have dug. Ismail Haniya said back in 2011 said “we will win because we yearn for death as our enemies yearn for life. We yearn to be martyrs .”
The Hamas charter itself says “our path is Jihad and our fondest wish is to die as martyrs for Allah.“ So from the Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran, viewpoint, their leadership wants them to be martyrs . And it just so happens, when Israelis defend themselves and attack enemies that have ensconced themselves within the civilian population, the Arabs in Gaza and elsewhere become martyrs.
From the anti-Zionist perspective, it’s a win–win all over.
Just amazing. All the media reports is that nine “Palestinians” were killed in the new operation in the West Bank. All nine were militants, a point which does not appear to be disputed. Still, the headlines make no effort to message this upfront. That is nothing other than rank, antisemitic bias.
Any time people bring the lie up about “genocide “ in Gaza I remind myself of two things. 1. The Shabbat dinner i had with my daughter and her friends in Israel in November and sat with these beautiful 20 year olds who are soldiers on the front lines and who have lost friends to this tragedy, if everyone could meet with these young people they would know that there is no genocide in Gaza. 2. The genocide accusation was created by Palestinians, intellectuals and Russians as a form of psychological warfare against the Jews. They specifically chose this accusation because they knew it would stab every Jew in the heart. It’s a lie based on the ancient blood libel that happened to stick.
Exactly! It's a blood libel, no question about it. Also, I suspect with some It's a kind of "blood sport" if you will: What can we accuse the Jews of today?
This is great, but the biggest problem is getting the message through to people. They no listen! As you say, the antisemitism is generational. I have had these discussions with people as old as 86. They refuse to listen. They hate the Jews. They can’t exactly remember why and nor do they care. They’ve absorbed all the propaganda over the years. No one remembers the details, just the overall message. Jews are bad, Israel is evil. Nevertheless, I’m still shocked at the sheer numbers of people who are willing to be manipulated by Hamas. Surely, their default position should be to disbelieve, or at least question, everything a terrorist organisation says. But, they are so open and willing to be manipulated. These are educated people who should know better. They don’t and that scares me.
When your entire identify is based on hating Israel and hating Jews, accepting even one kernel of truth means you’re willing to pull the thread to unravel the entire cloak of baseless hate and lies you’ve swathed yourself in. It takes a very strong person to do that, to actually think, to accept perhaps they were wrong in embracing PaliNazi propaganda. We have seen individuals like this, their voices are powerful, but there are truly far too few. We need more.
Holocaust: 9.5 million Jews in Europe before Hitler 6 million killed: 63%===Genocide
U.S.: population 345 Million; every year roughly 3 million deaths (cancer, heart diseases, accidents, aging, diabetes …) = .8% == Genocide? Clearly not.
Gaza: 2 million residents; 40,000 deaths (laughable from conflict) (no causes reported) assume .8% from all causes similar to U.S. equals 17,000 leaves 23,000 from conflict. 23,000 over 2M is 1.1% is this genocide? Not even close to the 63% of the holocaust.
Whoever use this term to describe this conflict is either illiterate or has discalculia, or is simply stupid or more likely is simply an antisemite. The current Oval Office occupants have one of more of these attributes.
I was at the desk alone on October 7, with a free hand given by the editor. I remember the first images trickling in through social media—uncensored, barbaric. Later, I wrote in an opinion piece that even animals weren't capable of the atrocities committed that day. What deep-seated hate must have driven these acts?
I remember seeing Israel bombing infrastructure in the enclave with fighter jets, thinking it wouldn't be enough. But recalling previous conflicts, I realized that once the IDF's operations truly began, Hamas would dominate the optics with footage of the dead, dying, and bereft, and the world would inevitably react.
And that is exactly how it has played out.
It’s arguably the most polarizing conflict in recent decades, though in reality, it has been ongoing for much longer. The peace that preceded the October 7 attacks was merely a lull in the greater scheme of things.
I remember saying as much on LinkedIn, of all places, and someone quipped: "It's not a conflict, it's an occupation!"
My response was: "Like I said, it's polarizing."
This polarization seeps into the very instruments we depend on for objective information, making it a minefield for anyone trying to understand the situation. They have to scrutinize both the story and the storyteller to see if there’s any bias, because otherwise, they risk simply repeating a skewed perspective.
But to cut a long story short, everything that is happening now—the bad press, the blaming, the inflated numbers, the ongoing hostage crises, the dying hostages, the dying civilians, even the IDF mistakenly shooting hostages—could all come to an end.
Netanyahu merely needs to stop pushing his "maximalist" (as described by U.S. officials) demands and prioritize freeing the hostages above all else. As I write this, Israel is striking for the same effect.
But if you want to get to the crux of the matter, October 7 and everything between did not have to happen in the first place.
Netanyahu was warned by Egypt and his military underlings that something big was coming.
He chose to ignore it. And when the cookie crumbled, he denied ever being warned.
Hey has anybody seen this guy? Do you know if he is okay? He put out all of these insults invited me to chat with him privately and now he is not responding.
Retired Major John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, has studied this matter in detail. He knows that the ratio of civilian to combatant deaths this is no more than 1.5 to 1 and, given the propensity for Hamas to exaggerate civilian deaths, probably closer to 1 to 1. For the American forces attacking ISIS in Mosul in 2016-17, the ratio was more than two to one. According to the United Nations, the historical ratio in urban warfare is nine to one.
So one side of the coin is the lies about Israel being indiscriminate in its attacks. Even Joe Biden propagated this mistruth in comments he has made. In fact, every Israeli attack by air or drone has to be signed off on by an independent legal expert. And, unlike any other armed force in the world, Israel gives warnings by phone, by leaflets, by email to civilians telling them to get out of the combat zone. The liberal press characterizes this as “forced resettlement.” They try to make saving lives look like a war crime.
None of the above facts will interfere with the “truth” espoused by the anti-Zionists. However, it is sometimes important to remind the sane people of the truth that they are supporting, and give them the emotional strength to a withstand the political and social gaslighting.
The other side of the coin and the greatest irony is that Hamas has zero concern for their population. They have openly call victims of their war “necessary sacrifices.“ They do not let any of their civilians take shelter in the miles of tunnels that they have dug. Ismail Haniya said back in 2011 said “we will win because we yearn for death as our enemies yearn for life. We yearn to be martyrs .”
The Hamas charter itself says “our path is Jihad and our fondest wish is to die as martyrs for Allah.“ So from the Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran, viewpoint, their leadership wants them to be martyrs . And it just so happens, when Israelis defend themselves and attack enemies that have ensconced themselves within the civilian population, the Arabs in Gaza and elsewhere become martyrs.
From the anti-Zionist perspective, it’s a win–win all over.
EXACTLY. There doesn't appear to be a remote availability, but for friends in Toronto: https://tafsik.com/event/john-spencer/
Terrifying
Just amazing. All the media reports is that nine “Palestinians” were killed in the new operation in the West Bank. All nine were militants, a point which does not appear to be disputed. Still, the headlines make no effort to message this upfront. That is nothing other than rank, antisemitic bias.
Any time people bring the lie up about “genocide “ in Gaza I remind myself of two things. 1. The Shabbat dinner i had with my daughter and her friends in Israel in November and sat with these beautiful 20 year olds who are soldiers on the front lines and who have lost friends to this tragedy, if everyone could meet with these young people they would know that there is no genocide in Gaza. 2. The genocide accusation was created by Palestinians, intellectuals and Russians as a form of psychological warfare against the Jews. They specifically chose this accusation because they knew it would stab every Jew in the heart. It’s a lie based on the ancient blood libel that happened to stick.
Exactly! It's a blood libel, no question about it. Also, I suspect with some It's a kind of "blood sport" if you will: What can we accuse the Jews of today?
This is great, but the biggest problem is getting the message through to people. They no listen! As you say, the antisemitism is generational. I have had these discussions with people as old as 86. They refuse to listen. They hate the Jews. They can’t exactly remember why and nor do they care. They’ve absorbed all the propaganda over the years. No one remembers the details, just the overall message. Jews are bad, Israel is evil. Nevertheless, I’m still shocked at the sheer numbers of people who are willing to be manipulated by Hamas. Surely, their default position should be to disbelieve, or at least question, everything a terrorist organisation says. But, they are so open and willing to be manipulated. These are educated people who should know better. They don’t and that scares me.
When your entire identify is based on hating Israel and hating Jews, accepting even one kernel of truth means you’re willing to pull the thread to unravel the entire cloak of baseless hate and lies you’ve swathed yourself in. It takes a very strong person to do that, to actually think, to accept perhaps they were wrong in embracing PaliNazi propaganda. We have seen individuals like this, their voices are powerful, but there are truly far too few. We need more.
This is so clear and concise. Thank you!
Holocaust: 9.5 million Jews in Europe before Hitler 6 million killed: 63%===Genocide
U.S.: population 345 Million; every year roughly 3 million deaths (cancer, heart diseases, accidents, aging, diabetes …) = .8% == Genocide? Clearly not.
Gaza: 2 million residents; 40,000 deaths (laughable from conflict) (no causes reported) assume .8% from all causes similar to U.S. equals 17,000 leaves 23,000 from conflict. 23,000 over 2M is 1.1% is this genocide? Not even close to the 63% of the holocaust.
Whoever use this term to describe this conflict is either illiterate or has discalculia, or is simply stupid or more likely is simply an antisemite. The current Oval Office occupants have one of more of these attributes.
I was at the desk alone on October 7, with a free hand given by the editor. I remember the first images trickling in through social media—uncensored, barbaric. Later, I wrote in an opinion piece that even animals weren't capable of the atrocities committed that day. What deep-seated hate must have driven these acts?
I remember seeing Israel bombing infrastructure in the enclave with fighter jets, thinking it wouldn't be enough. But recalling previous conflicts, I realized that once the IDF's operations truly began, Hamas would dominate the optics with footage of the dead, dying, and bereft, and the world would inevitably react.
And that is exactly how it has played out.
It’s arguably the most polarizing conflict in recent decades, though in reality, it has been ongoing for much longer. The peace that preceded the October 7 attacks was merely a lull in the greater scheme of things.
I remember saying as much on LinkedIn, of all places, and someone quipped: "It's not a conflict, it's an occupation!"
My response was: "Like I said, it's polarizing."
This polarization seeps into the very instruments we depend on for objective information, making it a minefield for anyone trying to understand the situation. They have to scrutinize both the story and the storyteller to see if there’s any bias, because otherwise, they risk simply repeating a skewed perspective.
But to cut a long story short, everything that is happening now—the bad press, the blaming, the inflated numbers, the ongoing hostage crises, the dying hostages, the dying civilians, even the IDF mistakenly shooting hostages—could all come to an end.
Netanyahu merely needs to stop pushing his "maximalist" (as described by U.S. officials) demands and prioritize freeing the hostages above all else. As I write this, Israel is striking for the same effect.
But if you want to get to the crux of the matter, October 7 and everything between did not have to happen in the first place.
Netanyahu was warned by Egypt and his military underlings that something big was coming.
He chose to ignore it. And when the cookie crumbled, he denied ever being warned.
WHAT IS YOUR NAME, ANONYMOUS COWARD?
Last chance before I mute you.
So far as I can tell from your writing, you have zero knowledge of the facts on the ground in Israel.
Hey has anybody seen this guy? Do you know if he is okay? He put out all of these insults invited me to chat with him privately and now he is not responding.
You are a boring troll. Blocking you now. Other people may find your lies spouted behind a fake name interesting. I am done. Bye.
who is the coward now...
Outstanding piece! Thank you!
Thanks for this. It’s becoming ever more demoralising to try to resist the gaslighting. This really helps.
Well said
Then stop supporting those who started the conflict by invading and committing atrocities.
I have been a Christian for many years, and have always stood with Israel.