What on Earth is going on in the world today? It's gone mad

[brokenshoelace]

Serious question about Lebanon. It's clear that the Lebanese government has no love for Hezbollah, and would love nothing more than to get rid of them. Is there a reason that the Lebanese government doesn't work in secret with the Israeli government/ intelligence services to rid Lebanon of these people. I appreciate that they're embedded deep amongst civilians, but in this day and age with modern technology, haven't we reached a point where this. might be feasible?

The Lebanese government has been more or less installed by the US/Israel. They work for the interest of Israel way more than the interests of Lebanon. There is no "secret" collusion. It's out in the open. To be clear, this is not a conspiracy or anything. It's just how things are.

The issue is, while most have no love for Hezbollah, and understandably so, they remain the only deterrent in the face of Israel, which has now occupied some 20% of the country, destroyed the entire south (hospitals, schools, businesses, etc...) and as always, are openly declaring they will not be leaving "for the foreseeable future" which means they will occupy the country, again. Israeli drones are operating in Lebanese skies, including Beirut, 24/7, and the Israelis pretty much strike any time they want with zero repercussions despite the "ceasefire." The problem is, after the ceasefire of November 2024, Israel continued to strike Lebanon at will, and Hezbollah did not retaliate for 15 months (until Iran was struck in March of this year). That ceasefire only meant that Beirut would be spared, in essence. The recent ceasefire has been much of the same. This time however, Hezbollah is fighting back since their inactivity after the first ceasefire got them nowhere. I'm far from a Hezbollah supporter politically, but you guys need to understand that in the face of Israel, they have been a undeniable deterrent. Their operations led to the liberation of the south after 18 years of occupation in 2000, and their victory in 2006 kept Israel at bay for nearly 20 years.

Internally, Hezbollah has been a nightmare on every level. But as a resistance, their impact has been undeniable. Don't fall for the Western propaganda. The word "terrorist" isn't looked at in the same lens around here. The West portrays terrorism in a caricatural way tailored towards paranoid white people. Here, we realize that what Israel, the West, and other imperial forces do on a daily basis is also terrorism, and I'd argue on a much larger scale.

So this is way more than just "the devil you know." It's flat out not wanting to be occupied by a country that has done nothing but kill and destroy Lebanon for decades. The amount of massacres Israel has committed in Lebanon, from 1979 onwards, trounces any damage Hezbollah may have caused. Israel is very much also the devil Lebanese people know, and that's why the majority refuses it. They are actively saying they want to implement the Gaza doctrine in the south, and they are. It's ethnic cleansing directed at Lebanese Shia.

I understand that your outlook on this is influenced by Western whitewashing, but you need to realize that the issue isn't that Lebanese people doesn't trust Israel. It's that they know exactly what Israel is. Of course, the dehumanization of Arabs by the West means that what is happening in Gaza is some complicated issue to some of you guys. For those who actually pay attention to what's happening, it is the worst crime of the 21st century committed by a racist, genocidal regime, and most are terrified it will happen here.

 

[brokenshoelace]

So I wonder, are some of you guys willfully oblivious to the above? Do you just not care? Does this kind of thing not get shown in the West? Are you in support of it? Do you think it's a "complicated" issue? I'm honestly curious.

 

[brokenshoelace]

Oh, and I almost forgot one of the most horrific stories of the bunch:

 

[brokenshoelace]

So when Arabs and minorities use the word racist to describe how the West views them, you guys take issue with that. But when a genocide has been live streamed in 4k for nearly 3 years now, and at best you talk about it like some complicated piece of the geopolitical puzzle, without being absolutely horrified, how else would you explain it? Ukraine was attacked and all of a sudden Ukraine flags are everywhere, in every discipline, with Russia being banned left right and center. Palestinians are being ethnically cleansed and they're met with indifference and/or cheerleading. Of course that doesn't apply to everyone, but the fact that people are split on this is astounding in and of itself. Then of course, there is the "Judeo-Christian values" crowd...

 

[brokenshoelace]

No they’re not, that’s right, and thankfully. But they are protected coming into our countries and they’re protected in our countries when they commit crimes. We must be very wary of a massive influx of Muslims coming into the West, and yet the governments seem unperturbed about this..

How was an alleged Israeli ‘child sex predator’ allowed to leave the US?

Release of senior Israeli official facing serious child sex charges in Nevada stirs controversy and raises questions.

www.aljazeera.com

Aha...

 

[britbox]

Thank you for all the info. I think that's why it's more important than ever to keep channels open between people and avoid the media filtering and propaganda.

 

[Federberg]

The Lebanese government has been more or less installed by the US/Israel. They work for the interest of Israel way more than the interests of Lebanon. There is no "secret" collusion. It's out in the open. To be clear, this is not a conspiracy or anything. It's just how things are.

The issue is, while most have no love for Hezbollah, and understandably so, they remain the only deterrent in the face of Israel, which has now occupied some 20% of the country, destroyed the entire south (hospitals, schools, businesses, etc...) and as always, are openly declaring they will not be leaving "for the foreseeable future" which means they will occupy the country, again. Israeli drones are operating in Lebanese skies, including Beirut, 24/7, and the Israelis pretty much strike any time they want with zero repercussions despite the "ceasefire." The problem is, after the ceasefire of November 2024, Israel continued to strike Lebanon at will, and Hezbollah did not retaliate for 15 months (until Iran was struck in March of this year). That ceasefire only meant that Beirut would be spared, in essence. The recent ceasefire has been much of the same. This time however, Hezbollah is fighting back since their inactivity after the first ceasefire got them nowhere. I'm far from a Hezbollah supporter politically, but you guys need to understand that in the face of Israel, they have been a undeniable deterrent. Their operations led to the liberation of the south after 18 years of occupation in 2000, and their victory in 2006 kept Israel at bay for nearly 20 years.

Internally, Hezbollah has been a nightmare on every level. But as a resistance, their impact has been undeniable. Don't fall for the Western propaganda. The word "terrorist" isn't looked at in the same lens around here. The West portrays terrorism in a caricatural way tailored towards paranoid white people. Here, we realize that what Israel, the West, and other imperial forces do on a daily basis is also terrorism, and I'd argue on a much larger scale.

So this is way more than just "the devil you know." It's flat out not wanting to be occupied by a country that has done nothing but kill and destroy Lebanon for decades. The amount of massacres Israel has committed in Lebanon, from 1979 onwards, trounces any damage Hezbollah may have caused. Israel is very much also the devil Lebanese people know, and that's why the majority refuses it. They are actively saying they want to implement the Gaza doctrine in the south, and they are. It's ethnic cleansing directed at Lebanese Shia.

I understand that your outlook on this is influenced by Western whitewashing, but you need to realize that the issue isn't that Lebanese people doesn't trust Israel. It's that they know exactly what Israel is. Of course, the dehumanization of Arabs by the West means that what is happening in Gaza is some complicated issue to some of you guys. For those who actually pay attention to what's happening, it is the worst crime of the 21st century committed by a racist, genocidal regime, and most are terrified it will happen here.

thanks for this, it fits. Lebanese people are some of the most entrepreneurial in the world. Look around Africa and you see wealthy Lebanese families with businesses that are critical for African economies. An example of this are the Chagoury's in Nigeria, they have a huge land reclamation project that has extended Lagos out into the sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eko_Atlantic

Same thing in Mexico, I give you Carlos Slim. I say this, because it's always struck me as strange that a diaspora so successful and powerful would normally have elevated their home country if there wasn't a guiding hand frustrating such efforts, so what you say makes complete sense. It is tragic because it seems to me that Lebanon should be a jewel of wealth and success. As integrated as the Lebanese diaspora are in the countries that they reside in, I find it hard to believe that they would want to do nothing for Lebanon itself. And while I occasionally hear of griping and jealousy from Africans about the success of the Lebanese diaspora, they make every effort to integrate in the countries they reside in. In fact it's often almost impossible to tell that they are part of an expat community, they would be the first to argue strongly that they come from the countries they reside in. They are GOOD people.

My personal view regarding Israel is that it has a right to exist, but it is clear that the West is paralysed by holocaust guilt. This is clear. And I think that's fine, but it shouldn't mean that any actions by Israel suffer no criticism. This is the terrible terrible error that has been made. We are all observing the adjustments of both Germany and Japan to set aside the paralytic guilt both countries have for their behaviour in World War 2, and to become "normal" countries again. Becoming more responsible for their own defence is the first step in this journey. The reason I bring this up is that as these changes are supported, it is right and fitting that other aspects of the past will need to be consigned to history. One of the most important being that the collective guilt the world has for what was done to European Jews should be contextualised. That was then, and this is now. It doesn't mean that Israel should be granted the freedom to prosecute atrocities with impunity (indeed Israel is the only country I know of where blatant racism is overlooked, some of the treatment of Ethiopian Jews in Israel makes me shudder). This is a difficult adjustment to make, but it's clear that the younger generation have picked up the gauntlet. Yes they are aware of history, but they SEE what Israel is doing now, and they are appalled. Rightly so. I think it's going to take the current generation of Western leadership to go into retirement, but the time is coming when Israel will no longer get the support it currently enjoys. That doesn't mean I want or would advocate retaliation. But they will be forced eventually, probably by economic isolation, to stop their acquisition of land. I think it will happen, unfortunately I think it will take another few decades before the momentum towards real justice occurs.

 

[Federberg]

So when Arabs and minorities use the word racist to describe how the West views them, you guys take issue with that. But when a genocide has been live streamed in 4k for nearly 3 years now, and at best you talk about it like some complicated piece of the geopolitical puzzle, without being absolutely horrified, how else would you explain it? Ukraine was attacked and all of a sudden Ukraine flags are everywhere, in every discipline, with Russia being banned left right and center. Palestinians are being ethnically cleansed and they're met with indifference and/or cheerleading. Of course that doesn't apply to everyone, but the fact that people are split on this is astounding in and of itself. Then of course, there is the "Judeo-Christian values" crowd...

I hear you, but there's a reason for that. Terrorist attacks have happened. In the UK, any challenge to the Mal-actions of Muslims is stamped down by our government. Their rationale is that because Muslims in our society would react violently to criticism to keep the peace, those complaining are suppressed. This creates a powerful hostile feedback loop and just makes matters worse. An unfortunate by-product of that is that anything bad happening to Muslims in the Middle East are assumed to be because of the same sorts of activities experienced in Europe. Of course this is simplistic and wrong, but humans are humans. Without research the narrative is unchallenged

 

[Federberg]

So when Arabs and minorities use the word racist to describe how the West views them, you guys take issue with that. But when a genocide has been live streamed in 4k for nearly 3 years now, and at best you talk about it like some complicated piece of the geopolitical puzzle, without being absolutely horrified, how else would you explain it? Ukraine was attacked and all of a sudden Ukraine flags are everywhere, in every discipline, with Russia being banned left right and center. Palestinians are being ethnically cleansed and they're met with indifference and/or cheerleading. Of course that doesn't apply to everyone, but the fact that people are split on this is astounding in and of itself. Then of course, there is the "Judeo-Christian values" crowd...

I'm curious to know what your view is on Iran. Not the current conflict, but just in general, their relationship to Hezbollah, the animosity towards Israel, their impact on Lebanon. And if you would, how does that compare to your thinking about the GCC?