Israel approves plan to seize all of Gaza

[UltraBudgie]

In other words, as far as genocide goes, there is no there there.

The Gertrude Stein quote about Oakland!

..."we went across the bay on a ferry, that had not changed but Goat Island might just as well not have been there, anyway what was the use of my having come from Oakland it was not natural to have come from there yes write about it if I like or anything if I like but not there, there is no there there."

I used to live near Oakland, and yes I agree, there is indeed no there there. It might as well not have existed, except to avoid. Perhaps I never gave it enough of a chance, but I don't think so. It's like the Harold Pinter quote:

"It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest."

Hey that's true about Oakland too! I think we're on to something. Oakland is a genocide of the spirit.

[RichardHurt]

The Gertrude Stein quote about Oakland!

..."we went across the bay on a ferry, that had not changed but Goat Island might just as well not have been there, anyway what was the use of my having come from Oakland it was not natural to have come from there yes write about it if I like or anything if I like but not there, there is no there there."

I used to live near Oakland, and yes I agree, there is indeed no there there. It might as well not have existed, except to avoid. Perhaps I never gave it enough of a chance, but I don't think so. It's like the Harold Pinter quote:

"It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest."

Hey that's true about Oakland too! I think we're on to something. Oakland is a genocide of the spirit.

You have a very unique way of expressing your opinions. Albeit very convoluted and messy at times. Yet still gets A point across. 

[UltraBudgie]

Oh hey in case you missed it, distracted by other news:

‘There will be no Palestinian state’: PM signs agreement pushing ahead with E1 settlement plan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signs an agreement to push ahead with the controversial E1 settlement expansion plan that will cut across land that the Palestinians seek for a state.

“We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state, this place belongs to us,” Netanyahu says during a visit to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank, where thousands of new housing units would be added.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_e...ment-plan/

The agreement Netanyahu signed authorizes construction for the controversial E1 settlement plan, which was put on ice for decades due to international opposition. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a West Bank settler himself, recently announced that Israel would push through the project to “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.

At the signing ceremony, Smotrich said Israel would soon be celebrating the annexation of the West Bank. “The prime minister told me, ‘I’m staying here to hear what you have to say, and I know what you intend to say,” he said.

“Mr. Prime minister, all of us, soon, will thank you and congratulate and celebrate together the application of sovereignty throughout Judea and Samaria,” he added, using the biblical name for the Palestinian territory.

The signing ceremony comes as the Israeli government is considering annexing parts of the West Bank in response to several Western countries moving to recognize a Palestinian state. Smotrich recently outlined a proposal for annexing 82% of the West Bank and leaving six Palestinian population centers isolated as islands, a plan he said aims for “maximum territory and minimum Arab population.”

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/09/11/neta...ian-state/

[Bootless]

Oh hey in case you missed it, distracted by other news:

I saw it yesterday, then got distracted.


Mehdi Hasan on Death of Two-State Solution, Possible U.S. War with Venezuela & More

Democracy Now! speaks with Mehdi Hasan, editor-in-chief and CEO of Zeteo, about Israel's recent move to expand settlements in the West Bank in an effort to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state. "They are doing everything in their power to make sure that a two-state solution can never happen," says Hasan.

Hasan also comments on the deadly U.S. attack on a boat off the coast of Venezuela. "There's no scenario in which you can say it was an imminent threat to the U.S.," he says.

I guess the long standing U.S. official position of two states is dead. From the Antiwar link:

US officials have made clear that the Trump administration won’t oppose any steps Israel takes to annex Palestinian territory in the West Bank. “The US has never asked Israel to not apply sovereignty,” US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Israeli media last week. “I have repeatedly stated that the US respects Israel as a sovereign nation and will not tell Israel what to do. This is also what Secretary Rubio has said as recently as this week.”

It sucks to be a citizen of a country that is the bitch of Israel.

Oh well, the self fulfilling prophecies* of the Bible said it would happen.

*self fulfilling: "people tend to act the way they have been expected to in order to make the expectations come true." - wikipedia

[Harte]

Calling the Israeli actions "genocide" is like calling Trump a fascist, or Hitler.
I don't think people understand the terms they use.

Remind me again, which side in this conflict actually, and publicly, and for decades, has been calling for the genocide of a people?

Harte

[UltraBudgie]

I don't think people understand the terms they use.

You're right, it has been a few pages since this was posted.

International convention defining genocide:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mec...e-genocide

Statements from every major human rights organization and genocide scholars:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2...s-in-gaza/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/19/isra...ocide-gaza
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/un-e...t-07may25/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/top-g...tion-finds
https://www.btselem.org/publications/202...r_genocide
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...hts-groups
https://genocidescholars.org/wp-content/...-FINAL.pdf

And as to the whataboutism, if you've got a point to make, say it. This isn't a debate any more.

[Harte]

You're right, it has been a few pages since this was posted.

International convention defining genocide:
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mec...e-genocide

Statements from every major human rights organization and genocide scholars:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2...s-in-gaza/
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/12/19/isra...ocide-gaza
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/un-e...t-07may25/
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/top-g...tion-finds
https://www.btselem.org/publications/202...r_genocide
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/j...hts-groups
https://genocidescholars.org/wp-content/...-FINAL.pdf

And as to the whataboutism, if you've got a point to make, say it. This isn't a debate any more.

Just pointing out the hypocrisy of calling the Israeli actions "genocidal."
Wouldn't call it whataboutism, more like "look at these idiotsism." :D

Harte

[SurferSoul]

Calling the Israeli actions "genocide" is like calling Trump a fascist, or Hitler.
I don't think people understand the terms they use.

Remind me again, which side in this conflict actually, and publicly, and for decades, has been calling for the genocide of a people?

Harte

If it isn’t genocide what is it?

[Vermilion]

If it isn’t genocide what is it?

War

[SurferSoul]

War

It’s not a war when one side isn’t capable of even putting up a proper defence let alone fighting back. When one side consists of mostly women and children being targeted. 
I dont support either side, murder, violence is wrong, as individuals we are rightly condemned and imprisoned for such acts but as countries it’s ok? 
No as countries ordinary people go to fight and die for aims and psychopathic machinations of scum that rule over them.