Hyperreality

Russia has been a longstanding culprit for spreading disinformation on X, and appears to have been capitalising on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On Monday the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chair of the Russian Security Council, tweeted: “Well, Nato buddies, you’ve really got it, haven’t you? The weapons handed to the Nazi regime in Ukraine are now being actively used against Israel.” ... Another video, apparently showing Hamas thanking Ukraine for the sale of weapons it plans to use against Israel, was posted by an X account linked to the Russian mercenary group Wagner. It has since been viewed more than 300,000 times and amplified by far-right accounts from the US. ... Eliot Higgins, the founder of the investigative outlet Bellingcat, also flagged up a fake video purporting to be from the BBC that claimed to feature a Bellingcat investigation showing Ukraine smuggled weapons to Hamas.

People who are on 'team' Palestine, often unquestioningly parrot Russian (and Chinese) disinformation, because they're under the mistaken impression that their enemy's enemy is their friend. Russia has been a longstanding supporter of the Palestinian cause and an ally of Syrian and Iran, dating back to Soviet times. The Arab world often ignores how Russia and China treats Muslims, because it's politically inconvenient.

Some Muslim lives are clearly worth more than others. Take China. The UN is on record as saying what happened to the Uyghurs may amount to crimes against humanity. An estimated 16000 mosques have been demolished. A million Muslims in camps. Forced sterilisation. Medical experiments. Systemic rape. But you're very unlikely to see large scale protests to oppose that.

The left and Arab world doesn't care that much, in part because they've bought the Russian/Chinese line hook, line and sinker. Partly because west bad, so China/Russia good. Once you realise how selective the outrage is, it's also hard not to be cynical about the motives of some of those protesting.

Do they actually care? Are they protesting because they're angry that people are suffering? Or are they protesting because it's politically convenient and fashionable?

Obviously, what's happening in Gaza should be condemned. But it'd be nice if people came to the conclusion that war crimes are always bad, even when the guys doing it are on 'your team' and not look the other way.

Bit of a tangent, and I know the reasons, but I find it confusing that so many Arab countries have similar flags.

The difference in coverage of and interest in this conflict and others in the region is also startling. Apparently some lives are worth more than others.

You certainly don't hear much about the genocides committed in Sudan, often with the help of other Arab countries. IRC the RSF now fighting the government in Sudan, also fought in Yemen and Libya, for example. I assume they also have ties to Russia/Wagner or that they've been meddling in this war too.

If Iran gets involved, Israel might respond with nukes, at which point all bets are off.

I know that sounds far fetched, but Netenyahu 'accidentally' made that threat a few weeks ago:

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230922-netanyahu-at-un-issues-nuclear-threat-to-iran-later-retracted

The sick man of Europe once again.

"Sick man of Europe" is a label given to a nation located in Europe experiencing economic difficulties, social unrest or impoverishment. ... Throughout the 1960s to the 1980s, the term was also most notably used for the United Kingdom when it lost its superpower status as the Empire crumbled and its home islands experienced significant deindustrialization, coupled with high inflation and industrial unrest – such as the Winter of Discontent – including having to seek loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Since the mid-2010s and into the 2020s, the term being used for Britain began to see a resurgence after Brexit, a cost-of-living crisis and industrial disputes and strikes becoming more commonplace.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sick_man_of_Europe

Overall, we rate the Hindustan Times Left-Center Biased and questionable due to poor sourcing, numerous failed fact checks, and the promotion of propaganda

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/hindustan-times/

This, Grozny, Xinjiang. Meanwhile, you have useful idiots all over social media, spouting Russian and Chinese propaganda with regards to the Palestinian conflict.

Donald Trump won more votes than Hillary Clinton in the 2020 election. That's a fact. Check mate communists!

Good journalists will never make their own opinion on the matter known outside the comment/opinion/analysis pages.

Not: Man eats a delicious red apple

Not: Man eats a red apple and says it's delicious.

But: Man says he ate a red apple and claims it is delicious.

Or in some cases: Footage appears to show many saying he ate a red apple and claiming it was delicious.

If the journalist didn't see it with their own eyes, they won't state that it's a fact.

It's annoying how intertwined opinion and journalism have become, but it isn't a journalist's job to do anything more than report on what they saw, read or heard.

Unfortunately journalism has been in decline for so long now, that many people don't know the difference between good and poor journalism. So when a good journalist simply reports on what someone said, they wrongly think the journalist is agreeing with them, instead of simply reporting on what they heard the person say.

Good journalism isn't someone shouting about how angry something makes them, even if you agree with them. Good journalism is the equivalent of a court stenographer or someone who subtitles movies for the deaf.

Hannah Montana Linux.

The next election will likely be a choice between Biden and Trump. So you can either vote for Biden or decide that you don't mind Trump wins.

And as a reminder Trump recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, recognized the Golan heights as being part of Israel, had an Iranian general assassinated, and announced a peace plan which suggested the Israelis should be allowed to annex another 30% of the West Bank. In recent weeks, he's been banging on about there being no better US ally than Israel and how if he's elected Israel will be safer than ever.

You can be critical of Biden, but the republicans are religiously pro-Israel. They don't give a shit about Palestinians. Biden is the better option.

It's like all the idiots who make excuses for Hamas, because they're unaware that for a long time Hamas was supported by Israel, and that by supporting terrorists they're effectively undermining any chance of a Palestinian state.

Except the person you're responding to didn't mention 40 beheaded babies. They mentioned murdered babies. And yes, Hamas/Islamic Jihad did murder babies. There are pictures.

Snopes:

So, given that infants were indeed among victims killed in the violent attack, why does it matter if they died by beheadings or another way?

Let's be honest, you're probably too far down the rabbit hole given your callous comment. But for those reading, stay critical of any claims or counter claims, and be careful to avoid the pitfall of cognitive dissonance.

Condemning Hamas doesn't mean you can't support innocent Palestinian civilians who are suffering. Condemning Israel war crimes, doesn't mean you can't also condemn the murder of innocent Israelis. The situation isn't black and white.