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this post was submitted on 24 Jan 2024
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I agree with the spirit of what you are saying but I think there is a real point to make about how Israel can't really be a terrorist state because it holds such an unequal power over its perceived enemies in Gaza both from the perspective of military might and also from the perspective of control over basic infrastructure like electricity and running water.
So long we see terrorism only through the lens of a morale choice to engage in warfare in a dishonorable way and not also as a form of armed resistance resorted to by actors who literally don't have the capacity to fight what we nebulously define as a war (which this current conflict is not, it is genocide), than we will always be unintentionally ceding the conversation to authoritarian rightwing hawks who can label anyone a terrorist for resisting a far superior military force.
Hamas are called terrorists primarily as a form of morale condemnation, and while in no way am I condoning terrorism it really has to be understood as first and foremost a military strategy undertaken by political actors without the capacity to fight a traditional war. The second Hamas amassed its troops (as required for any large military operation) Israel would carpet bomb the area. If Hamas rolled out a line of absurdly obsolete tanks with no optics, fire stabilization, night vision, or modern armor and with virtually no ammunition and tried to launch a ground war into Israel, rightwing/pro-Israel talking heads would supposedly find that more honorable than terrorism.... but obviously Israel would be able to utterly wipe that force off the face of the earth in minutes with the combined military industrial complex of the US and Israel.
Israel cannot be a terrorist state because its military can mount an armored offensive with some of the most advanced tanks in the world all the way through gaza and back while facing no serious resistance, with air superiority the whole time. When Israel commits violence, it is authoritarian state violence. It is genocide. I think calling it terrorism muddies the point. Terrorism is the attempt to create a political force when an actor does not possess control of a society, Israel possesses full physical control of Gaza.
I agree though, all the negative connotations you attribute to Israel by calling them a terrorist state I agree with!
I disagree that state actions can't be considered terrorism, even given the overwhelming power differential. Israel has and continues to conduct terrorist acts in this "war", which makes them a terrorist state in my thinking. Just because they give press conferences in the nightly news, or conduct air strikes, or poses advanced weapons my taxes paid for doesn't make it less terroristic.
They've wrapped a terrorist campaign in the trappings of a traditional war to convince us they're not terrorists, but I believe they are. If their actions are not terrorism, what do we call it? It's clearly not a war as you point out. It's also more than just state violence, the entire campaign is genocidal but at the same time their tactics are those of terrorists.
Incidents like killing civilians waving white flags in the street with impunity highlight this. It's not just in Gaza this is happening in the west bank as well. It's not about a specific political group, many Israelis just hate all Palestinians and kill them where they find them. That's how terrorists behave.
I'd argue that not distinguishing between regular forces and civilians is another classic tactic of terrorists. Israel is famous for this, their penchant for collective punushment bears that out. Blowing up apartment buildings to get one Hamas commander, knocking down your family home and annexing your land because your cousin launched a rocket or whatever other atrocious shit they've done this week.
Concocking false pretenses to commit war crimes is another terrorist tendency, although I'm sure the IDF will find that command bunker under a hospital any day now.
Another example stands out to me in this conflict, if you starve a single ethnic or religious group because they don't believe in the same imaginary sky god you do, that's terrorism. When you operate an apartheid state and your population subjugates a different ethnic group in every aspect of life due to their beliefs, that's terrorism. When you conduct a "war" that kills mostly civilians, women, and children, that's terrorism.
All of these terrorist tactics set the pretext for genocide, which is what we're witnessing I agree fully on that. My take on Israel is you gotta call a spade a spade, and Israel is a terrorist state.