this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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A cargo ship that was struck by a Houthi ballistic missile on Monday has created an 18-mile long oil slick in the Red Sea as it continues to take on water, two US officials said Friday.

The M/V Rubymar — a Belize-flagged, UK-registered, Lebanese-owned vessel — was carrying 41,000 tons of fertilizer when it was struck on Monday by one of two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi territory in Yemen.

US Central Command said the ship is currently anchored as it takes on water. “The Houthis continue to demonstrate disregard for the regional impact of their indiscriminate attacks, threatening the fishing industry, coastal communities, and imports of food supplies,” US Central Command said.

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[–] livus@kbin.social 99 points 8 months ago (3 children)

This is especially annoying because 6 months ago there was an amazing collaboration between both sides in the Red Sea to enable an international team to remove oil from a wrecked tanker.

All the people involved thought it was a great framework for more peaceful negotiations.

But now Israel has got its genocide on the Houthis are kicking off and saving the environment is no longer anyone's priority.

[–] derf82@lemmy.world 31 points 8 months ago (24 children)

Israel is guilty for what it’s doing, but blaming Israel for these Houthi attacks is ridiculous.

The Houthis are self serving in these attacks. As they have claimed land, support has turned against them because it turns out they suck at providing services to the people that live in areas they control. So they are falling back to the one popular policy they have: supporting Palestinians, and fighting back against “imperialists.”

Except attacking ships in the Red Sea is doing nothing for the Palestinians. Maybe if they only targeted Israeli vessels of ships heading to/from there, but they are not. Even getting bombed has an upside as it reinforces their underdog anti-imperialist messaging.

[–] livus@kbin.social 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

@derf82 I'm not "blaming Israel" for decisions taken by the Houthis. I don't really get why you'd take that from my comment.

Israelis made their own decisions.

Houthis proceeded to make their own decisions about how to respond to that too. I have no doubt that they are pursuing an agenda.

And the ecology of the Red Sea is no longer a priority for most people in the region because everyone has to make decisions based on what's happening.

[–] Silentiea@lemm.ee 3 points 8 months ago

they have claimed land,

fighting back against “imperialists.”

Hey, I think I know how they can do that basically for free!

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[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 months ago (13 children)

The old white man's burden concept seems to have made a comeback.

You consider non-white people to be not responsible for their actions because you consider them to be savages that will naturally cause chaos unless under the guidance of the white man. If they are causing chaos it's somehow the white man's fault for not guiding them appropriately.

Personally I think the Houthis are responsible for their actions. Same with Hamas. Same with all the other psychopaths in the region. If you're going to blame anyone besides these groups for their actions, then maybe consider Iran first.

[–] bigMouthCommie@kolektiva.social 4 points 8 months ago (2 children)

>You consider non-white people to be not responsible for their actions because you consider them to be savages that will naturally cause chaos unless under the guidance of the white man. If they are causing chaos it’s somehow the white man’s fault for not guiding them appropriately.

they didn't say any of this, but you did

[–] livus@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

@bigMouthCommie I sort of thought they just replied to the wrong comment.

Who even are the "white people" they are referring to?

[–] bigMouthCommie@kolektiva.social -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

>Who even are the "white people" they are referring to?

ghosts, i think.

[–] livus@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago

Woooo0Oo

Seriously though I finally managed to find a comment where they lay out their thought process.

Never having been to the US myself, I had no idea conservative Americans (or all Americans?) see Middle Easterners who live in Israel as "white".

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca -1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

But this is the thought pattern is it not?

It's not "hey these Houthi guys seem to be bad dudes." It's all about finding a way to blame others for the actions of this group.

And when you consider it on a broader front this inability to criticize various groups and governments in the middle east doesn't result in any improvements happening. The middle east is dominated by authoritarian psychopaths because there's a refusal to put the spotlight on them. Because these psychopaths continuously get away with horrific acts because of white man's burden style logic, there can't be any real change.

If the Houthis were criticized more for torturing people, maybe pressure can be put onto Iran to stop supplying weapons to them. If we considered Mister Bonesaw a little more responsible for his actions, maybe the horrific acts committed against the Houthis may not have happened.

Sure we should criticize the US and Israel, but laying all blame on the perceived "white men" of the middle east has resulted in stagnant authoritarian power structures in the middle east. Well other than Israel of course, which will very likely dump Netanyahu in the next election, because they actually have those in Israel.

The unhealthy fixation on the US and Israel (which the Houthis call for the deaths of both on their flag) means psychopaths like the Houthis maintain power. That same fixation that's promoted on this site.

[–] bigMouthCommie@kolektiva.social 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

sounds to me like you've alreday decided you know what others think, so there isn't really any point in this discussion.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 0 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Kinda have to because you're not telling me how you think. The Palestinian movement is just memes and slogans meant to justify their violent fervor and there isn't a lot of rational thought going on.

You can't even refute that there's a "white man's burden" kind of thinking behind a lot of the memes in slogans, because that would mean thinking in terms of people in the middle east being responsible for their own actions, which opens up a can of worms you want to keep closed.

At least I can only assume, because you aren't able to write out your thoughts.

[–] bigMouthCommie@kolektiva.social -1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

i don't think any conversation here is worth my time. that doesn't impugn my ability refute you.

[–] SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca 2 points 8 months ago
[–] livus@kbin.social 0 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

@SpaceCowboy Aaaaah the penny finally dropped. I've been really perplexed by your reply to me.

  • I see the actions of the Houthis as something they do under their own agency

  • my focus was on Red Sea ecology and the amazing collaboration last year (which really was fantastic) I'm not going to rabbit on about various human rights abuses by many of the participants, I'd be there all day and it's not the focus of my comment.

criticize the US and Israel, but laying all blame on the perceived “white men” of the middle east

TIL you guys even think that way!!! Wow. In my country we do demographics by ethnicity. "Race" is quite a weird construct. I never realised the US has decided that one but it seems rather arbitrary.

The part where you think I'm somehow criticizing the US is drawing a really long bow. I can kind of see how you might have projected the rest of what you thought onto my comment, but this is a bridge too far.

[–] livus@kbin.social 0 points 8 months ago

@SpaceCowboy

old white man's burden

I think you might have replied to the wrong comment?

If not, I don't understand how any of this applies. I suggest you read my link about the collaborative efforts in the Red Sea last year.

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[–] TigrisMorte@kbin.social -3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Please note it is not so much Israel as Nyet N' Yahoo. This is the work of a desperate criminal trying to remain in power.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 37 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

And then 72 percent of Israelis say aid shouldn't be allowed in until prisoners are released.

I'm sorry. But starving people en masse is not it. It's time to treat Israel the same way we treated Germany. Disarm, occupy, hang the war criminals, and force a government representative of everyone from the river to the sea. And yes that means an end to their ethnostate. That's the point. They've fucked around. It's time for the find out.

[–] TigrisMorte@kbin.social -4 points 8 months ago (3 children)

72% of the people they asked. Lots of Israelis are not happy with this war.

[–] Maggoty@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago

Yeah. It looks like around 28 percent. Unfortunately that's not enough. When 2/3rds of a country believes in Genocide the world needs to intervene.

[–] Nudding@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Lot of Americans don't like trump.

[–] TigrisMorte@kbin.social 1 points 8 months ago

Lot of people like Coors.

[–] Linkerbaan@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

This has been going on for 75 years. The problem is not Netanyahu. The problem is Zionism.