Israel (now broader Mid East discussion)
It’s actually not hard at all.
It relies on having a rational, ethical stance with regard to the protecting human life from unnecessary suffering amidst the understanding of conflict.
Do you think Israelis are guilty by association based on the actions of the IDF in Gaza?
Say that my family and I lived in Rafah. And an IDF militant gleefully put a bullet in my toddler’s brain from his sniping post (verified by US based doctors many times over). Do I as a citizen of Gaza have a right to retaliate?
I think any human being, any parent, would.
Put another way - do you think Gaza has a right to defend itself?
You appear to be taking my comments to an end conclusion where I didn't go.
I think that instead of counting all of the dead, and then attributing all of at least most of the deaths to having been innocents, which is what that 40,000 number is, I propose that we figure out that proportion of innocents vs. Hamas more accurately than it being all or none.
Suppose the real death toll was 40,000, say 20,000 of those were actual innocents, and 20,000 of them were Hamas terrorist hiding amoung the innocents when they were killed.
I think there is no such a thing as a right for an it, (a thing), to defend itself, That right to defend oneself extends to real persons. Real persons have a right to defend themselves.
When it comes to nation states, or terrorist organization, I don't see that as a right, rather I see those collective actions they take as inevitable, rather than it being a "right."
What I'm getting at here is somewhat like when the US Supreme Court ruled that corporations were persons insofar as the law. I disagree with that court ruling.
I don't think discussing this war from the avenue of personal rights is useful. I guess you can do it, but why???