this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2024
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"no one wants what is happening in gaza, but the potential genocide in north America is even higher"
Have you tried opening a newspaper recently? What is happening in Palestine is worse than anything else happening in the world; to say that your potential event could be worse than that is a tremendous display of ignorance and insensitivity.
I, obviously, disagree here. It's all horrible. However, I have every incentive to vote for my own well being. My point in that statement wasn't necessarily that it would be worse (I probably should have phrased things better, but I'm no writer), but I do think it could potentially be more impactful for the "West" in the sense that the US could, potentially, devolve into a state similar to Russia (or a large number of nation states) where anyone who is not straight or cisgendered will be persecuted to the point of erasure. And in my personal case, though I know this is anecdotal, potential murder.
You say it's all horrible like it's a comparable horror. It's not. Leaving aside the fact that your described event is hypothetical (and I hope it will stay so, don't get le wrong I fully support LGBTQ+ rights), comparing murder to planned ethnic cleansing and thousands of civilians lives lost is a negation of the horror Palestinian endure on a daily basis.
Ethnic cleansing, orientation or gender cleansing, I see them as the same. thing. Ever have someone physically assault you for pissing? The drive for murder and erasure is literally on the same scale. The difference has been the backing of a state. Now, that may very well change. We will now have idiots with guns threatening us to to "be normal." And no, it's not a comparable horror... yet. I fear for my life constantly.
And, again, I'd like to posit the other meaning of genocide - cultural erasure. This, I think, is very likely.
Sorry, but as a queer Arab I think you're completely off the mark here. Gaza is a literal concentration camp. People are burning alive every day. What LGBT+ people in the USA could go through under Trump is very bad, but to think it comparable is delusional.
The point is, now we get both.
Trump will go along with whatever Israel wants to do. If Hamas was in power, I can all but guarantee they would be doing the same shit, if not worse.
ETA: I'm not advocating for what is going. I'm just rather pissed that so many people keep doing the counterproductive thing of using this as a reason to vote trump or sit this out. Considering that Trump is worse in this regard and with global warming, humanities only chance is to ramp up efforts like the US is a lost cause, because for the next 2 years at least, we are.
Where have you seen that I'm advocating for Trump? I'm not even American! Every time I see someone criticizing the role of the US government in the Palestinian massacre, somebody come and says "yes but Trump". I know trump is worse, can I still criticize the current US government or do I have to wait for the campaign to be over?
You have every right to criticize. I really and truly do empathize with what you are saying, believe it or not. You never advocated for Trump. Things are just very tense here in the US. That isn't an excuse, but maybe an explanation for our overall behavior.
I think this might be one of the effects of dual party system, there is a binary vision to most debates that is more nuanced in multi party countries. I might be wrong though, interested in hearing other's ideas about it
Well, it't won't be like Palestine, but KKK style lynchings, taking away the non-profit status of pro-LGBTQ+ organizations (if not jailing every member of them for "pornographic speech"), forced detrasitions, forced conversion therapies, and jail for existing in public.
Yeah not to downplay the horror in Gaza but you might want to look into what's happening in Sudan, for example
But I agree comparing discrimination in the US to any of this is pretty crazy
I'm fully aware of what's happening in Sudan, but since multiple humanitarian organisations have explained that what's happening in Gaza is the worst they have ever seen, I think it's safe to say that this is worse than any situation
Sources:
Regarding 'destruction' I'm sure Sudan can't compete because these people had very little to begin with, but when you compare other numbers...
And this comes on top on the previous genocide that just ended a few years ago and killed 300k...
I'm sure you can find plenty of people saying conflict X is 'tha worst evah' but that's just part of their job
I just cited the biggest humanitarians organisations saying that Gaza is the worst situation they've had to work on. Could you provide the same citations for another conflict? They're not just "plenty of people", they're the most competent person on the subject
No, you've selectively cited from press statements.
For instance, your first source is from March 2024 and only states "worst on record" in its title, and it only comments on the famine situation on that specific moment. The only part from the article that supports the use of the title is this:
Now, of course that's grim and we all know everyone was raising the alarm around that period. But we also know that, following that, aid increased and a large scale famine has been averted.
Luckily for us, Oxfam has recently released a larger, more comprehensive paper on famine and food insecurity in 2023 and early 2024. With this newer report, I could easily make the case that Gaza only ranks #10 on their ranking on p.16 ... I hope this helps
I appreciate that you took the time to provide a document from Oxfam, but saying that my argument is invalid because the situation in one of the fourth articles I provided has slightly improved since the article parution, is to my opinion not very honest
Why would you use a source that improved so much since, to support your argument that Gaza is presently the worst situation?
You're right that I only commented on your first source, but then why would you use it and put it on the top if it doesn't make your case? Your use of the word 'slightly' is disingenious. Unless more food came in hundreds of thousands of people were going to starve. To say that not starving is a 'slight improvement' is an understatement you're deliberately making to obscure this. This is easily countered by the report I cited as well: they improved to the same level that 5 times more people are on in Sudan. So which of those two is worse by this metric, today?
Your second source is a single doctor who says it's like nothing he's seen before. While I appreciate him weighing in, I don't think that provides conclusive proof that a certain conflict he's working in is 'currently the worst in the world'.
Your third source is paywalled, but from what I can read it's about the first two months of Israel's retaliation on Gaza, citing the number of 18.000 deaths over this period as the reason why they considered it 'nothing we've seen before'. So first of all they're talking about a period in the past where the death toll was around 6 times as high as it is today, which also means that your above suggestion that only the situation described in the first of your four articles has 'slightly improved is, to my opinion, not very honest. Secondly, citing the death count as the reason for this doesn't say everything. Is a single Sudanese village being massacred to the last child 'worse'? Is more Sudanese being massacred over a longer period less so?
Your fourth source is not one of 'the biggest humanitarian organisations' but rather a single career politician. And it's his job not to understate any crisis he's commenting on. Here he is calling the one in Sudan "the largest displacement crisis in the world".
For clarity: I'm not trying to say that I don't consider the situation for the people in Gaza SuperBad, because it is. But there are conflicts where far more people are suffering and they're forgotten and falsely considered 'less worse' not because they are, but just because they don't even get 1/1000th of the media attention.