I’ve said before, having militants near civilians doesn’t erase Israel’s legal responsibility to tell the difference between military and civilian targets. The Geneva Conventions are clear: knowingly hitting civilians, even if militants are nearby, is still a violation of the laws of war. Using Hamas’s tactics to excuse bombing entire neighborhoods just doesn’t line up with the standards the world’s been trying to hold for decades.
Same goes for hospitals and refugee camps. Under international law, you have to be sure a place is being used exclusively for combat before targeting it, and you have to weigh the risk to civilians. Just saying Hamas might be nearby isn’t enough. There have been strikes on hospitals and camps without real proof they were active military sites, and that matters.
Comparing what’s happening to the violence between Hindus and Muslims in India really misses the point. Those conflicts are driven by a mess of politics, history, and nationalism—not just religion. Simplifying it down to “it’s about faith” ignores reality. History’s pretty clear: wiping out civilians doesn’t bring peace; it just keeps the cycle of extremism going.
I criticized you because your comments about Muslims didn’t meet the level of serious debate we usually have. I’ve been consistent every time we’ve talked—I’ve called out Hamas clearly and directly. I’m pointing it out because I know you’re capable of better conversations than that.
Islam is a religion, not a race, but using sweeping generalizations to condemn over a billion people crosses into dangerous territory. Criticizing extremists is legitimate; collapsing an entire faith into a stereotype is not. Dehumanization by category has never led to serious solutions—only more division.
Extremism should be called out wherever it appears, but precision matters. Broad claims about entire religious groups undermine any serious discussion and weaken legitimate criticism by blurring fact and bias.
If the goal is accountability, it has to be rooted in facts and actions, not assumptions about people’s faith.
