I write sins, not tragedies.

Man, y'all, I didn't even bring up whether or not it "counts" as genocide. I didn't refuse to call it a genocide or agree with calling it a genocide. It is truly incredible that expressing almost zero opinion on this has caused so many people to decide confidently what it means my opinion is.

This is not all on you, anon; I notice that you're not directly critiquing me but saying what seems to be your personal opinion. Apparently I need to settle this too, though, so:

My first opinion: it is bonkers that I need to express an opinion in order to stop everyone from deciding my opinion for me.

My second opinion: What Israel is doing is unequivocally wildly disproportionately harmful and the figures I have seen about bombings are shocking and appalling and horrific. There is zero doubt in my mind that Israel is violating international law (if international law can even be called "law" when it barely exists in the first place, but that's a rant for another day). There is zero doubt in my mind that Israel is ensuring there will be people who feel justified in violent retaliation for decades based on these events. I believe there's no justification for bombing civilians.

My third opinion: Looking up "genocide" in Black's Law Dictionary, I think Israel's actions actually fall closer to the related definition of "ethnic cleansing" than "genocide" itself. Ask a lawyer, get a pedantic answer.

My fourth opinion: The United States hasn't just actively funded genocide and ethnic cleansing, it's done it, extraordinarily often. In fact, when your brother says "everyone's done it" he's kind of more right than he realizes. One of the theories of democratic development that's less discussed, for obvious reasons, is that some form of genocide is actually somehow beneficial for, or some kind of pre-condition to, a nation-state developing democratic norms or ideals. This is a theory I learned about in school, particularly from the book The Dark Side of Democracy. Isn't that some fucked-up shit?

My fifth opinion: I appreciate that you are actually mentioning that America is not only funding but doing genocides. This is true, and it's something I happen to know a lot more about and therefore have more opinions about than Israel and Palestine. I'm happy to expound at length about federal court tyranny over Indian reservations. Missing and murdered indigenous women. Actual current right now American concentration camps. Places where my opinion might be actually valuable and educational!

The frustrating part about these stupid language-purity tests is that they are about excluding people who literally agree with you. Does what I said above make me the enemy? Y'all make me want to refuse to answer just because the question is so far beside the point and it pisses me off.

Genocide has a precise legal definition. In the law, there are two primary sources for the crime of genocide: the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute. In both, the requisite elements are:

(1) actus reus—any of the following acts: (a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; (d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

(2) dolus specialis—the specific intent to "destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group . . . ."

Ethnic cleansing, by contrast, is not a recognized crime. Its legal origins are in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia ("ICTY"). The ICTY defined ethnic cleansing as "rendering an area ethnically homogenous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups from the area." See here at 33. Importantly, the ICTY's report noted that "[t]hose practices constitute crimes against humanity and can be assimilated to specific war crimes. Furthermore, such acts could also fall within the meaning of the Genocide Convention." Id. (emphasis added). The necessary distinction is that ethnic cleansing, at least under the ICTY's definition, "can be assimilated to specific war crimes", whereas the prohibition of genocide is a jus cogens norm.

Jus cogens norms "reflect and protect fundamental values of the international community, are hierarchically superior to other rules of international law and are universally applicable." See here at 105. This matters because it means that the prohibition of genocide is absolute and applies whether a state is at peace or in war. War crimes, on the other hand, can only occur during war. Is it incorrect to say that Israel is conducting ethnic cleansing in Gaza? No. The problem, though, is that when assessing culpability for war crimes, the calculus is different than genocide. The inquiry is not into whether the crime was done with the specific intent to destroy a group in whole or in part. To evaluate ethnic cleansing (which, notably, has no evaluative criteria because it is not an independently recognized crime) absent this element fails to account for the practices that result in ethnic cleansing. Is it really possible to "render[] an area ethnically homogenous by using force or intimidation to remove persons of given groups" without genocidal intent? I am not sure. What I am sure of is that the International Court of Justice noted that ethnic cleansing may demonstrate genocidal intent in reference to the ICTY's findings. See here at para. 190.

Now, on the question of whether Israel is committing genocide. Regarding the actus reus, Israel has (a) engaged in killings of Palestinians and (b) inflicted serious bodily and mental harm on Palestinians. Israel's blockades of aid as well as its deliberate targeting of hospitals, educational facilities, and cultural heritage sites can be argued to have (c) subjected Palestinians to conditions calculated to bring about their destruction. Israel's attacks on birthing centers may also amount to (d) imposing measures to prevent Palestinian births. This element is generally not contested; it is the second element, dolus specialis, that some argue is not satisfied.

By Black's Law Dictionary, ethnic cleansing is:

The elimination of a particular people from an area or country because of their racial or national identity; specif., the officially sanctioned forcible and systematic diminution or elimination of targeted ethnic minorities from a geographic area, usu. by confiscating real and personal property, ordering or condoning mass murders and mass rapes, and expelling the survivors.

Your argument that this is not ethnic cleansing boils down to:

Ethnic cleansing isn't a bad enough crime and would be on shaky legal ground (literally couldn't give less of a shit)

Other people call it genocide (I'm sure I can find plenty of scholars who vigorously disagree)

You'd have to have genocidal intent if you were doing ethnic cleansing (arguable, especially from someone who doesn't have an education in mental state vs. intent)

And you used so, so many words to say this.

My point was that there are actions here that seem more intended to drive people out than kill all of them. Okay? Okay.

I'm not trying to be mean here, but this remains not my shit, I remain concerned about American atrocities that I can actually do something about, and I'm not sure why you spent so much fucking time on this. It's not like I said "oh, it's just ethnic cleansing! Totally understandable! Israel is forgiven!" Do you think I think ethnic cleansing is good? Like, why spend all these words trying to convince me of this? What is the goal here? Did you even touch on reading the rest of the post with the "language purity" bullshit?

Tiger found caged in abandoned home gets second chance at wildlife sanctuary: ‘He seems to be so happy’

The estimated 350-pound tiger was transported to the facility, an affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, on Wednesday afternoon, and is settling in well, Almrud said. There, he will have the chance to roam in enclosures of up to three acres.

Almrud, who estimates him to be about 2 years old, described the moment he first walked onto the grass at the sanctuary as remarkable.

“It was just amazing to see him walk out on grass and to see him explore and have that freedom of movement,” she said. “It was just such a reward and fulfilling to us.”

Now, he spends his days rolling around the grass in glee, Almrud said.

“He comes right up to the fence every time a staff member is present,” she said. “He seems very amenable to our presence.”

The tiger is eating well – a combination of chicken, humanely raised non-processed beef and whole prey complete with organs and bones. It appears that he was being fed chicken, which is what owners of exotic cats often feed them, but chicken alone does not provide the complete nutrition they need to thrive, Almrud said.

In addition, caregivers are tasked with keeping the tiger mentally stimulated by creating “pretend hunting” games and rotating him through different areas so he has access to new smells and environments to explore.

“He seems to happy and content,” Almrud said. “Our staff is just falling in love with him.”

His name is Loki now! In June he celebrated his 7th birthday at the sanctuary where he lives and thrives. Here’s a few pics of the boy:

He escaped his cage

Yes

YES

The tiger is out

turning this into a poll

The Kohenet Movement try to hoodwink well meaning Jews who don't know better by using the language of Women's liberation and Queer liberation, but under a thin Jewish aesthetic it's literally paganism with prayers to Lilith and Asherah... And more. Teacup Mikveh is literally from the Kohenet "Queer Mikveh Project".

I have two modes

It absolutely is JVP bullshit, that they got from people in the Kohenet Movement. JVP got it from the Queer Mikveh Project. Rebekah Erev, a self described Kohenet Hebrew Priestexx and one of the originators of the Queer Mikveh Project is an Organiser for JVP.

Unsurprisingly JVP and the Kohenet Movement are more than casually acquainted.

Sound Mikveh is also a WTF... Chanting in a circle according to JVP is apparently also a Mikveh, no water needed. I imagine JVP nidah is you just go to your monthly circle of cultists with kazoos.

He literally made shit up that he said he was gonna do to get attention and then admitted he lied and and he can't do shit. And then did nothing except say the same insipid shit he's been saying for years.

2021:

2018:

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2010:

I haven’t pissed people off lately by reminding them that ALL types of physical punishment of kids has been proven beyond ANY reasonable doubt to have only negative long term outcomes.

So let me scream it from the hilltops:

Stop hitting kids. End of sentence.

2022:

2023:

2024:

2025: