this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2023
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[–] blackbelt352@lemmy.sdf.org 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Partly convenient geopolitical ally (the borders were carved of the region not long after WW2 with the enforcement of the Allied forces) and partly Dominionism where a certain subsection of Christianity, predominantly Evangelicals who are very politically motivated, believe that when Israel controls Jerusalem, the holy land, that is one of the portents of the predictions made in the Book of Revalations, ushering in God's kingdom on earth and the end of time.

[–] ironchico@lemmy.world 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yep. USA pays money to support Israel in hopes of triggering Armageddon. Your tax dollars at work.

[–] QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The funny thing is they think the anti-Christ will unify “the holy land” and they’re still for it.

[–] luchuan@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because the true believers (ie themselves) are allegedly going to get a bailout and will never actually have to deal with the apocalypse and its consequences. That's our problem.

[–] QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 1 year ago

But if they want the rapture to come why don’t they support “sexual perversions” that will also become widespread before the endtimes? I think I just made an argument for Christian nationalists to support pink washed Israel.

Israel (and KSA) serves to destabilise the West Asia, region which is crucial both economically and strategically to petrodollar and to military part of US hegemony. It also served and still serves as proxy war area against USSR and now Russia.

Absolutely worst scenario imaginable for USA would be that area unifying under some kind of Arab entity.

[–] Ronin_5@lemmygrad.ml 22 points 1 year ago

In addition to the below, Israel also shares intelligence with the CIA

[–] sovietknuckles@hexbear.net 22 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The US tried having other allies in the region and mostly only came up with the Kurds. The US will sometimes align with Pakistan or Saudi Arabia on key issues like funding the Mujahideen in order to maximize the USSR's death toll to minimize their influence, but Ukraine is replacement for that purpose against Russia, and Israel is a good US ally for common interests like killing brown people, which helps the US with destabilization for the purpose of resource extraction

[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 19 points 1 year ago (2 children)

In a lot of ways Israel is the testing grounds for new weapons and tactics. Once tried, tested, and perfected, they are brought back to the core.

[–] MaoZedongThought@lemmygrad.ml 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

During the Ferguson uprising after Michael Brown was murdered, Palestinians on Twitter recognized the weapons police were using on protestors, like matching teargas canisters.

[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 year ago

I also remember seeing an Intercept article talking about new generation of Homeland Security Mexico border surveillance tech being tested on Gaza and the West Bank first.

[–] Skipper1402@lemmygrad.ml 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

And I am guessing that Palestinians are the test subjects?

[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 12 points 1 year ago

Indeed they are. Test the means of oppression abroad, bring it back home once the bugs have been worked out.

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee -3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not really, the American government doesn't really care much about Palestine.

The west allies with Israel and Saudi Arabia as a way to keep Iran from overtaking the entire area.

[–] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I didn't mean it in that the US capitalists care about Palestinians or even Israelis specifically, just that the region functions as a sort of laboratory to test out new means of oppression.

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Not really sure if that's completely necessary, oppression for oppression sake isn't really important to capitalists either. It's more that the west has to protect the petrodollar, and Iran is the only local power in the region that could potentially threaten it.

If you look at anyone who America's ever allied with in the region, the common denominator is that they are all willing to shoot at Iranians.

[–] QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

They don’t do it for simple sadism, they have Israel test ways to be cruel so their own military can when “necessary” and so they can teach USian pigs how to crush dissent when we inevitably rise up like BLM.

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We don't need Israel to test ways to crush dissent in the United States. We have been on the cutting edge of that particularly cruel science since before we were a nation.

The Israeli are not teaching, they are learning..... They are utilizing techniques we mastered when we stole the damn country. Broken treaties, Reservations, starvation, and finally utilizing a raid against civilians as an excuse to commit a genocide.

This is basically King Phillips War (1675-1678) being played out in modern times. Its a story of colonizers who forced natives off their land with treaties, and then broke those already asymmetrical treaties. Provoking retaliation raids, which they used to justify a genocide.

This is a foundational piece of American history and is often cited as the birth of our national identity.

[–] QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes, the US are OG oppressors, but Israel is on the cutting edge. It is a material fact that Israelis train cops in the US in oppression. New high tech techniques are tested in both places and shared. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/6/12/how-the-us-and-israel-exchange-tactics-in-violence-and-control

[–] TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Yes, the US are OG oppressors, but Israel is on the cutting edge. It is a material fact that Israelis train cops in the US in oppression.

I think that's comparing apples to oranges. Training police in small arm tactics isn't the same as teaching a government how to suppress an entire group of people.

Israel has yet to stabilize their monopoly on violence, something that the US has maintained for the last 200 years.

I'm not even saying that the US doesn't benefit from supporting an apartheid state, and they very well may utilize them to explore new ways to suppress populations. However, this is not intrinsic to their material motivations.

If we perceive the scenario through the lens of historic materialism, it's pretty apparent when and why the west began colonizing the region. It's always been oil, and it will continue to be oil until we either exhaust the supply or the demand.

[–] Flyberius@hexbear.net 17 points 1 year ago

My dumbass take, but a staunch ally in the middle East that they can use as an excuse to assert their influence over the region

[–] Beat_da_Rich@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 year ago

Israel is simply another branch of the US military.

[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] QueerCommie@lemmygrad.ml 9 points 1 year ago

I thought about linking that here. He’s basically saying the US’ “principles” are being genocidal and settler-colonial which makes sense.

[–] TankieReplyBot@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 year ago

I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:

[–] TylerDurdenJunior@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago
[–] TheDarkKnight@lemmy.world -2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

These takes are all wildly all over the place. The truth is Israel provides a stable partner for the region with ideals much aligned with western interests than the surrounding neighbors in the region.

[–] simply_surprise@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 year ago

ideals much aligned with western interests.

Genocidal settler colonialism