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Comment by door101 | Hacker News Reader

> Should the U.S exist? Last I checked California used to be part of Mexico - why isn't it being returned to it's rightful owners?

Yes, the U.S. is also a colonial state. Not all states owe their existence to colonialism and occupation, but the U.S. is definitely one of them. We committed a genocide on an unimaginable scale, and took all the line of the people whose territory this was rightfully theirs. Not a good example of states to emulate.

> How about West Europe? Maybe it should be dismantled and have all it's assets transferred to Africa?

Its colonial territories in Africa should have been, and were, transferred to Africa.

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> Yes, the U.S. is also a colonial state

Who is actively calling for the dismantling of the United States? No one. But Israel is fair game.

> Its colonial territories in Africa should have been, and were, transferred to Africa.

How is that enough though when comparing with the much more minor "crimes" Israel did? Israel displaced 700000 people as part of a brutal civil war where it also suffered major casualties. Belgium, Germany, France and others destroyed millions of Africans and robbed their nations. How is it enough for them to simply retreat from their colonies? If you actively call out for Israel to be dismantled I would expect for Europe to at least give away 50% of it's wealth to the people it destroyed. That sounds somehow fair to me or at least morally consistent. If what happened 73 years ago in Palestine must not be forgiven I don't see why everybody else gets a pass.

> Who is actively calling for the dismantling of the United States? No one. But Israel is fair game.

Because we "won". There are almost no indigenous people left in the United States, because we killed nearly all of them and destroyed their culture and civilization. I hope that this does not happen to Palestinians. For those indigenous people that remain, I definitely support greatly expanded rights and territory.

> If you actively call out for Israel to be dismantled I would expect for Europe to at least give away 50% of it's wealth to the people it destroyed.

One could argue on the number and logistics, but I absolutely support stronger European reparations for the damage done by colonialism.

> For those indigenous people that remain, I definitely support greatly expanded rights and territory.

Huh? What expanded rights some tiny resorts? Give them everything back - it's theirs. Even if there are only 1 million of them left make a referendum and ask them if you are allowed to stay. Also California is Mexican! Boy we have a lot of fixing to do! But basically I can infer from what you're saying this isn't about morals at all but about how strong you are. The U.S is super strong so no one calls for it's destruction (at least not seriously). Israel is tiny and weak and surrounded by enemies that want to see it go down. That's what this is about.

It's not about taking example from the US, it's about how popular it is to say that Israel shouldn't exist while many other countries had a much worst history. Not many of the places people live in now were empty when their ancestors arrived there.

More importantly, I keep hearing about the Israeli colony and am a truly interested to know what empire my family are representing. As far as I heard they were massacred pretty much everywhere and came to Palestine with literally nothing, some being jailed in Cyprus by the Brits to prevent them from entering the country. No one told them about the big empire that was backing them up.

Its hard to criticise the US for past transgressions without also criticising Israel for presently doing the same thing.

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