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Comment by pphysch | Hacker News Reader

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Well, I am serious, why is that such a surprise to you? I'm not puzzled by the fact that there aren't any explicitly organized "pro-Hamas" demos - I would suspect that most democratic countries would not allow demonstrations to support terrorist organizations, and that is what Hamas is considered to be by most Western nations.

Plenty of people chanting “from the river to the sea” and “we are Hamas”. You’re being disingenuous.

What does "free speech" mean to you?

apparently, it means you can say whatever the fuck you want, but then you also have to cry about it when you have to face consequences for your actions.

It means college kids can shout genocidal slogans without being arrested for it.

No, it is disingenuous to suggest that there are bona fide Hamas supporters anywhere in large numbers in the West.

There are:

1) Naive college students who latch onto righteous political causes

2) Passionate lifelong anti-apartheid, anti-war activists who support the human rights of Palestinians

Neither of these groups are "Hamas operatives". Slinging a contentious slogan here and there is not that.

OTOH, the Israeli government is extremely interested in painting all opposition as "Hamas". And they've done so rather successfully.

> OTOH, the Israeli government is extremely interested in painting all opposition as "Hamas". And they've done so rather successfully.

Seems like they didn't have to try very hard. Many media outlets, talking heads, and politicians seemingly took the view from the start that anything less than full support for the Israeli government automatically makes you a pro-Hamas antisemitic scumbag.

Of course they’re not Hamas operatives. Just like the guys waving swastika flags in the middle of a Republican convention are not Nazi party members. Is there really a difference, though?

Yeah the real issue is the protestors who are somehow dog whistling nazis because you believe a state should be above reproach. The real nazis are those who protest against an actual genocide happening as we speak. I mean think about it, they shout "genocidal" slogans! That's why we should support the actual genocidal state.

When did hacker news turn into a tiktok comment section? It’s like the same talking points on repeat. Smh.

As opposed to the talking points that paint the protestors as actual nazis? Since when did HN turn into the daily wire, right?

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