That is always the case. No Israel thread survives on HN unless it’s modified and protected by a mod. They are always flagged to death before falling off the new list. That implicitly means anything about Gaza, Palestine, Levant, whatever are only available because it had help already.

Just be respectful yourself. Other people will be censoring assholes, but that’s life.

I think it's one of those topics where most people feel too strongly about it to discuss rationally and be open to having their minds swayed.

People downvote and flag topics that are divisive, regardless of point of view. Such topics are simply not right for HN. It doesn't mean the topic is not important -- it just means this is not the place for that discussion.

So to answer your question - No. We do not need to change the way HN works specifically to encourage topics that are better served elsewhere. Don't take the flagging personally, just find a better place to have such important discussions.