God, I wish I had the restraint to just ignore this, but your pomposity is unbearable.

I have spoken to "actual Israelis." I've visited Israel several times. And as you can see from this comment section alone (never mind the hundreds of other conversations I've had in person and online over the years), I've had many conversations on this topic with Jews and Muslims.

I was in Jordan less than two weeks after October 7th, and spoke to people there too. And as I pointed out to Adam, almost all of the evidence I cite, not only in my comment to him, but in the articles I write, is from Jewish people. So again, I have listened to and do believe Jewish voices. Just not, apparently, the ones you want me to believe.

And why do I not believe them? Because, as you and Adam ably demonstrate, you are hopelessly disingenuous in your evaluation of this situation.

You distort basic facts or omit key context in ways that would be impossible for any halfway honest person. You accuse people of not knowing what they're talking about, not because you can dispute any of the things they say, but because you can only accept a narrative that panders to your desperately sought view of yourself as a victim. You claim that I dismiss Jewish lives when I've done nothing of the sort. You fundamentally lack the courage and the intellectual integrity to hold Israel's widely documented crimes to the same standard of critique that you hold Hamas’ well documented crimes.

Thankfully, many Israelis, and many, many more Jews around the world, are able to exceed this standard.

But maybe it's no coincidence that the Jews I would call friends would never be apologists for the slaughter of tens of thousands of innocent people or the decades-long blockading of millions. They would never ignore the racist extremism of the settlers who have been terrorising Palestinians in the West Bank, with the full support of the IDF, for decades. They would stand with the holocaust survivors and Israelis who can recognise and condemn cruelty, even if it's being perpetrated by a country that they love.

After all, I only tend to be friends with people who have a conscience.