Professor does not want to distinguish between Hamas' and Israel's methods

[Saithan]

Professor does not want to distinguish between Hamas' and Israel's methods: "There is no difference if you are killed by a bomb or if you are killed by a bullet"​

Professor of Middle East Studies at Roskilde University Sune Haugbølle recalls the context of Hamas' attack and calls the attack an "expected" reaction.

Hamas' attack on Israel, in which hundreds of civilians were killed, has been greeted with cheers by supporters of Palestine, both in Denmark and abroad. According to Sune Haugbølle, professor of Middle East studies at Roskilde University, we must not forget the context of the attack: Israel's violence against the Palestinians. Video: Berlingske. Editing: Gabriella Clara Engell Behrensdorff.

Wednesday 11 October 2023, at 15.32
Mads Søndergaard Klindt

Queue
For Sune Haugbølle, there is no essential difference between the violence that Hamas fighters subjected hundreds of Israelis to at the weekend and that which the Israeli military uses against the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

This is what the professor, who teaches and researches in the Middle East at Roskilde University, says in an interview with Pilestræde - Berlingske's news podcast.
"Of course, it (Hamas' shooting of Israeli civilians, ed. ) is war crimes, and it is disgusting and unbearable to watch. But there are decades of violence and systematic oppression of the Palestinians that is the context for it. This means that many Palestinians whom I follow and talk to are celebrating this operation. I have to get rid of that.'

The worst day in Israel's history​

Israel's response to Hamas' terrorist attacks "will change the Middle East forever", says Prime Minister Netanyahu. To the BBC, a Hamas spokesperson gives three reasons why they are attacking. How are we to understand those announcements? Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Sune Haugbølle gives his assessment. And we ask: Does Sune Haugbølle stand by the statement he signed two years ago, in which he condemned Israel's acts of war and violence against Palestinian civilians, called for a boycott of Israel and declared his support for the Palestinian people's resistance to oppression? Guest: Sune Haugbølle, professor of Middle Eastern studies at Roskilde University. Host: Kaare Svejstrup.


There is probably a difference between whether you deliberately go out to kill civilians, or whether it is "collateral damage" (unintentional civilian losses, ed.). Doesn't it make a difference to you?

"It makes no difference to those who are hit by the bombs. There are over 100 Palestinian children who have already been killed in these three days of bombing. It is not a type of violence that we see or are confronted with. Writing it off as collateral damage; what difference does it make to people who are killed?'

So it makes no difference to you whether the organization behind the violence that is going on says it is a goal to hit civilians or says we are not trying to hit civilians?
"Whether it makes a difference to me or not, I don't think it's that important. It makes no difference to the people who have been killed. The people who are their family and the people who are their community, there is no difference if you are killed by a bomb or if you are killed by a bullet.'

But the logic of what you say must then be that no civilian casualties can ever be justified. As soon as there is a civilian loss, then it is a problem, and then it is unreasonable?

"It's a military logic, that thing with 'collateral damage'. And personally I don't accept it. I don't think it's okay to kill civilians. I also don't think it's okay to bomb civilian areas where there is a clear certainty that civilians will be killed. And it's not just something that I don't think is against the rules of war.'

Hear the entire interview in Pilestræde, where Sune Haugbølle also comments on Hamas's official justification for the attack on Israel and on Israel's response, which according to Prime Minister Netanyahu " will change the Middle East forever ".

In the program, Haugbølle is also confronted with a declaration of support for the Palestinian people, which he signed in 2021. Here the professor calls for an arms embargo against Israel and for a boycott of official research collaboration. Would he sign it today?

»Pilestræde« is Berlingske's news podcast, where host Kaare Svejstrup challenges power, knowledge and attitudes to current topics. »Pilestræde« is published Monday to Thursday at 05.00. Listen to all episodes below or where you normally listen to the podcast.

Professor vil ikke skelne mellem Hamas’ og Israels metoder: »Der er ikke forskel på, om du bliver dræbt af en bombe, eller om du bliver dræbt af en kugle«

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www.berlingske.dk

As I remember it, US introduced the term collateral damage after 9/11

 

[mrDiplomat]

the Palestinians are 2-faced cry-babies.
unwilling to be good neighbors.
constantly in their victim role, until they pop out to celebrate some kind a violence-based "victory".
it's a twisted cycle of violence that spans time spent on Earth, *and* in the Heavens.
i'm gonna try to change that.