The above image was made with stable diffusion using the prompt 'dance party in the desert under a tent with parachutes in the sky.'
UPDATE: Shani Louk is reportedly alive and in critical condition. Initial reports of her demise turned out to be untrue. The fog of war is real.
The details that are emerging from the war in Israel are troubling. One of the first places Hamas attacked in their offensive was a music festival attended by thousands of people. Hamas came in with paragliders, dirtbikes, and ATVs. One of the concertgoers was a young German woman named Shani Louk. Louk was raped and murdered. Her lifeless body was paraded around on the back of a pickup truck. It's not clear if her legs were broken and twisted unnaturally before or after she died.
At least 260 people were killed in the attack. Here's a quote from a Tablet article based on firsthand accounts:
Women have been raped at the area of the rave next to their friends bodies, dead bodies. Several of these rape victims appear to have been later executed. Others were taken to Gaza. In photographs released online, you can see several paraded through the city's streets, blood gushing from between their legs. One survivor who'd returned to the scene later in the day to look for his friends spoke, in a breaking voice, of what he'd seen. Of the bodies, mainly of young women, lying cold and mutilated. Of scantily clad corpses, many of whom appeared to have been shot at point-blank. Of cars, perforated by bullets or blown up by grenades.
As soon as the hostilities started, the alt media crowd started tweeting about how Israel was to blame for the attack. One of the most common arguments I'm seeing is that Israel has killed Palestinian civilians over the years so no one should be upset about Hamas attacking civilian targets now. Here's some of what award-winning journalist Jonathan Cook had to say to this effect:
Western concern at the deaths of Israeli civilians at the hands of Palestinian fighters is hard to stomach. Have not many hundreds of Palestinian children died over the past 15 years in Israel’s repeated bombing campaigns on Gaza? Did their lives not count as much as Israeli lives – and if not, why not?
This argument neatly does not address parading the desecrated body of a German raver around on the back of a pickup truck. Nor does it address any of the other absolute horrors Hamas is responsible for. Also, according to the Guardian:
Senior Israelis such as the defence minister, Yoav Gallant, have long claimed that Hamas is funded by Iran. In April, Gallant claimed that Tehran sent $100m annually to Hamas, $700m annually to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and tens of millions to Islamic Jihad. Hamas used Iranian technology and logistical support to produce arms locally, he said, but it is thought to be mainly reliant on smuggling weapons from its tunnels under its border with Egypt.
Further complicating matters, Israel has completely blockaded Gaza. So Gaza's 2 million inhabitants won't be receiving any food, fuel, or other essentials via Israel. It's unclear whether more supplies will begin flowing through Gaza's border with Egypt. Even if they do, Israel's blockade will cause immense civilian suffering. As will the relentless airstrikes.
This war isn't a contest of good versus evil. It's evil versus evil. Medieval barbarism versus 21st Century death machines. Both sides should be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Instead, the mainstream press is cheering Israel on while the alternative press attacks Israel and tacitly supports Hamas.
On the conspiracy front, there are rumors that Israel had foreknowledge of the attack yet allowed it to happen for political reasons. This strikes me as plausible. I can't imagine Israeli intelligence not knowing in advance about something this big. But I don't know enough about the country's politics to speculate on what the motivation for inaction could be.
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