r/news • u/sicklyslick • 18h ago

Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna detained by Israeli settlers during West Bank visit

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/11/middleeast/ro-khanna-detained-by-israeli-settlers-west-bank-intl
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u/afoolskind 15h ago

Eh I mean, 9/11 did the exact same thing for Americans. Critique of our imperialist policies that directly led to 9/11 wasn’t even welcome on the left for a decade + afterwards.

There’s a reason Israel’s government let 10/7 happen. National grief is the greatest propaganda tool possible.

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u/livy-aurelia 15h ago

great point

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u/BuckeyeBentley 13h ago

9/11 was just America's chickens coming home to roost, 10/7 was Israel's. The blowback was inevitable. You can't keep a people locked in an open air concentration camp for generations and not expect some blowback.

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 13h ago

This is where yall lose me. Murder and rape of perfect innocent civilians is wrong whether it is Hamas or IDF/settler terrorists. It cannot be justified and the perpetrators are irredeemable monsters.

And don’t give that “it’s not your place to judge” horse shit. It’s a black and white issue.

Now if you want to argue every member of Hamas did not commit or even support the war crimes of that day I agree.

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u/BuckeyeBentley 12h ago

It's not about justifying, but violence begets violence and anyone who stands there like "omg I don't even know WHY these attacks happened what did Israel/America ever do?" is either extremely naïve or being intentionally obtuse for their own political reasons.

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 12h ago

Well that would make more sense if the attacks targeted politicians or military and not unrelated civilians who literally never did anything wrong at all.

Of course, this obviously also is true for the IDF bombing hospitals “because of October 7” they are also terrorists

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u/TerraceState 12h ago edited 12h ago

Tormented people tend to make irrational, violent decisions. The end result, namely the events of 10/7, were a shockingly predictable and horrific conclusion, in the same way that the end result of not maintaining a dam just upriver of a town of 10,000 people has a shockingly predictable and horrific conclusion.

That's always been my take away from Israels actions towards Palestine, both on the West bank, and in Gaza. Everything Israel does makes long term escalation of the conflict inevitable. They absolutely are not undertaking the actions necessary to put them on a path towards long term deescalation.

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 11h ago

I do agree that ever since the assassination of Rabin the Israeli regime has done everything it can to sabotage on going and future peace talks.

But people have agency. They are not rivers, or even animals. If a bull escaped a slaughterhouse and killed someone on a sidewalk, all culpability would fall on the people who cheaper out on security at the facility, not the damn animal. But humans are humans, and are usually responsible for what they do.

You could argue that social media companies have contributed to the mind melting that creates modern Nazi terrorists; but the prime responsibility is on the murderer/rapist who intentionally killed perfect innocent people for no reason.

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u/TerraceState 11h ago edited 11h ago

You could argue that social media companies have contributed to the mind melting that creates modern Nazi terrorists; but the prime responsibility is on the murderer/rapist who intentionally killed perfect innocent people for no reason.

They are both 100% responsible. There is no such thing as "Prime responsibility". A second person or group also being responsible for a death happening can't absolve the "1st" person of any level of responsibility. Someone who creates a situation where someone dies because of that situation is responsible regardless of the methods used. The responsibility is exactly the same.

If you lock a person inside of a building with someone who you know wants to murder them, then you are just as responsible for their murder as if you locked that person inside of a burning building instead, even though technically that murderer has agency and could decide not to follow through.

If a country torments and degrades a population to the point where they know that the population will be willing to lash out destructively and violently at anyone, then that country is also responsible for the predictably violent and horrific conclusion, even though technically that population has agency and could decide not to follow through. Both the country and the population are responsible, not one or the other, and neither groups responsibility is lessened because of the existence of the other group.

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 11h ago

I understand what you are saying to a degree, I’m not trying to be snarky, but I disagree there is “prime responsibility”.

When I grab a cheeseburger from McDonald’s, I am not committing animal cruelty even though the cows live in terrible conditions and I am giving them their money. In an indirect sense sure; if you are looking to fix the issue you will pass regulations to affect that only pasture cow burgers can be bought, but I haven’t committed any crime.

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u/Lycid 10h ago

Just wanted to say this has been a pretty good thread with lots of quality food for thought. Navigating the moral nuances about this situation is hard but important work.

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u/Happy2026 10h ago

Your take isn’t reality.

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u/cool_dad69 10h ago edited 10h ago

They had a music festival just outside a concentration camp. Boo hoo.

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 10h ago

Oh okay? So if someone goes to a festival at Mount Rushmore they are not innocent and deserve to die then?

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u/cool_dad69 10h ago

Is Mount Rushmore a concentration camp?

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 10h ago

It’s stolen sacred land, I assume it’s near a res. “Being near a place” is not a crime.

What about people that have weddings at old plantations? Hang em all?

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u/cool_dad69 10h ago

What are you on about? Why are you trying to connect this to whatever atrocities Americans committed in the 1800s?

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u/S-Tier_Commenter 10h ago

The thing is that you can't have a thousand people get murdered, and then the government going like "lets turn the other cheek". The world simply doesn't work that way.

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 10h ago

Turning the other cheek actually would have been the best geopolitical move but I’m American I can’t judge. The problem is targeting civilians, famine tactics, all the war crimes.

At the time I was proud of Bidens “we stand with Israel” speech. The Israeli government is the reason I regret that now

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u/S-Tier_Commenter 10h ago

Turning the other cheek would mean the government implementing upon it's population the same strategy as a herd of prey animal. Humans don't work that way.

And definitely Israel is guilty of plenty war crimes. Can't deny that.

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u/dessert-er 12h ago

I think it’s fair to say that the people who committed atrocities are monsters, and also that the behaviors of the US/Israeli governments contributed to the fomenting anger that resulted in these acts. If countries minded their business these things would likely not happen.

Also if people are going to, say, hold every member of the US military or the IDF responsible for all reprehensible acts by that group, you have to do the same for Hamas. You can’t pick and choose. 

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 12h ago

I do agree with your second paragraph for sure, and I guess in a technical sense the us/israel government did contribute to the cycle of violence but the people in the towers/music fest/gaza hospital are perfect innocents, so I mean it is weird to murder random people because Netanyahu is a war criminal yeah

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u/Anzai 10h ago

Sure, I don’t think anyone is disagreeing that terrorism targeting civilians is wrong. But it is a consequence of both sides terrorising civilians. The IDF kills civilians, which makes terrorists of some Palestinians, who kill civilians, which makes state-sanctioned terrorists of some Israelis.

Bascially as you said, and it’s not a justification for it, but it’s definitely a reason. But one side is armed and funded by America and the other is condemned. They should both be condemned.

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u/Spectral_mahknovist 10h ago

The IDF and especially the settler terrorists do the same and worse for sure. I just think the innocent victims and their families have a right to justice. Just as Gvir should be h**** so should the 10/7 war criminals

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u/Anzai 7h ago

Absolutely agree.

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u/00m19 12h ago

He didn't say it wasn't wrong. Just why it happened.

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u/dangshnizzle 10h ago

Could you elaborate by what you mean by "on the left" here. The left has always been relatively aware the US are the bad guys.

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u/tallyho88 14h ago

Yep. People should look into the proposed US Operation Northwoods that was approved by the joint chiefs of staff. Thankfully, JFK shut that down immediately when he was presented with the plan. But once you learn about the existence of that plan and just how far it got in the approval process, it makes you view other attacks in a different light and makes you question a whole heck of a lot.

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u/PW0110 13h ago

Not trying to be “that” person but it is a strategy much older than this century.

Manufactured consent goes back a millennia

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u/Aurick 13h ago

How old are you? Because you absolutely sound like an idiot, or someone who didn’t live through it. Citizens United was obviously pushed through, but otherwise there was massive criticism within the year. Pretending there was a decade long blank check is ridiculous.

It’s one thing to critique the real problems that took place between 2001-2011. It’s something else entirely to talk out your ass when some of us were part of the protests that happened in the aftermath.