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GrymEdm

@ GrymEdm @lemmy.world

Posts
77
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431
Joined
2 yr. ago

  • Israel Responds to Move to Recognize Palestinian State by Withholding Funds

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  • Those are some mental gymnastics, to try to tell me that when a Palestinian purchases fuel or other products in Palestine and the tax money goes to Israel that it's not Palestinian taxes. That it's Israeli money and is only returned (or sometimes not) because Israel is kind to Palestine. Or that when Israel collects the taxes on a Palestinian's job located in the OPT, i.e. all work is done outside Israeli borders, that it's not Israel collecting Palestinian taxes.

  • Israel Responds to Move to Recognize Palestinian State by Withholding Funds

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  • Edit: Just to make sure I was doing my homework, I actually found a copy of the relevant agreement. Read Annex V point 1 (1st page) and Appendix V point 4 (2nd page). Both make it clear that Israel is collecting Palestinian taxes from Palestinians and on purchases made wholly in Palestine with a final destination inside Palestine. Given the very specific language of the agreement, I'm even more sure your assertion that it's Israeli-sourced money is incorrect.

    Your word alone is not enough, and in the absence of requested evidence I'm going to disregard it. I have found MANY sources going back years that state that Israel is collecting Palestinian taxes, as in money that Palestine would be collecting if it wasn't occupied/was a self-governing nation. Israel also frequently withholds these taxes as a political bludgeon even though they are bound by their own signed agreements to pass that money along to Palestinian authorities. Israel even charges a 3% fee to do this for Palestine. I cannot find a single source that backs up your assertion that it's actually Israel's money transferred as an act of charity. Moreover, the idea that Israel is being unnecessarily kind clashes with decades of evidence about how Israel views, controls, and abuses Palestinians.

  • Moms for Liberty is coming for the swing states

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  • I upvoted, but I wanted to add a few thoughts. See, I understand what you're saying in that US history has been littered with acts ranging from questionable to horrible the entire time. However as a Canadian some of my most treasured people, both personal acquaintances and public figures, are/were American. Even though I criticize policies US policies (a lot more recently), I still feel a kinship to Americans and I like a lot of you.

    I think America has an accountability problem where a very few people in power are allowed to COMPLETELY misrepresent the positions of their constituents and make national/state decisions that outrage huge portions of the population (often for money's sake). In the 20-odd years I've been an adult I've noticed this about the Iraq war, the 2008 financial crisis + wealth inequality in general, climate, health care, and now of course the situation in Gaza. There's almost no meaningful consequences applied when leaders act against the wishes of the populace or even your own laws. At worst some are not elected again and have to live on whatever millions they could amass during their years in power. Some say Americans get the government they deserve, but checks and balances don't work if the few people empowered to check and balance are on the same corrupt/unethical page.

    So I'm equally suspicious of anyone who thinks that America has, as a nation, been the greatest country in the world the entire time. I would simultaneously argue though that the US is home to some of the greatest people and that a large % of the population is at least as "good" as most other countries. Of course there are genuine shitheads in America, but that's universal to every nation IMO. The real problem in my eyes is that your leaders have not been forced to actually put the "representation" in representative democracy. If you read all that, thanks for giving me your time.

  • What's the most alarming thing you've done while drunk or high?

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  • Worked through my obsessions a bit and let go of them. In the following weeks I asked three women out and got shot down each time instead of thinking about doing so for a month and being a creep.

    Unironically, good on you. That's character progress and it takes a lot of courage and self-confidence to accept rejection in a mature way and keep trying regardless. For what it's worth I as an Internet stranger think we should help more people do the same sort of things.

  • Moms for Liberty is coming for the swing states

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  • The article references what you might be remembering:

    "The Moms have recently attracted a swell of bad press, thanks to a disastrous 60 Minutes interview in which the co-founders struggled to defend their stances; a chapter leading quoting Hitler in a newsletter last year; some members’ close ties to the Proud Boys; and, perhaps most notably, the group’s national co-founder Bridget Ziegler becoming embroiled in a sex scandal after it came out that she and her husband, Florida GOP chair Christian Ziegler, were involved in a three-way sexual relationship with a woman—even though Bridget Ziegler played a key role in the passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law, which forbade discussion of LGBTQ issues in many school settings. (Christian Ziegler was accused of rape by the other woman in the encounter—an allegation he denied, and which authorities ultimately declined to prosecute—and was booted from his post within the state Republican party earlier this year.)"

  • Moms for Liberty is coming for the swing states

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  • As soon as I hear a name like "Moms for Liberty" I just know they're going to be a group of brainwashed outrage addicts campaigning for demonstrably harmful things.

    And in trying to check the first suggestion Google has is "moms for liberty book ban list" so I have a feeling I'm right.

  • What's the most alarming thing you've done while drunk or high?

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  • Her name is [kept to myself because I'm a gentleman who doesn't kiss and tell]. I hope I, in turn, am not someone's most alarming thing but it's possible :P

  • Israel Responds to Move to Recognize Palestinian State by Withholding Funds

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  • As best as -I- can tell, Israel is collecting Palestinian taxes. Here's another article from a different outlet:

    What are the Palestinian funds that Israel collects?

    Israel collects Palestinian import tax revenue as agreed to in the 1994 Paris Accords signed by the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Israel. The tax revenue Israel collects is made up of indirect taxes imposed on Palestinian imports. It comes from two primary sources: VAT on goods and import tax on goods brought in from outside Israel.

    These are taxes that would normally be collected by a country for transactions within/at their borders, not charity/extra taxes paid for by Israelis. From the Wikipedia article, Israel collects taxes on goods/services that end up in Palestine, and controls/collects tariffs on goods entering Palestine. They tax Palestinian labor both in Israel and in the illegal settlements in OPT. They have also used withholding those taxes as a form of control several times in history and those are listed in the article.

    As you note, this situation was only supposed to last 5 years, instead Israel has enforced it for 30 and according to the UN it's not because Israelis are "giving them free money". "However, 30 years later, the financial settlement continues to give the Israeli state what the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has called “a disproportionate influence on the collection of Palestinian fiscal revenue, leading to deficiencies in the structure and collection of customs duties resulting from direct and indirect importing into Palestine”.

    I am not an expert. I may be wrong. But none of the sources I'm finding frame the issue as Israel withholding charity or bonus payments or anything similar - they all say Israel is holding Palestinian taxes. I only care about proof, so if you can provide it I'll check it and if it outweighs the evidence I've found and linked I'll change my mind.

  • Israel Responds to Move to Recognize Palestinian State by Withholding Funds

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  • Edit: I tracked down a copy of the actual relevant agreement, and it definitely is money collected from Palestinians and on purchases made in Palestine on products that are brought into Palestine. Discussion a few comments down if interested.

    I'm not sure if they collect all taxes, but according to the article they do collect at least some (and a meaningful amount):

    "Under decades-old agreements, Israel collects customs and import taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Those revenues constitute most of the Palestinian budget, particularly as international aid has declined. "

  • Supreme Court approves South Carolina congressional map previously found to dilute Black voting power

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  • Israel Responds to Move to Recognize Palestinian State by Withholding Funds

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  • My guess is: not for several years, and then it will be part of an incredibly expensive reparations deal to rebuild what American munitions are currently destroying.

  • Israel Responds to Move to Recognize Palestinian State by Withholding Funds

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  • So in addition to all the other forms of control, Israel collects and can restrict Palestinian taxes. Tell me again, Israeli propagandists, how Israel doesn't actually occupy what is rightfully internationally known as Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT).

  • This is not a record to be proud of.

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  • Gaza Strip pier project is completed, U.S. military says

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  • Gaza Strip pier project is completed, U.S. military says

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  • As much as the "hurt with one hand, help with the other" approach bothers me, I really hope this enables sufficient aid to safely reach the civilians who so desperately need it.

  • Is it ever okay to generalize about people? why or why not?

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  • I'd say it's sometimes ok, sometimes necessary for brevity, and sometimes accurate. Accurate = "All people need oxygen, water, and calories to survive." Brevity = "Generally speaking, people enjoy good food and good company so those situations work well for forming relationships."

    Consequences of generalizations have a lot to do with how tolerable they are. If I say, "most people like pizza" there's not much harm if several million people don't. If I say, "all or most people of this gender/ethnicity/religion/whatever have X problem" that's a lot more problematic because it can easily lead to a consequence of harmful prejudice. When it comes to matters of ethics, beliefs, accusations etc. it becomes very important to handle cases individually as much as humanly possible.

  • Don't be a bad employee [Mr. Lovenstein]

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  • UN says it has no more food or tents for nearly 2m people in Gaza

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  • This showed up in my Lemmy feed just above a story from the BBC about how Biden is planning to send 1 billion in arms to Israel. I felt these two stories next to each other was a fitting symbol of how wrong things are going.

  • GOP introduces bill that would send anyone convicted of unlawful activity on a campus since Oct. 7th, 2023 to Gaza.

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  • It was originally posted in World News, but was (rightfully!) removed for being internal US news and not world news. I screwed up - I think when I read anything about Gaza I start thinking about how it relates to the international war at large. Clearly though this story doesn't belong there, and hopefully it fits here.