Ihab Hassan
Owen, what you're asking me to do is agree that Israeli society as a whole is genocidal. I will never agree with that, for a million reasons. Citing polling data is one thing. People have shown me polls indicating that many Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank supported Hamas's horrific crimes on October 7. Does that make Palestinian society "the most genocidal society on Earth"? Of course not. I've spent years pushing back against exactly that kind of collective demonization. You're pushing me to endorse the same kind of dehumanization that I've consistently opposed, regardless of who the target is. The problem here is that many of you in the pro-Palestine movement abroad are trying very hard to impose your narrative on actual Palestinians. The moment we disagree with you, you automatically assume we're the ones who are wrong—not that your own narrative might be flawed. You're free to hold your own views. What you're not entitled to do is pressure Palestinians to adopt your narrative.
Owen Jones
@IhabHassane @_ZachFoster What you are asking people to do is lie. It is an objective fact that Israeli society is in the grip of genocidal mania. Every scrap of data and evidence shows that, and Israel’s genocide cannot be understood without it.