they have been (for whatever reason) studying about wars currently going on in the middle east since apparently brazil doesn’t document on this enough, as well as reading up on zionism. they’ve been seeing “a LoT oF eXtReMiSm FrOm BoTh SiDeS” and assured me that they weren’t trying to “question in defense of zionism because they don’t know everything about the subject and that they are just a student seeking further information about it”
i was already thinking of:
- showing them pictures of disgusting zionist settler colonialists sitting on roofs watching IOF genocide and bomb on palestinians live
- showing them pictures of the barbarianism committed by the IOF (stuff like them descerating a lifeless palestinian’s body? wearing a bra on their genocidal missions? idk, pics of them had surfaced on lemmygrad some months back)
- that one video where a zionist settler-colonialist goes “if i don’t steal it, someone else will” to a native palestinian
- a news article where despite having the deeds to the house, zionist settler colonialists just up and start living on the palestinian’s house and kick them out
- mention how the IOF murdered palestinian babies and pulled an US by expanding more than they were permitted to
- mention that it’s pretty disgusting/insensitive to paint this as a case of “extremism from both sides” when it’s clearly about a group of oppressed people being genocided on their own lands finally fighting back against the show of power they’ve been doing for the past decades. (i wonder if they’d ask “further proof” of this)
- show proof about the zionist project’s existence being only a recent thing over palestine’s, which had existed for a long time (though i wonder if they’d try to pull the bible verse about “israelis” and shit)
is there anything else i’m missing here? or am i good to go?
Not sure if going after specific crimes of Israel would be the best approach. Even if all you arguments stick, your friend might still remain positive to Zionism as a concept. Thinking a government change or something like that would be enough to put Israel “back on the right track”. They might even think that a Jewish state elsewhere might be a good idea, that true Zionism was never tried, etc…
What I’m meaning to say, is that you have to discredit Zionism as an idea. I believe another commenter already mentioned it, but Zionism is anti-Semitic, even in the conventional sense of the word. Anti-semites across time and space (including the fucking nazis) have promoted Zionism. A Jewish state gave them an excuse to not give any rights to local jewish populations, even to the point of expelling them back “home”. A Jewish state transformed a genocidal rethoric into an anti-immigrant one.
There are more things to say about Zionism of course, but this comment is already long enough.