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Rough Notes on Hostages & ‘Human Shields’

Audio Commentary on the Israel-Hamas War for Paying Subscribers

Hank Kalet Oct 23 ∙ Preview

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“The Barricade” by George Bellows (1882–1925), an “oil on canvas painting inspired by an incident in August 1914 where German soldiers used Belgian townspeople as human shields.” Public Domain (from Wikipedia Commons)
There are more than 200 mostly civilian hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas — a war crime that Hamas leaders for which Hamas leaders need to be held accountable.

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It is unclear, however, how the Israeli government plans to win their release — or if they see the hostages as more than a rhetorical tool to win sympathy from the public. That sounds harsh, I know. But how else to read this from an ABC report on the war:

Hostages and civilian casualties will be secondary to destroying Hamas, Economy Minister Nir Barakat told ABC News, "even if it takes a year."

The argument here seems to be that the hostages can serve as rationale for the war, but that their release is not important enough to make other war-related issues secondary. In this way, as I argue in the audio commentary below, their rhetorical use is similar to what Israel is accusing Hamas of doing with the larger Palestinian population — using them as human shields.

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This is a free, public post from Hank Kalet’s Channel Surfing. You will continue to receive these email stories and newsletters as long as you remain a an email subscriber. Consider becoming a paid subscriber and get paywall-protected posts, the ability to comment on posts and participate in discussion boards, offers to write guest blog posts, and copies of my books. If you are a $5-a-month Patreon patron, you already are considered a paid subscriber.

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This is a free, public post from Hank Kalet’s Channel Surfing. You will continue to receive these email stories and newsletters as long as you remain a an email subscriber. Consider becoming a paid subscriber and get paywall-protected posts, the ability to comment on posts and participate in discussion boards, offers to write guest blog posts, and copies of my books. If you are a $5-a-month Patreon patron, you already are considered a paid subscriber.

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PP Preview: Nurses Fight the Power

Advance Copy of My Grassroots Column for Subscribers

Hank Kalet Oct 18 ∙ Preview

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This column, on the nurses’ strike at Robert Wood University Hospital in New Brunswick, will appear in the Progressive Populist. I am also working on a longer piece on the strike for The Progressive.

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