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Popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against British mandate due to increasing flow of Jewish immigrants. | *Popular uprising by Palestinian Arabs in Mandatory Palestine against British mandate | ||
Sparked by back and forth killings of two Jews by a Qassamite band, followed by the retaliatory killing of two Arab workers. | :due to increasing flow of Jewish immigrants. | ||
First part of movement was seized upon by the urban and elitist Arab Higher Committee, which made the revolt focus on strikes and other political forms of protest. | *Sparked by back and forth killings of two Jews by a Qassamite band, | ||
Second phase in 1937 lead to violent conflict between British Army and Palestine Police Force against the peasant-led resistance movement. | :followed by the retaliatory killing of two Arab workers. | ||
Walid Khalidi estimates 19,792 casualties for the Arabs, with 5,032 dead, 3,832 killed by the British and 1,200 dead due to intracommunal terrorism, and 14,760 wounded. Several hundred Palestinian Jews were killed. | *First part of movement was seized upon by the urban and elitist Arab Higher Committee, | ||
:which made the revolt focus on strikes and other political forms of protest. | |||
*Second phase in 1937 lead to violent conflict between British Army | |||
:and Palestine Police Force against the peasant-led resistance movement. | |||
*Walid Khalidi estimates 19,792 casualties for the Arabs, | |||
:with 5,032 dead, 3,832 killed by the British and 1,200 dead due to intracommunal terrorism, and 14,760 wounded. | |||
:Several hundred Palestinian Jews were killed. | |||
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Published on July 7th, 1937 | *Published on July 7th, 1937 | ||
First time declaration that Mandatory Palestine was becoming unworkable and needed to be partitioned. | *First time declaration that Mandatory Palestine was becoming unworkable and needed to be partitioned. | ||
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The Haganah, Irgun, Lehi all joined together to form the Jewish Resistance Movement. | *The Haganah, Irgun, Lehi all joined together to form the Jewish Resistance Movement. | ||
Insurgent activities in the area were in response to the proposed 1939 White Paper. | *Insurgent activities in the area were in response to the proposed 1939 White Paper. | ||
On the 22nd of July, 1946, the Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, leading to the deaths of 91 people of various nationalities. This hotel was the headquarters for Mandatory Palestine. | *On the 22nd of July, 1946, the Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, | ||
Was the deadliest attack against the British during the entire Mandate era (1920-1948) | :leading to the deaths of 91 people of various nationalities. | ||
:This hotel was the headquarters for Mandatory Palestine. | |||
:*Was the deadliest attack against the British during the entire Mandate era (1920-1948) | |||
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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine The UN Partition Plan] | [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine The UN Partition Plan] | ||
A four-part document, the Partition Plan, was attached, that provided for the termination of the Mandate, the withdrawal of British armed forces, and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UN_Palestine_Partition_Versions_1947.jpg delineation of boundaries between the two States and Jerusalem.] | |||
The Arab Higher Committee and the Arab League rejected this proposal due to the fact that 56% of the land would be allocated to the Jewish state, despite the Palestinian Arab population numbering twice that of the Jewish population. The Jewish Agency for Palestine and most Zionist factions accepted. | :*A four-part document, the Partition Plan, was attached, that provided for the termination of the Mandate, | ||
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine#The_vote Vote list] for the plan | ::the withdrawal of British armed forces, and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:UN_Palestine_Partition_Versions_1947.jpg delineation of boundaries between the two States and Jerusalem.] | ||
:*The Arab Higher Committee and the Arab League rejected this proposal | |||
::due to the fact that 56% of the land would be allocated to the Jewish state, | |||
::despite the Palestinian Arab population numbering twice that of the Jewish population. | |||
:*The Jewish Agency for Palestine and most Zionist factions accepted. | |||
*[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine#The_vote Vote list] for the plan | |||
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Known to Israel as the War of Independence, and to the Palestinians as the Nakba | ;*Known to Israel as the War of Independence, and to the Palestinians as the Nakba | ||
Israel declares [independence](- Israel declares independence at Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948.) at Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948. | ;*Israel declares [independence](- Israel declares independence at Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948.) at Tel Aviv on May 14th, 1948. | ||
War had two main phases, the first began on November 30th, 1947. | ;*War had two main phases, the first began on November 30th, 1947. | ||
First phase mainly fought between Jewish and Palestinian Arab militias, supported by the Arab Liberation Army and the surrounding Arab states. Escalated at the end of March 1948, when Jews went on the offensive. | ::*First phase mainly fought between Jewish and Palestinian Arab militias, | ||
After Arabs fled Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, the US pulled out of the Partition Plan while the British supported the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by Transjordan. | :::supported by the Arab Liberation Army and the surrounding Arab states. | ||
Funds raised by Golda Meir and Stalin's support allowed Israel to purchase weapons from Eastern Europe. | :::Escalated at the end of March 1948, when Jews went on the offensive. | ||
May 14th, 1948, the last British troops and personnel departed Haifa, and the Jewish leadership declared the establishment of the state of Israel. | ;*After Arabs fled Haifa, Jaffa and Jerusalem, the US pulled out of the Partition Plan | ||
Second phase of the war began in May of 1948, the Arab-Israeli War, when invasion happens after Jewish leadership declares independence. | ;:while the British supported the annexation of the Arab part of Palestine by Transjordan. | ||
Invading countries were Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan and Syria, supported by the Arab Liberation Army and corps of volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Yemen | ;*Funds raised by Golda Meir and Stalin's support allowed Israel to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arms_shipments_from_Czechoslovakia_to_Israel_1947%E2%80%931949 purchase weapons from Eastern Europe.] | ||
Plan Dalet | ;*May 14th, 1948, the last British troops and personnel departed Haifa, and the Jewish leadership declared the establishment of the state of Israel. | ||
Forced expulsion and control of areas that extended beyond the proposed partition borders. Some (Zionists) claim that this was a defensive action to secure the future safety and borders of the new country, Israel, others claim this was purely an offensive territorial conquest aimed to ethnically cleanse the surrounding lands of Arabs to make it fertile for future Jews to settle. | ;*Second phase of the war began in May of 1948, the Arab-Israeli War, when invasion happens after Jewish leadership declares independence. | ||
In 1949, Israel signed separate Armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to establish these temporary military borders. | ::*Invading countries were Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan and Syria, | ||
Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip and had a demilitarized zone around 'Uja al-Hafeer. | :::supported by the Arab Liberation Army and corps of volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Yemen | ||
Lebanon agreed to international boundary between Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine. | ;*Plan Dalet | ||
Jordanian forces remained in East Jerusalem and other positions held by them. | ::*Forced expulsion and control of areas that extended beyond the proposed partition borders. | ||
Also allowed to take over positions previously held by Iraqi forces. | :::Some (Zionists) claim that this was a defensive action to secure the future safety and borders of the new country, Israel, | ||
Syria maintained 66 square kilometers in the Jordan Valley, designated as DMZs. | :::others claim this was purely an offensive territorial conquest aimed to ethnically cleanse the surrounding lands of Arabs | ||
Iraq had no formal agreement as they withdrew their forces. | :::to make it fertile for future Jews to settle. | ||
The new military borders, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of Mandatory Palestine. | ;*In 1949, Israel signed separate Armistice agreements with Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria to establish [https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Palestine_Military_Situation%2C_April_6%2C_1949%2C_Truman_Papers.jpg these] temporary military borders. | ||
Israel lost 6,373 people (4,000 soldiers), about 1% of its population. The exact number of Arab losses is estimated between 4,000 and 15,000. | ::*Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip and had a demilitarized zone around 'Uja al-Hafeer. | ||
Over 700,000 displaced Palestinians that fled or were expelled from their land as a result. | ::*Lebanon agreed to international boundary between Lebanon and Mandatory Palestine. | ||
Over 700,000 Jews exodus from Arab and Muslim lands in the 3 years following the war, fleeing into Israel. | ::*Jordanian forces remained in East Jerusalem and other positions held by them. | ||
Established Israel as an independent state (founded by David Ben-Gurion), recognized immediately by Truman (U.S.) and Stalin (USSR). | :::*Also allowed to take over positions previously held by Iraqi forces. | ||
::*Syria maintained 66 square kilometers in the Jordan Valley, designated as DMZs. | |||
::*Iraq had no formal agreement as they withdrew their forces. | |||
::*The new military borders, as set by the agreements, encompassed about 78% of Mandatory Palestine. | |||
;*Israel lost 6,373 people (4,000 soldiers), about 1% of its population. | |||
;:The exact number of Arab losses is estimated between 4,000 and 15,000. | |||
;*Over 700,000 displaced Palestinians that fled or were expelled from their land as a result. | |||
;*Over 700,000 Jews exodus from Arab and Muslim lands in the 3 years following the war, fleeing into Israel. | |||
;*Established Israel as an independent state (founded by David Ben-Gurion), | |||
;:recognized immediately by Truman (U.S.) and Stalin (USSR). | |||
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Lead-up | ;*Lead-up | ||
Suez Canal Company formed in 1858 by French Ferdinand de Lesseps to build the Suez Canal from 1859 to 1869, opening on 1869 to allow trade. | |||
Baghdad Pact in 1955, created compromising Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Iraq and the United Kingdom | :*Suez Canal Company formed in 1858 by French Ferdinand de Lesseps | ||
Tripartite Declaration was a way for the US, France and the UK to limit the amount of arms sales in the Middle East, hopefully preventing an arms race. | ::to build the Suez Canal from 1859 to 1869, opening on 1869 to allow trade. | ||
Egypt was responsible for establishing multiple Palestinian fedayeen camps inside Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon. | :*Baghdad Pact in 1955, created compromising Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Iraq and the United Kingdom | ||
Israel was willing to work with Egypt in direct negotiations in 1956, regardless of Egypt's aggressive demand to resettle Palestinian refugees and the annexation of the southern half of Israel. | :*Tripartite Declaration was a way for the US, France and the UK | ||
Nasser (leader of Egypt) built reputation of extreme anti-Zionism in attempt to unify and be the leader of the Arab states. | ::to limit the amount of arms sales in the Middle East, hopefully preventing an arms race. | ||
On July 26th, 1956, Nasser nationalized and purchased all assets of the Suez Canal Company, closed the canal to Israeli shipping, closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba. | :*Egypt was responsible for establishing multiple Palestinian fedayeen camps inside Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon. | ||
Contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888 and most likely a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. | :*Israel was willing to work with Egypt in direct negotiations in 1956, | ||
Different countries had different positions on what to do | ::regardless of Egypt's aggressive demand to resettle Palestinian refugees and the annexation of the southern half of Israel. | ||
Eden from Great Britain wanted war, though opposition parties cautioned that doing so without UN approval would not be supported. | :*Nasser (leader of Egypt) built reputation of extreme anti-Zionism in attempt to unify and be the leader of the Arab states. | ||
Guy Mollet from France and the rest of the nation was eager for military action. | :*On July 26th, 1956, Nasser nationalized and purchased all assets of the Suez Canal Company, | ||
Eiseinhower from DC did not really care. | ::closed the canal to Israeli shipping, closed the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, and blockaded the Gulf of Aqaba. | ||
Canada didn't care. | ::*Contravention of the Constantinople Convention of 1888 and most likely a violation of the 1949 Armistice Agreements. | ||
Australia kind of cared. | ;*Different countries had different positions on what to do | ||
New Zealand cared. | |||
Initial proposal would have allowed Egyptian "sovereignty" to be recognized while maintaining an international operation of the Canal. Nasser rejected. | :*Eden from Great Britain wanted war, though opposition parties cautioned that | ||
British and French hungry for military intervention to solve potential Canal problems, despite Eisenhower's disapproval. | ::doing so without UN approval would not be supported. | ||
Israel was interested in partaking in military conflicts. | :*Guy Mollet from France and the rest of the nation was eager for military action. | ||
Israel's interest in war was weakening a hostile state. Egypt-held Gaza Strip (+ surrounding countries, via Egyptian supported Palestinian Fedayeen) was responsible for attacks injuring approximately 1,300 civilians. | :*Eiseinhower from DC did not really care. | ||
Israel was also scared about Egypt's large procurement of weapons, and feared they'd forged a secret alliance with Jordan and Syria. | :*Canada didn't care. | ||
Ben-Gurion's "grand plan" involved Israel taking territory north into Lebanon, having the West Bank run as a semi-autonomous state attached to Israel, and having Iraq claim everything on the East Bank because Israel believe Jordan to be an unstable state. They also encouraged the taking of the Sinai Penisula. | :*Australia kind of cared. | ||
The Protocol of Sèvres was agreed to by Israel, France and the UK. | :*New Zealand cared. | ||
On October 29th, Israel would invade the Sinai. | |||
On October 30th, Anglo-French ultimatum to demand both sides withdraw from canal zone. | ;*Initial proposal would have allowed Egyptian "sovereignty" to be recognized | ||
On October 31st, Britain and France would begin Revise. | :;while maintaining an international operation of the Canal. Nasser rejected. | ||
The Kafr Qasim massacre | ;*British and French hungry for military intervention to solve potential Canal problems, | ||
Took place in Israeli Arab village of Kafr Qasim during the war, where Israel Border Police illegally killed Arab civilians returning from work during a curfew they were unaware of. 48 people died. | ;:despite Eisenhower's disapproval. | ||
The border policemen who were involved in the shooting were trialed and jailed for 7-17 years. | ;*Israel was interested in partaking in military conflicts. | ||
All sentences were later reduced, with some of the convicted receiving presidential pardons. | ::*Israel's interest in war was weakening a hostile state. | ||
Every convicted person was eventually released by November 1959. | :::Egypt-held Gaza Strip (+ surrounding countries, via Egyptian supported Palestinian Fedayeen) | ||
Total casualties | :::was responsible for attacks injuring approximately 1,300 civilians. | ||
British 22 dead, 96 wounded | ::*Israel was also scared about Egypt's large procurement of weapons, | ||
French 10 dead, 33 wounded | :::and feared they'd forged a secret alliance with Jordan and Syria. | ||
Israel 172 dead, 817 wounded | ::*Ben-Gurion's "grand plan" involved Israel taking territory north into Lebanon, | ||
Egypt 1,500-3,500 dead, 4,900 wounded, with 1,000 Egyptian civilians estimated dead | :::having the West Bank run as a semi-autonomous state attached to Israel, | ||
International Reaction | :::and having Iraq claim everything on the East Bank because Israel believe Jordan to be an unstable state. | ||
Eisenhower was very upset with Israel/Britain/France, because the US could not reasonably oppose Soviet actions in Hungary while remaining silent on European plans to seize territory from Egypt. | :::They also encouraged the taking of the Sinai Penisula. | ||
300,000 protestors in Pakistan chanting anti-British slogans. | ;*The Protocol of Sèvres was agreed to by Israel, France and the UK. | ||
Syrian government blew up the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline to punish Iraq and Britain. | ::*On October 29th, Israel would invade the Sinai. | ||
Saudi Arabia imposed a total oil embargo on Britain and France. | ::*On October 30th, Anglo-French ultimatum to demand both sides withdraw from canal zone. | ||
US calls for security council and UN meetings/resolutions | ::*On October 31st, Britain and France would begin Revise. | ||
Resolution 997, a call for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all forces behind the armistice lines, an arms embargo and the reopening of the Suez Canal, which was currently blocked. Passes with a vote of 64-5 | ;*The Kafr Qasim massacre | ||
West Germany was furious with the US and supported France and Britain. | ::*Took place in Israeli Arab village of Kafr Qasim during the war, | ||
Israel originally wanted to maintain indefinite control over the Sinai, but was eventually forced out due to international pressure lead heavily by Eisenhower. | :::where Israel Border Police illegally killed Arab civilians returning from work during a curfew they were unaware of. | ||
November 6th, 1956 British announced a ceasefire. | :::48 people died. | ||
Anglo-French Task Force was fully withdrawn by December 22nd, 1956. | ::*The border policemen who were involved in the shooting were trialed and jailed for 7-17 years. | ||
Israeli forces were fully withdrawn from the Sinai and Gaza in March of 1957 after destroying and stealing Egyptian infrastructure and villages on the way out. | ::*All sentences were later reduced, with some of the convicted receiving presidential pardons. | ||
Eisenhower asked Congress for authorization to use military force and set aside $200 million to help Middle Eastern countries that desired aid from the US. | ::*Every convicted person was eventually released by November 1959. | ||
The Soviet Union was given all the credit due to nuclear sabre rattling from Nasser, though it was almost assuredly US diplomatic and financial pressure that brought the conflict to a swift end. | |||
Jews had their civil liberties infringed upon in Egypt following the war, resulting in some 25,000 (almost half) of the Jewish population leaving Egypt. | ;*Total casualties | ||
Final summary | :*British 22 dead, 96 wounded | ||
In 1956 Egyptian leader Nasser, driven by his desire to be neither a puppet to the US nor USSR, nationalized the Suez canal (in defiance of the Constantinople Convention of 1888) while simultaneously acquiring large amounts of weapons from the USSR. Worried that trade would be interrupted, Britain and France approached Israel, who was worried that the anti-Zionist Egypt was amassing a massive military, to devise a covert plan, the Protocol of Sèvres, in order to stage an Israeli military invasion that would be disrupted by Anglo-Franco forces, which would then give way to an international ownership of the Suez Canal. Despite military success by all three parties, intense international pressure, especially from the United States, pressure from revolting colonies, and intense domestic pressure at home, combined with nuclear sabre-rattling from the USSR, forced the Anglo-Franco forces to immediately withdraw, suffering an international humiliation. Israel would withdraw its forces sometime later, having re-established trade through the Straights of Tiran. Egypt, and namely, Nasser, would emerge feeling as though they had single-handedly defied European imperialistic aims, and saw itself as an emerging unaligned leader of the Arab World. | :*French 10 dead, 33 wounded | ||
:*Israel 172 dead, 817 wounded | |||
:*Egypt 1,500-3,500 dead, 4,900 wounded, | |||
;:with 1,000 Egyptian civilians estimated dead | |||
;*International Reaction | |||
::*Eisenhower was very upset with Israel/Britain/France, | |||
:::because the US could not reasonably oppose Soviet actions in Hungary | |||
:::while remaining silent on European plans to seize territory from Egypt. | |||
::*300,000 protestors in Pakistan chanting anti-British slogans. | |||
::*Syrian government blew up the Kirkuk-Baniyas pipeline to punish Iraq and Britain. | |||
::*Saudi Arabia imposed a total oil embargo on Britain and France. | |||
::*US calls for security council and UN meetings/resolutions | |||
:::*Resolution 997, a call for an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of all forces behind the armistice lines, | |||
::::an arms embargo and the reopening of the Suez Canal, which was currently blocked. | |||
::::Passes with a vote of 64-5 | |||
::*West Germany was furious with the US and supported France and Britain. | |||
::*Israel originally wanted to maintain indefinite control over the Sinai, | |||
:::but was eventually forced out due to international pressure lead heavily by Eisenhower. | |||
;*November 6th, 1956 British announced a ceasefire. | |||
;*Anglo-French Task Force was fully withdrawn by December 22nd, 1956. | |||
;*Israeli forces were fully withdrawn from the Sinai and Gaza in March of 1957 after destroying | |||
;:and stealing Egyptian infrastructure and villages on the way out. | |||
;*Eisenhower asked Congress for authorization to use military force | |||
;:and set aside $200 million to help Middle Eastern countries that desired aid from the US. | |||
;*The Soviet Union was given all the credit due to nuclear sabre rattling from Nasser, | |||
;:though it was almost assuredly US diplomatic and financial pressure that brought the conflict to a swift end. | |||
;*Jews had their civil liberties infringed upon in Egypt following the war, | |||
;:resulting in some 25,000 (almost half) of the Jewish population leaving Egypt. | |||
;Final summary | |||
*In 1956 Egyptian leader Nasser, driven by his desire to be neither a puppet to the US nor USSR, | |||
:nationalized the Suez canal (in defiance of the Constantinople Convention of 1888) | |||
:while simultaneously acquiring large amounts of weapons from the USSR. | |||
:Worried that trade would be interrupted, Britain and France approached Israel, | |||
:who was worried that the anti-Zionist Egypt was amassing a massive military, | |||
:to devise a covert plan, the Protocol of Sèvres, | |||
:in order to stage an Israeli military invasion that would be disrupted by Anglo-Franco forces, | |||
:which would then give way to an international ownership of the Suez Canal. | |||
:*Despite military success by all three parties, | |||
:intense international pressure, especially from the United States, | |||
:pressure from revolting colonies, and intense domestic pressure at home, | |||
:combined with nuclear sabre-rattling from the USSR, | |||
:forced the Anglo-Franco forces to immediately withdraw, | |||
:suffering an international humiliation. | |||
:*Israel would withdraw its forces sometime later, | |||
:having re-established trade through the Straights of Tiran. | |||
:Egypt, and namely, Nasser, would emerge feeling as though they had single-handedly defied European imperialistic aims, | |||
:and saw itself as an emerging unaligned leader of the Arab World. | |||
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Ongoing border conflict between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and the PLO and their allies. | ;Ongoing border conflict between Israel and Egypt, Jordan and the PLO and their allies. | ||
No territorial changes during this time. | ::*No territorial changes during this time. | ||
In 1968 the PLO deploys suicide bombers for the first time. | ::*In 1968 the PLO deploys suicide bombers for the first time. | ||
Israel engaged in an air battle, Rimon 20, to directly target Soviet fighter pilots to drive the USSR from the conflict. | ::*Israel engaged in an air battle, Rimon 20, | ||
In August of 1970, Israel, Jordan and Egypt agreed to an "in place" ceasefire under the Rogers Plan, though Egyptians and Soviet allies violated the agreement shortly thereafter. | :::to directly target Soviet fighter pilots to drive the USSR from the conflict. | ||
Battle of Karameh | ::*In August of 1970, Israel, Jordan and Egypt agreed to an "in place" ceasefire under the Rogers Plan, | ||
1968 Battle of Karameh involved IDF forces crossing into Jordan to attack Karameh and the village of Safi, purportedly to eliminate PLO forces and fedayeen camps staging attacks against Israel, and to capture Yasser Arafat, including a school bus full of children running into a mine. | :::though Egyptians and Soviet allies violated the agreement shortly thereafter. | ||
Israel dropped leaflets to warn the Jordanian army not to intervene, but Jordan decided to assist the PLO regardless. | ;Battle of Karameh | ||
In the aftermath, though Israel had achieved its tactical aims, they came at international political cost, with the US condemning Israel's actions. | ::*1968 Battle of Karameh involved IDF forces crossing into Jordan to attack Karameh and the village of Safi, | ||
Nearly 20,000 fedayeen in Jordan due to surging recruits after the psychological victory over the IDF. | :::purportedly to eliminate PLO forces and fedayeen camps staging attacks against Israel, | ||
Iraq and Syria offered training programs for several thousand guerillas, the Persian Gulf States and Kuwait raised money through taxes on Palestinian workers, and a fund drive in Lebanon raised $500,000 from Beirut alone. The PLO began to guarantee a lifetime support for the families of guerillas killed in action. Fatah had branches in about 80 countries after the conflict. | :::and to capture Yasser Arafat, including a school bus full of children running into a mine. | ||
::*Israel dropped leaflets to warn the Jordanian army not to intervene, | |||
:::but Jordan decided to assist the PLO regardless. | |||
::*In the aftermath, though Israel had achieved its tactical aims, | |||
:::they came at international political cost, with the US condemning Israel's actions. | |||
::*Nearly 20,000 fedayeen in Jordan due to surging recruits after the psychological victory over the IDF. | |||
::*Iraq and Syria offered training programs for several thousand guerillas, | |||
:::the Persian Gulf States and Kuwait raised money through taxes on Palestinian workers, | |||
:::and a fund drive in Lebanon raised $500,000 from Beirut alone. | |||
:::The PLO began to guarantee a lifetime support for the families of guerillas killed in action. | |||
:::Fatah had branches in about 80 countries after the conflict. | |||
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Summary | ;Summary | ||
May 1967, Nasser mobilizes Egyptian military into defensive lines along the Israeli border and closes the shipping lanes through the Straits of Tiran to Israeli vessels, despite Israel warning this would be a casus belli. Nasser also orders the removal of all UNEF personnel. | ::*May 1967, Nasser mobilizes Egyptian military into defensive lines along the Israeli border | ||
Israel would capture the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip, the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. | :::and closes the shipping lanes through the Straits of Tiran to Israeli vessels, | ||
Israel gave back the Sinai to Egypt. | :::despite Israel warning this would be a casus belli. | ||
Military: 20,000 Arab deaths vs 1,000 Israeli deaths Civilian: 20 Israeli Civilians killed in Arab forces air strikes on Jerusalem, 15 UN peacekeepers killed by Israeli strikes in the Sinai, and 34 US personnel killed in the USS Liberty incident. | :::Nasser also orders the removal of all UNEF personnel. | ||
Background | ::*Israel would capture the Sinai Peninsula, the Egyptian-occupied Gaza Strip, | ||
Following the 1956 Suez Crisis, Syria and Egypt signed a mutual defense agreement. | :::the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria. | ||
PLO activity and attacks against Israel from Arab countries continued. | :::*Israel gave back the Sinai to Egypt. | ||
In May, 1967, Nasser received bogus intel from the USSR that Israel was massing on the Syrian border, so he gathered troops in the Sinai Peninsula, ejected UNEF personnel, and once again denied passage of Israeli vessels through the Straits of Tiran. | ::*Military: 20,000 Arab deaths vs 1,000 Israeli deaths Civilian: | ||
On the 30th of May, Jordan an Egypt signed a defense pact. Iraq and Egypt began deploying troops and armored units in Jordan. | :::20 Israeli Civilians killed in Arab forces air strikes on Jerusalem, | ||
The United States did not believe at the time that Egypt was preparing for an offensive war against Israel, as per the Watch Committee. | :::15 UN peacekeepers killed by Israeli strikes in the Sinai, | ||
Nasser's speech towards the Arab Trade Unionists in May 26th, 1967, claimed "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel." | :::and 34 US personnel killed in the USS Liberty incident. | ||
Statements made by Nasser leading up to the war | ;Background | ||
“The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel to face the challenge, while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. We have reached the stage of serious action and not of more declarations.” Gamal Abdel Nasser May 30th 1967 | ::*Following the 1956 Suez Crisis, Syria and Egypt signed a mutual defense agreement. | ||
Nasser May 26 "The Arab people wants to fight. We have been waiting for the right time when we will be completely ready. Recently we have felt that our strength has been sufficient and that if we make battle with Israel we shall be able, with the help of God, to conquer Sharm el-Sheikh implies a confrontation with Israel. Taking this step makes it imperative that we be ready to undertake a total war with Israel." | ::*PLO activity and attacks against Israel from Arab countries continued. | ||
Involved Forces | ::*In May, 1967, Nasser received bogus intel from the USSR that Israel was massing on the Syrian border, | ||
Egypt amassing 100,000 troops in the Sinai. | :::so he gathered troops in the Sinai Peninsula, ejected UNEF personnel, | ||
Syria deploying 75,000 along their border with Israel. | :::and once again denied passage of Israeli vessels through the Straits of Tiran. | ||
Jordanian Armed Forces totaled 55,000 troops. | ::*On the 30th of May, Jordan an Egypt signed a defense pact. | ||
100 Iraqi tanks and an infantry division readied near the Jordanian border, along with two squadrons of Iraqi fighter-aircraft. | :::Iraq and Egypt began deploying troops and armored units in Jordan. | ||
Saudi Arabia mobilized a few forces for deployment to the Jordanian front. | ::*The United States did not believe at the time that Egypt was preparing for an offensive war against Israel, | ||
Arab air forces were also reinforced by aircraft from Libya, Algeria, Morocco, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to make up for the first day losses of the war. Volunteer pilots also came from the Pakistan Air Force. | :::as per the Watch Committee. | ||
Noteworthy Battle Things | ::*Nasser's speech towards the Arab Trade Unionists in May 26th, 1967, | ||
Surprise attack on Egyptian airfield guaranteed all but certain victory in the Sinai for Israel. | :::claimed "The battle will be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy Israel." | ||
IDF originally was to avoid Gaza strip/city, but attacks from that area forced the IDF to take over that territory. | :::*Statements made by Nasser leading up to the war | ||
Jordanian Army was instructed to lay a two-hour barrage against military and civilian settlements in central Israel itself. | ::::*“The armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel to face the challenge, | ||
Eshkol promised Israel would not initiate any action against Jordan if it stayed out of the way, but King Hussein refused. | ::::::while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. | ||
Jordanian shelling of Jerusalem resulted in 20 dead and 1,000 wounded civilians. | ::::::This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle, the critical hour has arrived. | ||
Dayan ordered troops not to capture the Old City due to potential international backlash plus potential outrage of being forced to give back holy sites after capturing them. After hearing about the impending UN ceasefire, he changed his mind and captured it. | ::::::We have reached the stage of serious action and not of more declarations.” Gamal Abdel Nasser May 30th 1967 | ||
"Fearful that Israeli soldiers would exact retribution for the 1929 massacre of the city's Jewish community, Hebron's residents flew white sheets from their windows and rooftops."" | ::::*Nasser May 26 "The Arab people wants to fight. We have been waiting for the right time when we will be completely ready. | ||
Syria entered the war on the assumption that Israel was losing dramatically to Egyptian forces. Nasser exaggerated/lied about Egyptian victory. | :::::Recently we have felt that our strength has been sufficient and that if we make battle with Israel we shall be able, | ||
Dayan, after hearing of the Syrian acceptance of a cease-fire, clears an invasion/occupation on his own into the Golan Heights. | :::::with the help of God, to conquer Sharm el-Sheikh implies a confrontation with Israel. | ||
Conclusion | :::::Taking this step makes it imperative that we be ready to undertake a total war with Israel." | ||
Israel seizes the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula (from Egypt), the West Bank of the Jordan River, including East Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Golan Heights (from Syria). | ;Involved Forces | ||
Casualties - ~850 Israelis killed, 4,500 wounded. 10k-15k Egyptians killed, 4,300 capture. 700 Jordanian soldiers killed, 2,500 wounded. Syrians lost between 1k-2.5k, and about 450 captured. | ::*Egypt amassing 100,000 troops in the Sinai. | ||
1967 Palestinian exodus. | ::*Syria deploying 75,000 along their border with Israel. | ||
280k-325k Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, mostly resettled in Jordan, the other 700k remained. | ::*Jordanian Armed Forces totaled 55,000 troops. | ||
100k fled in the Golan Heights. | ::*100 Iraqi tanks and an infantry division readied near the Jordanian border, | ||
Israel granted full citizenship only to those in East Jerusalem (1967) and the Golan Heights (1981). Most Palestinians in territories declined to take citizenship. | :::along with two squadrons of Iraqi fighter-aircraft. | ||
Jews immigrating en masse out of the Soviet Union, and Jews leaving en masse from Arab countries (continued from 1948), and Jews leaving en masse from other Communist countries. | ::*Saudi Arabia mobilized a few forces for deployment to the Jordanian front. | ||
Extra links | ::*Arab air forces were also reinforced by aircraft from Libya, Algeria, Morocco, | ||
2017.05.17 - The Secret Transcripts of the Six-Day War, Part I | :::Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to make up for the first day losses of the war. | ||
2017.06.07 - Israeli Security Cabinet Secret Transcripts Part II, The Accidental Occupation | :::Volunteer pilots also came from the Pakistan Air Force. | ||
;Noteworthy Battle Things | |||
::*Surprise attack on Egyptian airfield guaranteed all but certain victory in the Sinai for Israel. | |||
::*IDF originally was to avoid Gaza strip/city, | |||
:::but attacks from that area forced the IDF to take over that territory. | |||
::*Jordanian Army was instructed to lay a two-hour barrage against military | |||
:::and civilian settlements in central Israel itself. | |||
::*Eshkol promised Israel would not initiate any action against Jordan if it stayed out of the way, but King Hussein refused. | |||
::*Jordanian shelling of Jerusalem resulted in 20 dead and 1,000 wounded civilians. | |||
::*Dayan ordered troops not to capture the Old City | |||
:::due to potential international backlash plus potential outrage of being forced to give back holy sites after capturing them. | |||
:::After hearing about the impending UN ceasefire, he changed his mind and captured it. | |||
::*"Fearful that Israeli soldiers would exact retribution for the 1929 massacre of the city's Jewish community, | |||
:::Hebron's residents flew white sheets from their windows and rooftops."" | |||
::*Syria entered the war on the assumption that Israel was losing dramatically to Egyptian forces. | |||
:::Nasser exaggerated/lied about Egyptian victory. | |||
::*Dayan, after hearing of the Syrian acceptance of a cease-fire, | |||
:::clears an invasion/occupation on his own into the Golan Heights. | |||
;Conclusion | |||
::*Israel seizes the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula (from Egypt), the West Bank of the Jordan River, | |||
:::including East Jerusalem (from Jordan), and the Golan Heights (from Syria). | |||
:::*Casualties - ~850 Israelis killed, 4,500 wounded. | |||
::::10k-15k Egyptians killed, 4,300 capture. | |||
::::700 Jordanian soldiers killed, 2,500 wounded. | |||
::::Syrians lost between 1k-2.5k, and about 450 captured. | |||
::*1967 Palestinian exodus. | |||
::*280k-325k Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, | |||
:::mostly resettled in Jordan, the other 700k remained. | |||
::*100k fled in the Golan Heights. | |||
::*Israel granted full citizenship only to those in East Jerusalem (1967) and the Golan Heights (1981). | |||
:::Most Palestinians in territories declined to take citizenship. | |||
::*Jews immigrating en masse out of the Soviet Union, | |||
:::and Jews leaving en masse from Arab countries (continued from 1948), | |||
:::and Jews leaving en masse from other Communist countries. | |||
;Extra links | |||
2017.05.17 - [https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/secret-transcripts-six-day-war-1 The Secret Transcripts of the Six-Day War, Part I] | |||
2017.06.07 - [https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/israel-middle-east/articles/israeli-security-cabinet-secret-transcripts-part-2 Israeli Security Cabinet Secret Transcripts Part II, The Accidental Occupation] | |||
|} | |} | ||
{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" | {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" |
Revision as of 04:29, 29 December 2023
The Positions Page, previously positions.destiny.gg, was a sub-section of the Destiny.gg website used by Destiny to provide a written log of various aspects of his political positions, personal life, and interactions with others in the streaming space. Destiny's Blog functioned similarly to his positions page.
Currently Destiny uses Obsidian to consolidate his thoughts and outline debate points/questions.
The following sections are the archived contents of the Positions page and the currently published Obsidian notes
written by Destiny.
Positions Page Archive:
Who am I? | My name is Steven Bonnell and my online handle across Twitch, YouTube and Instagram is Destiny. I'm most well known for my political content online, but I started my career as a Starcraft 2 livestreamer. Today I livestream most aspects of my life, including gaming, online debates, and canvassing for political change. Throughout my life I have always tried to ensure the consistency of my beliefs, and to test my ideas I would argue with others. |
My political advocacy | Starting in November of 2020, I attempted to spin up an organization to mobilize youth into direct, local political action. Our first efforts were in Georgia, where we knocked on over 20,000 doors in support of Jon Ossoff and Reverend Warnock. For my next effort, I wanted to focus on my hometown of Omaha, Nebraska to see if we could mobilize enough volunteers to get a progressive candidate elected to office. Unfortunately because of how people and news organizations mischaracterized my actions, I was forced to stop campaigning for my mayor of choice. I've also interviewed a number of individuals (1,2,3,4)running for state and local offices while exposing fraud in other candidates. |
Why this page exists | Many things are said about who I am or what I believe in. Oftentimes, people make absurd claims about my beliefs, such as that I advocate for the indiscriminate killing of BLM protestors, that I'm a nazi, that I'm a communist, etc. This is partially my fault as I have a history of being hyperbolic in some circumstances, and I often engage with people who aren't really interested in good faith conversations. Part of this is also due to my huge backlog of content and the nature of the internet - I understand that sifting through thousands of hours of debates to find my fully fleshed-out views is not a practical demand to make of people.
As I've evolved both in my political and social views, and as I've continued to produce more hours of content, it is now possible that you could cherry pick almost any 30 seconds of me to claim I represent any given political or social viewpoint. As such, it is necessary to take preventative measures against this, as I have dealt with such behavior already. In 2021, I committed myself to a strategy of being more rhetorically effective, especially concerning how people represent me or my beliefs. As a part of this strategy, the following pages are my effort to "set the record straight" insofar as my actual beliefs, as opposed to what others claim them to be. I'll include within these pages a record of most of my political and philosophical positions, as well as any positions I have relating to current events. |
Breonna Taylor | It is stated that Breonna Taylor was killed in her bed or while asleep almost ubiquitously across social media (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9) despite this not being the truth. What happened to Breonna Taylor was wrong, and the police conduct that day deserves to be called into question. However, starting that discussion with an incorrect description of what happened weakens our arguments against those on the right that disagree with us. This is because we now have to begin by making concessions about lies or misrepresentations from people who purport to agree with us. Furthermore, it casts doubt about the truth of the rest of the argument for those in the middle who are unsure of where the fault lies.
A user in my community, "DaSkrubKing," provides a detailed breakdown of what happened the night of Breonna Taylor's death. The key takeaways for what happened are: 1.Louisville police were serving a "knock and announce" warrant at Breonna Taylor's apartment thinking she would be the only one present. Breonna Taylor was neither asleep nor was she in bed when she was killed by police officers. This does not excuse their actions or make her death any less tragic, but stating that she was killed while she was asleep in her bed is simply incorrect. The claims we should be making about Breonna Taylor's death, which are grounded in the reality of the situation, are as follows: •It seems obvious that insufficient notice was given before the door was broken in. Only one neighbor reported hearing anything at all before police broke in the door. |
The GameStop short squeeze | I've written extensively on my view of the wallstreetbets "fight" with Melvin Capital over the GameStop stock. The summary of my position is essentially the following:
There was never any reason to believe a massive short squeeze was coming. The big winners were not "little retail traders." Robinhood did not halt trading to "protect hedge funds." Most alternative media figures/outlets got many fundamental facts of the case wrong. For a longer and more formal write-up of my view on the GME situation, see my write-up here: BrainStop. I've also done a video review of said document on my YouTube channel. |
Kyle Rittenhouse ("mowing down protestors") | In general, I do not support vigilantism. I think Kyle Rittenhouse was clearly misguided in his attempts to cross state borders and should have stayed home. I also think there are steps he could have taken to minimize the risk of him needing to discharge a firearm.
Of a larger 20+ minute debate with someone, a short 16 second clip was cut to make it sound as though I support violence against Black Lives Matter protesters when this couldn't be further from the truth. I am incredibly heated in this clip, but I am clear when I state that my main frustration is with the few rioters burning down private businesses and the idea that Trump's only path to victory was with continued arson and destruction of privately owned businesses across the US (full conversation in August of 2020 with context part clipped). I have always defended the existence of BLM and its purpose, sometimes in front of live audiences as the only liberal member on a panel.
(Jesse Lee Peterson panel in October of 2020|Conversation with call-in defending the existence and effectiveness of BLM's protests|Panel debate in August of 2020|Support in November of 2018 of Kaepernick kneeling in the NFL|Attacking Dave Rubin's criticisms of Kaepernick's protests in September 2017) I have continually defended protesting, and even rioting against public institutions while condemning the rioting/looting of private businesses, as I believe the latter feeds into Republican tactics to draw attention away from the overwhelmingly positive protests. (Discussion about Minneapolis protesting/looting in May of 2020|Debate with conservative/Neo-Nazi(?) Ethan Ralph in June 2020|Discussion on my stream in September of 2020) My specific issue in this debate was that I didn't believe it was morally acceptable to defend rioters destroying private businesses, regardless of their legitimate grievances with the local police. When I think of rioters attacking and destroying private property, I generally support citizens' rights to defend that property. I think back to the Korean-Americans that were defending their property in the '92 LA Riots, the Black Panthers in California defending their communities, or the tragedy of the "Black Wall Street" Tulsa massacre in 1921. I was especially moved by the frustrated, black local business owner who was screaming out in frustration about looters and rioters destroying his business in the '92 LA Riots.
It's incredibly frustrating that people have intentionally and maliciously misconstrued a 16 second cut from a larger conversation to make it sound as though I don't support the BLM protests or somehow approve of racist white people indiscriminately killing protesters when this is an issue that I have been ruthlessly consistent on throughout the years. I unequivocally support BLM's right to both protest and riot against the public institutions that they view as oppressive. I have not changed or wavered on this stance in years. |
The State of Political Discourse | In 2016, as Donald Trump was rising as a contender in the Republican primary, I noticed the political discourse online was so far removed from reality, people weren't having conversations in the same universe. My main goal in entering politics was to bring reasonableness into online political conversations, or to at least ground the disagreements in fact so the conversations could be more productive. Unfortunately, most of my conversations have been unproductive and hardly qualify as "intellectual discourse."
I believe most content creators suffer from the following problems: •They tend to be uninformed about the ideas they are discussing (e.g.: many lefties don't know Labor Value Theory; many online Republicans don't know anything about immigration or sociology). •Give an informed opinion about, or bring in experts or expert material concerning, current events and interesting topics. |
Affirmative Action | I don't have a strong position on affirmative action. It can be a powerful tool, but only when implemented properly; it is a political lightning rod which makes it very hard to reasonably discuss.
Affirmative action tends to run into trouble in universities where huge mismatch problems occur — minority students who are given too much preferential treatment in admissions will massively under-perform their peers, causing them to dropout at disproportionately high rates. Though some argue (1,2) in favor of aggressive affirmative action for higher education, they often only look at the enrollment rates as indicators of success, rather than actual college achievement. Outside of universities, one can go too far in forcing integration as well, for example: California's "woman quota" for corporate boards. Affirmative action programs that incentivize students to take part in additional education opportunities to prepare them for a college environment would be more in-line with my view of effective policy rather than simply shoving them into classrooms with more qualified peers and expecting them to perform at competitive levels. Additional reading:
-The author tracks down many of the black students in Columbia's class of 1973, some of the first who were enrolled as "affirmative action" became a more important social issue for universities to focus on. |
Diversity | Diversity is a good thing, and has been shown time and time again to benefit both countries (1,2) and companies (1,2,3,4,5,6). Countries and companies that engage in high levels of diversity seem to outperform their less diverse counterparts, and it seems to be the case that having a more diverse representation across your population and workforce can be an advantage in and of itself.
Though it seems hard to imagine, just having a more diverse workplace can be predictive of your ability to outperform average returns in a given environment (1,2). There are modern examples of avoidable problems that boil down to a company simply lacking a diverse team. One well-known example is racial discrimination that occurs in face recognition technology. Another example is soap dispensers not recognizing black hands over white hands. |
Global Warming | Global warming is real and anthropogenic (i.e.: caused by humans).
It seems that the best approach to dealing with climate change is with the aggressive incentivization of greener energies and the implementation of carbon pricing policies. The former polls incredibly well with Americans and the latter is almost universally agreed upon by economists to be effective in moving markets to aggressively seek out more carbon-neutral ways of operating (1). |
The Green New Deal | I do not support the Green New Deal, a policy championed by the Justice Democrats.
While I support strong action being taken to curb the effects of climate change, I don't necessarily think it's appropriate to pair these changes with other, non-environmental policies, e.g. a federal jobs guarantee. I think that climate change is a serious issue that needs to be addressed both through policies that have been demonstrated to work (e.g. cap and trade) and through innovative policies and technologies. |
Immigration | Coming soon! |
Illegal Immigration | It's incredibly hard to precisely measure the impact of illegal immigration, although it does appear that undocumented workers have a negative impact on state and local budgets and can apply some downward pressure on native wages (1,2).
The most effective way of dealing with illegal immigration would likely be some form of amnesty, similar to the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) signed into law by Ronald Reagan in 1986. The IRCA conferred benefits unto the workers who were able to adjust their status as well as to the state and local governments who were able to more effectively levy taxes, though it also had a small, negative impact on competing native workers and future immigrants and caused an increase in government transfer to the newly legalized population (1). Any well-designed amnesty program would do well to pay attention to these benefits and drawbacks to ensure that we can appropriately capture the benefits of any such amnesty in order to benefit the population as a whole, without causing targeted harm to more vulnerable sections of the labor force. |
International Trade Agreements | I am highly in favor of international trade agreements, especially large binding agreements like the now-dead Trans-Pacific Partnership that Obama championed. This is mostly for two reasons:
1.International cooperation — International trade agreements lay the groundwork for even more international trade agreements. Ever-increasing cooperation is one of the only hopes we have at solving global warming. |
Reparations | After the civil war, former slaves were promised 40 acres and a mule by William T. Sherman. This was approved by President Lincoln. Later, the federal government reneged on this promise, which seems pretty unfair.
There are many different reasons for wanting reparations, but I think that the best one is purely for the purposes of finally repaying a debt that was promised. Logistically, implementing reparations would be difficult (Who exactly gets the money? How much money is equivalent to 40 acres, adjusted for inflation?). I acknowledge that reparations are probably not politically feasible. |
Social Justice | It is incredibly important to incorporate notions of equity into our view of the world when it comes to enacting policy or new laws. I think it is vital to recognize that many people have had disadvantages throughout US history and that the outcomes of those disadvantages are still noticeable today. Any policy we design should take these differences into account. |
Systemic Racism | Systemic racism is racism embedded into a system. The important thing to note about systemic racism is that no-one in the system is necessarily to blame. For example, say that the hypothetical police force of Oceania was systemically racist — it had a computer system programmed to assign more police patrols to black neighborhoods than white neighborhoods. In this system, it is possible that every single police officer in the force is a black-loving certified anti-racist, yet the police would still be functioning as a racist institution.
We have strong evidence that there are some lingering forms of systemic racism in the United States. For example, by looking at maps of where redlining was practiced, we can see that the effects of redlining still affect outcomes (in a statistical, on-average way). Just like in Oceania, this doesn't necessarily mean that ordinary people are to blame. Of course, there are probably racist people in the country somewhere still in charge of bank loans or city planning — but, for the most part, I think that we have that sorted out. We need to focus on the more complicated problems. I believe that systemic racism clearly exists in some forms. I don't have a strong opinion on the best policies to address it. |
Voting | Voting is important.
People in America (and around the world) have problems right now that need to be solved. And that's best done by working within the current system, building coalitions with like-minded people, and voting for the best candidates (at both a local and a national level). |
Ideologies | |
---|---|
The Alt-Right | I do not support the alt-right, nor any of the prescriptions they make for society. I do believe it is important, however, to acknowledge some of the conditions that lead people to becoming radicalized (feeling disconnected from society, having no sense of purpose, feeling economically left behind, etc.) and how these beliefs translate into political action. I believe some on the alt-right are effective at identifying frustrations that one might have with our current economic or social system, but they offer no realistic solutions to any of these problems, and their explanations for said phenomena are often mired in anecdotes.
My debate with Erik Striker & James Allsup is emblematic of most discourse that I've had with alt-right figures; when confronted with challenges to their ideas, they retreat to anecdotes and offer no solutions. Most concerningly, the policy positions they offer for political change generally require some extreme amount of state-sponsored violence and are highly unrealistic in achieving any positive end. "Protecting our Demographics" Many on the far right express a great concern over protecting the demographic make-up of whatever community they reside in. They might allude to "western values," "white values," "euro-centric values" or some other type of "values" that they are trying to protect. Generally they state the reason to protect these values stems from both an earnest desire to preserve their culture as well as protecting their voting interests. I believe that this endeavor is futile for several reasons: •I reject the notion that there is a consistent and coherent definition of "American values." |
Capitalism | I consider myself to be a capitalist.
At a high-level, capitalism seems to be the best-known economic system to generate wealth. I believe the responsibility of any economic system should, first and foremost, be to allocate resources in an economy as efficiently as possible to create the largest possible base from which to draw taxes to redistribute to those who need it most. I recognize in many western countries, especially the United States, we seem to have a big problem with the "redistribution" part. There are different kinds of capitalism, ranging all the way from laissez-faire (e.g. free market) to state capitalism (e.g. China). Completely free-market systems have serious downsides (e.g. monopolies, unequal bargaining power) and don't properly account for negative externalities (e.g. pollution, global warming) without government intervention. Thus, I believe that capitalism should be tempered by a strong government that tries to correct for these problems, similar to how Nordic countries function. Not surprisingly, this is the economic model of nearly all advanced economies in the West. |
Libertarianism | Libertarianism is concerned with maximizing liberty and personal freedom. I viewed myself as a libertarian when I was a teenager and have read books by Ayn Rand.
I am still pro liberty and pro freedom, but my political views have evolved. Libertarianism does not seem to do a very good job at solving some major problems, like social inequality and global warming. The latter, in particular, seems likely only to be solved by regulation and governmental cooperation at a global level. |
"Omniliberalism" | In politics, it can be useful to know which particular ideology someone subscribes to. However, I do not fall perfectly in-line with any particular ideology. I describe myself as an Omni-Liberal, which is a made-up, tongue-in-cheek term to encapsulate the general position of:
•Having the core values of liberalism (e.g. freedom and equality). I don't feel dogmatically attached to any particular form of government or economic system. If it can be demonstrated that some economic system (socialism, capitalism, etc.) can consistently produce better economic and social outcomes for a given society, that would be the economic system I would advocate for. As of right now, I believe that free markets with strong social safety nets (see: Scandinavia) are the most effective way of achieving these ends. |
Populism | I do not support populism.
Populism is usually defined as "the people" versus "the elites." This happens on both the right (e.g. the alt-right & Donald Trump) and the left (e.g. Bernie-or-Busters). Populism is powerful because it feeds off negative emotions, but is often not based on facts. |
Socialism/Communism | -The Academic Arguments-
While exploring more socialist ideas I've come across a number of people attempting to defend their ideologies. I've had discussions with many people who identify as socialists, including Michael Albert (an economist, see this video), Ben Burgis (Jacobin columnist, see this video), and many, many more (Search YouTube for "destiny socialism").
•What level of violence is acceptable to attain a socialist state? •How do we decide which businesses are allowed to exist in a socialist society without allowing capital investment? •Is any form of investment whatsoever allowed in a socialist society? -How do businesses raise additional capital for expansion? If one wants to expand their business and open new stores, is it contingent upon them finding other workers willing to buy in and own part of one's new expansion of business? If that new expansion grows, is one diluting the ownership of one's current work force? Does one need to dilute every employee's ownership every time a new worker is brought in? How does that affect one's democratic leverage in the business? •How are labor markets determined in a socialist society? What if everyone wants to become a teacher? •How can we calculate which goods/services a nation needs if we do away with the commodity form?
While there are plenty of highly intelligent people who identify as socialists, my interactions with "online socialists" or "online lefties" from 2018 to 2020 have generally left me with a very low opinion of the community at large.
I don't believe anything is inherently wrong with co-ops, and I support them in the cases where they lead to greater economic productivity. Despite the slight increase in productivity, however, there doesn't seem to be any good way for co-ops to effectively raise capital. Also, I still question whether co-ops would retain their benefits if everyone in society were to join one, rather than the select few people that have the necessary capital and/or skills to join one of the few co-ops that exist today.
All government policies have pros and cons. As citizens, our best course of action is to debate these policies to determine which will be the most effective and to pressure our representatives to push those that are politically feasible. Inversely, most socialists that I talk to have no actual policy positions. They: •live in a land of fantasy where all capital is abolished |
Why Philosophy is Important | When doing online debate about politics, it is extremely important to have a philosophical foundation from which to draw practical conclusions. Politics is downstream from philosophy, and you could argue that it is simply the practice of applied philosophy on a societal level. While I have no formal education in philosophy, through the use of resources such as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Wikipedia articles, I have taken pains to construct some sort of philosophical heuristic to solve policy issues. This has allowed me to more effectively understand my own and others' arguments through the underlying philosophical values and processes at play, as well as create a consistent set of rules to abide by when evaluating various political issues.
My applied political positions always follow from my moral system. I think the world would be a better place if people reflected more on their internal, fundamental values and used those as guiding principles to establish their political values, rather than blindly following an ideologue, or using inherited positions from their parents, religion, country, or party. A lot of political debate boils down to either having some differing, fundamental position, or a disagreement on some empirical claim. Instead of two people arguing at a surface level about an issue, it is sometimes more useful to dive down to try and figure out what the other person actually believes at a fundamental level. A great example of this is abortion — people will often debate back and forth about the legality of abortion while ignoring that they fundamentally disagree on whether or not a fetus should carry the same (or similar) moral consideration as an infant child. |
My Foundational Beliefs | I have a video where I break down how I construct my philosophical worldview, which I highly recommend watching for a fleshed-out understanding of my position. However, if you don't have the time to watch now, here is a short and incredibly basic summary of my philosophical foundations:
•Part I i.I exist. •Part II •Part III I don't believe that moral facts exist, or if they do, I don't believe they are perceivable to us. Therefor, I build all of my policy positions from this fundamental moral framework. I think about policy positions in a similar way that Rawls' veil of ignorance would demand of us — society should be constructed in a way that maximizes the experience of as many people possible. This means satisfying as many people's needs and desires as possible, so as to incentivize everyone's participation in our society. I view this as being similar to a sort of Pareto efficiency that could exist in how we reallocate goods and services with government policy. |
On Maximizing One's Experience | Within the statements of my foundational beliefs, I often talk about maximizing one's own experience and helping others maximize theirs. I often run into a problem where people assume the most naive construction of this idea possible. It is assumed, especially when words like "hedonism" and "egoism" get used, that I conceptualize a moral world to be one where everyone just does whatever they want, be it murdering, stealing, etc. because it makes them happy. It is also assumed that I make no distinction between "lower and higher" pleasures. This is obviously a ridiculous position to hold, and just a slightly fairer reading will get us to construct more reasonable interpretations of what it means to "maximize" one's experience.
A thought experiment I often use is the following: You and four friends enter a room with five candy bars. You can either eat all of the candy bars because it would "maximize your experience," or you could share the candy equally. The naive construction of my belief would entail the former, but let's think about the consequences of this. My friends are now unhappy, they might not want to be friends with me anymore, next time they won't share with me, and really the outcome is in the long run (and potentially even immediately) I have certainly NOT maximized my experience. My friends being sad would make me sad, them not being friends with me anymore would be upsetting, you can imagine the rest. It's clear then, when I say "maximizing experience," that we have to take a more intelligent, long-term, holistic view towards what this actually means. If I start with 0 utils, and I can get 100 now or 25 every year for the rest of my life, in four years I have already surpassed the experience maximization potential of the first option. If I do something that makes me happy at the detriment of those around me which makes my experience at the end a net negative anyway, clearly I haven't maximized my experience. I would hope that this is straightforward and obvious to understand, however it appears to be a tripping point either due to lack of thought or bad faith on the part of many people I interact with. |
Violence | I am generally opposed to violence as I don't believe it is an effective way to accomplish political change, at least not at this point in time in the United States. That being said, I believe there are plenty of groups of people who could, at points, justify the use of violence in self-defense, even if I don't believe it would be a pragmatic or politically effective thing to do. |
Defense of Property | I believe that people have a right to defend their property insofar as three important criteria are met:
1.You possess the property in a way that your state and community recognizes your possession. -For example, if someone wants to destroy your local business or your house, then you have a right to defend your property by all means necessary. Many disagreements over whether or not defense of personal property is justified sometimes appear to boil down to a difference of underlying values. The value in question is whether "property can be valued over human life", or some statement to that effect. In my experience, middle-class and well-off people may underestimate the personal sacrifice and the years of time invested into obtaining a business, a car, or even something as simple as a stereo system or a school instrument. As such, they will argue that no matter the value and sacrifice associated with some property, even in the case of people living in poverty, the life of the thief always outweighs said value. This is a conclusion I take issue with. |
Protesting & Rioting | I ardently believe in a people's right to protest and I will always support the right to protest, even if I don't necessarily agree with positions being advocated for by any particular protest. For example, I would support the right of a pro-life group protesting the right to an abortion, but I wouldn't agree with the message of the pro-life group: that abortion is immoral, or should be outlawed.
Rioting is a slightly more complicated matter. When I speak about rioting, I am more precisely talking about protest that have some level of violence involved, namely that of property destruction. I do not support riots which seek to harm individuals in the United States at this point in time. I only support rioting against institutions that represent some oppressive force in society, so I generally only support rioting against public institutions, e.g. a police department, city hall, etc. It's not inconceivable that I would support a riot against a private institution, but only if that private institution was acting in an illegal manner.
MLK is commonly cited as opposition to my position on riots, however, I believe this is due to misunderstanding selective quotes from MLK. I believe a broader understanding of his speeches reveals to us that he was opposed to violent riots throughout his life, even as he condemned the conditions bringing them about. September 1966 talk with Mike Wallace MIKE WALLACE: There's an increasingly vocal minority who disagree totally with your tactics, Dr. King. KING: There's no doubt about that. I will agree that there is a group in the Negro community advocating violence now. I happen to feel that this group represents a numerical minority. Surveys have revealed this. The vast majority of Negroes still feel that the best way to deal with the dilemma that we face in this country is through non-violent resistance, and I don't think this vocal group will be able to make a real dent in the Negro community in terms of swaying 22 million Negroes to this particular point of view. And I contend that the cry of "black power" is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. And, what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. April 1967 speech to Stanford University -But at the same time, it is as necessary for me to be as vigorous in condemning the conditions which cause persons to feel that they must engage in riotous activities as it is for me to condemn riots. I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. 1967 lecture "Nonviolence and Social Change" March 1968 speech at Grosse Pointe High School, "The Other America" |
Public vs Private Humor | I enjoy all types of comedy, even if it's dark or offensive. Regardless of how I feel, there is a wide chasm between the types of humor that I enjoy privately and the types of humor I believe are responsibly enjoyed publicly. I believe that public figures have to be more careful when engaging with potentially problematic types of humor because one cannot control the audience that may engage with particular types of humor. As public figures, we should avoid empowering groups of people who have ideologies rooted in values contradicting our own, even in speech/actions where we do not intend to do so but it still has that effect.
An example of a type of "edgy joke" might be the way I engage with a close friend relating to gender/sexuality/race. It might be an "inside joke" in private where my friend and I have cleared with each other that it's okay to joke about certain topics (e.g., my friend joking about me being Cuban, me joking about them being black, etc.). If we were to engage in these types of humor publicly without a large number of disclaimers, it's entirely possible that people could take these jokes the wrong way and engage with them problematically, e.g. "I heard Destiny make fun of xyz for being gay, now I'm going to make fun of other gay people because it was funny!" Because of certain people obsessively trying to get "optics victories" over me, this entire argument becomes reframed by them as "Destiny wants to say the n-word in private." I don't regularly use any hateful language in private, especially because I just don't know many jokes involving hateful language. However, that's not to say that that there aren't any examples of such jokes. |
Incest | "Incest" as a topic has been explored quite extensively on my stream as a way to illustrate the concept of "moral dumbfounding", i.e. you have a feeling that something is immoral or "wrong," but find you're unable to explain exactly why you feel that way. It seems hard, when pressed, to explain exactly why an incestuous relationship is wrong without appealing to other arguments that aren't intrinsic to these kinds of relationships. For example: parent/child (these are wrong due to power differences or underage parties, not necessarily the fact that they are incestuous), or situations involving reproduction (these may be "wrong" due to the potential for offspring with increased risk of birth defects being created, though this could have logical implications for other kinds of eugenics).
I've used this topic several times on stream to see if someone is capable of actually engaging with the topic, though it generally devolves into people screaming at me while claiming I want "fathers fucking daughters" or something similarly absurd. It is a useful measure of someone's ability to engage with arguments in good faith, question their own worldview, and engage with the logic of ethical matters. While I usually frame the argument from a position of moral neutrality, I have previously made clear that I am not in favour of incestual relationships and provided what I believe to be logical arguments for this. |
Child Pornography | I do not support child pornography and I ardently argue against all forms of adult-child sexual relationships (pedophilia).
During a longer discussion I had arguing in favor of age-of-consent laws with Amos Yee, there is a small section where Amos Yee questioned whether child pornography could ever be used in a positive manner. I'd been made familiar with some research indicating it was possible that this could be the case (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), though there would obviously be significant hurdles doing this in an ethical manner. It would be essential to ensure that no new pornography abusing minors would be created and that anything being used as part of any therapy was obtained in an ethical manner, though it's hard to imagine how this would even be possible. In entertaining this scenario, many who argue against me online are quick to claim that I "advocate for ethical child pornography" or some other reductive statement, though none of these claims are true. |
Kaceytron | Coming soon! |
Jack Allison | Jack Allison is an internet podcaster/ex-Jimmy Kimmel writer who is definitely not mad and who is currently banned from using Twitter by his wife originalbackup.
Despite his time-out from social media, Jack still finds time to obsess over what I do both on and off stream. After I took a step back from my canvassing efforts in Omaha, Jack took it upon himself to email me to celebrate. Unsatisfied with the lack of attention he received for his wacky antics, he created a fake reddit account to further our interactions by impersonating a photographer of WOWT, a local media station in Omaha. My web dev, Cake, pulled some information from our back-end to confirm this dastardly ploy. Jack — I mean, Brandon, flexes his prior media training and asks me what appears to be several thoughtful questions regarding my canvassing experiment in Omaha. I do my best to respond in good faith (these are the linked "off the record" logs), but little did I know...it was all a ruse! After thoroughly owning me, Jack takes to Reddit on his account to expose me for my crimes, though he unfortunately doesn't have the required karma to post on his new account. Since he can't seem to make progress on Reddit, he decides to create a fake Twitter (backup from the now deleted account) to tweet about his fake Reddit account's fake email that he sent to me to a whole bunch of people on Twitter, himself included. Unfortunately for Jack, he accidentally leaks on his stream that he's logged in to the very Reddit account he was masquerading under. Unlucky! And definitely not mad. |
College | I attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha and majored in woodwind performance but eventually dropped out due to conflict with work at the time.
In general, I do not think that people need to have a college degree in order to have good opinions or to know what they are talking about. Over the past several years of debate and conversation my respect for college-educated individuals has significantly dropped. That being said, a formal education certainly doesn't hurt. I think laymen should generally defer to the consensus of experts. A good example of this can be found in my discussion with Vegan Gains. |
My Family | I have a son called Nathaniel with my ex-girlfriend, Rachel. My ex-girlfriend and I broke up a long time ago due to our toxic relationship, but we are on good terms today and get along well with each other. I have an ex-wife as well, but she is not the mother of my child. |
My Relationship | Melina is my wife. We met in New Zealand when she was 20 years old and I was 30 years old.
Melina and I are currently in an open/poly relationship. We treat each other as primary partners, though we may pursue other sexual/romantic relationships as well. |
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General notes
Three Sources of International Law
Annex Cuba Roosevelt??? |
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