avatarJohnny Silvercloud

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y” operators, regardless of how competent they are at shooting and organizing an insurgency.</p><p id="5b5b">Even with myself as a 20-year U.S. Army veteran — if I took up arms against an invading army, <i>I’m still not military.</i> I’m not a representative of the U.S. government.</p><p id="a4d7">Civilians are not military personnel. This is why the American military always distinguishes between insurgents and actual military professionals. In Vietnam, insurgents were called VC (Viet Cong) while actual North Vietnamese soldiers were called NVA. In Afghanistan, we made the distinction between the Taliban and Al Qaeda (AQ). In Iraq, we made the distinction between the Iraqi military and insurgents. Civilians — armed or not — are not military personnel. They are not representatives of the government or governing entity.</p><p id="2550">So this brings us to my question: how is the government of Israel counting Hamas bodies?</p><figure id="de9f"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*Auihv551WCfAGQi2RdRK8w.jpeg"><figcaption>End the War on Gaza Protest, Washington DC. 13 Jan 2024 / Photography Credit: <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Johnny+Silvercloud?rid=195075270">Johnny Silvercloud</a></figcaption></figure><p id="83da">Currently, by the time of publishing this article, 28,340 Palestinians <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/israel-opt-new-evidence-of-unlawful-israeli-attacks-in-gaza-causing-mass-civilian-casualties-amid-real-risk-of-genocide/">were murdered</a> by Israel, with many killed by Israeli/American bombs. More than <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/live-blog/israel-hamas-war-live-updates-rcna138339">67,700</a> have been injured, and thousands more are missing, or presumed dead. And you know what? The numbers are approximate, and the numbers are probably <i>far</i> <i>more</i> <i>than that</i>.</p><p id="0c84">The government of Israel claims to have killed about 10,000 Hamas operators. How are they coming up with that number? So technically they are saying that Hamas is 35% of the people they’ve killed. That just doesn’t cut it; it doesn't make sense. Are the Israeli Soldiers digging Palestinians out from the rubble of freshly bombed buildings, sporting a clean Hamas headband? Is there a Hamas ID card they’re finding in wallets or something? If they are killing so many Hamas fighters, then what are the names of the Hamas dead? How are they being

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confirmed?</p><p id="4f21">Even further, if Israel <a href="https://apnews.com/article/lebanon-beirut-explosion-suburbs-hezbollah-israel-2a43fe948e8cb49c64b34bb963d77f64">killed Hamas</a> leadership in Beirut, on top of continuing to <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/10/figure-close-to-hamas-survives-israeli-strike-in-lebanon-2-others-killed">target Hamas</a> in Lebanon, then what is all the bombing of Gaza for?</p><p id="d4d0">I don’t think Israel is counting the dead accurately. Why would they? They can do whatever they want.</p><h1 id="6d83">Final Thoughts</h1><p id="fb04">Israel is currently destroying Rafah, the last and final urbanized area of Gaza, which is its southernmost portion, right by the Egyptian border. This is a location where Israeli authorities told refugees and noncombatants to go for safety. Israel lied.</p><p id="5d3c">This is an ethnic cleansing — <b>genocide</b> — taking place right before your eyes. If you’re wondering how the Holocaust happened, how American slavery happened, and how the lynchings of Jim Crow America happened, it’s because of the collective silence of the majority. Turning a blind eye, believing lies. This is how genocide occurs.</p><p id="bbbc">Israel’s count on how many Hamas fighters they’ve killed is bullshit. Everyone holding a gun isn’t Hamas; as Americans, I’m sure you can imagine what the gun-owning American public would do if the United States were to be invaded. Palestinians have the right to self-defense, just like how Americans would if invaded. Therefore, you can’t just count every found gun near a body as a Hamas fighter. No war in world history works like that.</p><p id="5a49">But, again, the government of Israel’s numbers are bullshit. They are not even trying to confirm whether those they kill are Hamas or not. They don’t care who they murder, because mass murder — genocide — is the point.</p><p id="2d48">I can’t turn a blind eye. I can’t pretend they are telling the truth. Because real eyes realize Israel, lies.</p><p id="c435"><i>I speak on power, protest, and politics. <a href="https://johnnysilvercloud.medium.com/subscribe">Subscribe.</a> </i><i>Consider my <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/Johnny+Silvercloud?rid=195075270">activism photography</a> to augment your written work. </i><i>Check me out <a href="https://www.instagram.com/johnnysilvercloud/">on Instagram</a>, and throw your hands up to show love.</i></p></article></body>

“While ur Bottles Pop, Bombs Drop.” End the War on Gaza Protest, Washington DC 31 Dec 2023 / Photography Credit: Johnny Silvercloud

How Is the Government of Israel Counting Hamas Fighters?

Because it’s pretty difficult to call everyone you kill Hamas under tons of building rubble

This has been a question I’ve been wondering for a while because it really doesn’t make sense when you begin to use your brain. How is Israel counting Hamas fighters? How are they counting those they kill? Are they just making shit up? That’s not going to pass the bullshit alarm. Are they calling everyone with a gun Hamas? That’s not going to be accurate.

Let me help you understand what I’m saying.

Imagine Russians invading the United States. Naturally, they would have many groups that could be considered adversaries to their invading armies. Of course, there will be the U.S. military. There will also be militarized civilians, like the police and sheriff departments. You have intelligence agencies, like the FBI and CIA (the latter operates outside of the United States, but if invaded, they will fight, too). Lastly, you will have a lot of gun-owning civilians taking every opportunity to shoot at the invading Russian forces. The measure of gun ownership in America is said to make our nation impossible to successfully invade.

U.S. Soldiers were deployed to the streets of Washington DC during the Biden Inauguration. 15 Jan 2021 / Photography Credit: Johnny Silvercloud

So, if Russians counted the U.S. Army dead as military dead, we get that. If Russians counted intelligence and law enforcement agencies as American “military” dead, I think we can give them a pass for that, being that they are, in fact, agents of the U.S. government — local, state, or federal.

But civilians? I think we can all draw the line at calling civilians “military” operators, regardless of how competent they are at shooting and organizing an insurgency.

Even with myself as a 20-year U.S. Army veteran — if I took up arms against an invading army, I’m still not military. I’m not a representative of the U.S. government.

Civilians are not military personnel. This is why the American military always distinguishes between insurgents and actual military professionals. In Vietnam, insurgents were called VC (Viet Cong) while actual North Vietnamese soldiers were called NVA. In Afghanistan, we made the distinction between the Taliban and Al Qaeda (AQ). In Iraq, we made the distinction between the Iraqi military and insurgents. Civilians — armed or not — are not military personnel. They are not representatives of the government or governing entity.

So this brings us to my question: how is the government of Israel counting Hamas bodies?

End the War on Gaza Protest, Washington DC. 13 Jan 2024 / Photography Credit: Johnny Silvercloud

Currently, by the time of publishing this article, 28,340 Palestinians were murdered by Israel, with many killed by Israeli/American bombs. More than 67,700 have been injured, and thousands more are missing, or presumed dead. And you know what? The numbers are approximate, and the numbers are probably far more than that.

The government of Israel claims to have killed about 10,000 Hamas operators. How are they coming up with that number? So technically they are saying that Hamas is 35% of the people they’ve killed. That just doesn’t cut it; it doesn't make sense. Are the Israeli Soldiers digging Palestinians out from the rubble of freshly bombed buildings, sporting a clean Hamas headband? Is there a Hamas ID card they’re finding in wallets or something? If they are killing so many Hamas fighters, then what are the names of the Hamas dead? How are they being confirmed?

Even further, if Israel killed Hamas leadership in Beirut, on top of continuing to target Hamas in Lebanon, then what is all the bombing of Gaza for?

I don’t think Israel is counting the dead accurately. Why would they? They can do whatever they want.

Final Thoughts

Israel is currently destroying Rafah, the last and final urbanized area of Gaza, which is its southernmost portion, right by the Egyptian border. This is a location where Israeli authorities told refugees and noncombatants to go for safety. Israel lied.

This is an ethnic cleansing — genocide — taking place right before your eyes. If you’re wondering how the Holocaust happened, how American slavery happened, and how the lynchings of Jim Crow America happened, it’s because of the collective silence of the majority. Turning a blind eye, believing lies. This is how genocide occurs.

Israel’s count on how many Hamas fighters they’ve killed is bullshit. Everyone holding a gun isn’t Hamas; as Americans, I’m sure you can imagine what the gun-owning American public would do if the United States were to be invaded. Palestinians have the right to self-defense, just like how Americans would if invaded. Therefore, you can’t just count every found gun near a body as a Hamas fighter. No war in world history works like that.

But, again, the government of Israel’s numbers are bullshit. They are not even trying to confirm whether those they kill are Hamas or not. They don’t care who they murder, because mass murder — genocide — is the point.

I can’t turn a blind eye. I can’t pretend they are telling the truth. Because real eyes realize Israel, lies.

I speak on power, protest, and politics. Subscribe. Consider my activism photography to augment your written work. Check me out on Instagram, and throw your hands up to show love.

Israel
Hamas
Palestine
Politics
War
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