• reversebananimals@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    85
    ·
    6 months ago

    Please don’t call things you don’t like terrorism. Calls to boycott Target are not terrorism in the same way that calls to divest from Israeli companies are also not terrorism.

    I don’t want to live in the V For Vendetta universe where anything the people in power don’t like is considered terrorism. I’m sure you don’t either.

    And before you attack my character and call me a sympathizer - no. I’m gay. These ppl are stupid for getting mad about pride. But it’s not fucking terrorism.

    • deadtom@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      91
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      6 months ago

      May 2023 - “Target removes some Pride Month products after threats against employees” https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/1177963864/target-pride-month-lgbtq-products-threats

      Terrorism is an appropriate word here. Threats of violence to achieve political goals. They threatened employees with violence because the store chose to offer those items. I’m not really sure how much more clear cut it can get. Terrorism isn’t just killing people.

      terrorism /tĕr′ə-rĭz″əm/ noun

      • The use of violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political goals.
      • The act of terrorizing, or state of being terrorized; a mode of government by terror or intimidation.
      • The practice of coercing governments to accede to political demands by committing violence on civilian targets; any similar use of violence to achieve goals.
      • The deliberate commission of an act of violence to create an emotional response through the suffering of the victims in the furtherance of a political or social agenda.
      • Violence against civilians to achieve military or political objectives.
      • A psychological strategy of war for gaining political or religious ends by deliberately creating a climate of fear among the population of a state.
      • The calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.
      • reversebananimals@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        76
        ·
        6 months ago

        You sound exactly like the people on /pol/ explaining how Palestine protestors and BLM protestors are terrorists. Same talking points as the average trumper.

        • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          47
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 months ago

          Target received a lot of fucking death threats for pride last year - there have definitely been awful people in the pro-Palestine protests that have threatened personal violence but those people are rare and called out by other protesters.

          The Target protests were predicated on violence - the Gaza protests are predicated on peace and only threaten economic damage. One of these things is terrorism and one isn’t.

        • deadtom@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          30
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 months ago

          Yeah man, referencing the dictionary and how a word is used vs the nonsense framing you’ve chosen. Some crazy shit.

        • drunkpostdisaster@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          10
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          6 months ago

          If a cop takes one in the dome that is one thing. The problem is that conservatives like to gun down innocent people who did not make an effort to take on a ‘dangerous’ job.

    • bamboo@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      3
      ·
      6 months ago

      The terrorism and terrorist labels are already selectively applied by people in power in a way that means little more than “people we don’t like”. Take for example how the west don’t consider organizations like the IDF terrorists, but do consider Hamas to be terrorists, despite their activities being widely protected under international law. Or consider how Yemen’s government has had the label applied and removed based on concessions given to the US.

      • xmunk@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        6 months ago

        I agree that those labels are flippantly defined but Hamas (while having a political wing) definitely has a terrorist wing. Palestinians deserve defending but Hamas isn’t worth your breath.

        • bamboo@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          5
          arrow-down
          2
          ·
          6 months ago

          I’m not trying to imply a moral judgement here over whether or not Hamas is good or not. All I’m claiming is that as an indigenous group resisting foreign occupation, Hamas’ activities, including armed resistance, are protected under international law. And that the west considers them terrorists despite this shows that not violating international law itself isn’t grounds to be considered a terrorist or not. The point is the distinction is purely whether the west likes them or not.

          • borari@lemmy.dbzer0.com
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            6
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            6 months ago

            Bro, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 by force of arms aimed at fellow Palestinians. It’s not just the west either, Hamas was born out of the Muslim Brotherhood in the 1980s, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by multiple countries including Eygpt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Putting aside everything that’s happened since October of last year, Hamas is made up of some really shitty, evil people. Their founding principles aren’t just freedom from Israel, the destruction of Israel, or even the killing of all Israelis. One of their missions, since the organization was founded in the 1980s, is to kill all Jews worldwide. Surely we can agree on that not being an organization worth our support.

            I can support Palestines without supporting Hamas just like I can support Jews without supporting the Israeli state.

    • disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      6 months ago

      True. We can be honest about what this is too. Target isn’t supporting LGBTQ+ rights with this. They’re exploiting the community. If they really wanted to support, they’d donate the profits to HRC.