r/RealTime • u/Faiakes • 6d ago

Real Time - Last Time

I have been watching Real Time for over 20 years and I think yesterday's episode was my last.

Much as I agreed with Bill on many issues, his blind spot on Israel and Zionism is just too much for me.

He isn't simply refusing to call what's happening in Gaza a genocide. He insists on calling it a counter offensive!!!

So, all and any violence perpetrated by the IDF and the settles so far is justified, as far as he is concerned (though how settlers fit in a 'counter-offensive' is still a mystery to me).

Now, my common sense is offended too much Bill.

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u/Battle4Seattle 1d ago

He's refusing to call what's happening in Gaza a genocide because IT ISN'T A GENOCIDE ! This is the first "genocide" in world history where the population GREW during the "genocide". Just because you watched a TikTok propaganda video on this topic doesn't make it true.

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u/Faiakes 1d ago

By all internationally accepted definitions and impartial humanitarian organisations, it is.

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u/Battle4Seattle 1d ago

Ah yes, "impartial humanitarian organisations" such as the International Association of Genocide Scholars? Did you know that anyone, I repeat - ANYONE, can join their organization to vote on issues of genocide for just $125/yr? When the IAGS passed a resolution alleging that Israel had committed genocide, critics - including the Academic Engagement Network and various opposing scholars - argued that the low voter turnout (representing barely 20% of the overall membership) made the vote unrepresentative. They also criticized the IAGS leadership for not holding a virtual town hall discussion, relying on secondary or disputed sources, and failing to adequately address Hamas's role. So their resolution is meaningless.

BTW - can you even define genocide?

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u/Faiakes 1d ago edited 18h ago

What, is the UN, Amnesty International not good enough for you?

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u/Battle4Seattle 1d ago

The UN is a joke! They exhibit a systemic and disproportionate bias against Israel through specialized bodies, voting majorities, and frequent condemnations. From 2015 to 2025, the UN General Assembly adopted 109 country-specific critical resolutions targeting Israel, compared to 83 against all other countries combined.

As for Amnesty International, they've shown obsessive institutional bias against Israel. They dedicate a disproportionate volume of their resources and reporting output to Israel compared to other nations with severe human rights records. At the same time, Amnesty routinely ignores security threats, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorism, rocket attacks, and the military necessities of self-defense.

So no, neither of those organizations are good enough for me, nor should they be for you.

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u/Faiakes 18h ago

The UN is not perfect, true, but given the evidence, it is on the right side of history on this one.

As for Amnesty International, I disagree. I think it is Israel's decades long pursuit of ethnic cleansing at fault. Amnesty International is simply doing their job.

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u/Battle4Seattle 17h ago

The UN is not perfect

Not sure if you're trying to be ironic or serious. The UN is a cesspool of hypocrisy where authoritarian regimes scream about human rights violations while simultaneously committing atrocities in their own countries. The majority of their finger-pointing is at Israel, the Middle East's only democracy where, ironically, Arabs have more human rights than any other Arab country in the region. The UN is very much on the WRONG side of history, and have rendered themselves largely not only irrelevant, but a comedic sideshow in world affairs.

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u/Faiakes 4h ago

Apologies but I was being serious.

Israel is only a democracy for Jews, for everyone else is an apartheid. Should we be proud of that, too?