# Smapti is Pitted **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 21, 2014, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907 "2014-05-21T08:14:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 94
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1861 "2024-12-28T16:23:34Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > Seems like hate speech to me, even in the Pit. Most definitely, and I hope he gets one of the rare warnings from Miller. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1862 "2024-12-28T16:24:29Z")
This is disgusting and runs contrary to Jewish tradition. Before Passover, there is the Fast Of The Firstborn. Firstborn Jewish sons spend a day in fasting and mourning in memory of the innocents who died in the tenth plague. Additionally, a Jewish folktale (this folktale is several thousand years old. But, it is not canon) that says when G-d closed the Red Sea over the Egyptian army, the angels rejoiced and cheered. G-d was angry with them and asked “How can you rejoice? My children are drowning!” ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1863 "2024-12-28T16:25:55Z")
~~Maybe take posts like that, to that thread and not have them in this one?~~ ~~The Gaza/Hamas/Israel stuff does not belong here.~~ ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1864 "2024-12-28T16:44:51Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > The Gaza/Hamas/Israel stuff does not belong here. Reaction to that belonged perfectly cromulently in the Pit thread for that it came from on that very topic, and @puzzlegal has very sensibly followed up there: > [@Discussion for the Israel-Hamas War: A thread in the Pit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-for-the-israel-hamas-war-a-thread-in-the-pit/992653/2211): > > That is a really ugly thing to say about a group of human beings. Even about human beings who are each individually culpable of something bad. And Gazans, whether or not you consider them an ethnicity, are not defined by their actions but by accidents of birth and residence. Gazans are a group of human beings with widely varying backgrounds. There are newborn Gazans, and pacifist Gazans. There are lots of Gazans who aren’t culpable of anything deserving death. Even Israel claims that every Gaz… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1865 "2024-12-28T16:50:13Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > There’s already a perfectly cromulent Pit thread for Smapti, > [@Smapti is Pitted](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907): > > The rules of the pit forbid me from truly expressing my hatred for this sniveling, spineless piece of shit, so I shall attempt to work around that. Smapti has never met a war crime he didn’t like. He is a coward who would destroy everything America should be to protect himself from a handful of incompetent cave-dwellers. He believes that all blame for the misdeeds of his beloved CIA and NSA should lie with those who refuse to whitewash their crimes, and not with the individuals who spend their … ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1866 "2024-12-28T20:42:17Z")
Just to note that that OP is from May 2014. Plus ça change… ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1867 "2024-12-28T22:15:35Z")
For crying out loud. I refer you to the definition of hate speech in the board rules; > [@SDMB rules 9/12/2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-rules-9-12-2023/990013/1): > > Do not post hate speech directed against any race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or other group identity (except for political affiliation or leaning) in any forum. My statement was not about “Gazans”. It was about Hamas, which is a political group and specifically exempt from the rule. To read what I said as hate speech requires assuming that “Gazan” and “Hamas” are synonyms, and that sounds pretty hateful to me. Hamas are pests. They contribute nothing but death and terror. Lots of organizations and groups can be called pests. If I said that eradicating Nazis is pest control, would that be hateful? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1868 "2024-12-28T22:21:02Z")
Yes. Humans may be evil – in fact I think we’re probably the only species we know of that can be evil – but humans are still humans. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1869 "2024-12-28T22:23:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > My statement was not about “Gazans”. …here’s the full context of that statement: > [@Discussion for the Israel-Hamas War: A thread in the Pit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-for-the-israel-hamas-war-a-thread-in-the-pit/992653/2205): > > > [@Discussion for the Israel-Hamas War: A thread in the Pit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-for-the-israel-hamas-war-a-thread-in-the-pit/992653/2204): > > > > What Israel is doing in Gaza is a genocide > > What Israel is doing is _pest control_. You can’t blame anyone else _but yourself_ for how people are reading your statement. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1870 "2024-12-28T22:24:17Z")
I don’t want to argue the Gaza war here. But when one person says, “look at all these innocent bystanders being killed” and the response is, “Israel is doing pest control”, it sure as hell reads like you consider all those killed to be “pests”. If you actually meant only Hamas, and not the rest of the Gazans being killed, i think you owe the rest of us an apology for stating your opinion really really badly. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1871 "2024-12-28T22:30:40Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > But when one person says, “look at all these innocent bystanders being killed” and the response is, “Israel is doing pest control”, it sure as hell reads like you consider all those killed to be “pests”. As noted by another poster in that thread, the “innocent bystanders” in question were known Hamas/IJ associates, the hospital was a Hamas base of operations, and this all occurred within an evacuated zone, meaning that there shouldn’t even be any bystanders there in the first place - anyone defying the order can and likely will be considered a combatant. > [@puzzlegal](#): > > you actually meant only Hamas, and not the rest of the Gazans being killed, i think you owe the rest of us an apology for stating your opinion really really badly. Very well. I’m sorry for not speaking more clearly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1872 "2024-12-28T23:15:50Z")
Apology not accepted until you directly state what you actually meant to say instead. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1873 "2024-12-28T23:39:11Z")
What I meant to say is that Hamas, the political organization and not any ethnic or religious group, are a pestilence and Israel taking them out is an objective good. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1874 "2024-12-28T23:43:27Z")
And what percentage of people in that area that Israeli troops have hurt and/or killed have been members of that Hamas political organization? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1875 "2024-12-28T23:45:15Z")
I don’t know and the answer is likely unknowable. The Gaza health ministry is controlled by Hamas and its numbers are inherently untrustworthy, and Israel also has cause to misrepresent the numbers. Collateral damage is regrettable but unavoidable, especially when one side openly uses civilians as human shields. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1876 "2024-12-28T23:49:34Z")
Until you _do_ know, or at least have a good idea, I would suggest that you shut the fuck up and quit making blind assumptions based on the unsubstantiated claims made by one side. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1877 "2024-12-28T23:52:27Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Until you _do_ know, or at least have a good idea, I would suggest that you shut the fuck up and quit making blind assumptions based on the unsubstantiated claims made by one side Does that also apply to people shouting “GENOCIDE!” on the basis of blatant propaganda engendered by Hamas and boosted by Russia, Iran, and their proxies? Because that’s what the “genocide” narrative has been all along - a Russian disinfo campaign intended to erode trust in western institutions and get Donald Trump elected. And they succeeded. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2024, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1878 "2024-12-28T23:57:49Z")
If it applies to one side, then it applies to the other side if the same methods are used. If you claim this of them and ask them to stop, then it logically follows that you stop also. Unless you think that “They do it too!” is the excuse you need to be an asshole, of course. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1879 "2024-12-29T00:01:13Z")
Hijack moved to the [Smapti is Pitted](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907) thread with permission of @TroutMan. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2024, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907/1880 "2024-12-29T00:08:54Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > If it applies to one side, then it applies to the other side if the same methods are used. If you claim this of them and ask them to stop, then it logically follows that you stop also. Then let this serve as notice that I am asking the parties involved to stop parroting anti-Israel propaganda from biased and compromised sources, and if they don’t do so, then I’ll also stop. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907.md?page=93) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smapti-is-pitted/688907.md?page=95)