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Protesters calling for cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war block freeway in Seattle for several hours (apnews.com)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Can someone please calmly explain how blocking a freeway across an ocean and a country on a different continent, is supposed to have any effect on a political issue in the middle east?

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

Threatening peoples livelihood... sounds a lot like terrorism

It absolutely does.

I hope these protesters are jailed, because this nonsense is a violation of a whole host of social norms, and we have laws against it for good reason. I don't think they would be charged with terrorism though unless they threaten to keep doing it to make a political point. But jail time should absolutely be on the table.

That said, I agree that Palestine should be independent. However, this stunt does not make me sympathetic to their cause, and I'll ignore their entire platform and make my own decisions. If they protested in front of symbolic institutions (say, the capitol in Olympia, or at Seattle Center in front of the Space Needle), I would be more sympathetic. But screw these people and I hope they get what's coming to them.

That said, this could be a good time to discuss mass transit. If transit were better in the region, this wouldn't be nearly as impactful. Seattle doesn't have many good options to get to and through the city, so moving as much traffic off it as possible has a ton of value.

don't have to go to work

Paid and unpaid time off are a thing.