Before replying to a tweet from someone with a yellow ribbon in their bio, always take a second to think about what their (insane) argument is trying to distract you from. While there are countless crimes that Zionist propaganda seeks to distract us from, the main one, at the core of it all, will always be the fact that Israel is committing a genocide. So before you jump to defend the numbers published by Gaza's ministry of health, remember that Zionists are by no means questioning the numbers for the sake of the integrity of documentation. Instead, it's to force you into a futile back and forth that overlooks the main question: why is there a massive number of people killed that it's getting difficult to keep count?
Mohammed El Kurd talks about this in Perfect Victims:
I'm often asked if I want to "throw Israelis into the sea." [...] such questions are red herrings and straw man fallacies asked in bad faith. I obviously believe in freedom and dignity for all, etcetera. Those asking, "What happens to the settlers?" have not once thought about the fate of the six million Palestinian refugees agonizing in exile. This is not so much a polemic but an observation, a fatigued observation, reiterated incessantly. Such distracting questions feed the discursive loop that prioritizes the settler' theoretical future over our material present that is already marked with extermination.
As Steven Salaita writes, "The question 'but what about the Israelis?' presents itself as innocent, perhaps even crucial, but its underlying rhetoric is insidious. ... It informs the audience that Zionism must be affirmed before the Palestinian can speak of liberation." As such, the decision to answer a derailing question becomes a political act: Should I take the bait? Should I skip over the tanks that set our neighborhoods ablaze, the fires engulfing Khan Yunis to extinguish hypothetical flames? Should I forget about the wells they have poisoned, the waters they have arrogated to quench an imaginary thirst? Lately, I just scoff at the question.
