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History Speaks

@History__Speaks

Jul 28

I like American Leftists now because they were the only bloc to oppose the genocide in Gaza other than American MENA and Muslim people. But they need to stow it with comparisons between the (post-Vietnam) US military and the genocidal "IDF."

They don't have to like the US Military; in fact, I'm glad we live in a country where some people are anti-military, as it facilitates accountability and more robust discussion. But this comparison trivializes the Gaza Genocide and is completely ignorant.

To illustrate the point. The life expectancy rose steadily from 56-63 during the US Afghanistan War* and occupation from 2001 to 2019, even increasing slightly during the 2001 invasion year (source: World Bank, see replies). Life expectancy did fall in 2020 and 2021, due to COVID and chaos ensuing from the the US withdrawal.

Iraq was a much bloodier war than Afghanistan, with 200,000 civilians violently killed between 2003 and 2021 (the large majority not killed by the US Coalition, but by insurgents, ISIS, and others). During the US invasion, the life expectancy decreased slightly, from 66 to 65. The life expectancy fell to 64 during the worst years of the insurgency. After the insurgency was mostly defeated by the Petraeus surge, life expectancy increased to 68 under US occupation (until 2011).

Conversely, in what Israel's defenders claim is a "war" in Gaza, the life expectancy of the population has fallen nearly IN HALF, according to a study published in the Lancet (Feb 2025). I.E. a drop of THIRTY FIVE YEARS.

* There were a couple years in the late 2010s when it went down 1 year.

Iraq Life Expectancy Data via @WorldBank:

Afghanistan Life Expectancy Data via @WorldBank

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History Speaks

@History__Speaks

Jul 26

Defenders of the so-called "war": this may be the last chance you have to come to reason before being defined as advocates of murder the rest of your lives, with the only (pathetic) excuse being 'Western man good! It no murder when Western man do it!'

The IDF has repeatedly shot tanks and artillery at starving unarmed civilians, including fleeing civilians. (American thugs also have shot civilians.) Not only is this supported by overwhelming testimonial evidence from Palestinians, but now a veteran of multiple wars, a Green Beret and career combat soldier who was working for GHF, is confirming this, saying they are the worst war crimes he's ever seen.

There is no excuse available for this. No "human shields" (these were unarmed civilians). No racist argument about how 'the Palestinians always lie.' Nothing. It's just mass murder, under the laws of war and common sense. I wouldn't expect the Chinese or Saudi Army to behave this way, much less the "most moral army in the world."

Will you come to reason, and accept the overwhelming convergence of evidence as to what the IDF has become? Or will you fall back on 'the green beret/all Palestinian witnesses are lying and antisemitic?" Time to make a choice. Way Past time.

Directed at @noam_dworman, @EliLake, @coldxman, @CoreyWriting, and others.

@noam_dworman @EliLake @coldxman @CoreyWriting @dhimmi2025 they're hopeless I imagine but might as well try for a last appeal. An American combat vet of multiple wars testifying to this.

Read 4 tweets

History Speaks

@History__Speaks

Jul 24

The memes about Gaza's population having grown are utterly false. The big drop in Gaza's population, due to death and migration far exceeding births, raises a broader point that again illustrates Gaza's unique destructiveness.

When a population is young (with lots of young adults) and has high birth rates, it is actually very hard to kill or displace more of them than are born. In fact this is a rarity in wars fought in countries with such demographic profiles. (Obviously it is another story for a war being fought in a place with a low birth rate/old population.

Hence populations in Afghanistan and Iraq increased by millions under US occupation, despite bloody wars. Even Vietnam's population steadily increased during the brutal Vietnam War (1955-1975), despite millions of deaths and the post-war departure of millions of refugees ("boat people")

Despite a terrible famine that has killed over 100,000 children, the population of Yemen has increased by millions throughout the Yemeni Civil War (2014-present).

In terms of violent deaths, the Syrian Civil War is the bloodiest war of this century. Yet it appears the Syrian population slightly increased during the civil war, in spite of 600,000 violent fatalities and millions of refugees, although it fell sharply during the bloodiest years of the war and the rise of ISIS in Syria.

Conversely, across the entire war - I'm not singling out a particularly bloody period - and despite the general inability of the population to leave, Gaza's population has fallen by a huge margin, probably more than 10%. This is despite a very young population (very similar to Syria's in the % of adults who are young).

Reposting with a better chart for Syria’s population data

@dhimmi2025

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History Speaks

@History__Speaks

Jul 16

It is well-known that Israeli Druze tend to be patriotic Israelis. However, non-Israeli Druze tend to have anti-Israel views. For example about 86% of Druze in Lebanon supported the 7 October attack on Israel.

Are we supposed to believe Israel feels "brotherhood" with non-Israeli Druze and wants to go to war to help them? They don't even treat their own (again, largely patriotic) Druze citizens with equal rights in Israel.

@AviBittMD do you think Israeli policymakers are naïve about the views of non-Israeli Druze, or still see them as brothers in spite of them, or do you accept that the humanitarian intervention is likely a sham pretext?

@dhimmi2025 fact check these results for us.

Read 4 tweets

History Speaks

@History__Speaks

Jun 24

1/10 Israel flunkies (@Aizenberg55, @Mr_Andrew_Fox, etc) insist the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) inflates its death-toll estimate to smear 🇮🇱.
A new expert survey suggests the opposite: ≈75,200 Gazans violently killed through Jan 2025, 39% more than MoH estimated through Jan.

2/10 This was a household-based survey conducted by a team of experts, including economist @Michael_Spagat, & Gaza-based pollster Khalil Shikaki (of @PCPSR1). They measured the Gazan death toll (both natural & violent) through 5 Jan 2025.

The main results are summarized below.

@Michael_Spagat @PCPSR1 3/10 While already much (39%) larger than the MoH estimate, the 75,200 figure for violent deaths is surely underestimated by thousands and perhaps many thousands. For it excludes persons (equivalent to 0.6% of Gazans) reported as disappeared (but not arrested) by families.

Read 10 tweets

History Speaks

@History__Speaks

Jun 17

1/20 On 31 March—in a widely circulated charge—@Aizenberg55 accused the Gaza Ministry of Health (MoH) of faking 1,079 child deaths the MoH had removed from its fatalities lists.

My new @AOAV piece debunks Aizenberg's charge, based on original research I'll summarize in this 🧵.

2/20 The basis for @Aizenberg55's charge is that between Aug 2024 & March 2025, 1,079 children—& over 3,000 Gazans—were removed by the MoH from its list of fatalities in Gaza.

(He erroneously says the MoH removed 1,080 children - the figure is 1,079 - but this isn't important.)

@Aizenberg55 3/20 Despite their flimsy & speculative basis, Aizenberg’s accusations of faked deaths were not only circulated by the usual charlatans and Israel flunkies—, @Mr_Andrew_Fox, @SpencerGuard, etc—but by seasoned journalists writing for publications such as @Telegraph and @FoxNews.

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