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Faulty Premise/Argument/Assertion or Something Else?This is in regards to the Israel-Palestine crisis currently occurring right now, and I have seen this argument many times in support of the Palestinian argument that what is occurring between Israel and Palestine is not a conflict (as the general consensus is) but instead ethnic cleansing, genocide, military occupation and apartheid. However, I do have a feeling that something is missing from the argumentation chain and I suspect its a faulty premise. |
asked on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 12:54:15 PM by Douglas Arndell | |
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Claims are constantly being made, many of which are confusing, ambiguous, too general to be of value, exaggerated, unfalsifiable, and suggest a dichotomy when no such dichotomy exists. Good critical thinking requires a thorough understanding of the claim before attempting to determine its veracity. Good communication requires the ability to make clear, precise, explicit claims, or “strong” claims. The rules of reason in this book provide the framework for obtaining this understanding and ability.
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Ohhhh lord. As if there hasn't been enough Israel-Palestine derangement already. The wider 'conversation' on this topic, as with other sociopolitical trends like BLM, MeToo etc, is littered with bad arguments peddled by pseudoexperts and strong feelings taken as fact. No wonder you end up with sentiments such as the ones expressed in the above links. To summarise, it's typically a mixture of fallacies and questionable/false premises, and a wider failure to exercise cognitive empathy - yes, on both sides.
Not just the media; the general public refers to it as a conflict as well. A violent dispute between two opposing parties is typically referred to as some sort of conflict. This part isn't fallacious, but the person behind it might be using the phrase 'the media' to try and pre-emptively discredit the notion that it is a conflict.
Nonsense. A conflict requires two or more disparate sides. Nowhere is it stated that they have to be 'equal', since in at least one sense, one side will be more powerful than another, at least slightly so - e.g. having more supporters, more economic resources, etc. That also sheds light on the vague concept of 'equality' in this premise. According to this word game, the U.S. Civil War wasn't a conflict because the Union was stronger than the Confederacy. The Punic Wars weren't conflicts, because Rome was stronger than Carthage.
P2 is false, and thus no longer implies P3 (inference objection). There is no need for equality of military strength between the opposite sides.
"Don't even have a proper military" is questionable. However, even if you believe it, it is irrelevant. Firstly, Israel is not using all of its military might at any one time. Thus, in practical terms, the difference between the two is not as dramatic as the person is making out. Secondly, as mentioned above, 'conflict' just isn't defined like this. The person is changing the definition to suit their argument (definist fallacy).
It may be true that Israel has more 'firepower' than Palestine. However, 'overwhelming' implies some sort of nefarious/oppressive intent on Israel's part, which has not been supported with evidence. They would claim they are using firepower defensively. The Palestinians would claim otherwise.
We jump from two sides that are admittedly unequal in terms of firepower to a 'coloniser-colonised' dynamic (begging the question). Why is Israel the 'coloniser' and 'oppressor'? Did the Union 'colonise' the Confederacy?
We did not ascertain that there was an oppressor and an oppressed. You made that part up to suit the narrative you're trying to peddle. Lastly we have an unsupported claim regarding 'genocide/ethnic cleansing', and some prejudicial language (accusing people of being 'complicit' in Israeli propaganda). |
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answered on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 01:50:45 PM by TrappedPrior (RotE) | ||||
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