Pretty easy to explain. Israelis, just like other people read HN too. They don't like such articles, so they flag them. If an article receives several flags, it's marked as flagged.
Also, HN is tech site, not political site, so I'm not surprised by this, such articles may be considered off-topic.
It's because of an agenda which goes beyond the politics the present conflict. For example, just in the last 24 hours, there were at least two submissions here about Jewish/Israeli sexual violence. Both were old articles (so not news) about crimes that occur in every population. We don't see this sort of interest in digging up dirt on other small minority groups.
(Not that any particular submitter is to blame; the issue is systematic.)
I used to think that it’s beneficial to separate tech from politics but I’m convinced now that it’s a delusional stance. Politics is in tech whether we like it or not, CEOs have their political agenda and ideologies and often talk about them openly, their products directly impact people’s lives, some change the entire society. In the case of the Gaza genocide, Lavender and Gospel systems are the direct enabelers of such scale of devastation. I think it’s far from being off-topic.
In a nutshell, no politics is itself a political opinion (that happens to favor the dominant party).
Let's assume that I have an idea on my mind that could potentially change the power generation and usage landscape and society (think 80% efficient solar power AND 80% reduction in power usage in data centers AND increase power output from most existing power plants by 30% AND solve power storage problem), but I wonder how should I approach distributing it. Should I somehow prevent Chinese, Israelis and USA from having this and using it to enhance oppression of other nations? How would you approach such political problem as a CEO?
Here I thought the genocide of the Palestinian people was a violent and malignant land grab and ethnic cleansing with the added touch of being religiously righteous in the eyes of the oppressors, but you've opened my eyes that these efforts are in fact meant to achieve "80% efficient solar power AND 80% reduction in power usage in data centers AND increase power output from most existing power plants by 30% AND solve power storage problem".
Thank you for your enlightening perspective.
I mean, I am still wondering how any of those metrics justify killing and starving and entire population, but I guess, "line go up!"
Theory: Most HNer's are quite aware of the crummy situation, do not like depressing "Day nnn of Horrible Things Happening in Sudan" updates, and know that discussing Israeli/Palestinian issues on HN has a 0.000% chance of improving anything.
{total # of HN readers} * {% who are American voters} * {% who bother reading submissions/comments on this topic} * {% who meaningfully change their opinion on the subject as a result of such reading} * {% who change to strongly opposing US support for Israel (because politicians don't much care about druthers)} * {% who "stick" in that new position, long-term} * ...
Multiply it out. Then compare to the number of US voters who'd need to switch to strongly opposing support for Israel, for the politicians to notice or care.
I politely disagree with almost every combination of the words you just used :).
1. hackers could be interested in news other than tech, that’s the very identity of hacking: understanding things in this case, the world politics and conflicts.
2. even then, there are _always_ non-tech entries on HackerNews, de facto.
3. it’s not 4000 old issue (misleading oversimplification). In essence, it’s a century-old colonial project that is entirely inline with the 19th and 20th century European colonialism, with a supremacist idealogy at its core (ethnostate).
> In essence, it’s a century-old colonial project that is entirely inline with the 19th and 20th century European colonialism, with a supremacist idealogy at its core (ethnostate).
I don't think that's a proper characterization. Migration way strongly regulated back then. Only after WWII when the crimes of the Nazis became public, mass migration to the southern Levante were allowed. It's therefore not a colonial project, but driven by what happened at that time (Holocaust).
Arabic/Muslim and other citizen are well integrated into society as far as I am aware so I am not convinced supremacist/ethnostate is a fitting description either.
The Balfour declaration predates wwii. Israel has claimed they want a Jewish ethnostate from the beginning. Palestinians are a second class citizen subject to different laws in Israel.
Furthermore, it is inherintly colonial as a former colonizer (the brits) gave the land away to new colonizers. Worth noting that Balfour was an antisemite who wanted the Jews out of his country, hence the declaration and the first wave if immigration before 48. Back then, many Palestinians got expelled from their homes, sometimes from the very jewish people they willingly hosted. All under the protection of the british army.
No it's not, it's never been about hackers except in name. It's about startups and venture capital. Always has been. Doesn't invalidate the point you are trying to make, though.
I agree with flagging most political topics, and most such horrible happenings in the world as TFA. This place is supposed to foster curious, intellectual discussion, and the umpteenth report of what amounts to be the same horrible thing doesn't do that, at all. There is a disgusting glut of horribleness constantly happening in the world, and we don't need to discuss the particulars of most of it.
Something I think that has a chance to spark constructive discussion is when there are significant changes in such a thing, be that change positive or negative. And those discussions usually stay on the HN pages too, because while I'm sure many are flagging them, many are voting for them as well. As the HN guidelines put it: "Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, or celebrities, unless they're evidence of some interesting new phenomenon." "If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic."
Also, HN is tech site, not political site, so I'm not surprised by this, such articles may be considered off-topic.