> You mentioned America as an examplar of demcracy further up, while in truth it is an extremely flawed model of democracy
I disagree with your framing, as does your source. The index you shared does not paint America as "extremely flawed", but just flawed (and even so, almost at the score of getting their highest rank). So adding the word "extremely" is your editorial take. However, their rating system is not transparent - it's not clear who they surveyed or what questions they asked. It's also clear this rating system is only somewhat correct in scoring countries - for example both Canada and Australia are democracies but have notable restrictions on free speech, a core principle of a free society and any democracy - but they were ranked higher than the US.
> Anyone can be labelled a terrorist.
Labels can be misused, but what actually happened? Has Israel been shooting rockets indiscriminately into Gaza? No, but people in Gaza have been doing that for a few decades now. In fact, the rocket attacks got a lot worse after Israel left Gaza in 2005. Is that not terrorism?
> It is Israels fault if they kill civilians
How can it be when they're pursuing terrorists who choose to use human shields on purpose? Israel has been careful to announce targets ahead of time and has gone above and beyond what any other country would to avoid civilian casualties. But in this situation, which was created by Hamas and their supporters, a country that wishes to protect itself from attacks can't achieve zero civilian deaths. That's unrealistic for any conflict, but especially this one.
I disagree with your framing, as does your source. The index you shared does not paint America as "extremely flawed", but just flawed (and even so, almost at the score of getting their highest rank). So adding the word "extremely" is your editorial take. However, their rating system is not transparent - it's not clear who they surveyed or what questions they asked. It's also clear this rating system is only somewhat correct in scoring countries - for example both Canada and Australia are democracies but have notable restrictions on free speech, a core principle of a free society and any democracy - but they were ranked higher than the US.
> Anyone can be labelled a terrorist.
Labels can be misused, but what actually happened? Has Israel been shooting rockets indiscriminately into Gaza? No, but people in Gaza have been doing that for a few decades now. In fact, the rocket attacks got a lot worse after Israel left Gaza in 2005. Is that not terrorism?
> It is Israels fault if they kill civilians
How can it be when they're pursuing terrorists who choose to use human shields on purpose? Israel has been careful to announce targets ahead of time and has gone above and beyond what any other country would to avoid civilian casualties. But in this situation, which was created by Hamas and their supporters, a country that wishes to protect itself from attacks can't achieve zero civilian deaths. That's unrealistic for any conflict, but especially this one.