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Its certainly telling that this post got "flagged". Exactly what the opening lines of the article describe: "we don’t have the right to show humanity towards Pa

Its certainly telling that this post got "flagged". Exactly what the opening lines of the article describe: "we don’t have the right to show humanity towards Palestine".

dang 3y ago
I don't think that's what's happening here. The flags are coming from users (as explained in https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html). We can only guess why users flag things, but when I looked at the flagging histories, they didn't seem focused on this issue; rather they were the most common type of flag, from users who don't want to see flamewars or too much politics on HN. For example, here are other submissions flagged by the same users: In L.A., a new vision of incarceration proves rehabilitation works - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844740 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844740 The Myth of Meritocracy Runs Deep in American History - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844240 Psychopathic men have more children, study finds - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38824962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38824962 Brexit has failed for UK, say clear majority of Britons – poll - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38817190 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38817190 Losing weight without any stress - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38815866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38815866 Florida health care can now be denied based on moral, ethical, religious beliefs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35941427 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35941427 I'm not mentioning these to start arguments about whether or not they are on-topic for HN—some are, some not—but rather to give the flavor of what the user flags look like. We sometimes turn off flags, and I've done so several times on this topic and posted quite a bit about why. However, HN is not a current affairs site, and it is a site that gets damaged when threads turn into flamewars. So we have to be careful about which threads to turn off flags on, and I don't think an outright advocacy piece is the best choice for that. It's all relative; there's no way to avoid flamewars on a topic like this; but some go to the inner circles of hell faster than others.
- helixfelix 3y ago
  Thank you for your thoughtful reply and explanation. Makes sense. It is an emotional topic indeed and most threads devolve into flamewars without careful moderation. Really appreciate all you do for HN!
- Aerbil313 3y ago
  Ever thought about the morality of your actions as a moderator, however aligned they may be with the needs and requirements of the site, dang?
  - dang 3y ago
    Yes?
xk_id 3y ago
perhaps Palestine's majority support of the October 7th violent attack has something to do with the reason why it became a contentious topic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israel#Palestinian_public_opinion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israe...
- nonviol 3y ago
  That doesn't justify inflicting mass slaughter, starvation, and now preventable disease on an entire population, which is what's happening. We can argue about whether it's genocide, but unquestionably it's collective punishment, and that's a war crime: https://opiniojuris.org/2023/10/24/a-short-history-of-the-war-crime-of-collective-punishment/ https://opiniojuris.org/2023/10/24/a-short-history-of-the-wa... I'm sorry to bring this up, but did you know that children are now having limbs amputated without anesthetic there? How is it possible to know that and not want it to stop?

Its certainly telling that this post got "flagged". Exactly what the opening lines of the article describe: "we don’t have the right to show humanity towards Palestine".

dang 3y ago

I don't think that's what's happening here. The flags are coming from users (as explained in https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html). We can only guess why users flag things, but when I looked at the flagging histories, they didn't seem focused on this issue; rather they were the most common type of flag, from users who don't want to see flamewars or too much politics on HN. For example, here are other submissions flagged by the same users: In L.A., a new vision of incarceration proves rehabilitation works - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844740 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844740 The Myth of Meritocracy Runs Deep in American History - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844240 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38844240 Psychopathic men have more children, study finds - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38824962 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38824962 Brexit has failed for UK, say clear majority of Britons – poll - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38817190 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38817190 Losing weight without any stress - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38815866 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38815866 Florida health care can now be denied based on moral, ethical, religious beliefs - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35941427 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35941427 I'm not mentioning these to start arguments about whether or not they are on-topic for HN—some are, some not—but rather to give the flavor of what the user flags look like. We sometimes turn off flags, and I've done so several times on this topic and posted quite a bit about why. However, HN is not a current affairs site, and it is a site that gets damaged when threads turn into flamewars. So we have to be careful about which threads to turn off flags on, and I don't think an outright advocacy piece is the best choice for that. It's all relative; there's no way to avoid flamewars on a topic like this; but some go to the inner circles of hell faster than others.

helixfelix 3y ago
Thank you for your thoughtful reply and explanation. Makes sense. It is an emotional topic indeed and most threads devolve into flamewars without careful moderation. Really appreciate all you do for HN!
Aerbil313 3y ago
Ever thought about the morality of your actions as a moderator, however aligned they may be with the needs and requirements of the site, dang?
- dang 3y ago
  Yes?

xk_id 3y ago

perhaps Palestine's majority support of the October 7th violent attack has something to do with the reason why it became a contentious topic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israel#Palestinian_public_opinion https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Hamas-led_attack_on_Israe...

nonviol 3y ago
That doesn't justify inflicting mass slaughter, starvation, and now preventable disease on an entire population, which is what's happening. We can argue about whether it's genocide, but unquestionably it's collective punishment, and that's a war crime: https://opiniojuris.org/2023/10/24/a-short-history-of-the-war-crime-of-collective-punishment/ https://opiniojuris.org/2023/10/24/a-short-history-of-the-wa... I'm sorry to bring this up, but did you know that children are now having limbs amputated without anesthetic there? How is it possible to know that and not want it to stop?