From an X post:

“Never wrestle with a pig. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.”

That’s exactly how I view debating a Palestinist over “genocide,” the history of Israel and Palestine, or whether Jews are somehow “invaders” in their own land.

Other than giving them a look that says, “You cannot possibly be serious,” there’s no point in arguing from a premise you consider absurd and false.

Because the moment you start debating whether the casualty numbers are “too high,” whether individual strikes were “proportionate,” whether Israel has sufficiently proven it isn’t deliberately exterminating Palestinians, or exactly how many years Jews have lived in the land to prove they aren’t “invaders,” you’ve already accepted their framing.

And now you’re wrestling in the mud.

You think you’re winning because you’re meticulously disproving claim after claim. But while you’re still presenting evidence against accusation number one, they’ve already moved on to accusations two, three, and four. They don’t care what you just proved. They’ve moved on, while you’re getting dirtier trying to win an argument whose premise you never should have accepted.

That’s why the pig likes it.

You entered its territory, accepted its rules, and volunteered to carry the burden of disproving every accusation it throws at you.

Make them establish the premise first. Don’t climb into the mud and then congratulate yourself for wrestling well.

Don’t volunteer your surrender.

https://x.com/average_ny_guy/status/2091883096782045374?s=46

DRAFT POST

This post needs elaboration on the idea in the quote